Sunday, January 13, 2008

The State vs Black America

state vs black america



What is the State?


The state refers to the legislature -parliamentary control- an the familiar state organs - the courts, the army, police, and the wide of administrative services. Also included in the state is public education, policy-making organizations and such state organs that control the economy, such as the national banks. According to Karl Marx, it is the"centralized State power, with its ubiquitous organs of standing army, police, bureaucracy, clergy, and judicature...[and]parliamentary control.. the national power of capital over labor, a public forced organized for social enslavement". Peter Kropotkin claims, "The State..includes the existence of a power situated above society, but also of a territorial concentration as well as the concentration in the hands of a few of many functions in the life of societies..A whole mechanism of legislation and of policing has to be developed in order to subject some classes to the domination of others". The power vested in it, places the state above and alienated from society, serving the interests of the upper class. It is a structured hierarchy objectively at the service of the top layer of the bourgeoisie or upper class.

The state therefore serves two purposes. One as it's role as an coercive and repressive institution. Which, the police and military being the forefront of those operations. The other role is the organizing of bourgeois democracy: through the combination of certain institutions, laws and policies.

As a capitalist state, the state functions to repress worker's power and pursue interests of the upper class and maintain social harmony. As a racist state, the state functions to repress black power, black organization and movements which can cause social upheaval to the detriment of the power elite, which is for the most part white male. The state of black america, therefore ironically, is due to 400 year old battle...The State vs Black America.

Legislature, Judiciary and the Prison Industrial Complex
Blacks represent 13 percent of the population, but comprised 35 percent of drug arrests, 55 percent of drug convictions, 74 percent of drug prisoners and 50 percent of those waiting on death row. Prosecutors sought the death penalty 70 percent of the time when an African American killed a White person, but only 19 percent of the time when it was reversed. Another telling statistic is the fact that blacks constitute 13 percent of the population, but were 67 percent of the juveniles in adult courts and 77 percent of the juveniles in adult prisons. In the Jena 6 case, Mychal Bell was originally charged with attempted murder, which was later brought down to aggravated second degree battery, with the "dangerous weapon" used in the attack was argued to be his shoes. After legal maneuvering, rallies, appeals to have him free on bail, Bell was subsequently sent back to juvenile detention for "violating his probation".

Under the infamous Rockefeller Drug Laws it was a 5-year minimum sentence for possessing 500g of powdered cocaine, while the amount of crack needed for a five year sentence is only five grams, a 100:1 ratio. Being that crack cocaine was a cheaper drug to produce and buy, it was popular in the urban ghetto. Which in turn caused Blacks to represent 84 percent of crack cocaine convictions, causing further harm towards the state of Black America.


The Police and Military
The fact that Blacks comprised 17 percent of drivers on the state of Maryland highway, but 70 percent of drivers stopped by police is a powerful example of racial profiling and repressive tactics utilized by the Police on Black America, and Black males in particular. Police brutality, is a term used to describe the excessive use of physical force, assault, verbal attacks, and threats by police officers and other law enforcement officers, and is a term well understood in Black America. There exist numerous documented cases of the police's function as a coercive and repressive institution through the usage of police brutality.

On Halloween (2007) Rayshawn Moreno and other teens on hit an unmarked police car with an egg. The Officer grabbed Rashaywn Moreno into the cop car, where he was taken to a secluded, remote area, stripped of his clothes, beaten by the officers and left for dead. While, Sean Bell died in a hail of 50 bullets fired by undercover police officers after hitting an unmarked police car. Likewise, Amadou Diallo, died from the 19 of 41 bullets fired at him because cops mistook his wallet for a gun. In March 1991, Rodney King was brutalized by 3 cops as 23 other officers wached as he was beaten with batons and shocked with stun guns.

Police brutality, in some cases, especially in regards to the urban riots of the 60's, have had to rely on the coercive and repressive functions of the military to quell social upheaval. For example, a patrolmans' attack on Marquetet Frye in Los Angeles led to the Watts Riots. The conflict resulted not only in 34 deaths and $40 million in damage, but also the National Guard being called to control the riots.


Conclusion

This was just a brief example of how a few apparatuses of the state are used in a coercive and repressive way against Black America. It highlighted, legislation specifically targeting black men in the urban ghetto, in the form of Rockefeller Drug Laws. Which resulted in a explosion of inmate population and added to the disproportionate number of African Americans incarcerated. It showed many cases of recent police brutality and harassment centered in the Black Community, which has a psychological effect on it's residents. It also, showed how when the police cannot contain urban unrest, the military(our troops?) are ready to contain the rebellions.

There are many other state organs, such as policy forming organizations, that play a role in the repression of rights of Black America and it's continual exploitation. More also can be said of public education and it's role of perpetuating the cycle of violence in poverty in the black community. For example, 40 percent of African American males are illiterate and research indicates that illiteracy is the biggest predictor of crime, 90 percent of African-American male inmates are illiterate.

All in all, the evidence makes a compelling case that the state is not only against workers, but disproportionately against blacks more so than whites. Thereby, drastically affecting the state of black america in the realms of politics, social, and economics.

17 comments:

Frank Partisan said...

