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.
Comments
2 responses to “Statement in Solidarity with Activists and Victims in Charlottesville”
Stop Racist Violence!
Solidarity with the Anti-Racist Protestors in Charlottesville
The deadly violence unleashed on anti- racist protestors during a rally in Charlottesville, Virginia on Saturday, August 12 represents an alarming escalation of far right, Klan and Nazi violence and demands the most vigorous response.
This evening’s memorial to the killed and injured is an excellent step in that direction. As we remember our fallen comrade, Heather Heyer we recall the words of martyred IWW militant Joe Hill before his murder by the state of Utah on trumped up charges in 1915: Don’t Mourn, Organize. Tonight we do both.
Milwaukee Solidarity stands in solidarity with the IWW comrade killed and the scores of injured, including members of DSA and the ISO. Their sacrifice in the struggle against racist violence and white supremacy reminds us of the key role that socialists and revolutionaries play in the struggle against racism and for a better world.
The violent, far right forces that assembled in Charlottesville to protest the removal of monuments glorifying confederate heroes have been emboldened by the rhetoric of billionaire President Trump. Following the massacre Trump denounced the “bigotry of many, many sides.” Drawing an equal’s sign between racists and anti-racists is intended to draw attention away from, and sanitize far right violence while smearing left-wing anti-racist forces as their moral equivalents. Trump’s statement is also designed to obscure the ways that his rhetoric and that of members of his neo-liberal , capitalist government including white men close to the alt-right, and an attorney general who has worked hard to disenfranchise Black voters, has emboldened the open expression of vicious racist and anti-immigrant sentiment. The Democratic mayor of Charlottesville denounced the alt-right Nazis and Trump’s comments. However, his police were ineffective in protecting the anti-racist protestors. We must demand protection for our right to protest but at the same time, we should have no illusions in the government of the 1%. We must be prepared to rely on ourselves to assure our right to protest safely.
The massacre in Charlottesville was an attack on all people of color, immigrants, and working people of all races, and demands the widest and most vigorous response. To be most effective, the struggle against racist violence should involve the broadest ant-racist, united front. Here in Milwaukee, we have the opportunity to build on the coalition formed in response to the police murder of Dontre Hamilton on April 30, 2015 and draw thousands of people of color and working people into the struggle.
Stop Racist Violence! Demand Adequate Protection for Anti-Racist Protestors!
Contact Milwaukee Solidarity at: wcbreihan@aol.com. http://www.solidarity-us.org/ and on face book
Here is link to Milwaukee Solidarity Charlottesville Leaflet:
http://www.solidarity-us.org/files/Milwaukee%20Solidarity%20leaflet%20Charlottesville.docx