NEW YORK CITY, MAY 14— A contingent of Progressive Labor Party (PLP) members and friends led chants of “No justice in a capitalist system” and “these sexist courts–shut it down!” at the march against the U.S. Supreme Court leaked draft to criminalize abortion. As the U.S. capitalist healthcare system continues to crumble, leaving millions of workers dead from Covid-19, and countless others ill and uncared for, the U.S. Supreme Court is preparing to hand down another unjust decision that will attack millions of women workers. In response, thousands of antisexist workers took to the streets of NYC, DC, LA, Chicago. Over 100 CHALLENGEs were distributed, many of them to those around us who appreciated our militant chants. PLP recognizes that no ruling made under a capitalist system will ever have workers' best interest in mind and this latest sexist attack on our class is just another example of why we need to fight for communism.
How do we do that? We can start by exposing how the liberal bosses are enemies, not friends, of the working class and antisexists everywhere. The march was led by a slew of capitalist, liberal Big Fascist (see glossary, page 6) politicians including Mayor Eric Adams, Senators Chuck Schumer, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Letitia James, the state attorney general. These hypocritical Democratic Party politicians who cloak themselves as an alternative and cry for separation of “church and state” are worse than their opponents, the bible thumping Small Fascist base. KKKop Adams once led a sexist smear campaign against former KKKop herself, Lizette Lebron (NY Magazine, 10/18/21). Gillibrand’s brand of feminism has often had “little resonance beyond Facebook CEO Sheryl Sandberg's white professional female devotees” (The Week,7/8/19). We call them Fascists. These liberal fascists are not antisexists and they are certainly not pro-worker; they are defenders of a failing capitalist system at any cost necessary.
Liberal feminism traps women workers in sexist capitalism
Indeed, the largely white march did not reflect the multiracial working class of New York City. No wonder the liberal mouthpiece NY Times, desperate to appear as an alternative against the gutter racist/sexist bosses, chose a picture of the multiracial PLP contingent led by Black and South Asian women for their website’s coverage of the march. Feminism, a ruling-class movement, historically excluded Black, Latin, Asian, women workers. Now, the liberal ruling class tries to package feminism as a tool of liberation for our class when in reality, it divides our class because it hides the fact that super exploitation is the main source of women’s oppression. Any movement that claims to liberate women but lacks the leadership of Black women, who historically face the dual oppression of racist and sexist super-exploitation under this system, is a dead end for the working class (see Black Workers Leadership, Key To Revolution, plp.org).
Feminism is the freedom for ruling-class women to be as good of an exploiter as their male counterpart. PLP says sexism hurts male workers just as racism hurts white workers. Liberation for women workers can only come from a class conscious movement– that counts on the leadership of the most oppressed sections of our class– to smash this sexist system that thrives on the free labor and commodification of women workers. All workers must fight against this sexism in the workplace if we are to unite our class for revolution. Most importantly, communists – men and women alike – must lead struggles on the job where women workers are constantly under attack.
While the bosses may seek to divide us, many protestors had a deeper understanding of the unity needed to address the problems the working class faces. Some marchers held signs and chanted slogans such as “Support Black Women '' (in a nod to the racist consequences of the Supreme Court decision).The PLP contigent provided a much-needed analysis with our newspaper (CHALLENGE), chants and speeches. One comrade spoke on the bullhorn about the racist origin of the Supreme Court (birthed in slavery) including how the state is a tool of the ruling class. “If you want to end sexism and racism, the world you are looking for is communism.” This speech was well received, as were our chants that targeted capitalism as the main enemy.
Communist revolution is the health care women workers need
The friends of PLP who joined us for the march took leadership on the bullhorn, distributing newspapers, and maintaining chants for a march that lasted hours. It can feel like a race to the bottom for workers as the Big Fascists and Small Fascists (see glossary, page 6) of the U.S. ruling class duke it out in places like the Supreme Court. It cannot be stated enough— neither faction of the ruling class cares about the working class, or our health or our bodies. That is why another PL’er turned the chant “abortion is healthcare” to “revolution is healthcare!”
But the small steps towards building a bigger,  international communist PLP, dedicated to fighting for the entire working class, is our ray of hope in this Dark Night of growing fascism and war. Every time workers and students protest in the streets, organize on the job, take action in the schools, or engage in any form of class struggle, that is an opportunity to build class consciousness and mobilize our class one step closer to a communist world. We need a system driven by workers’ power and workers’ laws. Let’s keep fighting and growing!
(For further analysis on sexism within the U.S. healthcare system and a history of PLP’s fight against sexism visit PLP.org to read our Magazine Articles).