Defunding the Police Means Transforming Our Society

In honor of Juneteenth today, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) is shutting down every port on the West Coast today, refusing to process cargo. From its inception in the 1930s, the ILWU has always refused the false distinction between anti-racist struggles and class struggles, as if anti-racist struggles aren’t central to the project of working class formation. Indeed, at the time of its founding, the ILWU was one of the few unions that actively attempted to desegregate the labor force. When it split from the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) in 1937, one of the key points of contention was the question of anti-racism as an organizing strategy. The ILA had formally desegregated, but it retained a race-blind “universalist” politics, technically opening its ranks to anyone, but doing little to actually recruit Black workers. By contrast, the ILWU actively waged anti-racist struggles, building its Black membership and truly living up to the slogan, “An injury to one is an injury to all!”

For three quarters of a century, the ILWU has continued this tradition, refusing cargo from apartheid South Africa for three decades, organizing port shutdowns in defense of Mumia Abu-Jamal, against the imperialist war in Iraq, against racist police violence after the murder of Oscar Grant, in solidarity with Occupy Oakland, and now, today, in solidarity with all of those revolting against the white supremacist institution that we call “the police.”

In tandem with this labor action, a mass march will be held in Oakland today. Featured speakers include Angela Davis, Boots Riley, Oscar Grant’s Uncle Bobby, and the president of ILWU Local 10, as well as a number of longtime organizers in Oakland. Among these speakers is Gerald Smith, an erstwhile Black Panther and longtime organizer in Oakland. As Gerald told us on the phone last night, “Anti-racist struggle is the bread and butter of class struggle. It’s no coincidence that Black militancy often initiates wider class struggles. If the point is for everyone to get free, of course we start with the most oppressed section of the working class. That should be basic. That’s why tomorrow’s struggle is so important for the working class. That’s why the struggle against police brutality is so important for the working class. Anti-racist struggle is class struggle!”

Below, in honor of today’s shutdown and Juneteenth, we present the text of Gerald’s speech at today’s rally.