06) THE POISON OF WHITE SUPREMACY

People's Voice Editorial

     The massacre of six people at a Wisconsin Sikh temple by an active white supremacist is a sobering reminder that racism remains a deadly poison in the 21st century. Despite claims that we have moved into a "post-racial" era, both individual and systemic racism are deeply embedded in our "civilized" society. While governments spend billions of dollars on security and surveillance to track critics of pro-corporate policies, violent fascist and anti-immigrant movements openly attack members of racialized communities and anti-racist activists (and sometimes even their fellow neo-nazis!) with virtual impunity. The Wisconsin killer was a former U.S. soldier, proving again that NATO's armed forces are a hotbed of virulent racism.

     And the problem goes much deeper. Both Canada and the U.S. emerged through the seizure of indigenous lands and the genocidal treatment of First Nations right up to the present, openly justified by the racist ideology of the supposedly "more advanced" European colonizers. Canada became a major capitalist power through the exploitation of millions of immigrants. Not much has changed, as seen by the Harper Tories' campaign to demonize "undesirable" migrants such as Roma refugees, while expanding temporary foreign worker programs which turn migrants into second-class people with lower wages and few legal rights.

     This trend is likely to continue as the global capitalist economic crisis gets worse. Scapegoating is a perennial ruling class tactic to divide workers' collective resistance against pay cuts and attacks on social programs and labour rights. The left and progressive movements must respond by stepping up our anti-racist struggles, against both the violent neo-fascists, and the Harper Tories who put the official government stamp of approval on institutional, systemic racism.

(The above article is from the September 1-15, 2012, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)