positive discrimination

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SUPPORTERS of the Militant tendency on Liverpool City Council have been arguing against Liberal proposals for positive action to recruit a higher proportion of blacks into council departments.

Hiding behind a pseudo 'class' position that such positive action would create a racist backlash in the white working class, and that blacks should only be allowed more jobs when jobs are available for all the working class, the Militant councillors" arguments amount in reality to an accommodation to the racism endemic in the white working class.

Instead of basing their political positions on the legitimate democratic, objective rights of the black working class for a percentage quota of jobs on the council corresponding to the percentage of blacks in the population as a whole, the Militant tendency prefer to accommodate to the subjective and reactionary idevlogy prevailing in the white working class.

To counterpose, as do Militant, the correct demand for more jobs for all workers, to the entirely distinct question of the double oppression of blacks, who are oppressed as workers and again as blacks, is to evade the democratic right of blacks to equality of job opportunity.

Why oppose!

Does the Militant tendency deny that blacks are often as not the first to be made redundant?,Then why oppose a proposal to apply positive discrimination as the policy for countering the legacy of this negative discrimination?

Furthermore, the Militant's prattle about 'unity' of the working&class being paramount at the expense of the legitimate democratic demands of the blacks, begs the obvious question, 'unity on what policies?' The policy of the denial of the blacks' right to equality of employment opportunity? Or, the policy of no compromise with racism in the white working class?

Backlash

Clearly, no-one can rule out the possibility that backward elements and fascists might seek to whip up a racist backlash to the implementation of positive discrimination; but whether or not it would be successful would depend on whether the left stood clearly and unequivocally in defence of black democratic rights.

Whilst it is clear that Militant supporters are not 'racists', as the Liberals have opportunistically labelled them, their policy represents an accommodation to racists, and racialist ideology, in the white working class. And this represents a serious flaw in Militant's politics, a cont :adiction in the position IS of Militant, which gene rally, of course, are much more seriously anti-racist than the Liberals' A similar flaw runs through the whole of Militant's politics.

On the question of positive discrimination for wómen, the argument is that it would create 'division' between men and women, because men wouldn't like it. Unity has to be preserved even at the expense of women's right to equality of employment opportunity.

On the question of Ireland, Militant refuse to give critical support to the Provisional IRA, or sharply oppose the reactionary pro-imperialist politics within the Northern Ireland Protestant working class. on the spurious grounds that it would divide the working class' • It is the same political method: tacit accommodation to the reactionary polities of Orangeism, whilst implicitly denying Ireland's right to self-determination and accepting the imperialist partition of Ireland.

Indeed, whenever

sharp issue arises involving prejudice and bigotry within the working class, Militant would rather deny the legitimacy of the rights of oppressed minorities (or majorities) - whether it be blacks, women, Irish nationalists, or gays than face the unpleasant and often uphill struggle to challenge reactionary ideology.

The 'unity of the working class' must be an internationalist, non-sexist unity, or else it will be a chauvinist unity - a unity build on sand that will leave the working class a victim of its division, vulnerable to reactionary ideology, and which will cause the working class to be smashed by the bosses at the first major test.

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Socialist Organiser no. 68 January 14, 1982 Page 3 argoter