Wisconsin Communists: We demand justice for Jacob Blake!
The attempted police murder of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, cannot be tolerated! It highlights the culture of systemic racism that has pervaded the United States since even before its founding. The police once again tried to execute a Black man and instead triggered a series of events through their own brutal actions. Violence brings resistance: a person of power cannot shoot a man in the back seven times with their victim’s children present and expect a long-repressed community to be silent.
Jacob Blake now lies paralyzed from the waist down and may never walk again. The events that have spread since the officer’s shooting is the unfortunate price for callous brutality against human beings who seek justice and cannot find it. Reflecting on the destructive nature of the protests, Blake’s mother and father said, “Let’s use our hearts, our love and our intelligence to work together to show the rest of the world how humans are supposed to treat each other.”
Now racist provocateurs have fired on demonstrators and are escalating the violence. Kyle Rittenhouse, a 17-year-old “fan” of Blues Lives Matter, is suspected of shooting three protesters, killing two. Before the shooting, police conversed with a group of vigilantes, asking them not to aim their guns at the protesters. However, the driver of an armored truck shared bottles of water with them and said, “We really appreciate you guys.”
Wisconsin is considered one of the most segregated states in the Union. Madison and Milwaukee have both been criticized for their poor schools for Black children, and lack of meaningful employment for Black citizens of those cities. The culture of racism is real and unanswered in our state, and the shots fired in Kenosha were heard not only in Wisconsin but also around the world. Demonstrators are demanding defunding the police, funding schools of color, jobs, health care, and a program by Wisconsin and its cities to desegregate communities.
Clearly, ongoing racist police violence and murder can only be addressed by community control of the police by elected, not appointed bodies.
The movement that began with the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor is far from over. It will not die down or be crushed. Organized resistance and fightback by the working-class masses will continue. Our labor unions, churches, synagogues, mosques, and community organizations must take a stand! All people of good will must make their voices heard. Our sisters and brothers will not die in vain.
Trump’s race baiting and red baiting will be answered by massive protest in every possible way and at the ballot box.
Justice for Jacob Blake! Justice for Black America! Black Lives Matter!