It has been 87 years since Trotsky (exiled to Prinkipo, 1933), answering the questions of his American comrades
about the attitude to take with respect to the nationalist movement of blacks in America and their question of
separation / self-determination, said:
“Of course, we don't force niggers to become a nation; if they are, then this is a question that concerns their
conscience, that is, it is a question that depends on what they want and tend to. We say: if the blacks want it, then
we must fight against imperialism to the last drop of blood because we have the right to enjoy an independent
territory, where and how they want. The fact that they are now not a majority in any state does not matter. It is not
a question of the authority of the states, but of the blacks. (...) In any case, the oppression suffered by blacks pushes
them towards political and national unity. (...) If in America there were a situation such as to have already allowed
common actions between white and black workers, if fraternization had already become a reality, then perhaps the
argument of our comrades would have a foundation (who were in favor to the struggle for "social, political and
economic equality of blacks" but not to support their "right to self-determination", ed) - I'm not saying they would
be right - then maybe we would divide the black workers from the white workers if we started with the watchword
of "self-determination". But today in relations with blacks, white workers are oppressors, they are miserable people
who persecute blacks and yellows, despise and lynch them. (…) 99.9 percent of American workers are chauvinists,
towards the blacks they are executioners and they are also towards the Chinese. It is necessary to teach American
beasts. It is necessary to make them understand that the American state is not their state and that they must not be
the guardians of this state. The American workers who say, "Negroes must be able to separate if they want and we
will defend them against our American police" are revolutionaries and I trust them. "
And 81 have passed since Trotsky (exiled to Coyoacan, 1939) always said on the same question:
"We cannot tell them to form a state because that will weaken imperialism and that will be good for us, white
workers. This would be contrary to internationalism. We cannot tell them: “Install here, even at the cost of economic
progress”. We can say: “It is up to you to decide. If you want to take a part of the country, fine, but we don't want to
decide for you ”. (…) The battle for the possibility of creating an independent state is a sign of great moral and
political awakening. It would be a huge revolutionary step forward ». (3) underlining ns
A lot of water has passed under the bridge since then, and certainly the social structure and the objective and
subjective conditions of the class and race clash within the United States have changed considerably from the
1933/39 framework. In the meantime, to speak of an "epochal" change in the superstructure of society, the blacks of
America have been able to see with their own eyes a child of their race even rising to the top of "supreme power"
(nominal power, of course) and for two terms in a row, which was literally unthinkable not only in Trotsky's time but
also in those closest to us than Malcom and the first BPP. But, bypassing the “epochal” changes and transformations
of society, the profound historical revolutionary meaning of the indications traced by Trotsky remains for us.
Today
We can summarize what in our opinion remains deeply alive in them, today 2020 and beyond, in the following
points:
- It and only it, a community of oppressed blacks, must be able to decide the path of its own liberation: “we do not
want to decide for you”, it was said in 1939. And we say the same today. If the black community believes it has to
follow a separate path (we say: provisionally separate) from the white class brothers towards the goal it wants to set
itself, be it "national self-determination" or anything else, we internationalist communists will support it with all our
strengths. It is not the community of black oppressed that must "open" itself to the general revolutionary
perspective in the first place, but rather it must be an authentic class movement that "rises" to the level of struggle
only approached by the avant-gardes of the new Black Power (... "we must fight against imperialism, against our
imperialism !, down to the last drop of blood "... it was said in 1933) which, in its own way, approaches the question
not of the" reform "of the American state but of its destruction. "Power is the only way to put an end to oppression"
Malcolm said (in this case authentically ... Bordigist, that is Marxist!) And today the African American avant-gardes
are saying again: this is the level to which today's phase of fight "for life or death"!
Then, and only then, when the white proletariat will demonstrate with facts that it is not the "guardian of the
American state", it will certainly not be the black community and its avant-garde that will keep themselves closed in
a (then yes reactionary) sphere of national-racial identity. It will certainly not be the black proletarians who will