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The Killing of George and the Fight Against Systemic Racism
The Tale of Three Demonstrations
On Saturday May 30,2020 the Progressive Labor Party,
Massachusetts Human Rights Commission, and others organized a protest of 200 people against the racist lynching of
George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and systemic racism that caused
their murder.
The speaker
for the Progressive Labor Party told or it long history of fight against police
terror and misconduct. In the 1990s it led the Justice for Cristino Hernandez
struggle. Mr. Hernandez was suffocated by two policemen who sat on him while he
was handcuffed. The PLP speaker told of the Blacklives Matter protests after
Michael Brown was killed in 2014.
The speaker from PLP said
that the system is rigged so that there will be racism, inequities, and
poverty, Multiracial unity of working people is a key to obtaining justice.
The speaker
from Massachusetts Human Rights spoke
about police accountability and the culture of systemic racism. The City of Worcester has no known way of
filing a discrimination complaint. The police data on complaints against police
officer is inadequate. The police in the school lend itself to the perception
that the students are “dangerous” or “thugs”.
Idempotent Socialist Group said that a workers' party is needed.
Idempotent Socialist Group said that a workers' party is needed.
The second
protest was on May 31, 2020 by Blacklives Matter. Possibly 500 people came out.
The speakers were young and spoke in general about the special adversities of
racism against people of color. The condemned the murder of George Floyd.
Instead of
multiracial unity based on the principle that racism hurts everyone, people of
color more than Whites, they spoke of “white privilege “. This thinking led to
the concept of allies among White people.
The logic of racism hurting White people too escaped their
thinking. Eventually the organizers
muddled thinking led them to befriend the police, instead of working to make
the police accountable.
The third protest
rally was organized by City Councillor and a group called Amplify Black Voices.
The speaker here either worked with government or were government. Each said
good things about fight racism, but it rang hollow as they were ingrained in
the systemic racist government in one way or another. None spoke of any
concrete changes.
After the rally
protesters marched up Main St. where they were confronted by the City police.
The police arrested 21 protesters. According to witness accounts the arrest
were unprovoked and unnecessary. It is ironic that just hours before the police chief said the Worcester police force was not part of the problem.
