revolutionary action movement (ram) - Michael Schwartz Library

liberation movement in America usually highlight the role of individuals
and their contributions to the race, rather than placing emphasis on the
masses as the makers of history . Many researchers fail to concentrate on
the mass character of movements that have occurred in the black liberation
struggle and when they do, they fail to show the historical continuity from
one period of mass struggle to another .
Within the context, the vast majority
of black social scientists fail to understand or show the dialectical
relation between racial
and class exploitation of black people in the
United States . In order to understand the dialectical nature of racial and
class exploitation,
it is necessary to develop an analysis of the world
capitalist system and the relation of black people to capitalism and slavery
. Understanding the dialectic of race in relation to the dialectic of
class requires the development of a new paradigm . This would require a more
comprehensive study of the role of slavery to
the development of capitalism
A complete analysis of the dialectic of dual oppression, race and
class, will not be attempted here but a brief sketch is provided to aid the
reader in interpreting the meaning and significance of the Revolutionary
Action Movement .
Slavery existed as a mode of organization of production and
Africa functioned as a supplier of slaves prior to the introduction
of Africans into the American colonies . Slavery resulted
from the need for large amounts of unskilled labor for labor
intensive industries . Africa was selected as a supplier of
slaves because Europe needed a large population pool that was
readily accessible but outside its economic system, so that
the negative economic consequences of the removal of manpower
would not harm the European economy . 3
2 Eric Williams, Capitalism and Slavery (New York : Capricorn Books,
10,66), p . 1227 .
3 James A . Geschwender, Class, Race and Worker Insurgency (New York :
Cambridge University Press, 1978), p . 3 .