April 2011 - Centre for Civil Society - University of KwaZulu-Natal

from the rightwing mass media linking homosexuality with pedophilia, and
even calling for the execution of gays by a series of far-right organizations,
like the Traditional Values Coalition and the Family Research Council, that
are all at the moment trying to enter the mainstream of the Republican
party.
Hate crimes against Latinos increased 53% from 2003 to 2009 as right-wing
demagogues like Lou Dobbs and Bill O’Reilly lied about the “illegal alien
crime wave” and conspiracy theories about plans from Mexico to take over
parts of the US. These ideas did not remain on the realm of rhetoric alone,
but white supremacists and right wing militias like the Minuteman Project
and the so-called Patriot groups started actively taking part in attacks
against immigrants and their supporters across the country.
A Warning to Workers
The attack and serious injury of Gabrielle Giffords and the killing of six
other people in Tucson was not a random event. It is a warning to working
people about the serious political danger involved in the rise of the
extreme right wing and the need to challenge their racist, militarist and
anti-worker propaganda.
Because of the massive disappointment with the policies of the Democrats,
there is a serious danger that the pro-corporate, well-organized, wellfunded
by billionaires, Tea Party will continue to build its forces across the
country. Although the far right will initially become undermined by this
event, they will become a battering ram against the interests of working
class people who have suffered the most from the economic crisis.
The Democrats and the liberal left have shown that they are incapable of
solving the problems like mass unemployment and cuts in services which
are fueling the “squall of anger.” Furthermore, the Democrats are
incapable of taking on the Tea Party by exposing its corporate backing
because they are also funded by the same corporate system.
Serious workers and young people recognize the danger that the rise of the
Tea Party represents and the need to confront its ideas. The Democrats
cannot do it. It is urgent to call on unions, immigrant workers
organizations, antiwar groups and anti-cuts coalitions, and socialists to
organize rallies and demonstrations against the Tea Party, exposing their
true backers and their racist and militaristic, pro-corporate propaganda.
This should go hand in hand with serious mass campaigns to oppose the
avalanche of budget cuts in education, health care and services coming on
the state and city level. We need to prepare to run independent left
candidates to put forward an independent working class, fighting program
of good jobs, full benefits and an end to wars and racist scapegoating. In
this way, we can start to deal with the real source of the enormous social
discontent that is increasing in the US because of the devastation in the
lives of tens of millions of ordinary people as a result of the crisis of
capitalism.
www.socialistworld.net
Sudan and oil politics: A nation split by oil
Nnimmo Bassey First Published in Pambazuka 15 January 2010
With the Sudanese referendum this week, Nnimmo Bassey looks back at