One of the most frequent criticisms of Marxists is that we are economic reductionists who fail to take seriously the complexity and specific dynamics of racism, sexism, and other forms of oppression.

It is a persistent and frustrating criticism, and not only because it ignores both an entire body of work done by Marxists analyzing oppression and a long history of socialist involvement in liberation struggles. More importantly, if ever there was a moment that demands a class analysis it is this one.

Seven years into our first black presidency, conditions continue to worsen for working class and poor African Americans. Black unemployment remains double that of whites, the black poverty rate stands at almost 28 percent, and 40 percent of black children live in poverty. More than one million blacks are in prison, and there is an epidemic of police violence.