The Fight For Democracy is The Fight for Mass Organization of Workers – YDSA Statement on Jan. 6 Capitol Riots
Released Jan. 7, 2021
Yesterday, thousands of white nationalists took to the nation’s Capitol in an attempted insurrection directed by the highest leaders of our government. The modicum of democracy left to us was threatened with a far right take over. This sedition demonstrates once again that white supremacy is embedded into our systems of power and as a result fascism is on the rise due to the failings of the neoliberal state.
Police opened the gates, welcomed the rioters with selfies, and laughed alongside them. This stands in stark contrast to the response towards the previous summer’s Black Lives Matter movement. We reaffirm our continued dedication to solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. In the coming weeks we will hear calls that police were simply not numerous enough, trained well enough, or well funded enough to deal with the rioters. We know the problem is the police. We know the problem is a capitalist system that upholds white supremacy at its core.
Joe Biden, in this moment, only continues his calls for civility and bipartisanship, as our communities are met with continued violence through the ever growing police state, white nationalism, and the COVID pandemic, all of which disproportionately fall on working class people of color. DSA electeds, on the other hand, took a vocal stand displaying leadership absent elsewhere with Rep. Cori Bush’s resolution for the expulsion of congressional members involved in promoting the riot and Rep. Ilhan Omar’s push for impeachment of Trump signed onto by all DSA electeds. YDSA wholeheartedly endorses Rep. Cori Bush’s resolution for the expulsion of congressional members who promoted the riot. YDSA also endorses Rep. Ilhan Omar’s push for the impeachment of Trump. We understand the urgency of combating fascism with all the tools of power available to us.
We build power through building mass organization of workers. Together, we have built the largest socialist movement in decades, but we have yet to organize the vast majority of the working class. If fascist forces seriously contest power, we need militant, democratic labor unions ready to utilize all the tools at their disposal to protect democracy. We must build more militant, democratic unions and that is why we are organizing Rank and File Schools nationally: to provide students and workers with the tools they need to organize as workers and build more democratic unions from the bottom-up.
We will continue to organize and build YDSA and power for the working class. Our national campaign around student debt cancellation is a necessary step towards decommodifying higher education and winning College for All. Our power to demand the simple stroke of pen onto the executive order comes from the 130 YDSA chapters, tens of thousands of DSA members, and millions of working class people waiting to be organized. In short, together, a better world is possible.