from the National Committee of Solidarity
August 14, 2017
We express our deepest sympathy and solidarity with the brave protestors–including comrades in the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), and International Socialist Organization (ISO)–who fell victim to an act of white supremacist terror in Charlottesville, VA this weekend. We are heartbroken and angry to learn of the murder of Heather Heyer, and more determined than ever to continue fighting.
Anti-fascist counterdemonstrators gather in Charlottesville prior to the scheduled “Unite the Right” march. Photo by Joshua Roberts/Reuters.
While President Trump equivocates with statements about “violence on many sides” in Charlottesville, we stand unequivocally on the side of the anti-fascist activists who, refusing to allow the neo-Nazi demonstration to proceed unchallenged, outmobilized and outnumbered the white supremacists with their own mass counterdemonstration on the morning of August 12. We encourage comrades to join local actions in solidarity with the victims of Charlottesville and to seek opportunities to build or support local coalitions to resist the far right, both in the streets and in our community organizing.
As socialists, we believe that building a broad, diverse, mass movement against racism is key to defeating the far right. We cannot rely on the neoliberal center, and certainly not the police or other forces of “law and order” with their roots in centuries of white supremacist violence, to contain this threat. We need not only to outnumber the right, as we did in Charlottesville, but to be effectively prepared for community self-defense, and to organize a broad left around a program that offers a truly liberatory vision and centers the leadership of oppressed peoples.
In the short term, you can donate to Black Lives Matter – Charlottesville. We encourage comrades who are able to contribute.
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