Bush, Democrats Vow Endless Occupation of Iraq, p. 2
3 october 2007 Volume 40, No. 15 CHALTHE REVOLUTIONARY COMMUNIST NEWSPAPERLENGE OF PROGRESSIVE LABOR PARTY Suggested Donation U.S. $.50 GROWING FIGHT BACK TO FREE THE JENA SIX: HANG THE RACIST SYSTEM “Now my son knows what it means to be black in the bloodbath in Iraq, the real terror we face are the in- stolen from Latino, Asian, immigrant and women work- America,” declared the father of Mychal Bell, on the day creasing racist attacks on the working class. From infant ers have added to the fortunes of the racist rulers, all of the 16-year-old high school student was convicted by a mortality to life expectancy, by every objective measure, which increases exploitation of all workers. racist jury of “attempted murder” and “conspiracy to racism is more widespread and devastating now than at On the one hand, racist terror is needed to force us commit murder.” Mychal is one of the Jena 6; five others any time since the 1960’s Civil Rights movement. to accept a future of wider wars and poverty wages. On also face charges. As we go to press, tens of thousands This is not just the Bush crowd’s policies; it is built into the other, racist budget cuts against the poorest of the of workers, students and youth are descending on Jena the capitalist system of wage slavery. Racism is the fiber poor are the important ways the rulers finance their wars on what was to be his sentencing date. He has been in that holds the whole blood-soaked cloth together. Capi- to control the flow of Mid-East oil or any other challeng- jail since January and is still there needing $90,000 bail talism was built on slavery and then created the unscien- es to their empire. Racism is the cutting edge of fascism. although his initial conviction has been overturned, in re- tific concept of “race” to justify it. Without the trillions And only a mass, multiracial international revolutionary sponse to the growing anti-racist storm headed for Jena. of dollars stolen through the historical super-exploitation communist movement, led by black, Latin and women He is still threatened with other charges. of black workers, and the political ideology to divide all continued on page 4 The Jena 6 has captured the attention of the anti-rac- workers, capitalism could not survive. The super-profits ist movement amid a series of increased racist attacks across the U.S. Consider: Reds Led International • The mass racist terror in New Orleans after Hur- ricane Katrina, when more than 100,000 black people Campaign vs. Scottsboro were left behind to die; • The closing of half the public health clinics in Legal Lynching Chicago this past winter that serve an uninsured patient population 85% black and Latin. The Census Bureau just On March 21, 1931, nine black teenagers, the announced that another two million people lost their youngest being 13, were jailed in Scottsboro, Ala- health insurance and a new wave of racist budget cuts bama, falsely charged with raping two white women on a freight train. Legal lynching has historically been awaits them; part of the racist Jim Crow system that dominated the • A prison population of over 2.2 million people, U.S. since the Civil War, especially in the South. “The the highest in the world, 70% black and Latin, with mil- Scottsboro Case,” the most infamous case of legal Forced by heavy mass pressure, the U.S. Supreme lions more on probation, parole or awaiting trial; lynching, exposed the U.S. ruling class throughout the Court ordered a new trial, on the grounds that in the • A rise in racist police terror, from the murder of world. This charge was later repudiated, especially by original “trial” the accused had inadequate legal coun- Sean Bell in NYC on the morning he was to be married, one of the women, Ruby Bates. But after a few days, sel. Only after the communists’ campaign had drawn to the cops’ beating to death of a Latino worker in the a kangaroo trial still sentenced the Scottsboro 9 to the worldwide protests did various reformist organizations Ramona Gardens public housing project in Los Angeles electric chair. — the NAACP, the Urban League and the A.F. of L. to the cop murder of an immigrant worker in Mt. Kisco, The Communist Party rallied to their defense, send- — join the international struggle. Great respect for the NY to the recent killing of Arron Harrison, an 18-year- ing the veteran communist lawyer Joseph Brodsky to communists grew among masses of black people. old black youth shot in the back by Chicago police last defend the victims. While it was fought back and forth The fight saved the Scottsboro 9 from the electric month. In fact, the Chicago police murdered four young in the courts, the communists launched a national and chair but the savage Southern courts sentenced them black and Latin men in August. international campaign to free the nine young men, or- to prison terms up to 99 years. It was only in 1950 that • Immigration raids, increased border patrols and ganizing demonstrations, marches and rallies in cities the last of the young men was released. racist deportations of undocumented workers, scape- across the country and abroad. The case became one The case became known especially among the goating them for (falsely) “stealing the jobs” of U.S.-born of the most famous battles against racist frame-ups in workers in the colonies owned by the imperialist pow- workers; U.S. history. ers. This became a powerful force that somewhat re- • The round-up and racist profiling of tens of All this was occurring simultaneously with mass strained the racist lynchers and exposed U.S. rulers as thousands of Arab and Muslim immigrants in the name movements of the unemployed and among industrial among the most racist in the world. The Scottsboro of “the war on terror.” workers for unionization, led by communists, reflecting fight serves as a telling lesson that anti-racist forces or- the great ferment in the working class battling the ef- ganizing mass pressure among all sections of the work- fects of capitalism’s Great Depression. ing class can return blow for blow against the rulers’ While politicians from Hillary Clinton to Obama to racist oppression. J Giuliani all rant about the “war on terror” and defend page 2 - challenge - 3 october 2007 NNN editorial Bloody Iraq Chaos Sparks Oil Free-for-All
In his latest speech, George W. Bush campaigns. The Hunt family is a long-time said U.S. military engagement in Iraq enemy of the rulers’ liberal dominant wing. would extend “beyond my presidency.” Ray’s late father, H.L. Hunt, was implicated On one hand, Bush is trying to dump the in the Kennedy assassination. Iraq mess on his successor (“Bush Passes On Sept. 8-10, Conoco Phillips, anoth- the Buck” editorialized the Boston Globe, er foe of the main wing, hosted a confer- 9/15). But a stronger motive compels U.S. ence in Dubai, with co-sponsors Total of rulers to keep troops in Iraq: it is not yet France and Lukoil of Russia, on “Interna- secure enough for Exxon Mobil and Chev- tional Investment in the Iraqi Oil Industry,” ron and their British partners BP and Shell featuring Iraq’s highest-ranking oil minis- to operate in. ters. Clinton’s Iran Libya Sanctions Act of Securing Iraq’s oilfields for these oil gi- the mid-1990s mainly targeted Conoco’s ants was one of the most important rea- operations in those countries. sons the U.S. and Britain invaded in the BIGGEST BOSSES NEED first place, in addition to controlling the WIDER WARS Mid-East against imperialist rivals. While Bush had this as one goal, he also pandered The dominant Exxon Mobil wing can- to an electoral base of smaller capitalists not afford much longer to forgo Iraqi oil who were unwilling to make the sacrifices profits, or let rivals grab them. Their solu- (higher taxes and wartime government tion lies in wider wars (in the Mid-East in regulation) that a massive invasion would the short term, with China later on) requir- have demanded. So he and the neocons ing far larger military forces, higher taxes attempted to do it “on the cheap” — too ensuring they last beyond the current government.”An and the complete World War II-style unity few troops — and with no plan for the post-invasion, dis- understated Chevron spokesman told the Dallas Morning of the entire capitalist class. solving the Iraqi army, firing the Baath officials