[Peace-discuss] Black Agenda Report

[David Green]

While I'm not a big fan of "dialectical materialism," perhaps I should be; this article from BAR seems to place the antifa in an appropriate analytical and critical context.







Boston Protest of White Supremacy and FascismReveal Deep Contradictions of the Trump Era

DannyHaiphong

 

BostonProtest of White Supremacy and Fascism Reveal Deep Contradictions of the TrumpEra

byDanny Haiphong

“Thetwo ruling parties in the US, which have united to wage an all-out assault onthe oppressed both here and worldwide.”

August19th marked the arrival of so-called "free speech" groups to theBoston Common. They were met by 30,000 protesters who sought to run them out ofthe city in the aftermath of events in Charlottesville just a week earlier. Theoverwhelming opposition forced what many deemed to be Nazis to end their eventprematurely. Activists rejoiced over the sheer numerical advantage they enjoyedover the right-wing assembly. The protest has been hailed as a victory for the"left" in the US. As with any perceived victory under the terminaldecline of the US empire, the question of how revolutionaries can move thestruggle against white supremacy toward the transformation of society remainsunanswered.

First,white supremacy cannot be confined to the ideas that exist in the mindsindividual white Americans or even organized formations of white Americans.White supremacy is a system of power rooted in the social relations of UScapitalism. The invention of the white race has historically justified thedispossession and oppression necessary to maximize profits in the midst oflabor solidarity. Whiteness not only divided workers based on race, but ascribeda more intense form of exploitation to whoever was deemed by the ruling classto fall out of the markers of white identity. White supremacy first justifiedthe colonial conquest of indigenous lands and the enslavement of Africans. Thesystem of white rule was then implemented beyond the borders of the USnation-state to encompass all nations and peoples who stood in the way ofcapitalism's unmitigated expansion.

“Whitesupremacy is a system of power rooted in the social relations of UScapitalism.”

Marxistthinkers and organizers use the scientific method of dialectical materialism tounderstand the development of society. The dialectical method studiescontradictions as the defining force of all phenomena and concludes that thestruggle between contradictions leads to change. Contradictions are always inmotion and change constantly as they interact with each other. Quantitativechanges in the interrelations of things eventually lead to qualitative change.Marxists use this scientific outlook to study the development of class societyfrom the earliest periods of humanity to the present day.

Andin the present day, the principle contradiction of US society is the strugglebetween white supremacy and the class exploitation it produces both at home andabroad. White supremacy is often promoted by the power structure as nothingmore than bad ideas which are unrelated to the structure of US society. Thiscan be seen by the number of people at the Boston protest who were inattendance primarily to condemn “hate” speech and “Nazis.” Separating “hatespeech” and “Nazis” from their historical roots masks the fact that whitesupremacy and corporate power have always interlocked in the US to produce ripeconditions for the rise of actual fascism. US intelligence nurtured fascismduring the Roosevelt period and after, hiring many former SS war criminals tohelp wage a "cold" war against the Soviet Union. Under theDemocratic Party presidency of Barack Obama, the US backed similar forces inUkraine to intensify the new cold war against Russia. NATO, a thoroughlybi-partisan institution of war, recently released a documentary that celebratesthe historic struggle of fascist forces in the Baltic States against the Soviet Union. 

“Thesystem of white rule was then implemented beyond the borders of the USnation-state to encompass all nations and peoples who stood in the way ofcapitalism's unmitigated expansion.”

Theconversation and activity targeting white supremacy and fascism in the US mustmove beyond the present outlook of the ruling class. This outlook places DonaldTrump at the center of the struggle to legitimize the US imperial system.Trump's ascendancy is more reflective of the crisis of white supremacy andimperialism than it is of the gathering strength of fascism. For Trumpwould not be President at this moment were it not for the deep contradictionsthat plague every facet of the US social structure. The intensity of oppositionto Trump's racist policy propositions has been met with an equally intenseopposition to his campaign promises to ease relations with Russia and institutea variant of "economic nationalism." The dialectical method thusreveals a contradiction in the struggle against white supremacy, fascism, andDonald Trump.

