Revolutionary Worker #904, May 1, 1997, International Workers Day
1992. THE L.A. REBELLION--OPPRESSED PEOPLE RIGHTEOUSLY RISE UP, SENDING SHOCKWAVES THROUGHOUT THE USA, AND WORLDWIDE.
It's been 5 years since the system tried to get away with saying "Not Guilty--Job Well Done" to the cops who were caught, before the whole world, brutalizing Rodney King. They thought they could shove that verdict down our throats--and that we would just have to take it.
They were wrong--they did not get away with it.
What they got was the most powerful rebellion in the U.S. in many, many years.
A rebellion that, for a few sweet days, raged beyond the control of the powers-that-be. A rebellion that lit up, for all the world to see, the oppressive nature of this capitalist system and the brutalizing nature of its police. A rebellion where those of us who are exploited, insulted, slandered and scorned under this system showed that we can forge unity in our own ranks and win support broadly in society when we rise up with right on our side. A rebellion that, in the midst of yet another presidential election farce, pushed the bullshit bourgeois politics of the ruling class to the background for a while and brought to the forefront the conditions of the oppressed and our refusal to put up with these conditions.
Here was the imperialist ruling class, full of arrogant swagger because they had slaughtered tens of thousands of people in Iraq, and our rebellion knocked a lot of that swagger out of them.
THIS REBELLION BROUGHT IN A NEW DAY. It brought big changes in the "political landscape," with great effect on all parts of society. It represented a new breakthrough for the oppressed in fighting the system and breaking out of the trap of fighting and killing each other.
For a while there, we had some room to breathe! We could lift our heads from the daily grind and degradation. There was a spirit of collective boldness, and triumph, and determination. We all felt it, and it felt so good! And for a while at least, the world of dog eat dog and "show me the money" was not the order of the day. We were going for something very different--something much better. This is what happens when the people rise up, even when it's not yet all the way. And we have to extend this and build on it--take it further--take it all the way.
THIS REBELLION SHOWED THE TREMENDOUS STRENGTH OF THE OPPRESSED PEOPLE RISING UP AGAINST OPPRESSION. IT SHOWED OUR POTENTIAL TO MAKE REVOLUTION TO GET RID OF THIS WHOLE SYSTEM OF OPPRESSION.
BUT IT WAS ALSO ONLY A BEGINNING.
NOW IT'S 1997. THE SYSTEM IS STILL IN EFFECT. AND IT HAS COME BACK WITH MORE OPPRESSION AND BRUTALITY.
Of course, the ruling class did not just take this lying down. They regrouped and have exercised their dictatorial power even more forcefully and viciously. They have given us more of what they were already giving us--more police brutality and murder, more police-state repression and more prisons, more discrimination and racism, more attacks on immigrants, more attempts to drive the poor further into poverty, more oppression and degradation of women, more frustration and anxiety about the future and the prospects for the next generation. And more divide and conquer--more schemes and manipulation to get those of us on the bottom fighting each other, to blame us for the problems in society, to turn the middle class against us.
They have done this because this is their nature--and the nature of their system. A vampire-like system, which literally feeds off the blood and flesh of billions of people, worldwide. A system where a small handful of exploiters and oppressors must try to dominate the world and are locked in fierce competition with each other globally.
THEY ARE DOING WHAT THEY ARE DOING NOT ONLY BECAUSE THEY ARE VICIOUS, BUT ALSO BECAUSE THEY ARE VULNERABLE. Their system is in a lot of turmoil, and they're having a hard time holding it all together. Even many people in the "middle class" are being put through a lot of changes. Yes, this system still has a lot of strength, and the ruling class still has real power. But the ground is shaky beneath them--economically, socially, and politically.
WHAT DOES ALL THIS SHOW? IT SHOWS THAT REVOLUTION IS NECESSARY--THAT NOTHING LESS THAN REVOLUTION CAN SOLVE THE PROBLEM--AND IT SHOWS THAT REVOLUTION IS POSSIBLE.
TODAY, MORE AND MORE, AMONG THE OPPRESSED PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY AMONG THE YOUNGER GENERATION, YOU HEAR IT SAID: "THEY WILL NEVER CHANGE. THEY WILL NEVER STOP DOING WHAT THEY ARE DOING--IT ONLY GETS WORSE. IF THEY WANT WAR, LET'S GIVE THEM WAR!"
LET'S DO IT TO WIN--AND LET'S BE CLEAR ON WHAT WINNING MEANS. LET'S DO IT TO MAKE REVOLUTION--TO END OPPRESSION AND EXPLOITATION. Let's get clear on who "they" are--and who we are--who is the real enemy and who are the driving forces for revolution and the potential friends and allies of this revolution, and how we go about uniting all who can be united against the real enemy.
