Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
RACIST SWIM
siege and blockade of the area, makes this the area to provide various public services. them in any way.” The petition demands
aid essential for the people there. The Viva Palestina U.S. convoy, which safe passage for the convoy as well as an
The fact that the caravan hails from the left New York on July 4 for Cairo, Egypt, end to the siege of Gaza.
CLUB
U.S. gives the convoy added resonance, as had faced an increasing number of hur- For updates on the Viva Palestina con-
Israel is the largest recipient of U.S. gov- dles laid out by the Egyptian government. voy, visit www.vivapalestina-us.org. n Met with protests 6
ernment aid in the world. And Israel uses
U.S. weapons and missiles against the
Palestinian people on a daily basis.
Viva Palestina was organized by British
Member of Parliament George Galloway,
who organized a caravan from Britain un-
der the same name in March. Galloway
intends to organize future aid convoys to
Gaza this year from Venezuela, Moscow,
and again from Britain and the U.S. on
Dec. 27, the year anniversary of the open-
ing of Israel’s attack on Gaza.
Participants in the delegation include
former U.S. Congressperson Cynthia
McKinney, who was imprisoned in early
July by Israeli forces for attempting to
bring aid into Gaza by sea with the Free
Gaza Movement. Also participating are
representatives of the Council on Amer-
ican-Islamic Relations, Middle East Chil-
dren’s Alliance, Cuba Coalition, Malcolm
Name Phone
Address City/State/Zip
Workers World 55 W. 17 St., 5 Fl., NY, NY 10011 212-627-2994 Protest at Egyptian Consulate in New York on July 13 demanding the convoy be given safe passage to Gaza. ww Photo: Sara Flounders
IRAN & THE U.S. MOVEMENT 9 Mumia Abu-Jamal on U.S. hypocrisy 7 AFRICA & G-8 Lies & broken promises 8
Page 2 July 23, 2009 www.workers.org
Celebrate life of
the Cuban Five, Mumia Abu-Jamal and all U.S. political New York, N.Y. 10011
prisoners. Noted local photographers Jack Kenny, Ken- Phone: (212) 627-2994
neth Snodgrass and Frank Hammer displayed pictures Fax: (212) 675-7869
The International Action Center in New York will with the Venceremos Brigade, the U.S./Cuba Labor Ex- Editor: Deirdre Griswold
host a memorial for people’s change and African Awareness, in an annual challenge Technical Editor: Lal Roohk
artist Irving Fierstein on to the blockade. The groups are scheduled to return to Managing Editors: John Catalinotto, LeiLani Dowell,
July 19 from 3-6 p.m. at the U.S. on Aug. 3 at border crossings in Texas and in Leslie Feinberg, Monica Moorehead, Gary Wilson
55 W. 17th St., 5th floor. Buffalo, N.Y. n
West Coast Editor: John Parker
The memorial will in-
clude speeches, cultural Contributing Editors: Abayomi Azikiwe,
performances and photo Save this date— Greg Butterfield, Jaimeson Champion, G. Dunkel,
displays of Fierstein’s
revolutionary art. Food
Nov. 14-15 Fred Goldstein, Teresa Gutierrez, Larry Hales,
Kris Hamel, David Hoskins, Berta Joubert-Ceci,
and refreshments will Join us in the fight for a socialist future! Cheryl LaBash, Milt Neidenberg, Bryan G. Pfeifer,
be provided. Workers World Party— Betsey Piette, Minnie Bruce Pratt, Gloria Rubac
Call 212-633-6646 for
more information. n
50 years of struggle Technical Staff: Sue Davis, Shelley Ettinger,
Bob McCubbin, Maggie Vascassenno
Nov. 14-15 national conference in NYC
Mundo Obrero: Carl Glenn, Teresa Gutierrez,
More details to follow. Berta Joubert-Ceci, Donna Lazarus, Michael Martínez,
Carlos Vargas
Supporter Program: Sue Davis, coordinator
JOIN US. National Office Buffalo, N.Y. Durham, N.C. Rochester, N.Y. Copyright © 2009 Workers World. Verbatim copying
55 W. 17 St., 367 Delaware Ave., durham@workers.org 585-436-6458 and distribution of articles is permitted in any medium
Workers World Party Buffalo, NY 14202 rochester@workers.org
New York, NY 10011 Houston without royalty provided this notice is preserved.
