Jerry White (socialist)

Jerry White
Born Jerome White
1959 (age 56–57)
Queens, New York
Nationality American
Occupation Journalist
Known for Socialist politics

Jerome "Jerry" White (born 1959) is an American politician and journalist, and is the Labor Editor reporting for the World Socialist Web Site. He is a member of the Socialist Equality Party of the United States, and was a member of its predecessor the Workers League, joining the movement in 1979.[1] White ran as the SEP candidate for United States President in 1996 and 2008,[2] and again in 2012 with running mate Phyllis Scherrer.[3] White was again the SEP presidential nominee in the 2016 election.[2]

Early life

Jarome White was raised in a working-class family in Queens, New York. In 1979, while working at United Parcel Service and attending the City University of New York, he joined the Workers League, the predecessor of the Socialist Equality Party.[4]

Political activity

As a reporter for the World Socialist Web Site, White has written extensively on the US auto industry,[5][6] and has interviewed autoworkers in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, and Illinois.[7][8][9][10] White authored a book, published in 1990, entitled Death on the Picket Line: The Story of John McCoy. The book, an investigative report, treats the killing of a militant coal miner, McCoy, as well as the history of the United Mine Workers (UMW) in West Virginia.[11]

White has been active in Detroit's Committee Against Utility Shutoffs (CAUS) and organized hearings on fires in low income neighborhoods.[12] He has criticized the Obama Administration for what he has described as its policies favoring Wall Street at the expense of workers.[13]

White is the Editor of the World Socialist Web Site Autoworkers Newsletter.[14] White announced the creation of the WSWS Autoworker Newsletter in July 2015,[15] as a means to oppose to "UAW Nationalism", pension cuts, poverty wages, and unemployment, and to call for the abolishment of the two-tier wage system, and develop an international unity among autoworkers.[15] The Autoworkers Newsletter played a substantial role in the "No vote" carried out by Fiat Chrysler workers and Nexteer workers in 2015 against the proposed contract.[16]

Election campaigns

White ran as the first presidential candidate for the newly formed Socialist Equality Party in 1996. White ran for Michigan's 112th Congressional seat in 2006,[17][18] and for president in 2008 with vice-presidential candidate Bill Van Auken.[19][20][21] The write-in campaign was accompanied by a redesign of the Socialist Equality Party's website, which would rehost articles written by both candidates for the World Socialist Web Site.[22][23] White had run for president as a candidate for the Socialist Equality Party with running-mate Fred Mazelis earlier in 1996.[24][25]

In 2012, the Socialist Equality Party ran White and Phyllis Scherrer for U.S. President and Vice President. The campaign was announced from the Cooper Tire factories in Findley, Ohio, where workers were locked out for contesting contract negotiations.[26]

White's 2012 presidential campaign kept five core components: international unity in the working class, social equality, opposition to imperialist militarism and the assault on democratic rights, opposition to the political subordination of the working class to the Democrats and Republicans, and the rejection of the claims for austerity.[27]

White's campaign indicted the crisis that arose from the 2008 global financial crash as evidence of the failure of capitalism to organize society in a productive manner, and called for the building of an independent socialist movement. White called for the defense of social rights to housing, retirement, food, and education.

The White-Scherrer ticket was on the ballot in Wisconsin, Louisiana, and had write-in status for Michigan. White visited Canada, Germany, England and Sri Lanka to campaign for socialism and an international working class movement.[28]

White has been nominated by the Socialist Equality Party to run again as the party's presidential candidate in 2016, with Niles Niemuth as his running mate.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "Complete List of 2012 Presidential Candidates". White Out Press.
  2. 1 2 3 Winger, Richard (2016-04-22). "Socialist Equality Party Announces National Ticket". Ballot Access News. Retrieved 2016-04-24.
  3. ↑ Socialist Equality Party announces US election campaign, World Socialist Web Site, 13 February 2012.
  4. ↑ http://socialequality.com/elections/jerome_white
  5. ↑ Contract workers denounce low wages in US auto industry, World Socialist Web Site, 14 December 2011.
  6. ↑ UAW expands drive to cut auto workers’ pay, World Socialist Web Site, 7 October 2010.
  7. ↑ "In the mid-1980s my parents said the UAW was not for us:" Interview with Ohio auto parts worker, World Socialist Web Site, 7 December 2010.
  8. ↑ Indianapolis GM workers defy UAW, vote down wage cut, World Socialist Web Site, 24 September 2010.
  9. ↑ Retired GM worker speaks on freezing death of 93-year-old Michigan man: "They want profits or you die", World Socialist Web Site, 5 February 2009.
  10. ↑ Strong opposition at final Chrysler plant voting on UAW contract, World Socialist Web Site, 27 October 2007.
  11. ↑ White, Jerry, Death on the Picket Line: The Story of John McCoy, Labor Publications, Detroit: 1990.
  12. ↑ Committee Against Utility Shutoffs CAUS, 23 March 2010.
  13. ↑ Obama's New Tune Rings Old Bells, RT, 25 January 2012.
  14. ↑ The way forward for autoworkers: An online interview with Jerry White
  15. 1 2 Socialist Equality Party launches digital WSWS Autoworker Newsletter
  16. ↑ Member Rejection of FCA Collective Bargaining Agreement is UAW Democracy in Action, UAWGMTalks, 5 October 2015
  17. ↑ Library of Congress Archives
  18. ↑ Socialist Equality Party to contest state elections in Illinois, Maine, Oregon and WA, Portland Independent Media Center, 14 May 2006.
  19. ↑ Jerry White Speaks at University of Illinois-Chicago, World Socialist Web Site, 3 November 2008.
  20. ↑ McKinney and White on the Economic Crisis, Tribe, 19 September 2008.
  21. ↑ Socialist Equality Party Takes Steps to Receive Votes for President, Ballot Access News, 29 October 2008.
  22. ↑ Socialist Equality Party revamps website, Independent Political Report, 18 September 2008.
  23. ↑ Socialist presidential candidate visits campus, Michigan Daily, 24 September 2008.
  24. ↑ U.S. Presidential Elections: Leftist Votes, Marxists.org.
  25. ↑ Socialist Equality candidates fight police, school board over free speech, Michigan Daily, 6 September 1996.
  26. ↑ Brewer, James. "SEP presidential candidate gives press conference, speaks to workers in Findlay, Ohio". World Socialist Web Site.
  27. ↑ Cellania, Miss. "15 Third-Party Presidential Candidates". Mental Floss.
  28. ↑ "Jerry White, US Presidential Candidate, Speaks at The Humboldt University in Berlin". CNN.
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