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The Democratic Party, Like the Republicans, Is the Party of Wall Street and the War-Mongers and Cannot Be Reformed

IT IS DANGEROUS TO CONTINUE THE DECEPTION OF THE PEOPLE

The Clintons, VIP guests at Trump’s VIP wedding

By Gavrielle Gemma

Since its founding, the Democratic Party has represented slaveholders and later a substantial section of the capitalist ruling class. There are, on occasion, divisions among the capitalists, but only on how to prevent the rise of class consciousness and maintain the exploitation of labor, imperialist domination, white supremacy, not to end it.

Friedrich Engels, the collaborator with Karl Marx, wrote many years ago that in fact, the appearance of liberal, bourgeois democracy was best suited to capitalism. While relentlessly pursuing the same goal of profit at any cost, it disguised its ends better and deceived and pacified the people more.

The nomination of Hillary Clinton disgusted a vast section of especially young activists who opposed the militarist, oil company and banking candidate and who had come to realize that the Democratic Party was not a party of the workers or the people, but controlled totally by and for the 1%, the same 1% that controls the Republicans.

Millions of workers and youth were ready to leave the Democratic Party. They were inspired by just the mention of the word socialism by Bernie Sanders, even though he was a Democratic Party candidate. But Sanders, despite Democratic Party corruption preventing his nomination, heartily endorsed the rotten Hillary Clinton. Supporters had fervently hoped if not nominated, he would run as an independent. We cannot forget this undemocratic decision and capitulation to the very forces he was condemning.

Even the possibility of a long overdue break with the parties of capitalism scared the establishment, and they went into overdrive to hammer in a message that only the Democrat Party candidates could save us from Trumpism.

Trump arose out of the crisis of capitalists who felt their empire and profits were crumbling. They wanted to quickly pursue an assault on the workers, as well as accelerate the theft of the budget to be turned over to the war profiteers and banks as their solution.

The Democratic Party aided this by building up the military and supporting, eagerly, genocidal wars for profits. After all, both parties serve the same masters. The Democratic Party method is to pursue the same aim but more gradually, and they have gone along with cuts to social programs over the decades. They have deported millions of immigrants, initiated policies of mass incarceration and impoverishment, especially of women. They have supported continuous imperialist war and carried out fascist coups in the Ukraine and Honduras. Meanwhile, not one single meaningful measure enacted against the lowering of wages and insecurity of the working class was undertaken. Resorting to imperialist war, coups, and sabotage flows from the capitalist need to exploit labor, expand markets, get cheap labor and resources through domination of other countries. Are these the forces that will Fight the Right?

It was exactly Democratic Party deeds that paved the way for the ruling class to take a chance on a more openly reactionary president who could drive the capitalist engine of destruction of the world’s working class at a faster, unfettered pace.

That Sanders’ program is not revolutionary, and that he himself has often gone along with imperialism is undisputed. But it is the movement that exploded that was so important. However, both the “establishment” Democrats and the “left” Democrats immediately began to perpetuate the deception that the reason for the hated Trump regime is all due to bad people getting in, and if only we elect “good” people everything will be fine. This is not only historically false, but dangerous. Some younger activists have been led to believe that all things bad began with Trump. If only we could go back to the Obama years, all would be well. The result is the social democrats are actively herding people back into the Democratic Party rather than out of it.

It’s certainly a good sign that voters pick a democratic socialist, a liberal, over a white nationalist, but nothing more. That should be a signal that these voters are ready to organize, not to wait for a new congress to be the savior. Progressives can all recognize the extreme white nationalism, anti-worker assaults and dictator-of-the-world desires of Trump’s program. We are all supposed to fight the right. But awakening forces are told to ally with fascist FBI directors and generals—indeed anyone who criticizes Trump. Will that really hold off the right? That has been attempted often in history with disastrous consequences.

In Chile in 1974, Salvador Allende, a socialist, was elected president. The U.S. and Chilean oligarchy teamed up to sabotage the economy and arm and train the generals. Allende tried to ally with the liberal capitalist class forces of Chile, rather than arming the masses for the inevitable fight to come. The result was that Allende was murdered and the U.S. installed a 30-year brutal dictatorship, murdering thousands and impoverishing more.