LET'S DO IT WHEN THE TIME IS RIPE--WHEN THE SITUATION IS MOST FAVORABLE FOR REVOLUTION. When the system is deeper in crisis and is rocked by greater upheaval, and those who rule over us are more sharply at each other's throats. When the "stability" and the "cohesion" of this system is beginning to really come undone and the ruling structures and institutions are beginning to crack and splinter. When the authority and the "right to rule" of the ruling class is being seriously challenged on all sides. When we get to the point where even their attempts to use their military might to squash our resistance can be answered with greater resistance, and with bigger exposure of their murderous nature, rallying broader sections of society to our cause. When millions of people are willing and ready to put everything on the line to be rid of this system and all its misery, torment, and brutality.
LET'S GET PREPARED FOR THIS. WHENEVER THIS TIME COMES--AND IT WILL COME--WE MUST BE READY. WE HAVE WORK TO DO TO GET READY. AND THE WORK WE DO CAN MAKE THIS TIME COME SOONER. Let's build our resistance against the oppression and brutality of the system and its enforcers. Already resistance is on the rise against the different ways the system is coming down on the people--let's strengthen this resistance and build unity between the people fighting back on various fronts. Let's develop and spread revolutionary consciousness and build revolutionary organization, more and more broadly and deeply among the people--organized strength that the enemy cannot fundamentally disrupt or destroy--with our firmest foundation among those of us who are held down on the bottom of this society, who are treated like slaves, and who really have nothing to lose but our chains. They say we are "nobodies," that we are "animals"; but we are the revolutionary class, of all races and nationalities--we are the proletariat--we represent the future and a far better world for humanity, and we can rally broad ranks of society to take part in, or at least to support or side with, our revolutionary cause.
LET'S DO THIS WITH THE PHILOSOPHY, STRATEGY, PROGRAM, PLAN, LEADERSHIP AND ORGANIZATION THAT CAN SHOW US HOW TO WIN, AND LEAD US TO WIN, IN THE FULLEST SENSE.
LET'S DO THIS IN UNITY WITH OUR CLASS AND WITH ALL OPPRESSED PEOPLE, ALL OVER THE WORLD, WHO ARE WAGING REVOLUTIONARY STRUGGLES AND REVOLUTIONARY WARS AGAINST THE SAME SYSTEM--LET'S DO IT AS PART OF THE WORLD PROLETARIAN REVOLUTION.
THIS IS THE ONLY WAY IT CAN BE DONE--AND IN THIS WAY WE THIS IS WHAT OUR PARTY, THE RCP, REPRESENTS.
ON THIS MAY FIRST--ON THIS HOLIDAY OF THE INTERNATIONAL PROLETARIAN CLASS, THIS WORLDWIDE FESTIVAL OF THE OPPRESSED RISING UP TO PUT AN END TO OPPRESSION--OUR PARTY MAKES A CLEAR AND SOLEMN DECLARATION: WE ARE DOWN FOR THIS. WE KNOW WHAT WILL BE NECESSARY TO DO THIS--BUT WE ALSO UNDERSTAND HOW IT CAN BE DONE--AND WE ARE DETERMINED TO DO IT. WE WILL BRING FORWARD MORE AND MORE OF OUR CLASS TO TAKE UP REVOLUTION, AND WE WILL WIN MORE AND MORE ALLIES FOR OUR REVOLUTIONARY CAUSE. WE WILL NOT STOP SHORT, AND WE WILL NOT BE TURNED BACK. WE MEAN WHAT WE SAY, AND WE INTEND TO FOLLOW THROUGH ON IT, IN THE FACE OF EVERY DIFFICULTY THAT MUST BE OVERCOME AND EVERY SACRIFICE THAT MUST BE MADE. THIS IS NOT THE "EASY" ROAD--BUT IT IS THE ONLY ROAD TO REAL LIBERATION AND A TRULY BRIGHT FUTURE.
AND ON THIS MAY FIRST, OUR PARTY ISSUES A CALL--TO ALL THOSE WHO ARE SICK TO DEATH OF THIS SYSTEM, ALL THOSE WHO REFUSE TO ACCEPT THAT THIS PEOPLE-DESTROYING SYSTEM IS "THE BEST OF ALL POSSIBLE WORLDS," ALL THOSE WHO ARE SEARCHING FOR A BETTER WAY AND LONG FOR A BETTER WORLD: GET DOWN WITH THE PARTY, BECOME A PART OF THE REVOLUTIONARY CAUSE THE PARTY REPRESENTS, JOIN THE RANKS OF THOSE, ALL OVER THE WORLD, WHO ARE SEEING THAT THERE CAN BE A BETTER WAY AND A BETTER WORLD AND ARE FIGHTING TO MAKE THAT A REALITY.
THE CHANCE TO MAKE REVOLUTION IN A COUNTRY LIKE THE USA, GOING DIRECTLY UP AGAINST THE POWERFUL ENEMY WE FACE, DOES NOT COME VERY OFTEN--IT IS A RARE AND PRECIOUS THING. WE MUST BE DETERMINED NOT TO LOSE, NOT TO THROW AWAY, THAT CHANCE, WHEN IT DOES COME.
LET'S GET READY FOR REVOLUTION AND DO OUR PART TO ADVANCE THIS REVOLUTION WORLDWIDE.
This article is posted in English and Spanish on Revolutionary Worker Online
Chairman of the Central Committee of the RCP, USA
Spring 1997
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