(WWP) fights on all 212-627-2994; 716-883-2534
issues that face the P.O. Box 595 San Diego, Calif. Workers World (ISSN-1070-4205) is published weekly
Fax (212) 675-7869 buffalo@workers.org
Houston, P.O. Box 33447 except the first week of January by WW Publishers,
working class and wwp@workers.org Chicago TX 77001-0595 San Diego, 55 W. 17 St., N.Y., N.Y. 10011. Phone: (212) 627-2994.
oppressed peoples— Atlanta 27 N. Wacker Dr. #138 713-503-2633 CA 92163 Subscriptions: One year: $25; institutions: $35. Letters
Black and white, P.O. Box 424, Chicago, IL 60606 houston@workers.org 619-692-0355 to the editor may be condensed and edited. Articles can
Latin@, Asian, Arab Atlanta, GA 30301 773-381-5839
and Native peoples, Los Angeles San Francisco be freely reprinted, with credit to Workers World, 55 W.
404-627-0185 chicago@workers.org
5274 W. Pico Blvd. 2940 16th St., #207 17 St., New York, NY 10011. Back issues and individual
women and men, atlanta@workers.org
Cleveland Suite # 207 San Francisco, articles are available on microfilm and/or photocopy
young and old, lesbian, Baltimore P.O. Box 5963, Los Angeles, CA 90019
gay, bi, straight, trans, c/o Solidarity Center CA 94103 from University Microfilms International, 300 Zeeb
Cleveland, OH 44101 la@workers.org 415-738-4739
disabled, working, 2011 N. Charles St., Bsm. Road, Ann Arbor, Mich. 48106. A searchable archive is
216-531-4004 323-306-6240 sf@workers.org
unemployed and Baltimore, MD 21218 cleveland@workers.org available on the Web at www.workers.org.
443-909-8964 Milwaukee
students. Tucson, Ariz. A headline digest is available via e-mail subscription.
baltimore@workers.org Denver milwaukee@workers.org
tucson@workers.org Subscription information is at www.workers.org/email.
If you would like to denver@workers.org
Boston Philadelphia php.
know more about Detroit P.O. Box 23843, Washington, D.C.
284 Amory St., Periodicals postage paid at New York, N.Y.
WWP, or to join us Boston, MA 02130 5920 Second Ave., Philadelphia, P.O. Box 57300,
in these struggles, con- 617-983-3835 Detroit, MI 48202 PA 19143 Washington, POSTMASTER: Send address changes to
tact the branch nearest Fax (617) 983-3836 313-831-0750 610-931-2615 DC 20037 Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., 5th Floor,
you. boston@workers.org detroit@workers.org phila@workers.org dc@workers.org New York, N.Y. 10011.
www.workers.org July 23, 2009 Page 3
Reparations for some, not others trators continue to operate with impu- resolution apologizing for slavery and ra-
By Dolores Cox legal justice to help repair the damage.
New York Those who never have amassed enough nity. They give lip service in the form of cial discrimination. It was timed to coincide
money to invest in Wall Street schemes on recent empty “apologies” without true re- with the celebration of Juneteenth, the day
After Bernard Madoff was sentenced to such a scale, however, get no such recog- morse. They show no intent or attempt to commemorating the release from bondage
150 years in prison for his Ponzi scheme, nition of their demands for make restitution towards of enslaved Africans in Texas, two years
one of his victims was interviewed by a
local television reporter while leaving the
social or economic justice.
In 2009, millions of de-
Commentary. eliminating all forms
of institutional racism,
after the Emancipation Proclamation went
into effect. This resolution, however, is a
courtroom. She spoke about how justice scendants of the victims of crimes against towards leveling the playing field or to- non-binding empty gesture and only sym-
was finally served; that he got what he de- humanity perpetrated during the trans- wards repairing the resulting damages. bolic. It contains a disclaimer stating that
served. And, she stated, “It was important atlantic slave trade and U.S. slavery still There was no bailout for the enslaved nothing in it supports or authorizes repara-
that the damage be repaired.” await their justice. They still await restitu- Africans, just as there are no bailouts for tions by the U.S. government.