Another dire example in history was in Germany. Again, rather than arm the masses to fight fascism, a popular front with bourgeois elements was proposed which led to disaster. Of course, neither the Democrats or Republicans opposed Hitler while he was staving off revolution and threatening the Soviet Union. The U.S. only entered the war to make sure the U.S. ruling class got its share of colonies and influence after the Soviet Union had basically defeated the Nazis at a cost of 30 million people.

The first and greatest danger to the workers and oppressed is to deceive the people by lending support to catastrophic imperialist lies. The U.S. /NATO bloc has encircled Russia with nuclear bases and warships while installing a neo-Nazi government on its border. In an anything-that-attacks-Trump-is-good stance, Democrats focus on Russian election hacking and turning FBI despots into heroes. Some sections of the capitalist ruling class just want to do business with Russia; others want to colonize Russia and steal its vast resources. The capitalist class succeeded, cheered on by both capitalist parties in turning Eastern Europe into a U.S./NATO Colony, with U.S.-supported ultra-right-wing regimes. Both sectors of the capitalist class have nothing but evil intentions.

The danger in all this, and the danger in deceiving the workers, is that another major imperialist war may erupt, a war in which workers have no stake. The first things progressives must do is debunk U.S. propaganda and explain that the U.S. goes to war only for domination of markets, cheap labor and resources to gain profit at any cost. No U.S. intervention ever brings democracy or prosperity – only death, destruction, repression and poverty.

Nor does it bring security and prosperity at home.

Winning a seat in the capitalist government can be helpful if used to educate and organize the people as progressive change always follow mass struggle, not the other way around. But how can we move the workers past capitalist lies if social democrats collude in perpetuating them. The newly elected DSA member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez set a terrible example by praising John McCain. McCain, from a military officer family, was a war criminal who bombed Vietnam mercilessly, promoted the invasion of Iraq and was a conservative and racist. An anti-war activist shockingly told me Ocasio-Cortez had no choice. If she didn’t join the chorus of flag wavers, she would be scorned in Congress. If political leaders only want to join the club and are afraid to risk their respectability, there will be no progress.

SUPPORT OF THE MILITARY GAVE RISE TO TRUMP
Moving from a civilian to military based economy strengthens the ultra-reactionary forces and makes them and the banks more dominant in politics. So the consistent Democratic Party support for imperialism and the military under Obama and before helped give rise to Trump.

Trying to separate the rise of a reactionary politician from developments in the capitalist economy leads nowhere. Hitler was supported by the world’s capitalist classes because they felt it was either fascism or revolution. Without their support, he would not have risen to power.

ANTI-IMMIGRANT POLICIES RAMPANT BEFORE TRUMP
During his term Obama was dubbed “Deporter-in-Chief”. But let’s go to the underlaying cause of the desperate migration of workers. It was under Bill Clinton that the NAFTA trade deal was signed displacing millions of Mexican peasants and workers and laying off workers here. Clinton said then “NAFTA means jobs.” But the Democratic Party is equally complicit in the wars and economic strangulation of other countries that have led to the global refugee crisis. To ignore this is to be complicit in deepening the crisis.

CARTER WROTE THE PATCO UNION BUSTING PLAN, REAGAN CARRIED IT OUT

UNIONS NEED TO STOP COLLABORATING WITH BOSSES, DEMOCRATIC OR REPUBLICAN PARTIES

Usually when you give money you expect something back from it. But unions continue to give millions of dollars, mostly to the Democrats who have given nothing back. The idea that progress can be made by collaborating with the bosses rather than fighting them is a tragic lie. Of course, the top echelons of labor have made out nicely. In the 1980’s, capitalists began a massive technological revolution using funds amassed through the labor of workers. But far from benefitting workers, they used these advances to lay off millions of workers in union industries, set up shops overseas, and wages have been sinking ever since.

The Democratic Party went along with it all. They made not one sincere attempt to even moderate the effects of the capitalist technological revolution. Similarly, while banks got $12 trillion in bailouts in 2008, not one meaningful measure was raised to bail out the people.

REFORM OR REVOLUTION
The liberals and non-profit professionals like to say that we revolutionary socialists are only about theory and not for improving conditions under capitalism. This lie serves them well. Communists have been among the most ardent fighters for equal rights, union rights and social programs by organizing mass movements. Once these gains are established, non-profits move in and make careers and salaries while weakening the hard fought victories.

