The Meaning of Trayvon Martin

In any assessment it is critical to examine the underlying process that gives rise to certain events, taking history into account. Any fascist movement in America has to proceed from the most violent elements of our national history. History shows that the content of a process constantly changes, but the form tends to remain the same. Historical context is necessary to assess the content of any process.

What we are seeing today is not simply racism. It is a racist form of fascist social development in the United States.

There is a difference between the lynchings of Blacks in 1932 and the murder of Black youth in 2012. In 1932 cotton was king. Cotton had to be picked with slave-like labor. The goal of the lynchings was to maintain slave-like conditions—to keep the Blacks subservient. In the previous period, white supremacy and the social privileges granted the white poor over the Black poor kept the people from uniting against their common oppressor.

Today, we are faced with a different situation. A new social group is forming. Regardless of color, they are being driven outside the capitalist economy. This new class is growing daily through the process of technological innovation. It is creating a hitherto breadth of equality of poverty that is the basis for real class unity, regardless of color.

Unity isn’t automatic, however. It is going to be a long and difficult process. It has to be fought for by conscious people. Today no section of people in America is in the same position as the Black poor. The whites are being pushed down, but it is also true that there is still a qualitative difference between their two situations. The result is what we saw in Florida with one minority “proving” himself by going out and killing a Black.

The fascist culture in America is easy to develop given the slaughter of the Indians, slavery, and the whole concept of a white man’s country. These forms have been here forever; the fascists inherit the form and put in their fascist content. In this regard, they have a tremendous advantage.

This points to the role of revolutionaries. Revolutionaries have to intervene. Revolutionaries point out the immorality of the situation. They get out the ideas that make history.

The Social Expressions of Fascism

On the rise today are the social expressions of fascism. A whole culture of fascist violence and hatred and disregard for human life is taking hold. It is prelude to the development of a real fascist movement.

Today 50.7 million Americans, or one in six, are without healthcare at a time when quality health care could be available for everyone. An estimated 50 million people struggled to put food on the table last year at time when mountains of food are produced. Growing numbers of Americans are going without other necessities such as water and heat in their homes at a time when there are no shortages of any necessity.

Fascism is coming about as part of an objective process, a result of the qualitative changes in the economy and the creation of permanent unemployment. The rulers need fascism to contain the coming upsurges of the masses. The goal of the rulers is the preservation of private property under some kind of new system.

The economic aspects of fascism are now in place, as evidenced by the merger of the State and the corporations. The political aspects of fascism are in place as seen in the passage of laws such as the National Defense Authorization Act. This allows the U.S. government to kill anyone labeled a “terrorist” and to jail a suspected “terrorist” without charges and without a trial. The corporate-baked Stand Your Ground Law is on the books in some 30 states. In Florida alone, this law has been responsible for the shooting of some 130 people since the law was passed in 2005. In 70% of these shootings the victim died. In most cases, the killer did not even face trial. There are also more and more laws being enacted that outlaw feeding of the hungry or that subject people to arrest for the mere act of protesting.

We are now seeing the development of social fascism. It is seen in the idea that if you don’t like someone because of what they say, or their color or just about anything, you can kill them and get away with it. It is seen in the massacre of women and children in Afghanistan, in the brutal murder of an Iraqi woman in California simply because she’s Iraqi, and in the increased killings, especially of Blacks, by the police nationwide. It is seen in the terror waged against immigrants under the guise that they are taking American jobs and services. It is seen in the brutal conditions in U.S. prisons, and in the denial of even the most basic needs to the poor. It is seen in the militarization of society, and in the growth of entertainment that glorifies violence, and in the effort to rally communities to vigilantism under the guise of “fighting drug wars.” It is seen in the cheapening of life symbolized by the recent struggle of a homeless mother who was jailed after trying to get medical care, and who died there, unattended, from a blood clot.

The real question is what kind of society do we want? One where an individual has no rights and the government and society has no economic or moral responsibility for the well being of its people, where a mother can die for the want of a simple procedure that she could not pay for? Or one where everyone’s needs are met and where everyone can live a peaceful and cultured life? How the American people answer this question and what they do will determine the fate of humanity.

In spite of worsening conditions, nothing can be accomplished until the American people hold a vision of where they want to go and what they want to be. Creating and imbuing them with such a vision is the overriding tasks of revolutionaries and the foundation of our organization, the League of Revolutionaries for a New America.