who could News (9/11/07), “We want to see things probably much The CFR welcomed part of Bush’s speech as “a new run the government, and so on. more stabilized than they are now,” before investing in and clearer statement of strategic intent: a vision of an A pre-invasion study by the Council on Foreign Re- exploration. ‘enduring’ U.S. presence in Iraq meant to counter the lations (CFR) had envisioned six million barrels of crude PETRAEUS AND BUSH BETRAYED nuclear and political ambitions of Iran.” And the elite gushing daily from Iraqi wells. Currently, however, insur- EXXON & CO. IN IRAQ think-tank does not rule out a U.S. attack on Iran. “Most gent attacks and sabotage, plus the general instability, experts doubt the United States will launch a unilateral The Democrats, loyal to the main wing of U.S. capi- strike on Tehran, but acknowledge such an action would keep the daily flow below two million barrels. The Wall talists, represented by Big Oil, and more than willing to Street Journal reported (9/10/07): “For large multina- be the worst case scenario.” (CFR website, 9/14/07) And waste Iraqis and GI lives, favor continuing the bloodshed the Wall Street Journal (9/10/07) reports, “The Pentagon tionals, the lack of security makes any meaningful field- there until it’s safe for Big Oil. Richard Haass, president work difficult. But more crucially: Since the overthrow is preparing to build its first base for U.S. forces near the of the CFR think-tank (funded by the Rockefellers) ap- Iraqi-Iranian border, in a major new effort to curb the flow of Saddam Hussein during the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, proves of the liberals’ pro-war stance. “Even a lot of the there has been no legal framework for signing deals and of advanced Iranian weaponry to Shiite militants across Democrats...aren’t calling for total withdrawal...a lot of Iraq.” them are talking about residual forces in certain places for certain missions.... [S]ixteen months from now, when Saudi Arabia, the crumbling cornerstone of U.S. im- a new president takes over, you are likely to see a U.S. perialism across the Persian Gulf, “has begun setting presence of plus-or-minus 100,000 troops in Iraq, doing a up a 35,000-strong security force to protect its oil infra- WHAT WE structure from potential attacks. The move underlines the lot of training, but still doing some combat missions in the central part of the country.” (CFR website, 9/11/07) kingdom’s growing concern about its oil installations after threats from al-Qaeda to attack facilities in the Gulf, as MoveOn, a liberal group founded by Larry Rockefel- well as rising tensions between Iran and the U.S. (London ler, among others, took out a full-page New York Times Financial Times, 8/26/07) FIGHT FOR: ad calling General David Petraeus, the top U.S. officer in Iraq, “General Betray Us.” Petraeus is indeed a mass- For the main U.S. rulers, the 2008 election is principal- ly a search for a president (unlike Bush) able and willing to EProgressive Labor Party (PLP) fights to murdering war criminal, but MoveOn wasn’t motivated smash capitalism — wage slavery. While the by concern for Iraqi lives. His greater sin, in liberals’ eyes, mobilize both capitalists and workers for war. They need bosses and their mouthpieces claim “commu- is treason against Exxon Mobil and its kind by failing to someone who can and will impose rigid discipline on all nism is dead,” capitalism is the real failure for safeguard the Iraqi oil infrastructure. businesses in the interests of the largest ones. They need someone who can and will restore the draft, brutally crack billions all over the world. Capitalism returned BIG OIL’S RIVALS CASHING IN to the Soviet Union and China because social- down on dissent, and herd workers into war industries. ism failed to wipe out many aspects of the prof- With the biggest U.S. and U.K. refiners — Exxon Mo- We must not be misled by Democrats or people like it system, like wages and division of labor. bil, Chevron, BP and Shell — sidelined for the moment MoveOn, who in fact serve these profit-hungry war-mak- in Iraq, rivals are attempting to cash in on the nation’s Capitalism inevitably leads to wars. PLP ers, seeking to deploy U.S. troops region-wide. But with- E oil treasure, challenging Big Oil’s monopoly. With Bush’s out workers to produce for, and soldiers to fight these organizes workers, students and soldiers to O.K., Hunt Oil of Dallas just signed a deal with Kurdish imperialist wars, the profit-makers are doomed. Only a turn these wars into a revolution for commu- authorities in northern Iraq. This move undermines Big mass, international PLP, winning workers and soldiers to nism — the dictatorship of the proletariat. This Oil’s goal from the invasion’s inception — a national law destroy capitalism which drives these wars and the sys- fight requires a mass Red Army led by the com- that would give the Big Four almost exclusive access to tem’s evils — mass unemployment, poverty wages, rac- munist PLP. Iraq’s oil at unheard-of profit rates. Again Bush is serving ism and fascism — is the way forward for the working his donor base at the expense of the bigger U.S. bosses. ECommunism means working collectively to class.J build a society where sharing is based on need. Hunt Oil chief Ray Hunt raised millions for Bush’s election We will abolish work for wages, money and profits. Everyone will share in society’s benefits and burdens. ....His view on the motive for the 2003 Communism means abolishing racism and E Ex-Fed Chief Greenspan Iraq invasion.... [says] “I am saddened that the concept of race. it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge ECommunism means abolishing the special Says Iraq War Really for Oil oppression of women workers. what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely (London Times, 9/16) about oil….” ECommunism means abolishing nations and nationalism. One International working class, America’s elder statesman of finance, Greenspan, 81, is understood to believe one world, one Party. Alan Greenspan, has shaken the White that Saddam Hussein posed a threat to the House by declaring that the prime motive ECommunism means the Party leads every security of oil supplies in the Middle East. aspect of society. For this to work, millions of for the war in Iraq was oil. Britain and America have always insisted workers — eventually everyone — must be- In his long-awaited memoir...., Green- the war had nothing to do with oil. Bush come communist organizers. Join Us! span, a Republican whose 18-year tenure as said the aim was to disarm Iraq of weapons CHALLENGE/DESAFIO (ISSN 0009-1049) published head of the U.S. Federal Reserve was widely of mass destruction and end Saddam’s sup- bi-weekly by Challenge Periodicals. 1 issue $.50. One admired, will also deliver a stinging critique port for terrorism.J Year: $15. Six months: $10. Send address changes to CHALLENGE Periodicals, GPO Box 808 Brooklyn, NY of President George W. Bush’s economic 11202. October 3, 2007 Volume 40, No. 15 policies. PROGRESSIVE LABOR PARTY P.O. Box 808 Brooklyn NY 11202 www.plp.org email:[email protected] Phone: 718-630-9440 3 october 2007 - challenge - page 3 fight back NNN At D.C. March, PLP Marks Capitalism as Cause of War
