Young Socialists against racism

Jobs, homes, services and a future for all!

Young Socialists Against Racism

Young Socialists Against Racism   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

Theo Sharieff, Socialist Party national youth organiser

The Black Lives Matter protests have lifted the lid on the enormous level of built up class anger amongst young people in Britain today.

Sparked by the racist murder of George Floyd, a new generation of young people is on the move, determined to fight for a future free not only of racism, but also poverty, inequality and all forms of exploitation and oppression.

The present system we live under today, capitalism, was built through colonial slavery and murder, alongside the brutal exploitation of working-class people in Britain.

Searching for real gains many of the protests have demanded the removal of statues and monuments to prolific slave traders throughout Britain’s history.

Having ignored the calls of the local community over the years, the establishment politicians have been forced to remove some of these statues to try and satisfy the new movement.

Young Socialists considers the removal of these statues as a victory for our movement. But this significant symbolic victory has to be built upon if racism is to be truly defeated.

There is no way this generation will be satisfied with the tokenistic efforts of politicians, keen to be seen as fighting racism but taking little to no action over its concrete manifestations – police brutality, slum housing, poverty pay, and no access to a decent education system.

As a new tidal wave of economic crisis hits this generation, bringing with it a new round of attacks by the rich, and the politicians who represent them, young people of all ethnicities will have no choice but to launch a common struggle to fight for all of our futures.

Young Socialists has produced a socialist youth charter as a campaigning programme, demanding that young people are not be made to pay for this new round of capitalist crisis – not with our jobs, not with our education, not with our futures.

We demand a future worth living for all young people, with access to a decent, well-paid job for all, access to a place to live, access to high quality and free education, to well-funded public services, and a future cleansed of all forms of prejudice and oppression, including racism – a socialist future.

We will be out campaigning all across the country with our charter this weekend – join us in our fight to ensure our future is not sacrificed to capitalist crisis.