The damage she was referring to was tion for being stolen from their land; for the poor, unemployed and marginalized This resolution is coupled with the seem-
the loss of the money she had invested the loss of lives, family, culture, language, sectors of the working class today. Yet ingly steady erosion of affirmative action
in his scheme. The repair was the pun- even their names; for theft of labor and we’ve seen repeated bailouts for greedy programs designed to close racial gaps and
ishment for his crime and the hope that services; for the loss of income and ben- Wall Street bankers and investors—all at disparities and repair the damages rooted
she would be recuperating some of that efits denied them from their ancestors’ the taxpayers’ expense. Most of the banks in racism. Even the 1965 Voting Rights Act
money. The crime was stealing and the labor; for the hundreds of years of pain are prospering. AIG is paying out another has been challenged and weakened this
perpetrator had been punished. At least and suffering, and for the legacy of slav- round of million-dollar bonuses to reward past June by the U.S. Supreme Court. This
one amend had been made. The key is- ery and discrimination that continues to the guilty criminals. Bernie Madoff going court’s ruling allowed more state and local
sues here are loss, greed and theft, crime, inflict harm. to jail was the exception to the rule; what jurisdictions to change their election pro-
damage and reparations. Present-day capitalist rulers, those who we have seen, in general, is that if you are cedures and lessen federal oversight. It can
The judicial system looked out for those have benefited from enslaved Africans’ rich and guilty of defrauding people, you have the effect of weakening the right to
individuals who had enough money to in- free labor, continue to hold fast to the are allowed to still maintain a lavish life- political representation for Black and other
vest in his scheme and who demanded practice of oppression, exploitation and style, unregulated. oppressed people. n
justice for their losses. They received swift placing profit before people. The perpe- On June 19 the U.S. Senate passed a
T
he death of Robert S. McNama- (Associated Press, July 6) Over 58,000 ing riots in Xinjiang’s capital, Urumqi. (New
ra on July 6 at age 93 gives new GIs ended up dead, with hundreds of Kyrgyzstan’s June 22 decision to keep York Times, July 7)
meaning to the old adage that thousands more wounded physically the U.S./NATO military base open at Ma- These same groups have encouraged the
“only the good die young.” McNamara and psychologically. nas will enhance the U.S. government’s anti-communist Tibetan followers of the
was secretary of defense under Presi- But by far the greatest damage was ability to wage its brutal war on Afghani- Dalai Lama in an attempt to foment unrest
dents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. to the Vietnamese nation. Over 3 mil- stan. Seventeen miles from Kyrgyzstan’s against the Peoples Republic of China.
Johnson and was the principal archi- lion Vietnamese–2 million of them capital Bishkek, the Manas base houses
over a thousand U.S. military personnel Economic crisis in Central Asia
tect of the U.S. war against Vietnam. civilians—were killed during the war.
As early as 1964 the war was aptly The land was razed by carpet bombing. and hosts transport aircraft and mid-air fu- Like most of the former socialist coun-
referred to as “McNamara’s war,” Napalm and Agent Orange used by the elling vehicles. tries of Eurasia, Kyrgyzstan is a nation with
which didn’t bother McNamara one U.S. destroyed the country’s arable U.S. forces have had access to the Manas high unemployment, where factories are
bit. “I am pleased to be identified with land and killed and maimed millions air base outside Bishkek since 2001. The closed after decisions made on Wall Street.
it, and do whatever I can to win it,” more people. The deadly effects are base has been a transit point for 15,000 Kyrgyzstan ‘s inflation rate in 2008 was 24
he said at the time. (New York Times, manifest even today, generations later. troops and 500 tons of cargo per month percent. In 2004, the unemployment rate
July 6) McNamara’s book “In Retrospect: en route to the war in Afghanistan. After was 18 percent. (www.infoplease.com) It’s
He started his ignoble career as a The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam” Washington increased greatly the amount much higher now. In some regions, since
statistical and systems analyst who be- was published in 1995. “We of the given to the Kyrgyzstan government for use then, unemployment has doubled.
came a “Whiz Kid” at Ford Motor Co. Kennedy and Johnson administrations of the base, the regime decided to renew the The economic situation has only deterio-
and its eventual president. McNamara acted according to what we thought lease. (Workers World, July 16) rated since the world recession began. Until
was convinced that his analysis of the were the principles and traditions of A continuing conflict between Washing- now, economic troubles had been more or
war proved the U.S. would conquer our country. But we were wrong. We ton and Bishkek has been over legal immu- less confined to the private sector, but to-
Vietnam within a few years. were terribly wrong,” said McNamara nity, which U.S. soldiers had in Kyrgyzstan. day the Kyrgyz government is cutting jobs
As the war escalated and he realized in an interview prior to the book’s In at least one case a soldier from the Manas and wages at state companies in the public
the failure of his prediction, McNa- release. base was involved in the death of a local resi- sector.
