[cs_edworkers] What´s behind MORE´s disgraceful refusal to march with Garner family?
- From: Marjorie Stamberg <marjoriestamberg@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: UFTerstoStoptheWar <UFTerstoStoptheWar@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "marxist_study@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" <marxist_study@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Marjorie Stamberg <marjoriestamberg@xxxxxxxxx>, "cs_edworkers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <cs_edworkers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 21 Aug 2014 17:49:22 -0500
Building a so-called "opposition" caucus that deliberately avoids taking
positions on the crucial issues of race and class has brought MORE to this
debacle. Opposition? They are to the right of the UFT leadership here,
something that should make any leftists in MORE start thinking hard. In
their statement, they claim "neutrality" but actually do take a side --
with the cops against the black population of this city.
To further this discussion, here are comments from Class Struggle Education
Workers member Sandor John, on his Facebook page:
The UFT MORE Caucus calls for uniting with -- the PBA ! While the MORE
Caucus of the UFT is promoted and lionized by many on the "left,"
class-struggle activists have always characterized it as a case study in
opportunism. (Needless to say, this is derided as "sectarianism" by those
whose principle is "anything goes.")
Racist police repression is an elementary litmus test. Today people
throughout the U.S. are confronted with the basic, urgent need to take a
stand with African American targets of murderous racist repression and
military occupation. This is ABC for any decent unionist or opponent of
oppression. Yet MORE has put out the following unspeakable statement
(justifying its refusal to back the union's decision to march with Eric
Garner's family on Saturday) in which MORE literally states "we encourage
the leaderships of the UFT and PBA [Patrolmen's Benevolent Association], to
find ways to work together and unite us".
There is so much more in their statement that is absolutely grotesque. Read
it below
http://morecaucusnyc.org/2014/08/21/the-march-for-justice-and-unity/
This disgrace from a supposed oppositional union group backed by purported
leftists is the direct result of the policy of building caucuses on a
lowest-common-denominator basis that deliberately evades the key
class/race/political issues -- like the unions' subjugation to the
government party, real struggle against racial oppression, and how to free
the labor movement from domination by the politics, politicians and
institutions of the ruling class. After this statement from MORE, how could
anyone with a shred of consciousness (or conscience) remain in that group?
I would add one point:
American capitalism is built on a bedrock of racist oppression -- from
slavery to Jim Crow to segregated schools, and the school-to-prison
pipeline in NYC today. Trying to "dodge" this with a gazillion words about
"teacher priorities" is actually somewhat obscene. What are we as
educators if not advocates for our kids who are stopped and frisked in the
streets everyday, and sometimes shot.
Other related posts:
- » [cs_edworkers] What´s behind MORE´s disgraceful refusal to march with Garner family? - Marjorie Stamberg
