– From the next issue of the
Partisan.
The not guilty verdict against
George Zimmerman has spurred massive protests and riots across America—or, more
appropriately, AmeriKKKa. The anger and sadness is not simply about a
skittles-carrying 15-year-old who had a sweet smile and loving family, but is a
response to the impunity that all cops and would-be cops are afforded when they
kill unarmed poor and racialized people.
Just as we remember Trayvon, we
remember Junior Manon, a young, unarmed black teenager in Toronto who was jumped
on by four cops, suffocated and beaten to death. We remember Eric Osawe, a
father of two who was shot and killed in an Etobicoke raid. We remember Neil
Stonechild, an Aboriginal youth who froze to death after police dropped him off
in a remote, rural area, wearing one shoe. In all cases, as with hundreds of
other similar cases, the police responsible were not convicted of
crimes.
The protests and outrage are a
response to the way some communities, like the gated community Trayvon was
walking through, are protected and secured against people who are seen as not
belonging, while other communities—brown, black, indigenous, poor—are raided,
brutalized by violent arrests and denied services. They are a response to the
unjust “justice system” of capitalism, one in which people who murder villagers
for protesting mines, poison the air and water, and steal the meager savings and
homes of poor people are almost always declared innocent. Meanwhile, those who
try to defend themselves against the daily oppression they face are almost
always declared guilty. It is a telling comparison that a black woman in Florida
was recently given 20 years for firing warning shots to stop her husband from
beating her. It is clear that the only ones who will be freed for “standing
[their] ground” are those who stand for the interests of patriarchy and the
wealthy.
It is important to remember that
it is not simply racism, but capitalism, that perpetuates such grave injustices
on a daily basis. Capitalism requires an impoverished class that will work for
pittances and will serve as scapegoat “criminals” to distract attention from
corporate and state crimes. One way the state stops this underclass, or
proletariat, from organizing is through policing and prisons. While this
underclass disproportionately includes people of colour, large sections of the
white population also make up this underclass (though they are often a slightly
more privileged section). Meanwhile, racialized people can benefit from
capitalism by aligning themselves with ruling class interests, as George
Zimmerman and Barack Obama have done.
Only by overthrowing a system
that values profits over people can we end the racism, patriarchy and classism
that tries to keep people in their place. Only by recognizing that the entire
system of capitalism is unjust can we truly work towards justice.
* *
*
Hoodies Up: Justice for
Trayvon
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