But we are not only about reform because everything won can be taken away. Every day, 25,000 children in the world die from treatable, preventable disease inflicted upon them by capitalism. There is enough food to feed the world were it not in private capitalist hands. The planet must be saved from the capitalists who only see profits at any cost. We must stop the mass murder of millions by U.S. imperialist war. We can return to the workers here the product of their labor.

This can only happen by awakening the class-consciousness of the workers and oppressed, not only to fight now, but also to fight to overturn the entire rotten system and bring in genuine socialism and a peaceful prosperous world for all. To advance this we need to openly break with the capitalist Democratic Party and advance independent mass political organizations, including building a labor party of the working class and the oppressed.

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Mississippi Casino Workers Win Union Contract

Unite Here! members from Beau Rivage and IP Casinos complete Shop Steward training on August 27, Biloxi, MS

At the beginning of September, the workers at the Beau Rivage Casino (owned by MGM Resorts International) voted to form a union. That makes the Beau Rivage the third casino on the Gulf Coast to unionize. Over 1,000 workers at the Beau Rivage are included in the union. They are represented by the MGM Gaming Workers Council, which is comprised of Unite Here Local 23, International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 891, and International Union of Operating Engineers Local 406.

Under the union contract, workers will see a pay increase—in fact the highest across-the-board pay increase that Unite Here! has managed to win for any group of workers on the Gulf Coast. But the pay increase is only part of the win. Workers at the casino now have the option to join the union health insurance plan at a lower rate.

They are also no longer isolated individuals, fireable at will; they are part of a collective bargaining arrangement. That means that whatever issues they have with the owners or management in the future, the have the backing of their other co-workers and the rest of the union. Other MGM workers are already unionized in Las Vegas, Tunica, and New Orleans.

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Disney Workers United Win Big!

For months, Disney World workers struggled to get a new union contract. This fight has taken over nine months, with workers taking to the streets and marching outside key locations such as the Disney Springs shopping complex near Orlando. Participants in these actions included everyone from cast members to custodians at Disney’s Florida establishments. The hard work has now paid off, however, with a new contract.

The contract has been negotiated by the Service Trades Council Union, which is comprised of six unions, and represents 38,000 workers. With the four-year contract, starting pay will go from $10 and hour to $15 an hour by 2021. The contract is the result of the unions sticking to their guns. Back in May, Disney offered to implement $15 an hour starting pay, with the caveat that they would cut protections and benefits. The unions refused the deal, and now the workers have gotten the raise they demanded without losing any key benefits or protections. The unionized workers will also be getting a $1,000 bonus that Disney had previously withheld during negotiation

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UPS Workers Fighting for Contract

The current round of UPS contract negotiations has not yet come to a conclusion. UPS workers are represented by the Teamsters Union, with the largest private sector union contract in the U.S. The UPS Teamsters are comprised of 260,000 members in the UPS package division and UPS freight. These workers occupy a potentially-powerful position in the US economy which, like the rest of the world economy, is driven more and more by logistics and distribution. UPS is still the top logistics corporation in the U.S., though they are facing increasing competition from non-unionized Amazon.

The main point of contention is the creation of a two-tiered hiring system. Under this set-up, there would be regular drivers and so-called “hybrid drivers.” These drivers would deliver packages part-time and do other work for the rest of their shifts. They would not be guaranteed forty hours a week, would receive less pay, and would not be eligible for overtime when working weekends.

On September 7, Teamsters in Louisville, Kentucky, held a “vote-no” rally at a UPS freight operation. At the rally, Local 89 president Fred Zuckerman said, “The big thing is we need to get this rejected.” Zuckerman believes that workers in the union will not go for a system that will drive a wedge between regular drivers and the hybrid drivers. According to some in the union, such a system would ultimately undermine regular drivers as well, since the company would have an incentive to push higher paid, regular drivers out and replace them with hybrid drivers. The deadline for voting is October 5.

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Unions Make Big Gains in Texas

As the present crisis of the capitalist world system continues, we are seeing organized struggle cropping up in places where movements have long seemed dormant. The increasing frequency of labor struggles in the south is a case in point.

Texas is usually described as a “conservative” and pro-business state. Like Louisiana, Texas workers lack many basic legal protections, whereas corporations are allowed to get away with barely paying taxes and health and safety regulations are scant. Texas has a poverty level close to that of Louisiana.

