Imperialism is making us sick
On December 1, World Aids Day, I went to a rally at the White House to join with other health organizers demanding the Biden Administration extend the public health emergency on Covid-19 and take executive action to boost global vaccine manufacturing. These demands were combined with a call for increased funding for HIV/AIDS as the “two pandemics collide.”
The fight for Covid-19 prevention and care is similar to the long, militant struggles in the U.S. and South Africa for global access to HIV medication. Covid-19 and HIV continue to be major health problems despite being downplayed by the Biden administration, which instead is funding war in Ukraine.
I shared fliers and CHALLENGE newspapers with 10 of the 25 folks present. I shared our work in the American Public Health Association (APHA) to get policy for global vaccine development and to build the struggle to embrace a revolutionary solution—communism. Two organizers from ACT UP from New York agreed that we should be fighting against imperialist war and thanked me for bringing this up. For an excellent Progressive Labor Party (PLP) presentation linking health and imperialist war go to: https://youtu.be/fzJ9ENoRjLs .
Health Gap reports that 690,000 die yearly from HIV and 38 million are living with HIV and 25 percent still do not have access to treatment. Thus, rally organizers demanded a $750 million increase for international AIDS work to PEPFAR in 2023 and 2024 to address HIV, Monkey Pox, and Long Covid. (PEPFAR is the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief that began in 2003). Also, consistent with PLP’s work on global vaccination justice, the rally called for $100 million to fund the South African mRNA hub.
Speakers from ACT UP PHILLY, Health Gap and others gave dynamic antiracist speeches, denounced the failure of the U.S. to provide health care for all, and demanded that Biden extend the public health emergency to keep 15 million U.S. residents under Medicaid.
Hatred for the profit-gouging pharmaceutical industry was palpable. But there was no call to end the funding for imperialist wars.
Communists can join and give leadership to these health care struggles while raising communist ideas. I talked with several of the 25 protesters and urged them to call out imperialism as much as they attack the drug companies. Imperialism is hurting workers through continued illness and war. Time to stand together for health and communism!
In ‘class’ struggle: building working-class unity
I teach at a nearly all Black Caribbean high school. When a student used the n word in class, I shut down my lesson. “We don’t do that here…next class, we will explore the power of words,” I told my 9th graders.
With the support of comrades and our study group, I created a lesson that places the n word in its historical context: the violent system of slavery. As a comrade put it, “it’s on the lips of lynchers,” enslavers, and the Klan. That word is a weapon of the bosses to treat a section of our class as subhuman and divide us. Using it evokes and normalizes anti-Black violence. No one should participate in the degradation of our class siblings.
The lesson began with journaling about hurtful words said to us. “I’ll go first,” I said. “I was told I was too dark…a terrorist, to go back to your country.”
After sharing our personal experiences, I presented my claim: “we can’t separate words from their history. Hurtful language leads to hurtful actions. Using dehumanizing words spreads the message that some are less than.”
I gave students three pieces of evidence to break down and discuss. At the end, I asked if anyone would reconsider using this word. Many said yes, while others still believed the word can be reclaimed.
One student wrote, “I can try to lessen it…because it can dehumanize some people.”
Next time someone uses a slur, say, “That word is about accepting a part of our class as less than. We are constantly sent the message that we are worthless. I want you to be one of the sides of history that uplifts, not degrades, us.”
Does this mean I won’t ever hear slurs? No, but it gives me a basis to show students and teachers are on the same side.
Now, how does this connect to building communism? Winning students to a class-conscious outlook is non negotiable. In this lesson, they were introduced to the words, working class and ruling class (something we will return to in future lessons).
Capitalist education teaches us to view our co-workers and classmates as enemies. One student wrote, “I agree with the lesson 100 percent. It made me realize what white people said to downgrade our ancestors.”
We had a conversation differentiating between enslavers and poor white people. Without showing how language, like people, belongs to a certain class, it’s easy to fall into the trap of blaming those around us, instead of the system, for hateful language. It’s the ruling class that teaches us we are worthless, and that’s a system we ultimately have to smash. Of course, we don’t fight with just words. More struggle ahead!
Exploitation is the bedrock of capitalism
A CHALLENGE article (11/16/22) called racism “the bedrock of capitalism.” However, the bedrock of capitalism is exploitation. Racism, sexism, etc. divide our class to prevent resistance to our common oppression by exploitation. Racism enables exploitation, not the reverse.
Housing segregation leads to school segregation, discrimination in jobs and income, and different quality lives for Black and white workers.
Greater oppression is dealt to Black workers, in police brutality and killings, evictions, poverty, jobs, unemployment, housing, lower life expectancy, greater newborn and maternal mortality, incarceration, more deaths from Covid, etc.
So while white workers experience lesser oppression, on average, this is no “privilege.” White workers suffer greater numbers, but lower proportions, of all forms of oppression. U.S. whites average lower life expectancies than Asian or Lation but higher than Native or African Americans.
Exploitation explains the oppression of our entire class, and the enabling divisions victimize both white and Black.
Liberal antiracism fosters the lie that whites are privileged, that all white workers oppress all Blacks workers The 2019 NYT “1619 Project” pushed this lie, enabling the rightwing to target “critical race theory.” Both sides promote division, disabling a multiracial working-class movement against racism and exploitation, the true bedrock of capitalism.PLP has rightly focused on fighting racism, mainly because of its role in shoring up exploitation —the oppression of all workers. Fighting exploitation means in the workplace, not just neighborhoods, schools, and churches—wherever workers congregate.