The 2020 election represents an important moment in our fight for a better world, even as it has revealed the limitations of a presidential election to change our society.
We do not stand in coalition with Joe Biden or his politics; at the same time, we recognize the grave threat that a second Trump term poses to marginalized workers. The Trump administration’s violent white nationalist policy and rhetoric, combined with its genocidal mishandling of the COVID crisis, has led to mass immiseration and death, disproportionately affecting Black and Brown populations. Fearing massive backlash, Trump has attacked voting rights and threatened to dispute the results of a fair election. In the face of these threats, we see the necessity of working in solidarity with marginalized communities to build the power necessary to protect all of us.
As socialists, we understand that to build a just society, workers must take power from the ruling class: our bosses, our landlords, and the politicians who serve them. Without power built through direct action -- organizing people in their communities and workplaces to fight back against the people who oppress them directly -- power at the ballot box is difficult to build and act on. Throughout modern history, progressive legislative gains have always relied on pressure from a militant, organized working class in the form of tenants’ and workers’ unions: minimum wage, Medicaid expansion, and abortion access have all been made possible only through the power and demands of workers. These gains are notably absent in the Southeast, where capitalism and white supremacy have historically worked together to disrupt and disperse such community power. NC Piedmont DSA is engaged in multiple projects to build that community power through direct action. We are organizing Triangle area renters to challenge their landlords’ power, and we have raised over $60,000 through our Mutual Aid Fund, all of which has gone directly to local workers affected by COVID.
In the past several election cycles, DSA-backed candidates have demonstrated the power of a worker-first politics, bringing into the political mainstream issues like Medicare For All, wealth redistribution, and a Green New Deal. While the establishment Democrats who govern the national party structure may be doing their best to ignore it, we know that the movement sustaining candidates like Bernie Sanders, Jabari Brisport, Rashida Tlaib, Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, Cori Bush and others is not a passing fad.
Our members have joined with local allies for months in actions to demand that local governments defund police departments, and have played an active role in specific initiatives like ending civil asset forfeiture and ICE collaboration in local law enforcement agencies. And we are members of the North Carolina Medicare For All Coalition, a statewide initiative to mobilize North Carolinians in the fight for health care for all.
If you’re just finding us, welcome - we need you. Join us to help build a better world. And please sign up for our newsletter to get information about our next meeting.