WASHINGTON, D.C., September 15 — To- as the only way to crush fascism, imperialism day, thousands of marchers led by the AN- and wage slavery. SWER coalition called on the U.S. government We distributed over 800 CHALLENGES to pull all troops out of Iraq. However, their and hundreds of fliers about the Jena 6 case. “answer” leads the anti-war movement to back the We also circulated a petition against racist Democratic Party warmakers. PLP presented the revo- attacks in Jena and at the University of Mary- lutionary alternative with a bullhorn rally near the main land at the rally and during the march. demonstration, linking the war, rotten schools and rac- Pro-war groups including the Gathering ism to the capitalist system. of Eagles and Free Republic counter-demon- We spoke about the growing fascist character of the strated along the march route with as many U.S. — how the police are being militarized and the “war as 1,000 pro-fascists in their ranks. They on terror” is an attack against the few rights workers chanted “U.S.A” and spewed anti-commu- still have. Above all, our rally denounced all politicians nist lies. Some of them attacked protestors, (Democrats and Republicans) as warmakers and racist. including an anti-war Latino father who was We called for workers’ revolution against the U.S. rulers carrying a memorial for his son, killed in Iraq. It was a weakness that anti-war work- 1.2 Million Dead From U.S. Imperialist Invasion ers, students and rested whereas almost 200 anti-war demonstrators were According to a new study by the British polling firm ORB, 1.2 million Iraqis soldiers, and our- arrested. The growth of these fascists must be fought by have met violent deaths since the 2003 U.S. invasion, a number exceeding selves, were not prepared for the more rapid growth of the revolutionary communist the 800,000 to 900,000 believed killed in the Rwandan genocide. The study the presence of these fascist movement! was conducted with face-to-face interviews in 15 of Iraq’s 18 provinces. Two organizations. These gutter fas- provinces — al-Anbar and Karbala — were too dangerous to canvas and re- cists are the goons the bosses While the PLP banner proclaiming “Workers, stu- searchers were not given permission in a third, Irbul. have historically used to attack dents, soldiers unite! Smash imperialist war!” was in front those who oppose their war, of our bullhorn rally, other comrades took this message Previously the highest estimate had been 650,000 in the landmark Johns racism and economic attacks to the middle of the march to struggle for a revolution- Hopkins study published in the Lancet, the British medical journal. The ORB on the entire working class. ary outlook. The positive response from the marchers to findings parallel the rolling estimate on the Just Foreign Policy website of just Right-wingers like Michelle Mal- our red message shows the great potential for turning over one million killed, based on the Johns Hopkins data. kin and other media mouth- anger into revolutionary organization. As the rulers and How well the Bushites and bosses’ media have hidden this toll was re- pieces openly organized for the their Republican and Democrat politicians prepare for vealed earlier this year in an Associated Press poll asking people in this coun- counter-demonstration through wider wars (Iran seems to be next), we must multiply our try how many civilians they thought were killed in Iraq because of the invasion the NY Post, and Fox News. It efforts to win workers, students and soldiers to the un- and occupation. The median answer was 9,890. should be no surprise that not derstanding that capitalism is the cause of war, and the one of these fascists was ar- only solution is to organize to destroy it. J Struggle Sharpens Against Immigrant Marchers Welcome PLP Answer to Patriotism, War and Liberal Misleaders Bosses’ Racist Health Cuts Prince William County, VA, September 2 — PLP’ers LOS ANGELES, September 11 — When “eve- As a result of this discussion, several students put brought the message of multi-national, multi-racial revolution ryone please rise for the flag salute” came over the out a flyer, calling for students to organize to fight and internationalism to a gathering of thousands of mainly Lati- PA system, students all over the school sat down. In against patriotism and imperialist war. They went to no workers at an immigrant rally in this D.C. suburb. This work- some classrooms the teachers sat down, too. In other another school club and they all decided to join to- ing class crowd received over 300 CHALLENGE enthusiastically. classrooms, students were ordered to stand, but they gether to fight against racist cutbacks in health serv- Our message sharply contrasted with the misleading message stood silently, with their arms crossed defiantly. “They ices on campus and in the community (including the that “We are all Americans from Canada to Argentina” from can make me stand up,” said one student, “but they closing of King-Drew Hospital – see last issue), and Mexicans Without Borders (MWB), which organized this Ameri- can’t make me say the pledge, and they sure can’t the war in Iraq. More of these students are now read- make me believe in patriotism.” ing and distributing CHALLENGE newspaper, and can flag-waving rally against recent anti-immigrant legislation organizing the fight against racist cutbacks and war. passed by the Prince William County Council. Some students said, “We should have a sit-in in the principal’s office!” Others said, “We should The struggle continues. J The fascist law calls for county police, in partnership with ICE put out a flyer.” “This is all about the war in Iraq.” (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), to interrogate persons “They’re just using the people who died on Septem- regarding their immigration status. It also calls on county service ber 11 to try to get support for their war.” Back Japan’s Teachers’ providers to demand immigration paperwork for anyone who re- Teachers had found out on Friday after school quests or uses public services (like health care and libraries) and that this patriotic PA pledge and announcement—the Anti-Imperialist Action deny services to undocumented workers and their children. first of its kind at the school—was planned. Teachers As stated in a CHALLENGE letter from the communicated with each other over the weekend, MWB thought that a weeklong economic boycott and a rally National Educators Association convention (8/1), sharing ideas about the history of the pledge of alle- and march would make the County repeal the racist law. It is 1,500 Japanese teachers have been attacked for giance, how it relates to the history of imperialist war refusing to rise to sing the national anthem and highly unlikely that this will happen in today’s increasingly fascist and what the struggle has been against patriotism salute the flag because they see this as a step to climate. and the pledge. On Monday several teachers held winning their students to go to defend the in- The “we-are-all-Americans” theme of the march was an insult discussions with their students on these topics. terests of the Japanese rulers in imperialist war. to demonstrators since most were in the U.S. due to the brutal Students in one class pointed out that they had The American Federation of Teachers local at San anti-worker policies of the U.S.-backed Central American rulers already learned the history of the pledge of alle- Francisco Community College passed a resolu- in the 1980s and 1990s. One disgusted worker shouted to the giance, which was written in 1892 at the height of tion supporting these teachers and demanding MWB speaker exactly where he could stick his American flag! lynchings of African-Americans, the use of the U.S. an end to the attacks on them. The resolution Surrendering further, though, MWB said that “there might be Army to stop a nationwide Pullman railway strike, and calls for support demonstrations on Oct. 5, 2007 racist attacks on Italian and Jewish immigrants. Nev- some people along the march route who hurl insults or disagree at Japanese embassies and consulates. The Japa- ertheless, the pledge said “with liberty and justice with our cause [the Minutemen counter protestors], and it is im- nese teachers say their fight is like the fight in the for all.” The purpose of the pledge was to win the U.S. against the No Child Left Behind legislation. portant that we ignore them and fight for our rights, the right working class to patriotism to prepare for imperial- A similar resolution will be considered by teach- way.” In other words, bow down to fascists and turn the other ism and war—then in Hawaii, Guam, Puerto Rico, and ers in LA at an upcoming United Teachers of LA cheek. the Philippines—now in Iraq. Students in this class delegate assembly meeting. Teachers in the U.S. The students, workers and teachers at the rally liked our understood the purpose of the pledge very well; should stand up to the bosses’ patriotism in the militant, anti-capitalist message. They were relieved to hear an when they did a role play in class debating whether service of imperialist war with the same bravery the U.S. should continue imperialist war in the Philip- alternative to the liberal sham on stage. Next time we need as teachers in Japan. This will help build inter- pines, the pro-imperialists, with money hanging out to show up with more