Allcontradictions possess two sides. The struggle against white supremacy andDonald Trump is no different. On one side sits the ruling class politicalparties, both of which oppose Donald Trump based on his positions on foreignpolicy and economy. On the other side of the contradiction is the left. Theleft has targeted Donald Trump for his racist and sexist commentary and policythroughout his campaign and presidency. Much of the left's opposition to Trumphas ignored the system of imperialism. Ruling class opposition to Trump hasthus created a hostile political environment for organizing on a class basis.

“Trump'sascendancy is more reflective of the crisis of white supremacy and imperialismthan it is of the gathering strength of fascism.”

Thishas significantly limited the debate and terms of struggle. Opposition to Trumpis united is in its inability to project a coherent class analysis of the period.Unity between contradictions renders the conflict between them invisible. Inthis time of stagnation and crisis in US imperialism, ideological unity betweenthe left and the ruling class has blurred the contradiction between the peopleand the system. To fight white supremacist ideas and not the total structure ofthe white supremacist system of imperialism places the left in dangerousterritory. Such activity obscures the actual levers of power that make thematerial conditions for racist ideas possible.

Thefact remains that US popular anger over racist ideas is nowhere to be foundwhen Washington decides to bomb, occupy, or destabilize another country.Demonstrations against the war on Syria have been small over the course ofsix-plus years, and there have been few, if any, popular protests of the US wardrive against Russia, China or the DPRK despite their potentially nuclearimplications. Few protested the NATO bombing of Libya that murdered over 50,000 Africans and struck a huge blow in the struggle againstUS military occupation of the continent through AFRICOM. The same can be saidwhen the police in the US lynch Black Americans at a daily rate and imprisonthem in world record numbers. Of course, individuals and even movements are notsolely to blame for this phenomenon. Much of the blame rests on the shouldersof the two ruling parties in the US, which have united to wage an all-outassault on the oppressed both here and worldwide.

“Tofight white supremacist ideas and not the total structure of the whitesupremacist system of imperialism places the left in dangerous territory.

Disagreementwithin the ruling class exists over just how white supremacy should bepresented to the masses. Russophobia is not considered white supremacy, nor isthe constant, Orientalist coverage in the media of the DPRK being a "roguestate" ruled over by a singular "dictator." The ruling classalso has no problem portraying Black Americans as a criminal element in the USwhenever the police need to be defended from persecution. White supremacy mustbe framed as a malady of the past, one that doesn't stain the fabric of presentday US imperialism. Trump and his Administration makes the suppression of USimperialism's white supremacist reality increasingly difficult and thereforepossess little use to the ruling class.

Andit isn't just Trump's overt white supremacy that makes his rule impractical toa large section of the ruling class. White nationalists in the streets areproblematic, but even more problematic is Trump's willingness to debate therulers on key policy issues. When questioned about his support for Confederatemonuments, Trump lashed back by raising the racist implications ofmemorializing George Washington or Thomas Jefferson. This is but one aspectof Washington's power struggle over Trump's Presidency. Since his inauguration,Trump and his Administration have clashed with the corporate media and with theCIA over the questions of Syria and Russia.

Thecontradictions of the current epoch must be understood to chart a clearer pathforward to social revolution and transformation. White supremacy is not just afeeling of hate that incites white Americans into violence. It is a system ofsocial relations that supports the profit-driven interests of the USimperialist system. So what side are we on? Who is marching among us, and wouldthey march with us should we turn our attention to the actual levers of powerthat make white supremacy possible? These are the questions that must be askedas the contradictions of the Trump era become more acute by the day.

DannyHaiphong is a Vietnamese-American activist and political analyst in the Bostonarea. He canbereachedatwakeupriseup1990 at gmail.com

 

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