Congress stalls: It’s time for street heat

Communist Party USA

  Much depends on the outcome of the debate now raging in Washington on the infrastructure and $3.5 trillion economic and environment legislative packages. One thing is sure: whatever the result of current negotiations, the discussion would not even have been possible but for the mass anti-racist and ultimately anti-fascist democratic uprisings of 2020. The country owes a debt of gratitude to the tens of millions of African Americans, Latinos, Asians, and their white counterparts who after the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor marched from the streets to the ballot box in November to defeat Trump and his coup-plotting confederates. Anti-black along with anti-immigrant racism were at the center of the Trumpian counter revolt so vividly symbolized by the attempt to hoist the confederate flag atop the Capitol dome on January 6th. For this reason, what was true in 1865 remains even truer today: anti-racism remains at the center of resolving the crisis. But in what does “anti-racism” consist, and will the Biden-Harris administration find the will along with the material, moral, and political capital to meet the challenge? Answering this question is at the heart of the current Congressional wrangles between centrist and “left”-liberal factions in DC. In some respects, the atmosphere remains favorable. Today public sentiment for the freedom movement’s equality goals remains widespread, particularly among communities of color. “When asked about the Black Lives Matter movement, 83 percent of Black Americans surveyed espoused some level of support, with 58 percent saying they ‘strongly’ backed the cause. Overall support was slightly lower among Hispanic and Asian respondents — 60 percent and 68 percent, respectively.” Support among whites hovers at near half: “47 percent of white respondents said they either ‘strongly’ or ‘somewhat’ supported the resurgent movement.” Countrywide, majority approval of measures to address efforts at reining in racist policing apparently failed to convince right-wing opposition, as evidenced by last week’s collapse of Senate negotiations to enact barely minimal reforms. GOP opposition to the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, of course, extends to nearly the entire Democratic agenda, including raising the debt ceiling on bills accrued during Trump’s time in office. Politics cannot be left in the hands of politicians. Clearly, meaningful measures like Chicago’s recent creation of the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability will have to come from the ground up. By combining door-to-door grassroots organizing, street protests, and electoral activism, the Chicago movement led by groups like the National Alliance Against Racism and Political Repression was able to build a united front on issues with wide public support from unions, community, and religious groups. The lesson of the Chicago anti-police violence movement is that politics cannot be left in the hands of politicians — the people must take hold of and exercise power. Not surprisingly, consensus on goals remains elusive inside and outside the democratic camp among moderates, liberals, the left, and the sometimes hard-to-define independents. The compromise infrastructure proposal in the Senate, put forward by Mr. Manchin, removed several hundred billions of dollars’ worth of measures aimed at Black and Latino communities. “Measures . . .  to address historic inequities were cut as part of a bipartisan deal backed by the president — among them, a $20bn initiative to rectify the damage caused decades ago by highway construction in Black and Latino communities was reduced to just $1bn. The plan also scrapped a $400bn proposal to improve long-term care for older and disabled Americans. The program would have helped lift wages for care workers, who are predominantly women of color.” On top of this, efforts to pass voting rights remain stalled.…

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Congress stalls: It’s time for street heat