The cop killings and death threats underscore the racist nature of class society under capitalism and every institution of the capitalist state. As Malcolm X explained one month before he was assassinated, "there's no such thing" as race. Racism, he pointed out, was a concept concocted by agents of the colonial powers in order to "justify the European domination over the Africans and the Asians." The wealthy rulers use racist divisions to superexploit workers and farmers of oppressed nationalities and to bolster their assaults on affirmative action and other social gains won by working people through the civil rights battles in the 1950s and '60s.

Since 1995 some 15 Black men in Cincinnati have been gunned down by the cops, with Timothy Thomas being the fourth slain since November. The slap on the wrist given to his killer shows how the capitalist government and its agencies are racist institutions that support the unceasing brutality meted out by the police. They cover up and defend the perpetrators of racist attacks, whether by the cops, KKK, or other reactionary elements.

For example, it took 38 years to convict one of the Klan members accused of bombing the Birmingham church where four girls were killed. Bombings were common tactics used by racists to terrorize and intimidate participants in the civil rights movement. The convictions have nothing to do with a "new" FBI. That secret police agency remains one of Washington's repressive arms that's used against working people. Nor do any of the claims about dramatic progress in eliminating racial discrimination that government officials put forward to justify attacks on affirmative action have any merit. Every police agency in the United States remains an enemy of working people.

The ruling class and their political servants--both Democrats and Republicans--have nothing to offer except more cop violence, more racist violence, and terror as they deepen their assaults against working people at home and abroad. In the last decade thousands of working people were executed on the streets by the cops and millions more have been thrown behind bars. As governor of Texas, George Bush presided over one-fifth of all executions in the United States since the death penalty was reinstated And his predecessor in the White House was responsible for two federal laws that expanded capital punishment after carrying out a string of executions in his home state of Arkansas.

The demonstrations in New Jersey, Ohio, and Pennsylvania advance the fight against racism and point to the social solidarity that can be mobilized against racist attacks. The labor movement needs to speak out against every manifestation of racism and cop brutality. The road to ending racism, which cannot exist without exploitation and oppression, is the same road as the fight for governmental power by working people.
 
 
Related articles:
Cincinnati protesters condemn leniency for killer cop
Protest in New Jersey condemns police killing
Conviction won in 1963 racist bombing
Penn State students respond to racist threats  
 
 
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