Pardon the old Progressive Labor rhetoric, but it's true. Racism is the main tool used by the ruling class to divide the working class.

There is the embryo of a new civil rights movement, starting with the Jena6 defense groups. Just like the antiwar movement, the various coalitions were fragmented.

The Afro-American working class has always been the vanguard of every movement in the US for positive change.

blackstone said...

I agree. I was talking to a Maoist the other day, and he brought up that it is not only racism, which he defined as only ideology, but also national oppression that is the source of repression of Black America.

Do you agree?

The Red Son said...

My argument in this area boils down to this.

Why is public education underfunded (among other things) in this country?
Because those in power i.e. the bourgeoise can afford private education for their children.
Why is there no public health care?
Because the bourgeois can afford private health insurance/healthcare.

I don't mean bourgeois in a orthodox marxist way. Clearly there is a strong racial element to power relations in this country. I would recommend Arendt's discussion of the pariah and the parvenu in The Origins of Totalitarianism. it talks alot about inter-group power relations within oppressed peoples, in her case study the jews.

Leftwing Criminologist said...

racism is a main tool used over here too, but it's more of an anti-immigrant thing so I would say it is more based on nationality over here (with english born people been racist towards non-english born and in particular asians)


The question i'd ask you is what do we do about the state?

Phil said...

Thanks for adding me to your blogroll, comrade. I've reciprocated with a link off my blog.

adam d said...

interesting post. the US state seems to have developed over time with its ability to pull the rest of the population against the black population whenever its in crisis. which i guess is the reason theres always been large black movements whenever the ruling class in the US is on the verge of oblivion. unite for one last push comrades!

blackstone said...

Red son:
I think that is a very important argument, one that becomes clear when looked at from a class dominance theory perspective.

For example, schools must be understood to be social institutions. Therefore, private schools and prep schools, exist within the institutional infrastructure of the upper class, along with social clubs, cultural/ civic organizations, summer resorts, retreats,etc.

These social institutions are the mechanisms behind the class consciousness of the upper class. It creates a small but complex network of social circles. One that instills in its members feelings of superiority, pride and justified privilege.

The public schools recreate the labor force, while the private institutions exist to recreate the disproportionate share of wealth and income.

Along with your arguements, I contend that public schools are underfunded and there is no public health care, because of America's weak liberal-labor coalition

blackstone said...

Leftwing Criminologist:

In the blog post, i said the following in regards to the state.

"The power vested in it, places the state above and alienated from society, serving the interests of the upper class. It is a structured hierarchy objectively at the service of the top layer of the bourgeoisie or upper class"

It is to be understood, that the state is a polity. Any structure through which society sets and enforces the basic rules, and governs itself, is what I call a polity. A libertarian socialist or anarchistic society, will have a polity based on direct, participatory democracy. While the state, is a polity, that is "is a structured hierarchy objectively at the service of the top layer of the bourgeoisie or upper class"

Therefore, my position is the replacement of the state for a more direct, participatory and democratic polity.

blackstone said...

adam:

Definitely, adam. As leftwing hinted, racism takes a different form in America, than other countries, and it's roots run deep. Policies created and enforced by the State have effectively disenfranchised blacks. Only in times of social upheaval have the upper class bending backwards to create laxer policies and practices. However, as time goes on, they once again enforce old policies and cycle begins again. I think we are nearing the age of a new black movement.

Frank Partisan said...

I don't think national oppression is important. If there was a mass movement saying so, I'd probably. Would Marcus Garvey mean anything today? I doubt it.

blackstone said...

Would Lenin mean anything in Russia today?Or Mao in China?Probably not. There success must be taken in historical context.

Can a mass movement similar to Garvey's happen again in the future? Possible. And the foundation for such a movement is slowly being built.

blackstone said...

You live in the UK or NeverNeverLand? Either way, from way out there, how do you know who i'm hanging with in the US? O thats right, you don't.

The Red Son said...

See, I took ol' danny's comment to be in reference to the people who post on your fine blog. He neglected to talk about all of the times that marxists/socialists/communists have worked together with union and/or anarchists and/or anarcho-syndicalists to get effect. The have been many fine radical leftist coalitions in politics and war (not that the two are much different). In fact, Buenaventura Durrati, who he quotes on your profile worked and fought with with people from a multitude of ideologies, including marxian-derived ones.

blackstone said...

I understand now. Thanks for the comment red son, its greatly appreciated. And danny, i thought free association was an anarchistic principle?

kim said...

I really like your philosophy, mine is close. If you speak french you can go and read it at
planetaeskoria-che.blogspot.com, or maybe put a link as i'll do for you.

blackstone said...

I'll add the link tonight che. thanks alot!

Unknown said...

"See, I took ol' danny's comment to be in reference to the people who post on your fine blog. He neglected to talk about all of the times that marxists/socialists/communists have worked together with union and/or anarchists and/or anarcho-syndicalists to get effect."

I mainly recall the historical instances where bolshies back-stabbed and murdered freedom-lovers. As Otto Ruhle said: the fight against fascism begins with the fight against Bolshevism.

Any trot try to sell their rag to me, I'll kick them in the bollox and see what the proletarian (ie student) vanguard think then.