The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1929-01-08
White Chauvinism

muniSt) Party In regard 10 WIlIIe CuduFlA-
ism" in the Party and especially the corrup-
ton of certain sections of the Party IN the
southern states with this disease.
"White chauvinism" is a corruption OF the
minds of white workers with an attitude OF
racial Superiority" toward Negroes. This
attitude is of course not based upon any
justification in science, reason or fact. From
the scientific point of view it is stupid and
untrue The historical sources of this cor
ruption are easily understood In the past,
the source is slavery. In the present, the
source of this attitude is the system OF double
exploitation of Negro in this country and the
double exploitation of colonial and seml-col-
onial peoples-the system of imperlallst capl-
talism Equally it involves the corruption OF
white tabor aristocracy" of the imperial
list countries, where the whole culture of
powerful capitalist societies is bent to service
in saturating the minds of entire white
populations with the idea of their own racial
Superiority and the racial "inferiority' OF,
say the Mexican or other Latin American
workers and peasants (as "GreasersD, the
Chinese workers and peasants (as China
men') of Filipinos Gas "Bolos") and of Neg
roes, whom the multimillonaire trust-mag-
mates wish to exploit with an even heavier
hand than that with which they exploit the
average of workers at home In order to cor
rupt the dumb white worker of this country
so that he will agree to the murder of thous-
ands of Nicaraguans, Mexicans and Chinese
for the benefit of the American ruling class,
it is one of the prime necessities of United
States capitalism to maintain whole system
of lies and a whole code of "Jim Crow" laws,
white superiority" and the "inferiority" of
darker races"
1t is literally true that one of the basic
needs for sustaining the criminal capitalist
system in this country is to keep the masses
of white workers poisoned with the filthy
corruption of mind which makes them re-
gard the Negro race as inferior" Lynching
will never be abolished by the American CAPT
talist class, because lynching is a necessary
part of the Jim Grow system of practice and
theology, which keeps the ranks of the toiling
masses divided, enabling exploiters to enslave
the Negro masses at longer hours and lower
pay using the white workers racial chauvin-
ism to keep the Negro workers out of the
trade unions, and using either race at will
in breaking actual or potential strikes of the
other.
The Sixth World Congress of the Commu-
mist International very correctly said:
"One of the most important tasks of the
Communist Party consists in the struggle for
complete and real equality of the Negroes,
for the abolition of all kinds of social and
political inequalities. 1t is the duty of the
Communist Party to carry the most
getic struggle against any exhibition of white
chauvinism, to organize active resistance to
lynching - etc.
The Workers (Communist) Party in it's
recent national election campaign for the
first time penetrated with the red banner of
prOletarian revolution into the southern
states. This penetration of the south was an
action of greatest historical Importance. 1t
begins a process that will continue until the
million-fold masses of toiling Negroes Of the
southern states and the proletarian Negro
masses of the northern cities alike, are mar
shalled as mighty army against the MUIR
derous, lynching, stake-burning, jinl-crow
capitalist system.
Of course no party can do this-no party
can "stir up" the Negro masses and strug-
gle for their social equality-except party
which faces the implications of this complete
social overturn. That MEANS of course, only
the party of social revolution, the party
fighting for the rule of the exploited masses,
the working class-over the exploiters Of
course no mere reformist party could face
these implications; the socialist party must
necessarily be on the other side of the fight;
only the revolutionary Workers (Commu-
nist) Party engages in this ''indiscreet'
work.
But in the penetration of the south, our
Party absorbed into its ranks some members,
often of the petty-bourgeois class, that are
distinctly poisoned with the capitalist white
supremacy" culture which is even more viru-
lent in the south than in the north. These
particular members are not the only men,