American Revolution Needs Black Leadership
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A Spartacist Pamphlet $1.00 ((1ft fA. ?i¥i Y J[!ZlIfl£S ... ,,: AtrAlM) T ~( .'it. :,LAYOFf) T r·' ~ )j~':/;;T \a~~ 'l \. I{I~ \.{", IN >",.' American orkers Revolution Needs Black Leadership .~~il~:'~ X!,n Spartacist Publishing Co., Box 1377, GPO, New York, N.Y. 10116 ~---------------------------------------------------------- Table Introduction of Contents The racist oppression of black Kennedy Square. In that city, heart Don Andrews: "We Need people is historically fundamental to of this country's black proletariat, to Finish the Civil War" American capitalism, It will take a anti-Klan activists at the giant Ford revolution to liberate black Rouge plant demanded the UAW American Workers ' America-a working-class, socialist mobilize to stop this provocation. Revolution Needs revolution in which black workers When the union tops defaulted, the Black Leadership ........ 3 will playa central role. This pamph Spartacist League came forward to let presents the Marxist viewpoint of initiate a rally at Kennedy Square: Thousands Mobilize to the Spartacist League on forging "The Klan Won't Ride in the Motor Stop Nazis in Chicago .. 6 revolutionary black leadership in the City!" Coleman Young, black Demo fight for black and white working cratic Party mayor, threatened to Spartacist Don Andrews class power. treat the Klansmen and the anti-Klan Speaks on Chicago "American Workers Revolution protesters the same, promising to Black Radio Needs Black Leadership" is a sec arrest any anti-Klan militants that tion of a speech by Don Andrews of showed up. Virtually all left-wing, Blacks Under the Gun .. 11 the SL Central Committee. The labor and black organizations con presentation( given at a Chicago SL tacted by the SL refused to back the Speech at Chicago public meeting last July 10, followed mobilization' in the face of the Anti-Nazi Rally, June 27- the successful SL-Ied labor/black mayor's challenge, clinging to the Myra Owens, mobilization against the Nazis there suicidal perspective of pressuring Spartacus Youth League: on June 27. "Thousands Mobilize to the racist capitalist state to "Ban the "We Have the World Stop Nazis in Chicago" is an ac Klan." Nevertheless a "hard core" of to Win!" .................. 14 count of that demonstration. Also some hundreds of Detroit auto included in the pamphlet are two workers, mainly black, came out to Black NYC Transit Worker other items relating to the mobiliza join the SL to interdict the fascists Speaks in Europe tion: a radio interview by comrade from downtown Detroit. We reprint Labor/Black Struggle Andrews taped during the weeks of here the leaflet distributed in the building the demonstration, and a tens of thousands which built the in Reagan's America ... 15 speech by Myra Owens, spokesman November 10 labor/black mobiliza for the SL's youth organization, at tion among workers and black Finishing the Civil War the June 27 rally, militants betrayed by the inaction of Huck Finn in "Labor/Black Struggle in their "leaders." Racist America .......... 22 Reagan's America" is also a speech, We also include here an account this one by black American union of our youth organization's cam Detroit is a militant Ed Kartsen in Paris, Brother paign at Wayne State University in Labor/Black Town Kartsen was the guest speaker at a Detroit against the racist, anti Fight Klan Terror! ...... 27 series of international Spartacist communist apology for the Greens tendency public forums in Europe boro massacre which appeared in 1,200 Students Say: following the massive European the Wayne State campus paper, the Oust South End peace demonstrations in early July, South End. "No to Gun Control" is a speech Apologists for where we intervened posing the defense of the USSR against U.S.! by SL spokesman Diana Coleman at Klan/Nazi Terror! ....... 28 NATO imperialism and Leninist a San Francisco public hearing June opposition to one's "own" ruling 10. Finally, we include a recent Feinstein Bans class. leaflet issued by Ed Kartsen calling Handguns in S.F. "Huck Finn in Racist America" on his union to act against race SL: No to appeared originally in Young Spar terrorism, following the lynch mob Gun Control! ............ 35 tacus, monthly press of the SL's murder of a black union brother in youth organization. Brooklyn. NYC Transit Militants Two other items included here Readers are also referred to the Protest Lynch Mob Murder document our campaign of protest SL's 1981 plenum resolution, "For against the 1979 "Greensboro Labor Action to Bring Down Rea "Labor Has the Power to gan," adopted by the SL Central Stop Racist Terror!" .... 