forces, more Spanish speakers and more nationalism not only among teachers but among of their pockets, couldn’t convince anti-imperialists, students, who are future soldiers, workers and CHALLENGE-DESAFIOs to build a base in the ever-growing Lat- workers, immigrants, and African-Americans to sup- teachers themselves. It can help build anti-impe- J ino community in the D.C. metropolitan area. port U.S. imperialism. In one last desperate try, they rialist, anti-racist struggle and one international got together in a group and chanted the original end- communist PLP to take on all the imperialist war ing of the pledge, “One country, one language, one makers and ultimately destroy them with com- flag!” Everyone could see that patriotism was the munist revolution. last desperate attempt of the rulers to win the work- ing class to war. It didn’t work that day in class, and it still isn’t working with these students. page 4 - challenge - 3 october 2007 NNN workers unite! Jena 6: Hang the Racist System than 200,000 people have signed pe- with communist revolution. titions to free the Jena 6. What was We must take the struggle of the Jena 6, and against expected to be a rally in Jena of a few all forms of racist terror, to our jobs, unions, schools, thousand may now be tens of thou- campuses, community groups and barracks. Raise money sands. So the bosses have called out and resolutions for their legal defense, demanding their their loyal cronies, Julian Bond, Jesse freedom. The Jena 6 have struck an anti-racist nerve. Jackson and Al Sharpton, to steer the More than 2,000 rallied at Howard University (see page anti-racist sentiments of the masses 3). The Chicago Area UAW Civil Rights Council is sending back into the dead-end of electoral delegations to Jena with a $500 check for their defense, politics and into the clutches of the and will take up shop collections among Ford, Navistar Democratic Party. PLP is active in this and other workers. Chicago’s Ford Assembly plant work- struggle to build the revolutionary ers voted to send a donation and delegation on behalf communist movement and end racist of the Jena 6 and collect money from rank-and-filers at terror forever. shift change. Under capitalism, racist terror is The fight against racism can only be resolved by de- protected while fighting racism is not. stroying the profit-system that breeds it. Fighting racism What kind of system is it where a black continued from front page and for equality has always been at the heart of build- student feels he must ask if he can sit under the “whites ing the revolutionary communist movement and the Pro- only” tree? Where the school superintendent considers gressive Labor Party. These six young black students, by workers, soldiers and youth can smash racist wage slav- nooses hanging from that “white tree” to be a joke? standing up to the racist terrorists in their school and ery. What kind of system allows the racist white students re- running their courts, have created an opportunity for our Whenever the masses are in motion, the bosses are sponsible to go unpunished while terrorizing those who movement to advance. Seize it! Free the Jena 6. Fight playing with fire. They remember the ghetto rebellions fight back with life-long jail sentences? Where the racist for communism. J of the 1960’s, especially the 1967 Detroit Rebellion that District Attorney can tell a student assembly, “I can end forced President Johnson to send troops headed for Viet- your lives with a stroke of a pen.” Like the mother of one nam to crush the rebellion. As of September 19th, more of the Jena 6 put it, “They want to keep institutionalized slavery alive and well.” Such a system must be destroyed Howard Univ. Protest vs. Jena 6 Attacks Opens Door to Red Ideas Women, Girls ‘bought, sold, raped, WASHINGTON, DC, September 5 — Today over 2,000 angry students beaten’ in Vegas Sex Trade filled Cramton Auditorium to capacity while hundreds more assembled out- side, furious at the racist attacks by the Louisiana government on the Jena 6. Led by the student government and organized by the campus chapters of Thailand’s sexploitation trade has nothing But in Vegas, the country’s fastest-grow- Amnesty International and NAACP, which had mobilized 400 volunteers to on Las Vegas, “the epicenter of North Ameri- ing city, the government is at the center of the build for the event, students vowed to descend on Jena on September 20 to can prostitution and sex trafficking,” accord- prostitution payoff. Mayor Oscar Goodman, voice their outrage at this flagrant racist attack, collected $8,000 on the spot ing to a book-length report by psychologist formerly a lawyer for the mob, boasts that the to support the legal defense team, and declared that they would sponsor and researcher Melissa Farley, entitled “Pros- city would reap “tremendous benefits” if a se- political education about the racist system throughout the semester. Soon titution and Trafficking in Nevada.” (NY Times, ries of “magnificent brothels” could be legally thereafter, a planning meeting of the local Amnesty International chapter 9/3) After reading the report, Times column- established, convinced that this “could be a decided to hold additional actions about the Israeli occupation of Palestine ist Bob Herbert says, “Vegas is a place where boon”! (Although it seems to be quite profit- and the U.S. military’s creation of a new Africa Command to handle the U.S. women and girls by the tens of thousands are able without any “legality.”) capitalist interests on that continent. chewed up by the vast and astonishingly open In the 1990s, Las Vegas tried hard to pro- Meanwhile, two days after this event, a noose was found hanging out- sex trade…. Females are bought, sold, raped, mote a family-friendly image, but, boasted side the Nyumburu Cultural Center at the nearby University of Maryland beaten, shamed and… physically and emotion- Goodman, “That ended when I became may- (UMD), almost certainly inspired by the publicity around the Jena 6 case. A ally wrecked.” or.” fightback is developing there as well. PLP organizers circulated petitions on Nowhere, of course, does the liberal Her- Hundreds of corporations and unions hold their jobs and at the anti-war march on September 15 demanding that all bert cite the source of this exploitation of their annual meetings and conventions in this charges against the Jena 6 be dropped and that those responsible for the women — the profit-driven capitalist system sex-trafficking center of the continent. They noose at UMD be found and expelled. Dozens of pages of signatures have which rakes in billions from this degradation. represent the “best” U.S. capitalism has to of- been gathered. Those pulled into this sex trafficking are in fer: women broken by sexploitation. This outpouring of anti-racist and internationalist sentiment is inspiring. their “early-20s, late-teens and younger. Child In the past, communist-led revolutions Speakers at the Howard University rally correctly linked the fight against this prostitutes by the hundreds pass through the freed women from such oppression. In Febru- racist attack to the war in Iraq, to the Scottsboro case, and to many other Family Division courtroom….girls as young as ary, 1917, women garment workers led a mas- instances of oppression caused by capitalism. This is the first time in recent 12, with the average age being 14.” They also sive general strike which helped spark the Rus- memory that a political event was so well attended that it forced Cramton include “huge numbers of foreign women.” sian revolution. Then the Bolsheviks liberated Auditorium to lock out hundreds of students due to fire laws! The energy Although prostitution is legal in parts of women in Russia and in the Caucasus from the from this rally lays the basis for many more students to learn about revolu- Nevada, it is “illegal” in Vegas, yet it is “where yoke of the Orthodox Church and the Mullahs, tionary change and the road to communism as the way to abolish the capi- 90% of the state’s prostitution occurs.” Huge Muslim religious leaders. The 1949 Chinese talist system that is built on and reinforces vicious racism and imperialism. A mobile billboards promise “Hot Babes — Di- revolution rehabilitated tens of thousands of PLP study-action group is now being organized at Howard