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Vol. 80/No. 16 April 25, 2016
Why race-baiting weakens fight against cop brutality
BY KEVIN DWIRE
MINNEAPOLIS — How to advance the fight against police brutality, and the
threat that race-baiting poses, were an important part of a forum here
April 2.
Among the 20 people who came to hear Socialist Workers Party
presidential candidate Alyson Kennedy and SWP candidate for Congress
David Rosenfeld were several activists from the fight to prosecute the
cops for the November killing of Jamar Clark, an unarmed young Black
man. The district attorney announced March 30 he would not file charges
against the officers, sparking renewed protests.
Thandisizwe Jackson-Nisan said she disagreed with the position of some
protest leaders that Caucasians can’t participate in the fight as
equals. She said at a recent demonstration a high school student wasn’t
allowed to speak about organizing students “because they said he was
white.”
“The multinational character and participation in the protests is a
strength,” Rosenfeld said, pointing to the participation of Bill
Kirvelay in a demonstration March 26, where he spoke about the killing
of his brother Michael by the St. Paul police. The Kirvelays are
Caucasian. “That strength is totally undermined by denying those
considered to be white from speaking and participating in the leadership
of the protests against police brutality.”
Marty Knaeble, an airline worker who came with another airport worker
active in the fight for $15 and a union, commented, “Every worker who
wants a union is up against obstacles. It’s important to bring workers
from that fight to the Jamar Clark fight.”
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