A Shining Example of Why Political Line is Key: Elliott Davis

Elliott Davis is a local Saint Louis investigative reporter running a “You Paid for it Segment” where he goes around exposing various instances of corruption in Saint Louis. Crooked school boards appropriating a couple hundred thousand dollars to get the superintendent a new house, what’s left of Kinloch’s local government not getting insurance on their police vehicles and locking the new mayor outside, that type of thing. Some of the responses to his arrival are hilarious, I grew up watching him and he’s sort of a meme in STL. He’s black, in case you couldn’t tell from the picture, and conservative. He’s generally highly critical of demonstrations especially when they’re militant, he pushes the “Black on black crime narrative”, that sort of thing. His political line is in the tradition of the conservative black ministerial class and organizations like the Urban League and conservative NAACP. He also firmly supports the police and criticized the new Saint Louis County Prosecutor, Wesley Bell, who many see as being the pinnacle of electoral efforts post-Ferguson because he isn’t Bob McCullough and has espoused support for reformist measures like those in cities similar to ours. Ending cash bail for minor offenses, pledging never to seek death sentences, and more oversight for those working in his office. Many activists who cut their political teeth in the immediate aftermath of the murder of Mike Brown dedicated immense amounts of time and energy to getting Bell elected and are highly supportive of these reforms. Of course, as a Maoist with a firm anti-electoral politics and firm anti police and anti legal left line, and as an individual under the discipline of an organization with same, I didn’t take part in canvassing for Bell. That being said, I’m not jumping down the man’s throat if he is really committed to keeping people that look like me out of prison for petty things and in general. Comrades and acquaintances of mine who are radical attorneys and have done jail support/other legal work that brings them into regular contact with this office are also optimistic so we’ll see.

Back to Davis. His “tough on crime” stance is recycled Nixon-era garbage that has been the ideological justification for incarcerating millions of black people. This is why when white reactionaries are looking for ideological support from within our community for our own genocide they turn to conservative reactionaries like Elliott Davis. Passing along dangerously genocidal nonsense with a black face is nothing new for oppressors. Keep in mind that the vicious violent reactionary and murderer of thousands of Chinese people, Chiang Kai-Shek, was also Chinese. It is important for our people to realize that not all who look like us are friends. By attacking not even revolutionary reforms that will help keep black people out of prison, Davis is helping to suppress his own people under color of being concerned about black on black crime. The frequent reactionary narratives he pushes are ideological fuel and cover for anti-people and anti-revolutionary positions. I don’t think Elliott Davis is 100% an enemy of the people or wants our people in jail, I’m sure he loves us very much personally and is hurt when he hears about us being shot down like dogs by the police or by each other. But he’s dangerously close. An old canard tells us that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Elliot Davis should do a careful study of the history of the police in our communities, what they do and how they behave. He should reject the bad apples theory and realize that the police institution, and America itself, can not be reformed or fixed. It is ever thirsty for the blood of black people. He should adopt a revolutionary line and use his platform for developing our people towards a higher more revolutionary consciousness instead of wallowing in the mud for the applause of white fascists and reactionaries. Of course, this is highly unlikely, because all Communists know that revolutionary politics in high positions results in termination of employment and divorce from the people that write your big checks. Davis, were he a really principled journalist with real revolutionary love and concern for our people, wouldn’t care. But he does. So, unfortunately, he’ll continue to dance for dollars and probably will be pushed to run for some office where he can help oppress the people and their movement more.