Against Racism

When workers are struggling for homes and jobs anything that appears to stand in their way becomes a menace to be got rid of.  Consequently, immigrants were bound eventually to appear as the threatening menace, Dispossessed, frustrated and alienated workers will always look for a short-cut to even up the imbalance between themselves and their masters. The root of the problem is not colour, but social conditions that are produced by capitalist society. Various solutions to the problem have been put forward, but these solutions ignore the root from which the problem grows. Present racial antagonism is bound up with the general conditions of capitalism. Like the other evils of capitalism, it will only disappear when capitalism itself has been replaced by a social system in which all human beings will be able to move freely over the earth and live in harmony because their interests will be identical. This can only be a reality under socialism. Racism is not the poorly-thought-out doctrine of a few hundred boneheads. Racism will only be destroyed through a change in society, not with physical force, nor with laws. Racism has to be seen for what it is — a parasite on the back of nationalism, which is itself a disease of world capitalism. 

The Socialist Party deplore attacks of workers on each other, regardless of the colour of their skins. Workers should be aware that the only way to confront such attitudes is on the battlefield of ideas, not with clubs and boots. The fact that so many “left-wing” groups believe they should be banned is evidence that they have yet to come up with the arguments to discredit them. It does not say much for allegedly socialists to call upon the state to pass laws proscribing fascist activity. A ban on the thought-crimes will not eradicate racist sentiments. If they really had the interests of the working class at heart, they should be pointing the finger of blame at the real perpetrator of racism — the capitalist system.  Is it any wonder workers are hoodwinked into believing ethnic communities are the cause of their misfortune, and so must bear the brunt of their frustration. 

The task for the Socialist Party in their argument with racists is to convince them that workers have no nation and that there is more that unites the exploited members of the human race, all of whom have the same basic needs than can ever divide us culturally or historically. Racist ideas are a manifestation of capitalism in crisis, and will only be eradicated when the capitalist system itself is expunged — not through physical violence or laws, but by workers taking control of their own destiny, becoming conscious of their position in the relations of production and by democratically establishing a socialist society. It is worth saying also that only in a socialist society will it be possible for the first time for all people to develop freely towards satisfying and full lives. 

If workers want to end self-defeating competition, it is necessary that they s that racial antagonisms are a tactical measure of capitalism to prevent working-class unity. The capitalist class that controls and profits from the wealth produced by working people clearly benefits from racism because it enables employers to impose lower wages on minority workers and thus increases capitalist profits. Further, racist ideology among the working class divides it, weakening its ability to resist the austerity now being imposed by the ruling class. In fact, racism has in the past and will continue in the future, to pit worker against worker and to prevent them from taking collective action against capitalism. In this way, racism acts as a powerful force militating against working-class solidarity and is as such one of the main pillars of capitalism. Racism has been with us for centuries. Under capitalism, it has become a social institution. In implementing the austerity aimed at boosting profits at the expense of workers generally, the ruling class has not hesitated to fan the flames of racism. Capitalism has generated an atmosphere in which racist ideology and racist violence can grow and fester.  

Working class conscious of its political and economic potentials and of the means to achieve a liveable world for all can put an end to economic insecurity and the interracial distrust it breeds by putting an end to capitalism.  One thing is certain. So long as the destructive competitive spirit generated by capitalism continues to permeate every aspect of society, racism will not only prevail, in many respects, it will grow worse. For it is primarily a product of the conflicts generated among workers of all races as a result of the competition for jobs, housing, and social services, all of which are steadily falling further below the need and the demand. All workers have a stake in fighting racism. The lower wages paid minorities and high minority unemployment rates increase job competition and thus exert a downward pressure on all workers’ wages. As a result, capitalists reap every higher profits from the working class as a whole. The fight against racism must challenge the capitalist status quo that reinforces it. For example, under capitalism, there are a limited number of jobs. Accordingly, white workers tend to see gains for minorities as coming at white workers’ expense. At the same time, the disproportionate share of unemployment borne by minorities and the failure of the trade unions to fight on their behalf has left millions of jobless minority workers without access to the economic power they might otherwise have to defend themselves.

The Socialist Party has long pointed out that the fight against racism is an indispensable element in, and part of, the struggle for working-class emancipation. The capitalist class can be effectively challenged only by the economic and political strength of a united working class. If white workers are to free themselves from capitalist exploitation, they must contribute to the building of a labour movement that embraces the struggles of minority workers against racism.

A movement to defeat racism once and for all must seek to replace the racist social institutions, artificial economic scarcity and profit motive of capitalism with a collectively owned and democratically administered economy that produces on the basis of satisfying human need. This means building mass, workplace-based organizations that will struggle for socialism and rebuild society from the bottom up. Such democratically controlled economic organizations would enable workers to bring their collective economic power to bear in struggles against all forms of capitalist oppression and ultimately provide the working basis for a socialist society.

In the face of the upsurge in racism, workers must link the demand for an end to the more intense exploitation and oppression suffered by minorities to the class struggle for socialism. For the struggle against racism cannot be successful unless and until it is transformed into a force for building the working-class unity needed to end exploitation generally. 

Once again, there is a demand that the racist groups in this country should be legally banned. This demand comes mostly from what we can loosely call the left-wing.  Racist theories, with their vicious fallacies, are as active in the world as ever. Whatever ideas they may try to proscribe, will make no difference.  At the moment ignorance is in charge and racism rolls on.