the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Mar 3, 2025
Agencies across the federal government are cutting offices that enforce civil rights and antidiscrimination laws, making it even harder to protect workers’ rights and prevent discrimination.
The Social Security Administration announced it was closing its Office of Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity. Other agencies are severely REDUCING their in-agency equal opportunity offices that are mandated by law to ensure equal opportunity “regardless of race, sex, national origin, color, religion, disability or reprisal for engaging in prior protected activity.”
In other words, they’re cutting the programs that prevent discrimination.
The Trump administration’s stated goal is “to forge a color-blind and merit based” society. To do this, the administration is telling schools what they can and cannot teach. Erase slavery and Jim Crow from history or at least put a happy spin on it. Supposedly, learning about slavery will make children feel bad, and that is considered a legitimate reason to not teach the truth in school!
The administration wants to say there are no “groups,” only individuals. At the same time the administration is banning transgender people—a whole group of people—from the military, not based on merit but simply because they are part of this group. One of Trump’s first executive orders was to say there are two sexes, male and female. Two more groups. Which is it—are we all individuals, or are we grouped as females, males or transgender?
Now it is encouraged to view all women and minority workers as DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) hires. The message is that they do not have merit to be in those jobs, simply because they are women, or black or another minority.
The fact is, everyone needs a job that pays the bills. But this economic system cannot and will not provide that job for everyone. Not even close.
We are not all the same. Some people own the means of production: the factories, banks, offices. The rest of us have to sell our labor-time to those owners.
In the past, huge mass movements were needed to make changes allowing more black workers to get better paying positions, for example. Only a collective struggle of workers, of ordinary people against the wealthy class, can make changes. But a mass movement cannot stop at crumbs; the working class must take power to put an end to the capitalist class’s drive for profits.