From Amadou to Tiger, it’s racism

There has never been a period in this country when racism did not permeate the entire society, whether up North or down South. Overt racism, however, had diminished to varying degrees in different areas of the country. The struggles of the civil rights era were instrumental in large part in bringing this about. These changes came through much sacrifice and the loss of many courageous fighters, predominantly but not exclusively people of color.

Amadou Diallo, left, with his younger brothers Ibrahim and Addoul Salam.

While the cops and courts and all the repressive branches of the state have constantly been a greater burden on the backs of Black, Brown and Native people, there have been periods when this repression was ratcheted up. The framing up of members of the Black Panther Party, the Young Lords and others through the FBI’s Cointelpro was such a time.

The reasons are different but we are experiencing another of those periods now. Nobody is surprised when police kill an unarmed Black person and don’t even face criminal charges. Recently in West Virginia a group of depraved white men and women held hostage and repeatedly sexually assaulted a young Black woman. They even forced her to eat feces, but there was no national outrage.

Many atrocities are remembered just by a name or a place, such as Amadou or Louima or Katrina or Jena.

Tiger Woods and father Earl Woods in 2006.

Another name is also part of the collective consciousness, but usually for a different reason—excellence. That name is Tiger.

On the Golf channel during a recent tournament, commentator Kelly Tilghman suggested that Woods be “lynched in a back alley” by young players because of his dominance in the sport. It was not until after Al Sharpton of the National Action Network threatened to picket the Golf channel that Tilghman was suspended for two weeks. In an online discussion about the incident, most of the respondents found more fault with Sharpton than they did with Tilghman. Some even went so far as to suggest that Black people are responsible for the perpetuation of racism because of our unwillingness to let this racism thing go and move on.

At the same time, in the same country, white supremacists have announced plans to march down the street carrying nooses in Jena, La., on Martin Luther King Day in reaction to the outpouring of support for the Jena Six last September. There is also a call to oppose this hateful action.

Of all the things that keep us divided, racism is still the greatest barrier to working class unity. The primary burden for the eradication of this disease rests on the shoulders of our white brothers and sisters. Progressive whites must address this problem in themselves, their families, at work and in all walks of daily life. Unity is needed to combat the predatory ruling class that is the true enemy of us all.

The problems that we face—lack of good-paying jobs, insufficient access to healthcare, etc.—are not caused by Blacks or immigrants or Arabs or any demographic other than the class that owns the means of production and directs the activities of the state. We must combat racism, sexism, homophobia, religious intolerance and all the ills of class society. Together let us all build a workers’ world.