mara began to have “deep misgivings” The 2003 documentary “The Fog of dent, and Kyrgyz authorities could not pros- For youth the situation is intolerable. The
about the war. Although he realized War” also featured McNamara rumi- ecute him, spurring a scandal in the country. youth unemployment rate before the recent
the futility of the U.S. war in Viet- nating on his moral misgivings about (Russia Today, June 23) recession was 26 percent, while their share
nam as early as 1967, he kept those Vietnam. Some even call McNamara Kyrgyzstan (formerly Kirghizia) is a rug- in the total population was lower than 20
thoughts to himself. a “liberal” for being so contrite in his ged country; the Tien Shan mountain range percent. Now their situation is even worse.
McNamara’s seven-year tenure as later years, but this is a misguided at- covers approximately 95 percent of the According to the International Labor
secretary of defense also included the tribute. He was sorry because he lost. whole territory. Kyrgyzstan borders Ka- Organization, after Kyrgyzstan privatized
disastrous “Bay of Pigs” invasion of He was sorry because his statistical zakhstan on the north and northwest, Uz- industry “the number of poor increased to
Cuba and the missile crisis that nearly analysis left out what history proved: bekistan in the southwest, Tajikistan on the more than 60 percent of the population” of
led to a nuclear showdown with the the will of the Vietnamese people to south, and China in the southeast. over 5 million.
Soviet Union. It included the U.S. defeat U.S. imperialism. Kyrgyzstan’s natural resources lure spec- This poverty has forced the migration of
invasion of the Dominican Republic in McNamara spent his later years ulators. The capitalist government is al- hundreds of thousands of Kyrgyz workers.
1965. being “sorry” while walking free. Did ways open for business. When it was part of About 70 percent of Kyrgyzstan’s poor re-
Under McNamara’s tenure, the war he voluntarily surrender himself to the Soviet Union, there was socialist plan- side in rural areas. Since the end of socialist
budget and influence of the Pentagon the Vietnamese people for prosecution ning. Now the capitalist “free market” has planning, the “decline in employment has
increased exponentially and increased of his many war crimes and crimes lowered the living standards of the workers been compounded by the reduction or with-
its domination over the civilian life of against humanity? Did he denounce and farmers. It’s so-called Tulip Revolution drawal of a range of subsidized goods and
the United States, which continues to the role of the Pentagon in subjugating was aimed at accelerating the process of social services previously available to the
this day. oppressed peoples around the globe? privatization. workforce, including ongoing education,
McNamara left the Pentagon to work Did he lead any anti-war demonstra- Kyrgyzstan’s strategic location is key to skills training, supplementary nutrition,
for 13 years as head of the World Bank. tions? U.S. military planning. Russia and China health care, and sports and cultural facili-
There he ensured the domination of What the world’s people need are perceive that the U.S. government interfer- ties.” (www.ilo.org)
U.S. capital in underdeveloped and not apologies from those who have ence in Eastern Europe and Central Asia This migration has produced a depen-
poor countries around the world, help- exploited and tormented them. They is encircling them militarily. The United dence on remittances, where workers have
ing to condemn millions more to lives need solidarity from their class sisters States ruling class is working toward the to leave to earn enough money to support
of poverty and misery. and brothers in the imperialist coun- privatization and takeover of the vast natu- their impoverished families back home.
Despite McNamara’s private “mis- tries to help overthrow this vicious ral resources of Eurasia. A meeting of re- As the world economic crisis accelerates,
givings” about the war in Vietnam, the system so that the criminal inequality gional countries in Yekaterinburg, Russia, migrants face diminished opportunities
number of U.S. soldiers dead, miss- caused by imperialism can be recti- in June mounted an unsuccessful attempt to work and hence send fewer remittances
ing and wounded went from 7,466 to fied. n to counter the presence of the U.S. and its home. They also face declining wages in the
more than 100,000 during his watch. NATO stooges in Central Asia and the Cas- countries to which they migrate. For the
pian region. workers and peasants of Kyrgyzstan, the
Kyrgyzstan has not only been vital to the outlook is bleak.