Jerome "Jerry" White (born 1959) is an American politician and journalist, and is the Labor Editor reporting for the

World Socialist Web Site The World Socialist Web Site (WSWS) is the website of the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI). It describes itself as an "online newspaper of the international Trotskyist movement". The WSWS publishes articles and analys ...

. 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. White was the SEP's nominee for the

United States presidential election The election of the president and the vice president of the United States is an indirect election in which citizens of the United States who are registered to vote in one of the fifty U.S. states or in Washington, D.C., cast ballots not dir ...

s four times, running in 1996, 2008, 2012 and 2016.Socialist Equality Party announces US election campaign
World Socialist Web Site, 13 February 2012.

Early life

Jerome White was raised in a working-class family in

Queens, New York Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

. In 1979, while working at

United Parcel Service United Parcel Service (UPS, stylized as ups) is an American multinational shipping & receiving and supply chain management company founded in 1907. Originally known as the American Messenger Company specializing in telegraphs, UPS has grown t ...

and attending the City University of New York, he joined the Workers League, the predecessor of the Socialist Equality Party.

Career

As a reporter for the

, White has written extensively on the US auto industry, and has interviewed autoworkers in

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, and

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

. 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 Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

, McCoy, as well as the history of the United Mine Workers (UMW) in

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...

. White has been active in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

's Committee Against Utility Shutoffs (CAUS) and organized hearings on fires in low income neighborhoods.Committee Against Utility Shutoffs
CAUS, 23 March 2010. He has criticized the Obama Administration for what he has described as its policies favoring Wall Street at the expense of

workers The workforce or labour force is a concept referring to the pool of human beings either in employment or in unemployment. It is generally used to describe those working for a single company or industry, but can also apply to a geographic reg ...

. White is the Editor of the ''World Socialist Web Site Autoworkers Newsletter''. White announced the creation of the ''WSWS Autoworker Newsletter'' in July 2015,Socialist Equality Party launches digital WSWS Autoworker Newsletter
/ref> 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. 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.

Election campaigns

In 1996, White ran as the first presidential candidate for the newly-formed Socialist Equality Party (SEP) with vice-presidential candidate Fred Mazelis.U.S. Presidential Elections: Leftist Votes
Marxists.org.Socialist Equality candidates fight police, school board over free speech
Michigan Daily, 6 September 1996. In 2006, White ran for

's 112th Congressional district seat as an SEP candidate.Library of Congress Archives
/ref>Socialist Equality Party to contest state elections in Illinois, Maine, Oregon and WA
Portland Independent Media Center, 14 May 2006. In 2008, White ran as the SEP presidential candidate with vice-presidential candidate Bill Van Auken.Jerry White Speaks at University of Illinois-Chicago
World Socialist Web Site, 3 November 2008.McKinney and White on the Economic Crisis
, Tribe, 19 September 2008.Socialist Equality Party Takes Steps to Receive Votes for President
Ballot Access News, 29 October 2008. 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

.Socialist Equality Party revamps website
Independent Political Report, 18 September 2008.Socialist presidential candidate visits campus
Michigan Daily, 24 September 2008. In 2012, White ran as the SEP presidential candidate with vice-presidential candidate Phyllis Scherrer. The campaign was announced from the Cooper Tire factories in Findley, Ohio, where workers were locked out for contesting contract negotiations. The White-Scherrer ticket was on the ballot in

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, and had

write-in A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be po ...

status for

. White visited

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and Sri Lanka to campaign for socialism and an international working-class movement. White's 2012 presidential campaign kept five core components:

social equality Social equality is a state of affairs in which all individuals within a specific society have equal rights, liberties, and status, possibly including civil rights, freedom of expression, autonomy, and equal access to certain public goods and ...

, international unity in the working class, rejection of austerity, opposition to

imperialist Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power (economic and ...

militarism Militarism is the belief or the desire of a government or a people that a state should maintain a strong military capability and to use it aggressively to expand national interests and/or values. It may also imply the glorification of the mili ...

and the assault on

democratic rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

, and opposition to the political subordination of the

working class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colo ...

to the Democrats and Republicans. White's campaign indicted the

crisis A crisis ( : crises; : critical) is either any event or period that will (or might) lead to an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, or all of society. Crises are negative changes in the human or environmental affair ...

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 and called for social rights to

housing Housing, or more generally, living spaces, refers to the construction and assigned usage of houses or buildings individually or collectively, for the purpose of shelter. Housing ensures that members of society have a place to live, whether i ...

retirement Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

, food, and

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

. In 2016, White ran as the SEP presidential candidate with vice-presidential candidate Niles Niemuth.

References

External links

World Socialist Web Site

Socialist Equality Party

Jerome White
{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Jerry 1959 births Living people People from Queens, New York Socialist Equality Party (United States) politicians Candidates in the 2016 United States presidential election Candidates in the 2012 United States presidential election 21st-century American politicians Michigan politicians Candidates in the 2008 United States presidential election Candidates in the 1996 United States presidential election 20th-century American politicians