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Cuban leader asks Sandy Nelson, reporter for help to end and lesbian activist, Yankee blockade challenges the news biz Page 3 Page 3

14 Freedom Socialist Wile. &b f?evP/vtil1t4'? 'fiMiltl;M.

April-June 1993 Volume 14, Number 2 ($1.00 outside U.S.) 7 Sf/. Clinton tax-and-cut tune won't play with u.s. workers

here's a new president in the U.S. be blamed on an undertrained labor force White House. But is there a new or lagging technology. What we're really agenda? witnessing is the intensification of the T Hardly. On the contrary, jus­ bipartisan war against working people at tice seems to have been dropped from the home and abroad, as the Fortune 500 program permanently. crowd scrambles to save their endangered When it comes to anti-abortion vigi­ skins - and their high profits. lantes, the FBI can't find a conspiracy under its nose: yahoos serve a "wanted" Democrats: populist poseurs. poster on a Florida doctor who is subse­ Clinton and company won office by quently gunned down by one of their promising women, gays and lesbians, fellow fetus fanatics, and they get treated people of color, and organized labor as completely unrelated to the murder. to "put people first." However, in just But in the World Trade Center bomb­ a few short weeks, Clinton had back­ 'll~, the feds Incllillfa,ct\l,r.e..aQ,~~~~-'4 pedaled and back-stabbed on al­ conspiracy of Muslim fundamentalists in most every pledge he'd made. the wink of an eye. This xenophobic spec­ The knight in shining armor tacle holds national headlines hostage turned out to be a fire-breath­ while news of Clinton's recommitment of ing dragon instead. billions of taxpayer dollars to Israel is But the angry voters who buried. Clinton provides entertainment while the problems of the coun­ elected him are not going to let In Africa, U.S. troops on a "humanitar­ try - and the world - go unsolved. Clintonomics will produce him off the hook. They showed ian" mission shoot Somalis. In the Car­ more unemployment lines Just like the 1991 queue above. their willingness a year ago to ibbean, hundreds of Haitians drown, and abandon both the Democrats the media calculatingly disassociates their ers and dealers to know what to tell the ex­ creases, but Clinton's I and the Republicans in disgust. tragic deaths from Clinton's decision to Soviet Union? They're drowning in their "stimulus package" is the maintain the blockade against refugees. own sea of economic disaster. least significant portion of the Needed: labor party. The In the former USSR, ruling factions Clinton's emergency mission: tame the overall proposal, completely vehicle workers need in order to flounder and the people protest the mani­ deficit while stimulating the sluggish dwarfed by the planned cuts. push their demands is a labor fold miseries brought by "market reforms" economy and protecting the wealth of big This is the neo-liberal version of party independent of the while the U.S. and the rest of the capitalist business. His blueprint: raise taxes on ev­ Trickle Down. Workers are promised Republicrat ties to big business. team offer tons of moral support - but erything; abolish welfare "as we know it" that their sacrifices to the tax god will A workers' party could tackle precious little material aid. They're even and cut other government spending dras­ harvest jobs by giving the U.S. a com­ today's problems with real, practical cutting off the supply of advice, forced to tically; layoff 100,000 federal employees petitive edge. solutions, such as a shorter work admit that they haven't got a clue about and freeze the wages of the rest; solve the Only problem is, U.S. technology week, with no cut in pay, to produce how to re-root the profit system in the health care crisis by rationing services; is already top-flight, and highly more jobs. A feminist and multi­ land of the October Revolution. and shield corporations from the pain of skilled workers are desperately look­ color labor party could give all work­ "reven ue enhancement" by enlarging sub­ ing for jobs. ers a voice - and, ultimately, more Business as usual: business first. sidies and establishing tax-break schemes. It doesn't take a Rhodes Scholar to than a voice: actual control over how And why would we expect capitalist w heel- Much ado is made about spending in- figure out that our problems can't ~. this country is run. 0

