Chicago: ‘System is violent, we will not be silent’

CHICAGO, April 7 – Communists from Progressive Labor Party (PLP) joined with a multiracial crowd of dozens of workers and youth to organize against capitalist-caused gun violence. The occasion was an annual “Peace Walk” on the city’s northwest side, organized by various faith groups and mass organizations.

The physical and emotional trauma unleashed upon workers who are victims of gun violence is horrifically profound and wide-reaching. For many Black and Latin workers particularly, living in neighborhoods that have been systematically neglected by the city’s racist liberal mis-leadership, the damage cannot be understated.

But whatever amount of violence is committed by workers against other workers, it pales in comparison to the poverty and violence inflicted on our entire class by the racist and sexist capitalist bosses every day. Rather than relying on one set of fascist bosses to “protect” us from another set of fascist bosses, PLP calls on workers everywhere to build a mass revolutionary movement that overthrows our common oppressors and constructs a communist world where all workers are given an opportunity to thrive.

Revolutionary versus reactionary violence
The action began at the front of a local church known for social-justice organizing. A handful of speakers addressed the crowd, including those who had personally lost loved ones to gun violence. Different proposals were put forward during the speeches on how to address the violence, including praying more, pushing politicians to pass stricter gun laws, and finding ways of building community and mental health treatment among neighborhoods.

In the absence of a revolutionary communist outlook, many well-intentioned efforts from workers can get funneled into treating just the symptoms of this sick profit system and not attacking it at the root. At their worst, many of the reform campaigns pushed by the liberal Big Fascist wing of the U.S. ruling class can lead to gun laws that get enforced in racist ways and result in more criminalization and incarceration of Black and Latin workers.

To sharpen the political tone, a PLP member made a sign that read “A violent system breeds more violence – Let’s build a collective world” which was met with agreement by many in attendance. We also distributed at least ten copies of CHALLENGE newspaper to help connect this struggle to the wider international movement against capitalism with its deadly competition and wars for profit.

As communists, it’s important to make it clear that we are not pacifists – but there is a legitimate difference that must be made between reactionary violence and revolutionary violence. Reactionary violence is that violence inflicted by the bosses and the kkkops and militaries that they control to prop up their decadent system. This reactionary violence is also unfortunately used by many workers who sometimes choose to mimic the capitalist bosses to attack and prey on our own class.

On the contrary, revolutionary violence is organized force wielded by the masses under communist leadership to overcome the oppressive capitalist forces. It is ultimately what will be necessary to do away with a system that crushes so many workers and our potential every single day. Destroying capitalism is our proposal to end gun violence!

KKKops and bosses are the real gangsters
During the walk portion of the event, we were disgusted by the presence of two kkkop escorts from the racist Chicago Police Department (CPD). Although some of the marchers might be won to the idea of the cops keeping our class safe, the reality couldn’t be further from the truth – CPD is by far the biggest gang in the city!

To protest their presence, a PLP member quickly listed a number of names of Black and Latin youth gunned down by CPD in recent years and waved it in killer cops’ faces. The list  included LaQuan McDonald, Rekia Boyd, and Adam Toledo. We can expect no peace while the klan-in-blue are given free rein to stalk and terrorize our class for the benefit of their capitalist masters.

We were quick to point out to our friends at the event that it’s impossible to expect a city to take care of its youth when over one-third of the annual Chicago budget is spent on the kkkops (The Civic Federation, 6/23/20). This mind-blowing amount doesn’t even account for the payouts to workers who are victims of police terror, which in itself has amounted to close to $600 million since 2016 (WGN, 4/3).

What’s all the more telling for us workers is that all these attacks have been going on for decades with the open consent of Chicago’s Big Fascist (see Glossary, page 6) liberal leadership. New Black progressive Mayor Brandon Johnson – who predictably walked back previous claims to defund the police during his campaign – will not alter this trend. A capitalist system that is rocked by crisis has no choice but to resort to more fascist violence against workers, and all politicians back capitalism at the end of the day.

Join PLP for working-class power and collectivity
Imagine a society where all youth and workers were given the resources and means to contribute to the wellbeing of society, free of cost. Where youth engage in learning and collective action to shape society based on their interests, and practice pro-worker means of resolving conflict among ourselves. It’s not a pipe dream; it’s an egalitarian communist society! For all of us who truly want a world of peace among all working people, we invite you to join and help build PLP today.