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From New Militant, Vol. I No. 48, 23 November 1935, p. 1.
Transcribed & marked up by Einde O’ Callaghan for the Encyclopaedia of Trotskyism On-Line (ETOL).
Once more the Scottsboro boys are to face capitalist legal-lynch law of the South. This time just to satisfy those old fogies of the Supreme Court the farce has been enacted of placing one Negro on the grand jury rolls. Nobody has any illusions at all that this means a change in attitude towards the Negro or his “rights.” On the contrary, the press treats the matter with utter cynicism, pointing out that of course no Negro will actually be allowed to serve on trial juries. The cynical gesture has exactly the same meaning as that of Hitler in inviting two Jews to participate in the Olympics. Nobody is taken in by the farce, but it permits the reactionaries to gloss over the realities and to state that the formal rules of the game have been satisfied. The ruling class would like nothing better than to have the Negro boys quietly convicted without too much public fuss. This the class-conscious workers will never permit. Mass pressure must be aroused once again to snatch these boys out of the hands of the lynchers and to ward oft this act of terrorism against the oppressed Negroes of the U.S.
One of the reasons for British opposition to the Italian invasion of Ethiopia was the dread, that the sympathies of every colonial people would be actively aroused and might take channels of revolt against the immediate oppressor. The fear of the English ruling class has already been justified by the events in Egypt. All that was required to set off the spark was the speech of Hoare, British Foreign Minister, giving clear evidence that the rulers of Egypt did not intend to carry out a previous promise to grant a new constitution. The first constitution of 1923 had been replaced by a new one in 1930. The latter had been abrogated in 1934 when the Wafdist movement became a threat to British rule. The reactionary speech of Hoare started, student demonstrations and riots that were put down ruthlessly by troops. This is the beginning of a revived movement for independence in Egypt, one of the fruits of the Italian attack on Ethiopia. It would not require much to cause the spread, of this movement for national liberation to the other colonies of Great Britain, particularly India. A widespread concerted movement of revolt of the colonial countries would be a blow not only at British imperialism but at all imperialism.
An open anti-Japanese movement sprang up in Shanghai this week. The threat of the Japanese to take over the five northern provinces produced a feeling of desperation and the demand for a war against the invaders. The situation in Shanghai resulting from this agitation and some demonstrations against the Japanese, became so tense that the population of Chapel, mindful of the previous brutality and slaughter in this district, flocked into the International Settlement by the tens and scores of thousands. The hared and mistrust of the Japanese brigands is too great for the Chinese masses to believe the words of “reassurance” issued by the Japanese army representatives that no bombardment or invasion was intended. The Nippon imperialists have been laying the basis for some time for large scale operations designed to meet any resistance that might ensue when the seizure of the northern provinces was consummated.
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Last updated: 4 February 2018