Black Students: Racial Consciousness and the Class Struggle, 1960–1976

Abstract

people in the United States have had a history of struggle; a history of resistance; a history of some victories and some defeats in the battle against racism; a history of victorious battles for the basic democratic rights that are put forth by U.S. bourgeois democracy; a history of continuous fighting for human rights; but most of all, black people in the U.S. have had a long, long history of class struggle because of our antiracist struggles. Our struggle against chattel slavery helped the elements of capitalism seize control of the state and economy; and began to lay the material foundations for today's growing proletarian revolution. Our struggles against chattel slavery and for the progressive developments during reconstruction helped pave the way for women to vote; for poor whites to have access to public education, and for the right of labor to be organized. In essence, our battles against racism, our fights for democratic and human rights have objectively pushed forward, at every major historical moment, the American class struggle the struggle for Socialism.