After billions of dollars in campaign donations
and thousands of negative ads, the 2012 elections left the legislative and
executive branch virtually unchanged. The Obama campaign energized a coalition
of Blacks, unions, white women, and Latino’s. As a matter of fact, the day
after the election, several Latino groups stated explicitly that Obama owes his
second term to them and should pass comprehensive immigration reform. Unlike in
2008, Black people should not be pacified with the symbolism of a Black
president but must develop a set of tactics, strategies, and objectives to
improve their deteriorating condition, particularly in the arena of mass
incarceration.
In 1948, the US became a signature to the United
Nations Declarations of Human Rights. Similar to previous generations, this
document can be used to demonstrate the gross human rights violations against
US Blacks. For instance, the 13th amendment to the US constitution
states “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude except for crime whereof the
party has been duly convicted shall exist within the United States.” In short,
enslavement did not legally end in the US but was only regulated by the
government. Mass incarceration is slavery.
This runs counter to article 4 of the UN
Declaration which states “No
one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be
prohibited in all their forms.” This means that not only is the United States
Constitution in direct contradiction to the very notions of equality and
freedom it claims to represent but international law as well.
Due to neoliberal economic policies over the
past thirty years, prisons and other areas of social life have become
increasingly privatized. For example, in 2010 two private management prison
companies had a combined revenue of almost $3 billion. We should demand the
immediate transfer of private prisons into public hands. In addition, a ‘New’
New Deal, that includes a guaranteed job for ALL including the formerly incarcerated.
Specifically, we demand re-entry programs that provide a job and housing upon
release from prison.
An organization that should be studied to
achieve these objectives is the National Negro Congress. NNC was a united front
composed of fraternal and religious groups, civil rights, unions, etc. under
the leadership of the Black Left. In fact, the President and Executive
Secretary were Communists. The primary tactics used were mass demonstrations
and direct action. Their successes include the establishment of a civilian
review board for District police, dealing a death blow to debt peonage, and no
police murders of Blacks in DC during their high point of organizing against
police brutality in 1938-39.
The inherent limitations of this strategy are obvious:
ending neoliberalism does not end white supremacy or the economic system that
created it and the UN is to a large extent controlled by major Western powers.
But a critique of neoliberalism does provide space for a more thorough critique
of capitalism and a human rights paradigm gives US Blacks a common framework
and possibility for alliances with other oppressed people. In addition, this
strategy allows us to publicize our case at the international level. The time
of symbolism has ended and movement building has begun.
