The “Not Guilty” verdict of George Zimmerman on 7-13-13, plus the ridiculous “theatre” that the ruling class just put on with the court case leading up to it, has put the contradictions of the US’s racist state on the limelight. Anger and confusion that was seen in the online social media world (i.e. Facebook, blogs, twitter) and in Black communities was translated into sizeable marches and rallies in many of the major cities. Hundreds, and in some cases, thousands, of youth, Blacks, Whites, and other people of color came out to protest in the streets[1]. No rebellions have happened like with the Oscar Grant trial rebellions in Oakland in 2010, but it is certain that a movement is starting that puts forward the unjust nature of the racist court system and the everyday racism and police brutality that Blacks and Brown people (particularly Black males) face.
The Zimmerman court trial showed that when a wannabe cop like George Zimmerman takes the law into his own hands, picks a fight with a Black teen who has done nothing wrong, and then proceeds to shoot and murder him, the capitalist court system will give him a pass of “Not Guilty”. Unfortunately, this is a common occurrence in the U.S. and the killings of Black men like Trayvon Martin, Kimani Gray, Oscar Grant, Alan Bluford and others in recent years (and going back to Emmett Till in the mid-20th century.[2] As if the institutional murder of Black men wasn’t enough, the racist police & court system likes to add salt to the wounds and leave the murderers get off innocent or with just a slap in the wrist[3].
This institutionalized racism has become the norm but the Zimmerman trial has brought forward mass anger & support against the case’s ruling – which is just another slap in the face that Blacks and other oppressed working peoples face. The capitalist state of the US has been using all of its resources in the time leading up to the Zimmerman verdict to remind Blacks and the oppressed that at the core of this capitalist state is a racism and oppression that allows Blacks and Brown people to be murdered for standing up for themselves. And they put on this theatrical court case to so they don’t forget their place in the racial hierarchy. The mass media TV stations, newspapers, & courts (i.e. the mostly white jury, prosecutors, etc.) were put out in full force so that most Americans were fed the ideas and conclusions that the ruling classes wanted people to absorb – the ruling class are the ones who decide who is guilty or not, and the rest of the working Blacks and exploited people can only watch.
We must show them that this racist, capitalist, sexist, oppression & imperialist system must go! They expect some of us to march and rally a day or two to let off our anger. They are confident that after we let off some “ steam“ things will return back to normal and people will again normalize the institutionalized murder and oppression of Blacks and other oppressed peoples. But we must fight against this likely scenario if we truly want to serve justice to Trayvon Martin and the Black and other oppressed peoples that were murdered by police and other Zimmermans.
This means we must build a mass movement to truly push back the racist capitalist court systems, their racist police, the racist budget cuts that have been affecting Blacks, women and other people of color the most, and all other institutionalized racism and exploitation that Blacks and working people face. We must build the a mass democratic and fighting movement in the streets and that organizes in in our workplaces, neighborhoods & campuses that seeks use the best weapon we have – our numbers as workers and oppressed and our ability to bring this system to a standstill. Blacks and other oppressed need to organize their communities, and workers and allies must work together with them and build the needed unity for our struggle to succeed. We need to build the conditions and mass consciousness to shut down our cities in order to show the ruling class that we won’t take their racist murders, laws & institutions anymore!
[1] NYC had one of the largest demos of around 10,000 and other major cities had thousands or hundreds (i.e. Oakland had around 1500).
[2] Fromhttp://mxgm.org/report-on-the-extrajudicial-killings-of-120-black-people/: “Since January 1, 2012, police and a much smaller number of security guards and self-appointed vigilantes have murdered at least 120 Black women and men” & “…in the first six months of this year, one Black person every 36 hours was executed.”
[3] The aforementioned Black men’s murderers have either not been taken to court, or have at most faced more less then year’s jail time (i.e. Oscar Grant’s murderer Johannes Mehserle)