University from rect to your Room.” Over 150 pages in the women forced into prostitution. Capitalism’s these activities, with the goal of circulating CHALLENGE-DESAFIO more city’s yellow pages advertise “college teens, return to those countries has brought back broadly and learning the lessons of past revolutions to advance revolution- mothers and daughters,” and so on in every these capitalist evils. But, learning from both ary change. J disgusting sexual come-on. past achievements and failures, communists The sex “industry” is controlled by club today fight all forms of oppression of women. Resolution By United WHEREAS, we as legal service owners, escort service managers, pimps and Eventually, only communism — a society free workers vigorously oppose the ar- traffickers in whose pockets most of the money of the profit motive that drives this horror — J Auto Workers rest of the six black students of ends up, not to mention the banks which profit can destroy this unending sex slavery. Jena, Louisiana and condemn the from the interest on loans to the plush hotels LOCAL 2320, conviction of Mychal Bell; and, which contain the rooms where this sexual slav- Backs The Jena 6 WHEREAS, the original consti- ery flourishes. tution of the union as Essex-Ne- NEWARK, NJ – WHEREAS, wark Legal Services committed the six black high school students the union to the elimination of rac- Bush’s Sunni Ally: A Mobster from Jena, Louisiana are being ism, sexism, elitism and poverty; Sheikh Abdul Sattar Abu Risha, who met Bush during his September 3 visit to the huge U.S. framed for crimes they didn’t com- THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED base in Anbar province west of Baghdad, was killed along with his bodyguards on September mit; and, that the ENLS Staff Association 13 — the same day Bush gave his national speech supporting General Petraeus’s recommenda- and the ENLS Attorney’s Asso- WHEREAS, one of the students tions. has been convicted by a racist ciation, both branches of NOLSW, judge and jury and faces a 22-year UAW Local 2320, support the six Bush praised Risha as a “hero” for having joined the U.S. “pacification” of that province. But prison term [Ed. Note: see page 1 high school students from Jena, Risha was labeled a “mobster” by the Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure, France’s CIA. for later development]; and Louisiana and their struggle (Le Canard Enchainé 9/12) WHEREAS, Mychal Bell, the against racism; and, Abu Risha, the Sunni tribal chief, “had recently changed sides, after having long knocked first youth of the Jena Six tobe BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED about with the insurgents. And in Paris, the reading of his CV — we dare not say his ‘police record’ tried, was improperly represented that said unions also support the — drew a few ironic reactions from the French general staff and the French foreign ministry. by a public defender who called September 20th rally to support Indeed, Abu Risha built a solid fortune in smuggling via Syria and Jordan, in that frontier zone J no witnesses; and, the Jena Six.J through which jihadists, arms and explosives often transit.” 3 october 2007 - challenge - page 5 fight for communism NNN Inter-Imperialist Rivalry Squeezing Japan’s Bosses
The September 12 resignation of Japan’s Prime Min- timeframe and could cause a backlash from the public.” the large income gap already existing in Japan caused by ister Shinzo Abe after just one year in power, has trig- The U.S. is pressing for the law’s extension. Amidst this the anti-working class economic reforms of former PM gered a major political crisis for this key U.S. ally in Asia, government crisis, Thomas Schieffer, U.S. ambassador in Koizumi. The ending of government subsidies hit the ru- particularly in its relation to China. Abe, 52, was the Tokyo, met with Abe’s cabinet to insist on continuing Ja- ral heartland hard and workers were affected by the end country’s youngest leader since World War II. Under his pan’s naval support of U.S. efforts in the region. of “lifetime employment” and the growth of lower-paid rule, the Defense Agency became a Ministry, a sign of Japan’s capitalism also faces many other problems, casual and temporary jobs. Japanese imperialism breaking with its so-called post- including growing competition from China in Asia. It is Basically, Abe has become a victim of the inter-impe- war pacifism. the only top imperialist country actually facing a sharp re- rialist rivalry shaping events worldwide. He was forced His resignation follows government scandals to quit just a few days after meeting Bush and involving the resignation of four of his ministers Australian PM Howard during the APEC meeting and the recent suicide of his Agricultural minister, ‘Capitalism and imperialism offer to “strengthen the war against terror.” all shattering credibility in his government. Then, Japanese imperialism needs to become a mil- on July 29, the opposition won control of parlia- itary power again, but the mass atrocities by the ment’s Upper House. workers a future of endless wars, fascist Imperial Army in China, Korea and the rest An Intelligence Brief by PINR.com explains of the Asian countries it occupied during WW2, how his resignation “leaves the Liberal Democratic have won it the mistrust of the masses in those Party (L.D.P.) leaderless as it approaches a show- racism and economic turmoil.’ countries. Moreover, WW II showed Japan is lim- down with the Democratic Party of Japan (D.P.J.) ited militarily because it’s an island without the over the renewal of the law [allowing]…Japan’s navy depth that protects China, Russia and the U.S. So it must to support the U.S.-led mission in Afghanistan. Japan’s duction in population. Its racist immigration policies limit ally itself with U.S. imperialism to fight the growing threat navy has been providing refueling and water for the U.S. the number of immigrants entering Japan, which could of China’s imperialism. increase its low labor costs to a level approaching the military in the Indian Ocean. This mission is controversial Capitalism and imperialism offer workers a future of U.S. and European Union countries. in Japan because many believe it…[violates] the spirit endless wars, racism and economic turmoil. It’s time for of the country’s pacifist constitution, if not the letter of Even though Japan’s economy has recovered from the world’s workers to begin organizing a mass interna- the law. The law in question expires November 1. Al- the long period of stagflation following the housing and tional revolutionary movement to change that deadly fu- though the L.D.P.-controlled lower house could force the banking bubbles bursting in the late ’80s, it could face ture. J bill through if the D.P.J.-controlled upper house votes it problems if exports to the U.S. suffer because of the U.S. down, it would be a procedural headache on such a short subprime crisis and possible recession. This would widen Morocco’s Facts Belie Sicko’s Version of French Healthcare
PARIS, September 6 — Michael Moore was on the defensive Cops Attack at a press conference here. “[In “Sicko”] you show an idealized vision of the French, British and Canadian health care systems, which those who endure the reality will have a hard time recogniz- ing,” one reporter said. “What’s the purpose of those sequenc- Striking es?” Moore admitted he dumbed down “Sicko” so that people in Miners the U.S. could understand the message. “These different capitalist countries have managed to set up systems of solidarity,” Moore said. “I’m aware of their inequali- JBEL AWAM, MOROCCO, Septem- ties.... I wanted to show the American public...that it’s possible ber 13 — Two days ago at 4 AM, the to envisage systems of that kind, to consider health care not as Royal Police invaded a camp set up by a privilege, but as a right. I give a superficial view of what’s hap- striking miners here since the start of pening in these countries; but remember, eight out of ten Ameri- their walkout on July 4, violently expel- cans…don’t have a passport.” ling the miners, their wives and children Michael Moore oversimplifies and distorts the truth because and arresting 29. Fellow workers and it doesn't support his reformist agenda. He wants to demonize relatives of those arrested demonstrat- the American health care