37 massacre." On 3 November 1979 in Greensboro, North Carolina, five Committee on 28 November 1981, left-wing union activists were fatally and particularly to the expanded gunned down in broad daylight by section on the black struggle dated Cover photo: the Klan and Nazis, with the conniv 15 April 1982. This document ap Black auto workers in particular ance of federal and local cops. The pears in our magazine Spartacist, responded to Spartaclst-Inltlated No. 34, Summer 1982. call for demonstration against KKK Klan then announced it would In Detroit, 10 November 1979. celebrate the massacre at Detroit's 4 September 1982 (Credit: WV Photo) 3 reprinted from Workers Vanguard No. 311, 6 August 1982 ---------------------- Don Andrews: "We Need to Finish the Civil War" American Workers Revolution Needs Black Leadership On Ju(v 10 the Spartacist League held a public/orum in Chicago on "Reagan ism Breeds Fascism." We publish below an edited transcript 0/ the closing section 0/ the main presentation given by Don Andrews. 0/ the SL Central Committee. The labor movement in this country has to face a few realities before it can really achieve an understanding of its tl long-term historical interest. And what it has to understand and face very squarely is what Karl Marx put his Don Andrews finger on in the course of the last Civil speaking at Chicago War. Marx said then that labor in a mobilization white skin can't be free if it's branded in against Nazis, the black. Now that's a profound 27 June 1982. statement even during that time. This country, the United States of America, today, is a unique nation. It's one nation with two races, and a large, revolutionary leadership whatsoever. the country's meanest racist suburbs. growing Hispanic population. The race The last black organization that even And King's strategy of liberal pacifism. question in this country is a question of promised to fight against this racist the idea that you can wear down your American capitalism's enormous social system was the Black Panther Party. oppressor by demonstrating how much crimes committed against minorities, They appealed to a lot of ghetto youth you can suffer, really invited racist essentially against the black population, who were radicalizing during that attacks. Those who were here, especially and it cannot be evaded. It has to be period. That was the ;ast organization in '66 or before, or grew up here. faced head-on because it is the strategic that even promised b:acks anything. remember the vicious racist mobs that question, the key obstacle that stands in It's not an accide:lI that there's no met King at Marquette Park when he the way of a victorious working-class organization that sta.nds for the elemen was stoned to the ground. And when revolution in this country. tary defense of even the most minimum members of SNCC, the Student Non Now many of you have never heard of needs of the black population. It's Violent Coordinating Committee, went the Spartacist League before June 27th because of what happened in the civil into Cicero, how they were bloodied up. [the June 27 anti-Nazi mobilization in rights movement. Because of the liberal And King betrayed here! He betrayed Chicago]. And I've noticed some blacks, led civil rights movement in this country here. Because after Marquette Park; he who are deeply alienated in this society. under Martin Luther King's leadership. met with Daley and he signed an say: "Well, I like what happened on When it tried to take the civil rights agreement on open housing-okay, June the 27th but I don't know if I'd movement to the North, especially here they had some fine little language on want to throw down with the Spartacist to Chicago, it ran into a situation for paper. Daley did have some fine old League. It has so many whites in it." which it was completely unprepared. legalese on paper, you know, recogniz And others would say: "Well, I'll give it The blacks in the North, they already ing that there's a need for equality in a try but I don't know if it's going to had formal equality under the law. The housing and blah, blah, blah. And King work. You know I don't know if it's symbols of Jim Crowism weren't there. then held it up as a great historic going to do any good, because things However they had no jobs, no decent agreement, called the Palmer House have always been bad for black people." housing. And of course they had plenty Agreement. Nothing had changed. But we have to step back and rise above of segregated inferior education and a Nothing had happened. And so after these very impressionistic responses by lot of police terror and murder. that the people in SNCC, the young looking at the actual force of historical So in Chicago, when King's organ black militants, began to shout him development of the class-struggle fight ization, the Southern Christian Lead down in meetings.