In 2017 alone, 81,000 Texas workers joined unions, increasing the states’ unionization level from 4 percent of the workforce to 4.7 percent. That’s still a low rate compared to some other states, but such growth in a single year is nothing to scoff at. It shows an increasing awareness on the part of the working class that we must organize and fight back.

It looks like the organizing is paying off, too. There have been big pushes for paid sick days in San Antonio, Austin, and Dallas (Austin and San Antonio city councils have now passed ordinances mandating paid sick days, though reactionary state politicians who represent the bosses are challenging them in the courts). With the union, Unite Here!, 500 Hyatt employees won the first ever contract for workers in San Antonio’s famous River Walk tourist area in 2015. Despite challenges from the United Airlines bosses, United catering workers in Houston have made progress and will soon be able to vote on unionization, along with fellow employees in Newark, Denver, San Francisco, and Honolulu

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U.S./Israel Out of Syria!

By Quest Riggs

As Syria fights the last battles of its over 7-year war against U.S. and Israeli-backed terrorist insurgency, it still faces many challenges and a rough road ahead. This long, dirty war which has been fueled by the US and its allies, has cost 500,000 Syrian lives and an estimated $400 billion in damages. The war has driven 10 million Syrians to flee their homes, creating one of the worst refugee crises in the world today. Needless to say, despite their celebrating their victories against terrorism and invasion, the people in Syria will live with the trauma of this war for generations.

However, western imperialism and its puppets in the middle east are still aggressively harassing the Syrian people and the Syrian army. In the past 18 months Israel has shot over 200 missiles into Syria. The U.S. still maintains its illegal invasion of Syrian territory, with 12 military bases and up to 2,000 special operations soldiers. U.S. Generals (Trump’s best friends) continue to regularly threaten Syria with further bombing and invasion.

Syria is now openly engaged in the early stages of what could be the last major battle of the war. Most of the western-backed terrorist forces, Al Queada, ISIS, al-NUSRA, which the U.S. has branded as terrorists are the so called “rebels” receiving support from the U.S. and Israel. They are concentrated in the northwestern city of Idlib, and the Syrian Army is preparing for an offensive with the support if its allies. They have had to make these preparations and conduct negotiations in the face of the aforementioned bombings and constant threats of intervention from imperialist politicians.

But why are the imperialists being so aggressive and threatening when Syria is close to ending its war? The answer is clear if you look at the history of U.S. war-mongering in the middle east: the imperialists make money off of wars and stealing natural resources, so they’ll only allow peace if they can hold a dominant, colonizer position.

Just within my generation, the U.S. has invaded and devastated Iraq, Libya and Afganistan. These countries, home to some of the world most ancient civilizations, had long been victims of western intervention and aggression, but they remained relatively stable until the U.S. and its allies invaded. They all now lay in ruins.

In Libya, the U.S. invasion caused the growth of a domestic slave trade as well as terrible sectarian violence between warlord and fundamentalist groups. In Iraq, the U.S.-installed government is viciously repressing protests where everyday Iraq citizens are demanding basic necessities like food and water and jobs. Afganistan has never seen an end to violence since the U.S. invaded, and NATO today uses the war-torn country as a military training ground. Last year the U.S. even dropped its most powerful non-nuclear bomb in Afganistan. One thing is for sure: the military industrial complex and the oil executives are laughing to the bank every time workers and oppressed people in the U.S. believe the lies that they feed us on the corporate media to justify these wars.

We should express our support for Syria in in their struggle against imperialism and for their right to self determination. We also must voice our opposition to the threats that U.S. politicians and generals have been issuing and demand that the U.S. & Israel stop their attacks and pull their troops out of Syria. Only then can Syrian workers rebuild their communities and advance their struggles against capitalist and imperialist oppression.

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Genocidal War in Yemen Made in the U.S.

A young survivor of the August 9, 2018 US/Saudi bombing of a school bus, with fragment of U.S. made missile. Photo by Yemeni photographer Ahmad Algohbarya.