system without exposing capitalism's tion of health care expenses paid for by social security and to ed at police headquarters yesterday, de- inability to meet workers needs all over the world. Yet, with the open up a bigger and bigger field to private insurance compa- manding their release. facts, U.S. workers can easily understand the full truth. The French nies.” Supplementary insurance has become a 26-million-euro-a- Two months ago, the cops arrested healthcare system which has never favored the working class, is year business for the bosses. workers camping at the mine’s gates. a good example. In 1982 the “Socialist” government created a Not everyone can afford supplementary insurance: while 96% They were later released and forced to Permanent Committee on Asbestos to monitor the on-the-job of the richest fifth of the population have it, only 79% of the poor- set up their strike camp a distance away health threat. The asbestos industry controlled the committee est fifth do. In racist France, only 58% of immigrants from Arab from the gates. The 200 striking min- and covered up the number of sick workers until 1997; then the North Africa, and only 54% of immigrants from black, sub-Saharan ers are demanding the rehiring of those government discovered “an epidemic.” Today, asbestos-related Africa have supplementary coverage (Insee Première no. 1142). who’ve been fired, and equal wages for diseases kill 3,000 workers annually; 100,000 will die over the casual and permanent workers. next 20 years. Health insurance eats up more and more of the family budget. Today 10 to 15% of the people here postpone treatment because The subcontracted miners are not In “Sicko,” Moore uses outdated World Health Organization they can’t afford it (“l’Humanité,” 9/5). even recognized as doing underground figures from the late 1990s. Consequently he ignores the three- work, being labeled “surface” workers; pronged attack the bosses launched on the French health care ATTACK ON SPECIALIST CARE the 14 to 16 monthly work accidents system in 2004. The April 2004 reform made family doctors “gate keepers” to don’t have medical coverage. There are First, they slashed hospital budgets and disorganized the hos- specialist health care. People must see their family doctor before four deadly accidents every year at this pital system. Second, social security covers fewer and fewer peo- seeking specialist care. Otherwise, they pay more for the special- mine, owned by the Society of Mines. ple, forcing them to buy supplementary insurance. Third, rules ist. The miners declared that the mine’s pol- changes for specialist care have made it less accessible to work- But family doctors aren’t paid for the extra “gate-keeping” lution is poisoning the local river. ers. work. Consequently, they don’t do it, said the president of the As soon as Morocco’s recent elec- ATTACK ON THE HOSPITALS family doctors association. Rich people can afford to by-pass the toral farce ended (only one in eight in- Since 2004, supposedly “inefficient” local dispensaries have family doctor, but workers face an additional hurdle in getting habitants voted) without threatening been closed, flooding the remaining big centralized public hos- specialist care. the power of the right-wing repressive pitals, especially the emergency rooms, with people having mi- This is the wretched situation in France, and it will get worse monarchy, the government launched an nor ailments being treated using expensive and inappropriate if the working class doesn’t fight back. offensive against workers’ struggles. means. Several months ago, CHALLENGE re- The National Assembly will impose medical co-payments, ef- ported on a militant struggle by Delphi In May, Dr. Michael Huguier, a government official, said the fective in 2008, requiring a one-euro payment every time one and textile workers here, evidence that new, activity-based accounting system has created a wasteful sees the doctor; an 18-euro franchise on every bill over 91 euros; Arab workers are fighting for their class number-crunching bureaucracy and reduced the types of hospital and a 50-eurocent co-payment on every medicine prescribed. interests. care available. A handicapped association condemned the scheme: “Most of International solidarity is crucial for Budget-slashing “has resulted in a decline in the care public the handicapped live on ... 627.27 euros a month,” yet they will these struggles. PLP champions the slo- hospitals offer, to the benefit of the lucrative private sector [hospi- have to pay these extra charges. gan, “Workers of the world, Unite; we tals],” said the Communist Party-led CGT trade union….[causing] A CSA polling company survey showed 61% of the people have one common enemy: world capital- “staff reductions, worsening working conditions, the closure of here oppose the co-payment scheme. Over 40 trade unions, as- ism!” beds, wards and hospitals, the selection of the most profitable sociations and left-wing parties are organizing a demonstration patients, and focusing on technical and high technology activi- Protest messages demanding re- against it in Paris on September 29. ties.” lease of the miners can be sent to the While it’s important for workers in France to build this dem- Prime Minister of Morocco: Fax 00212- ATTACK ON SOCIAL SECURITY onstration and other fight-backs against the bosses, they need to 37761010 / 00212-37731010 or cour- The government has also further reduced the medicines and approach these struggles as stepping stones to communist revo- [email protected] J treatments social security covers. As the CGT said: “The goal of lution — the only road to decent health care for everyone. J the [April 2004] Doust-Blazy reform was…to reduce the propor- page 6 - challenge - 3 october 2007
‘No End in Sight ’? That’s War in An Imperialist World
Charles Ferguson’s documentary, “No End in Sight: wide towards the U.S. occupation. Then The American Occupation of Iraq,” represents a big sec- the widespread arrest, detention and tion of the country’s wealthy ruling class who are very an- abuse of young Iraqi males — many of gry at how the Bush Administration has carried out the them the sole breadwinners for their fami- Iraq war. These anti-Bushites supported the invasion in lies — fueled even more hostility toward 2003 to remove Saddam Hussein and secure U.S. control the brutal occupation. of the flow of oil and gas from the Persian Gulf. When Above all, the most egregious error, the war began to go badly, however, they turned against say the critics in the film, was the decision in Bush and the war. May 2003 to disband the Iraqi army, as well Ferguson, who wrote, directed and produced the as another decision to remove members of film (his first), is perfect for the role. A multi-millionaire the Baathist Party from government jobs and former business executive, Ferguson is a life-time and ban them from future public service. member of the Council of Foreign Relations (an influen- Sending half a million soldiers home with tial think-tank created by the Rockefeller family). His film guns but no jobs, where they could be re- is largely composed of interviews with people who had cruited by insurgent groups and local mili- leadership roles in Washington and Baghdad in 2003 and tias, meant trouble for the U.S. occupation. now want to tell the world that their sound advice was It also created a pool of thousands of un- ignored by the Bush administration. The talking heads employed functionaries, technocrats, and include Richard Armitage, former Deputy Secretary of academics who had every reason to hate invasion and occupation were wrong. Therefore, the film State; Jay Garner, who was in charge of the occupation the U.S. occupiers and to help the insurgents. reinforces the Democratic Party’s position that the war is Bush’s failure rather than a logical outgrowth of U.S. before Paul Bremer; Lawrence Wilkerson, chief of staff to One of the critics astutely says, “The biggest ben- Colin Powell; Paul Hughes, director of strategic policy un- imperialism. The fact that workers and soldiers in Iraq eficiary of the occupation has been Iran.” The removal have suffered so immensely with over 1.2 million dead der Bremer; and Barbara Bodine, who ran the short-lived of Iran’s enemy in Iraq (the Sunni-based Baath