Even faster and more determined than the years before, after the brutal murder of George Floyed, demonstrations and struggles in numerous cities in the USA took place! It was justified that the masses rebelled, there were riots and fierce clashes with the police forces! Shortly afterwards, demonstrations took place worldwide, some of them very militant - in memory of George Floyd, but also in memory of numerous other victims of racism and police violence of the ruling class! These justified protests found an enormous echo among the masses of many countries. In Austria too, tens of thousands took to the streets. In Vienna, the capital of Austria, with the number of 70,000 it was even one of the largest demonstrations in recent years. Also in other cities like Linz, Innsbruck, Salzburg or Graz several thousand people spontaneously took to the streets. For in Austria too, the high level of spontaneous participation in the protests did not come from anywhere. This was preceded by numerous cases of police violence in Austria itself, as well as a series of brutal racist murders by police and judicial guards. As justified as the struggle against racism and police violence are, it must also be criticized that the rulers - in Austria above all the Social Democrats - are making a great effort to win these struggles for themselves. They are trying massively to distract from the common struggle of the workers and popular masses and instead to entrench harmful positions of identity politics and diversity policy. They propagate that it is a matter of "sensitivities", blur class antagonisms and direct justified protest into a "fake struggle" against symbols and language, pretending that history can be "deconstructed" instead of changing the future through struggle! In doing so, they are doing nothing but diverting attention from the justified struggle against racism, police violence and repression! Not least the pandemic demonstrated how hypocritical it is when large sections of the ruling class now "horrified" and seemingly support the protests. After all, in recent months the Austrian masses have witnessed an enormous amount of police arbitrariness and harassment. It is obvious that with their "support" they are only pursuing their own purposes: to bring bourgeois politics, bourgeois views into the protests, especially in order to better control the masses! The demonstrations in Austria mobilized especially many young people. Partly also large parts of the "Black Community". They took justified concerns to the streets, which is especially important that this community gained a greater political expression for the first time in two decades! The participation of Muslim women who expressed their solidarity was also striking. Banners and slogans of anti-fascists and revolutionaries also emphasized in the demonstrations the justified and necessary struggle against anti-Muslim racism. As well as the common struggle against repression and imperialism!
[source: afainfoblatt.com]