By Malcolm Suber

Although most of our readers have very little information about the war in Yemen, we believe it necessary to give a working class perspective on one of the most devastating wars occurring in the world today. The U.S. capitalist press hardly mentions this war. The reason for the lack of coverage is that the U.S. imperialist ruling class bears real responsibility for the crisis. A quote from a Yemeni doctor sums it up this way: “The missiles that kill us – American made. The planes that kill us – American made. The tanks… American-made. You are saying to me where is America? America is the whole thing.” (From a PBS report by Jane Ferguson)

The Yemeni civil war pits Iran-backed Houthi rebels against the fascist Saudi Arabia-backed government forces who receive their weaponry and military advice from the U.S. pentagon.

Leaving aside the complex question of who is right in the conflict, there is no question that masses of innocent civilians have wrongly become targets. Hospitals, schools, mosques and other non-military targets have been hit. The Saudi led forces have dropped cluster bombs on Houthi sites.

The humanitarian disaster in Yemen is unthinkable. The UN puts the number of displaced at over 2 million, with 22 million Yemenis in danger of a cholera outbreak and starvation because of disruption of international aid shipments. Yet the civil war in Yemen has received very little attention in the US bourgeois press because it does not fit in their hierarchy of important news.

For one thing, Yemenis are poor, non-white people from a distant third world country. Secondly, both Democratic and Republican party politicians support US intervention on the side of the Saudis. Thirdly, covering the story in depth would require digging into US imperialist business leaders as merchants of death with sales of the most advance weapons to the reactionary Saudi regime.

News coverage of the Yemeni civil war would also reveal the double-dealing of the US government which pretends to be waging a war against Al-Qaeda and ISIS terrorist organizations yet is supplying them with funds and weapons as part of the Saudi-led forces. The Saudis are also allying themselves with the Zionist Israeli regime as partners in conflict with Iran.

Under the Obama regime, the US carried out drone warfare against the Houthis which resulted in some of its main leaders being assassinated, including anti-terrorist Imam, Salem bin ali Jaber. Those US drones bombed school buses and wedding receptions killing many civilians that the Obama administration labeled as mistakes and collateral damage.

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The Prison Strike Is Over But The Fight Is Not

Banner reads End Prison Slavery, Support Prison Strike, Aug 21 – Sept 9

By C.T.

Prisons are one of the biggest systems in the US that cash out on hurting Black, Brown and poor white people in the US. People in prison are also forced to work for pennies a day while making corporations rich. This system of slavery is legal in the US because of the 13th amendment. The 13th amendment was written after the Civil War to lock up Black people making prisons the new plantations and prisoners the new enslaved.

From August 21 to September 9, prisoners across the US organized work and commissary boycotts, hunger strikes and other protests to demand better living conditions and the right of every prisoner to apply for parole as well as other improvements. This was a truly amazing protest because prisoners cannot just call each other on the phone, send a text, email or Facebook message whenever they want. Additionally, reporters do not want to write stories that are hard to verify. This means that many major newspapers were not interested in covering the strike because it is simply too hard to reach prisoners, especially when they are being punished inside the prison for being a part of the strike. Some newspapers even made up lies about the strike to make it seem less powerful than it was.

From what we know, prisoners were able to strike across over a dozen states; many were put in solitary confinement and even transferred to other prisons as punishment for fighting against injustice.

Yet the strike went on and people all over the US have been trying to support the strike by calling prisons, writing letters, protesting outside of prisons and showing support and bringing attention to the strike anyway they can. In New Orleans, the People’s Assembly and Workers Group held a solidarity protest in front of the Orleans Parish Prison on Aug 21st. During the last week of the strike, a banner was put up on I-10 facing the prison that demanded ‘the end of prison slavery.’ Celebrities like J. Cole used their platform to shine a light on the strike and murals supporting the strike can be found across the US.

Although the strike is over, there are still so many ways to support our brothers and sisters in prison that are fighting for a better life.

To learn more you can find information on: https://incarceratedworkers.org https://www.facebook.com/BlkJailhouselawyer/

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STOP Evictions in New Orleans! Housing Is a Right!

By Nathalie Clarke

In many cities in the United States, gentrification has been threatening the housing security of workers. New Orleans is no exception–on average, 4.22 evictions occur every day according to Princeton University’s Eviction Lab. And this number refers only to official evictions, those ordered by a judge, which means it’s definitely an underestimate of how many working-class families wind up homeless. Most tenants know all too well that landlords can also informally evict tenants by paying them to leave or locking them out of their property. These eviction rates are all the more disturbing because in the United States, 75 percent of qualified families do not receive federal housing aid and one in four poor renting families is spending over 70 percent of income on rent and utilities.