Party) and Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance. and millions more suffering great hardships (four million the coming to power of Iraqi leaders with long-standing, have fled their homes) is not seen as the problem. For What were the main mistakes the U.S. made during deep ties to Iran also creates a major dilemma for U.S. Ferguson and those officials he interviewed — who at the occupation, according to the film? First, there weren’t imperialism, which must either make a deal with the Ira- first were eager to help the U.S. conquer and control Iraq enough U.S. troops, a claim made for years by key Demo- nian government or prepare to invade Iran. This was the — the problem was not the goal of the war. It was the cratic Party politicians. The film’s spokespeople maintain result of ousting the Baathists and relying on Shiite politi- sloppy execution. that if there had been more troops, they would have been cal parties. able to stop the outbreak of the insurgency. People who oppose the war must not be encouraged It seems the Bush administration had concluded to sit around thinking of better ways for imperialists to Yet some of the evidence presented in the film con- that it couldn’t trust the Baathists or its army and thought kill and maim all over the world to serve the profits of tradicts this claim. For one, Bodine and Hughes both say it could recruit a more compliant government from its CIA Exxon-Mobil, etc. We should spend that time thinking of that U.S. commanders received orders from Washington contacts (men like Chalabi and Allawi), as well as Shiite ways to win more workers and students to fight against not to stop looters from ransacking national museums, politicians who, it thought, would be eternally grateful for a system based on endless imperialist wars and is incapa- libraries and government buildings, even though this being brought to power. ble of meeting the needs of working people all over the would have been an easy task. This disregard for Iraqi The main weakness of the film is that it criticizes world.J national treasures caused tremendous resentment world- the U.S.’s tactical decisions without ever saying that the
Below are excerpts from mainstream newspapers that may be of use for our readers. Abbreviations: NYT=New York Times, GW=Guardian Weekly, LAT=Los Angeles Times
Terror vs. schoolkids and China was forced to halt all new planting recalls Hiroshima of corn for ethanol after staple foods such as pork soared by 42% last year. (GW, 9/7) During a week of mayhem in Iraq, in which terrorists have rightly been condemned for targeting schoolchil- dren, it is sobering to recall that this week is also the 62nd Top pols know voters can’t win anniversary of a U.S. attack that deliberately took the New York City’s Boss Tweed used to say, “I lives of thousands of children on their way to school in don’t care who does the electing, so long as I the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki…. do the nominating. (NYT, 9/9) “That fateful summer, 8:15 a.m….an enormous blast — silence — hell on Earth. The eyes of young girls watch- Big U$ aid for terror-run nation ing the parachute were melted. Their faces became giant charred blisters. The skin of people seeking help dangled Which country of 80 million is a close ally of from their fingernails…. Others died when their eyeballs America, has jailed 100,000 political prisoners, and internal organs burst from their bodies — Hiroshima maintains a police force of 1.4 million — four health…. was a hell where those who somehow survived envied the times the size of its standing army — and is a place where “Between the chemicals in the air overseas, the shots dead….” 200 critics of its president have disappeared without a they give you, and not eating well or sleeping more than trace since 1990? The victims in Hiroshima and Nagasaki were available four hours a day…your body isn’t strong enough to fight soft targets, much like the children playing in Iraq…. If you guessed Egypt, you are right. anything off. Of course, ‘we’ had our justifications, as terrorists al- Next to Israel, Egypt ranks as the second-largest re- “Right now, it’s cancer, cancer, cancer….People like us ways do…. (Robert Scheer, 8/10) cipient of American aid, raking in more than $45 billion don’t get benefits,” Sergeant Valentin says. since 1979…. Because cancer is a disease and not a war wound, we Oil politics bringing starvation With this money, Mr. Mubarak has instilled terror, don’t qualify. No one even knows we’re on the oncology crushed political dissent and turned people into ghosts. ward. The press, celebrities, and politicians…want public- Challenged by President George Bush to produce (NY Sun, 8/23) ity shots with amputee soldiers. (NY Sun, 8/6) 35bn gallons of non-fossil transport fuels by 2017 to reduce US dependency on imported oil,…thousands of farmers…are turning the corn belt of America from the Red China ended opium addiction Ordering lead paint = more profit breadbasket of the world into an enormous fuel tank…. Historically, governments feared opium because they Why is lead paint…turning up in so many recalls?…. consumed, not by people, but by cars. saw it devastate China. After World War II, China had 40 The simplest answer…is price. Paint with higher levels The era of “agrofuels” has arrived,….Across the million addicts, including the last empress. Mao cracked of lead often sells for a third of the cost of paint with low US, 20% of the corn crop went to ethanol last year….It down ruthlessly, burning crops and executing dealers; by levels…. 1960, addiction was virtually gone. (NYT, 9/10) is proving horrendous for food prices….Meat, too, will Ms. Zhang, a sales manager in Big Tree Toys, a com- cost more because chicken and pigs are fed largely on pany in Shantou in southern China….insisted that if her grain….” GIs with Iraq-related cancer ignored company used leaded paint, it disclosed that. …850 million people around the world are already Blaming America’s use of depleted uranium muni- It depends on the client’s requirement,” she said. “If undernourished. There will soon be more because the tions in its 2003 “Shock and Awe” campaign for a surge the prices they offer make it impossible to use lead-free price of food aid has increased 20% in just a year….The in cancer there….the study is an outgrowth of claims by paint, we’ll tell them that we might have to use leaded price of staple tortilla quadrupled in Mexico in February Iraq war veterans that exposure to depleted uranium and paint. It totally depends on what the clients want.” (NYT, and crowds of 75,000 people came on to the streets in other toxic substances there has negatively affected their 9/11) protest. South Africa has had food prices of nearly 17% page 8 - challenge - 3 october 2007 PL History: May Day Marchers Repulse Boston Racists Part II of a three-part series. ty against the rulers and to chant “Death to Fascism!” When the cops saw their pals on the receiving end of In 1971, PLP had revived the tradition of annual May Egged on by the applause of Boston’s Tactical Police a thrashing, they moved in to arrest and beat up several Day marches, in part to pick the red flag out of the mud Force, ROAR’s bullies tried to smash the march before it anti-racists. But the march went on, despite a barrage of through which Soviet and Chinese revisionism and the could start. About 80 of these goons charged the small rocks the racist thugs threw from a safe distance. Here CPUSA had dragged it and to hold it high once again. PLP security force that had assembled near Columbia the extra-thick cardboard posters the May Day marchers Thirty years almost to the day, after Hitlerite fascism had Point to greet the busses transporting the marchers. were carrying served as an effective weapon of self-de- been smashed in Germany nothing could be more appro- Twenty-five anti-racist fighters, who had been preparing fense. priate than to hold May Day in South Boston, the strong- physically and politically over several weeks for just such May Day ’75 was the talk of the town for days. This hold of a burgeoning U.S. fascist movement. an eventuality, met them head-on and kicked the hell out was the first time anyone had stood up to ROAR’s rac- In the months leading up to May Day, the fascists had of them. ist bullies. Communists in the Progressive Labor Party, in