We are seeing a repeat of the Great Depression in many ways. Then, just as now, the stock market was volatile. Then, just as now, there was a deadly viral epidemic for our people. And there was something beneath the surface waiting to erupt too.
Finding good-paying jobs was hard for everyone. Even the most menial jobs, usually reserved for Black workers, were being taken by whites! And big cities with more job opportunities had something even more dangerous going on.
Big cities saw an influx of Black workers as the sharecropping system in the South failed. With racism already running rampant in cities, fierce competition in an already-crowded job market meant violence.
White workers, sick with hatred, organized themselves into a group called “Black Shirts,” and banded together to murder our people. They even bombed trains transporting Southern sharecroppers!
Now, with COVID-19 creating similar conditions in the job market, could we again be at risk for white terrorism?
Of course, we organized and fought back, and, like today, thousands of our people took action.
Then, just as now, we must continue to fight back in the face of oppression, violence, and hatred.