Loyola University law professor Davida Finger wrote in the Advocate : “The vast majority of tenants hauled into court on eviction matters are not represented by attorneys and eviction hearings can be completed in a matter of minutes. My research on First City Court evictions over the last several years shows that from 2015, the annual number of eviction cases filed has increased steadily each year. An analysis of demographic information in census bureau tracts where evictions are most heavily ordered shows that Orleans neighborhoods that are primarily African-American are more likely to have higher numbers of evictions ordered.“

In New Orleans, landlords and city officials alike have let gentrification run rampant. Historic working-class neighborhoods like the Bywater and the Treme have become artists’ hubs with accordingly high rents. The price of one-bedrooms increases by 2% every month, and 9.6% every year. Although costs of living in the city are steadily increasing, wages have not risen accordingly. Louisiana is among five states that rely exclusively on the federal minimum wage, which hasn’t been raised since 2009 although it’s lost 9.6% of its value due to inflation.

Basically, workers are earning less, and paying more, which means they often have to work several jobs just to be able to afford a modest home close to their workplace. With workers’ purchasing power decreasing as their costs of living rise, families become more and more at risk of being late on their rent. In Louisiana, landlords don’t need to give their tenants a grace period, and can charge them late fees or give them a five-day notice to vacate, even if tenants are only a day behind.

Recent studies show that to live comfortably in the Big Easy, a family needs to make at least $60,782. Meanwhile, the median household income in New Orleans is $36,964–$23,818 short of what’s needed to live comfortably. Most workers spend 50% or more of their budget on housing, according to the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center. The National Alliance to End Homelessness found that between 2015 and 2016, 6% more people were at risk of becoming homeless because of rent burden.

Why are rents skyrocketing? Part of it is the many once long-term residences being converted into short-term Airbnb rentals for tourists, which benefits landlords at the expense of tenants. The other part is a worldwide trend in late capitalism, gentrification, whereby older, affordable neighborhoods are being invaded by wealthy, educated hipsters who move in and push out long-term residents.

For the rich, the housing crisis has obvious advantages. Not only can landlords make more money by charging more for rent, but even restaurant owners and other rich bosses get a piece of the pie: workers fearing eviction and homelessness will put up with more exploitation at work and will be more afraid to organize. What they forget is that the more they keep us oppressed under the boot of economic exploitation, the less we have to lose. With their endless attacks on our basic rights, the rich bosses simply fuel our fury and are creating a force to be reckoned with. The workers from every industry create the wealth of this city; we will not continue to accept less than what we deserve. Our brothers and sisters currently unionizing in fast food chains, restaurants, bars, and hotels leave the bosses trembling, and we will continue to fight until we break our chains and their world crumbles

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Black Cyclists Fined 5 Times the Rate of Whites

By Dylan Borne

Recent reporting in the Times Picayune by Chelsea Brasted has dug up some disgusting, but not surprising, statistics about the NOPD’s treatment of Black bicycle riders.

Based on information from the “Regional Planning Commission’s 2015 New Orleans Pedestrian and Bicycle Count Report” and the New Orleans Municipal and Traffic Court: Black people make up only 26% of overall cyclists while whites make up 69%. Yet Black cyclists get hit with 63% of the fines for biking violations while whites only get 32%.

In other words, cops are over 5 times more likely to give citations to Black cyclists than white ones.

Most of these violations are totally harmless, and the ones that can cause problems don’t merit a huge fine of hundreds or thousands of dollars (a penalty that can suck working class people into debt traps and deepen poverty).

These fines are just another example of the laws being on the books for the purpose of the police using them to attack black working class communities. In this respect, it’s no different than how the police in Louisiana are three times more likely to arrest black people for marijuana than white people (Southern Poverty Law Center), or how black teenage boys nationally are 21 times more likely to get killed by police than white ones (ProPublica).

It’s also a way of raising revenue for the city without stepping on the toes of the rich. Instead of taxing hotels, casinos, and restaurants that profit from the workers of New Orleans, the city government taxes ordinary working people through these fines.

These fines, just like traffic cameras do not make us safer, just more desperate. The city can provide free education to all riders and car drivers, rather than further impoverishing them with another oppressive fine.