http://www.fjtv6.com/images/2007/LiveFreeorDieHard. The element of surprise was important here: the anti- unity with hundreds of anti-racist friends and allies, had jpg a clear advantage. They carried out regular acts of racists had come armed with obvious weapons, like steel- proved that the victory of these gutter racists was not racist violence in the neighborhoods of South Boston, tipped rubber truncheons and steel pipes wrapped in written in stone. East Boston, Dorchester and Charlestown, particularly copies of CHALLENGE, which they were only too happy The problem now became transforming the battle of in schools where ROAR (Restore Our Alienated Rights) to let the cops confiscate. The racists therefore believed May Day into an ongoing offensive against ROAR and its had a base. With the media’s and politicians’ help, ROAR they were charging an outnumbered, defenseless victim. sponsors in the liberal ruling class.J was developing an image as a political force. The Boston In their overconfidence and arrogance, they overlooked Police Patrolmen’s Association funded it. The sellout un- the spike-buckled belts on the anti-racists. This shock and (Next: Boston ’75, A Summer of Struggle, A Life- ion officials of the Massachusetts Building Trades Coun- the PLP’ers’ political determination turned a potential time of Commitment, A Call to Action) cil endorsed its racist anti-busing position. Kevin White, rout into its opposite. Boston’s liberal mayor and key Kennedy ally, dispensed patronage jobs to ROAR leaders and their cronies. In the spring of 1975, ROAR president Louise Day Hicks, who sat on the Boston City Council, led a march of cular and flabby, white collar and blue-collar and job- 1,500 racists in Washington to protest “forced busing for Training to Smash the Fascists less, new Party member and veteran…we had faced the ferocity of the Fascist Movement [in Boston] first- integration.” Meanwhile, leaders of other unions, some A member of the PLP security squad that repulsed hand and then returned to our home bases to report of whom pretended to support integration and oppose the ROAR attack before the 1975 May Day march to comrades all along the East Coast that fascism was racism, did nothing. The NAACP confined itself, as usual, wrote about the Battle of Columbia Point: to press conferences and legal maneuvers, not a future figment, but was the present reality in “For weeks before [the march], we assembled our Boston, and that we’d better get ourselves ready to This was the context in which PLP called for the May own ‘spring training’: meeting in [New York’s] Cen- beat up on it before it beat us.” (“Communist Maga- Day march in “Southie.” When word went out to demon- tral Park with our red hats, organizing ourselves into zine,” Fall, 1992)J strate under the red flag of revolution in ROAR’s own bail- groups of three responsible for each other, learning iwick, 2,500 workers and students — the largest number how to immobilize an attacker three-on-one. We were of participants in a PLP May Day before or since — came big and little, women and men, white and black, mus- from throughout the East Coast to call for multi-racial uni- Fascism was this Summer’s Movie Fashion along side U.S. soldiers to beat the Decpticons. “You’re Justin Long, a reoccurring character on Apple’s Mac vs. a soldier now,” yells Captain Lennox in the final scenes of PC advertisements familiar to most younger people. Wil- the film, pushing the main character to deliver the Cube lis symbolizes U.S. capitalism’s more traditional reliance to the U.S. government as fast as possible. on brute force. Long’s character represents the need to In an interview with the U.S. Air Force, Bay explained combine this with a hipper, “user-friendly” version of fas- this decision to push military recruitment. He revealed cism. how filming at a U.S. Airbase and using military personal Long’s appearance also reflects a growing trend in in the film gave the film more credibility and also acted as universities across the country. In exchange for grants a recruiting tool. In fact, Dreamworks officials have said from the Department of Defense, many universities have that the level of military cooperation on this film is un- decided to focus their computer science research on cy- precedented and very much appreciated. By erasing the ber counter-terrorism. Overall, the film feeds the fear of boundaries between Hollywood entertainment and mili- an imminent terrorist attack on the U.S. And it calls for tary recruitment, U.S. imperialism will continue to lay the both a more advanced system of surveillance and more cultural foundations of fascism necessary for its survival. police and military forces on the ground. Also crucial to the survival of U.S. imperialism is its Ultimately, both films are aimed at working class manufacturing base. As the Autobots fight to protect the youth and act as recruitment ads for U.S. imperialism. U.S. from the Decepticons, they periodically transform The bosses hope that workers will continue to passively into actual General Motors vehicles. As Dino Bernacchi, accept the calls for increased military recruitment and GM’s associate director of branded entertainment said, greater government surveillance. In the meantime, films “These cars are the stars, literally, in the movie.” Amid like these are silently laying the groundwork for fascism stiff competition from overseas markets, GM is hoping in the U.S. By talking to coworkers and people around that its exposure in the film will translate into greater us about the messages in such films PLP members and profits. friends can lay a different groundwork. Ours will lead to Like Transformers, Live Free or Die Hard paints a por- a communist revolution that will smash the deadly ideas and oppression promoted by the bosses’ oppressive cul- With the ongoing Iraq War and growing competi- trait of U.S. capitalism in crisis. Every aspect of the sys- ture and replace it with working-class culture that pro- tion from imperialist rivals, U.S. capitalism finds itself in tem, from Wall Street to the Pentagon, has come under motes international unity!J increasing crisis. Many of this summer’s blockbuster films attack from a group of cyber-terrorists. The film bases not only reflect this crisis, but also the domestic fascism itself on a 1997 Wired that must accompany international unrest. On the one magazine article titled hand, domestic fascism means the U.S. bosses clamping “A Farewell to Arms.” down on workers who disagree with their actions, often The article argues that beginning with racist attacks on Arab and immigrant in an ever-increasing SUBSCRIBE or RENEW! workers that in turn lead to attacks on all workers. On technological world, the other it means the bosses are fighting harder to win Washington must re- All the communist politics, workers to be loyal to such repression and wars. think its outdated in- formation and weap- Both Michael Bay’s Transformers (released on July ons systems in favor news, and struggle from 4th) and Len Wisemen’s Live Free or Die Hard display an of more sophisticated America in crisis, demanding greater sacrifice. They are ones. The film takes aimed at 20-30 year-olds who remember the 1980s films around the world! this idea further, ar- and cartoons. And with a PG-13 rating, the bosses hope guing that along with ••••$15 individual 1 year to attract a newer, younger generation to die for U.S. these more sophisti- imperialism. cated systems, brute ••••$35 for institution 1 year In Transformers, the Autobots (the Good guys) bat- force (combined with Name______tle the Decepticons (the Bad guys) for control of the a mix of sexism, pa- “Cube,” a device that controls the fate of the universe. triotism and racism) is Address______As the film unfolds, the Decepticons attack U.S. soil and still a necessary com- breech the Pentagon’s security systems, and eventually ponent to the survival City______State______Zip______face off against a U.S. military/Autobot alliance. of U.S. capitalism. Make check or money order to: Challenge Periodicals, In an attempt to recruit working class youth to sacri- In the film, an aged PO Box 808, Brooklyn, NY 11202 fice themselves for U.S. imperialism, the film depicts the Bruce Willis is paired two main characters, both high school students, fighting with the college-aged