William Z. Foster, born on this day in 1881, was a radical American labor organizer and Marxist politician whose career included serving as General Secretary of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) from 1945 to 1957. He was previously a member of the Socialist Party of America (SPA) and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), although he was critical of the former for not working with already existing unions.
Foster was a key figure in the drive to organize the packinghouse industry during World War I and in instigating the Steel Strike of 1919. He was the more radical, pro-Soviet political rival of CPUSA leader Earl Browder, who was a supporter of the Roosevelt administration.
Foster was also a prolific political writer, and his work "Towards Soviet America" has been continuously republished by both leftists and anti-communists who see it as scandalous. Foster described the book as a "plain statement of Communist policy, avoiding technical complexities and theoretical elaboration...Its central purpose is to explain to the oppressed and exploited masses of workers and poor farmers how, under the leadership of the Communist party, they can best protect themselves now...".
The American Party of Labor claims descent from Foster and his secretary and aide, Jack Shulman.
Hola Camaradas :fidel-salute-big: , Our Comrades In Texas are currently passing Through some Hard times :amerikkka: so if you had some Leftover Change or are a bourgeoisie Class Traitor here are some Mutual Aid programs that you could donate to :left-unity-3:
The State and Revolution :flag-su:
:lenin-shining: :unity: :kropotkin-shining:
Remember, sort by new you :LIB:
Yesterday’s megathread :sad-boi:
Follow the ChapoChat twitter account :comrade-birdie:
THEORY; it’s good for what ails you (all kinds of tendencies inside!) :RIchard-D-Wolff:
COMMUNITY CALENDAR - AN EXPERIMENT IN PROMOTING USER ORGANIZING EFFORTS :af:
Join the fresh and beautiful batch of new comms:
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I was thinking about how acknowledging whatever craziness Rachel Dolezal is up to would only be relevant if there were thousands of white people running around claiming some kind of racial minority status, and then remembered that there are millions of white people who swear by having forty Native American parents :warren-snake:
(also Dolezal is not a bad person and shouldn't be bullied)
(and god is r/stupidpol shitty for having Dolezal as their logo)
What, why?
What did Dolezal ever do? Her only crime was to be some kind of spectacle for conservative media. She also "spoke over the experience of black people" or whatever with her role in the NAACP, but everyone that shits on her does it because they think she's some ammunition to use against progressive policies.
I chatted at length with a black friend about Dolezal, and to them she was simply another crazy white woman. They didn't think Dolezal's situation was important, but were mildly bothered by the fact she wrote a book. Ultimately, they somewhat appreciated that she wasn't malicious about anything.
Keep in mind that black people are used to being talked over about race issues, and with Dolezal it's no different. The vast majority of news coverage about Dolezal was from white journalists for a white audience, with any insights regarding race never going beyond the spectacle she offered for white people. It was conservative media that launched her into infamy, and they treated her no differently than how 4chan treats a lolcow. Dolezal was harassed by the alt-right as well.
She has now become a vehicle for reactionaries to feign concern for black people by ignoring all means to improve the lives of black people (i.e., "we can't have affirmative action because Dolezals would get all the jobs instead").
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