Brooklyn, NY—Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted of murder charges on a Friday and in the days leading up to that verdict I discussed the importance of this case with co-workers and my students.  State-sanctioned political assassination of antiracist leaders by right-wing vigilante elements was on trial, and is as old as U.S. racism and capitalism.  The decision to acquit came as a surprise to some, not to others, but groundwork for some sort of a response was laid.
In the coming days two more court cases that put racist killers on trial were decided.  It is widely acknowledged that the decision ruling against the killers of Ahmaud Aubrey only happened because damning video evidence surfaced.  The court ruling against the organizers of the 2017 Charlottesville fascist ‘Unite the Right’ rally where another protester, Heather Heyer, was killed is manifestation of a Big Fascist effort to drive its Small Fascist (see Glossary, see page 6) rivals out of political relevance.  Big Fascism is a push for the widest possible extension of social control in preparation for wider conflict with imperialist rivals China and Russia.
Liberal fascists turn their guns on antiracist fighters
Big Fascist Joe Biden’s response that our jury system works and that protest must not destroy property shows us that it is a dangerous illusion to see in liberalism any protection for dedicated antiracists. With his response to the Rittenhouse verdict, Biden has told us ‘if you want to fight racism and you get shot and killed you’re on your own.’  This was the same message liberal New York City  mayor Bill de Blasio voiced as he blamed protesters in the most cynical and craven terms possible when his mad dog cops rammed their trucks into crowds of protesters in the wake of the killing of George Floyd.  
Working class students leadwhere liberal politicians won’t
Monday, on the job, a multiracial group of young people went to visit our school’s Black Students Union to send the message that we embrace the spirit of multi-racial unity and solidarity against racism that Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber showed and paid for with their lives.  Spirited struggle between the strategy of multiracial unity and of ‘Black spaces’ in the fight against racism ensued among faculty and between students.  
A social gathering over Thanksgiving weekend expanded from a small dinner with neighbors to a larger event drawing together former students, current co-workers and family and was transformed into a part of our Progressive Labor Party response to the Rittenhouse verdict.  Our message and commitment to each other is simple—if you want to fight racism you are not, in fact, on your own.  The workers movement for an armed communist revolution is with you all the way.  This offensive strategy is our best defense.  Today’s racist killers and their liberal protectors will cower before the might of a new and antiracist state power.  
Kyle Rittenhouse is indeed a young man, little more than a boy who was led far astray by open racism and has now been protected by liberal fascism. He may well live to see communist state power.