Vol. 76/No. 16      April 23, 2012

It has been seven weeks since the racist lynching of Trayvon Martin—and yet, no arrest, no charges. The one and only reason Florida authorities have not dropped the case and the federal government is even paying attention is because of the scope of the fight in the streets demanding the arrest and prosecution of George Zimmerman, Martin’s killer.

This battle is an important part of the resistance today to the assaults by the bosses and their government on our livelihoods, unions, working conditions and rights, from the picket lines to the increasing fights against police brutality.

The bosses are driven to attack us because their system faces a historic crisis driven by declining rates of profit and shrinking production and trade.

As part of their offensive, they seek to deepen divisions among workers—employed and jobless, Black and white, men and women, native-born and immigrant—and weaken our unity, solidarity and fighting capacity.

Built right into the cake of the social relations of U.S. capitalism is the national oppression of African-Americans. The lynching of Martin and cop cover-up of it show one way in which this oppression is reinforced today as part of the assault on the working class.

The enormous expansion in the number of workers in prison, longer sentences, coercive plea-bargain system, “stop and frisk” are also part of this anti-working-class offensive. Here again it comes down in a vastly disproportionate way on workers who are Black.

But far from cowed, workers are increasingly finding ways to resist. The widespread response among workers and others to the lynching of Trayvon Martin points to the opportunity to mobilize broad protests, attracting all who feel the lash of the rulers’ offensive.

We place no reliance on the bosses’ government or their legal system. Their decision on what to do next will be weighed above all else on the price they will be forced to pay for continued inaction.

As Romell Madison recently told a rally in New Orleans following the sentencing of cops who killed his brother Ronald in 2005, “It won’t bring our brother back, but the sentencing shows that if you organize and if you stick with it, it’s possible to get some element of justice.” (See New Orleans cops to serve time for Katrina slayings.)

Join actions around the country demanding the arrest of Zimmerman. Keep the pressure on!
 
 
Related articles:
Prosecute vigilante for lynching of Trayvon!
Newburgh, NY family vows: ‘cops will answer for murder’
New Orleans cops to serve time for Katrina slayings
Protest called against Chicago cop killing
NYC police spy unit targets Black, other political groups
 
 
 
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