social roots of these maladies. The cause lies in the his­ this society spawns. That is why I think that nothing tory. Still and all, unreasoning bias continues to as­ less than sweeping revolution is demanded - or how tound me, perhaps because nothing in my experience else can we carve out the new cultural environment lends any credence to the garbage spewed by bigots. and psycho-sexual services capable of rehabilitating Most of my best friends, for example, are gay. In 70 the Rambo-ite, fundamentalist pathologicals? crowded years of meeting people, I've never encoun­ But meanwhile there is much to be learned from tered a group with such a high degree of creativity, tal­ the tempest over gays in the armed forces. The uproar ent, intelligence, wit, literacy, social sensitivity, com­ reveals three aspects of the sexual minorities issue that passion, good humor, and capacity for commitment. have nothing to do with prejudice and everything to Clara And all of this together spells leadership. do with establishment politics, military depravity, and The differently sexualized are less wedded to the the pivotal place of the traditional monogamous Fraser sick popular culture and more attuned to reality. They to page 7 tend to be respecters of persons and easy collabora­ New Freeway Hall tors. They warrant your BULK RATE trust, and I trust my life to 5018 Rainier Ave. S. Seattle, WA 98118 U.S. POSTAGE The love that dare not my lesbian and gay co­ PAID horts - at home, at hostile SEATTLE. WA speak its name in the Army meetings, in dangerous ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED PERMIT NO. 1003 demonstrations and on I HAVE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO FULLY GRASP picketline eruptions. the hatred and terror that certain whites display to­ I would totally trust my ward human beings of other skin colors. life to them in the army. Nor have I ever really fathomed the brutishness of so many males toward women. AND I WOULD RUN And I am always appqlled by the hysteria of de­ LIKE HELL from the ranged straights on the matter of homosexuality. queer-bashers and forked­ Sure, I understand - I hope - the economic and tongued demagogues that 2 Freedom Socialist April-June 1993

In This Issue Letters

Consider it done identification of "us" with the near proximity of the stab­ I have been visiting New York Thelma and Louise. All women bing. He knew little English, and Nazis on the run 4 and dropped by one of yo~r fo­ who are politically alert know did not even know who the vic­ rums. While there, I received a that is their story. It is the univer­ tim was; thus, had no reason to Successfulanti-fascist/anti-rac-::,.itJ copy of the Freedom Socialist and sal and horrifying experience of harm him. No weapon was found ist rallies in Washington state, found an article on the city coun­ women in a repressive and sexist on David; and strangely, no California, and British Columbia cil campaign of FSP candidate society. My very first job after weapon was ever found. David make the West Coast distasteful Yolanda Alaniz particularly in­ leaving home found me battling was apprehended with another to the bigots. The time-tested teresting [Vol. 13 #2]. with a would-be rapist. So war­ Chinese inmate immediately af­ We are starting a new theo­ riors or not we have to learn to do ter the stabbing, but there was no recipe for victory? A pungent retical magazine here, called Com­ battle to survive. blood on his clothing or person. united front! munism. We would like to know Myra Tanner Weiss The key testimony that found if you could contribute an article New York City David guilty was from a tower or two. guard who said he witnessed the Gennady Kozak Marx 61 Lenin 61 murder through binoculars from Kharkov, Ukraine a station 100-130 yards away. The Trotsky 61 Fraser prison yard was filled with 700 ~, Victoria erupts 6 I'm a member of the Commit­ inmates, all dressed alike. More from Ukraine tees of Correspondence (and the .,,,11 To put it mildly, the class Thank you for your beautiful The David Wong Committee \~\' 0" @narchist Caucus). magazine. I wrote an article about feels that David was scapegoated struggle in Australia's second I'm simply amazed that you events in Serbia for European, a and framed because he could not IIlr ~O\V1 most populous state has inten­ FSPers view every move away ' magazine distributed all over the speak English. Racism and a from Leninism as a defection ),l'\N~ "'N sified. Recent months have former Soviet Union. I'm send­ cover-up were also factors. We "rightward into the camp of so­ S~. ~ ,,~~, seen an outpouring of worker ing you the latest issue with my are appealing for funds. Dona­ cial democracy"! Most CoCers I ~""""anger against new slashes in job article about human rights in the tions may be sent to the David know from a Leninist background Ukraine. Wong Support Committee, c/o conditions and benefits. are re-thinking once sacred We would like to print an ar­ Kochiyama, 545 W.126th Street "Truths"; you appear to be cling­ ticle about U.S. feminism. People 3B, NYC, NY 10027. ing to them while the real world here want to know more about Yuri Kochiyama goes on around you. Some CoCers your movement. New York City are drawing social democratic International Labor Alik Olisevich Kiev, Ukraine conclusions, others are moving Cuba 3 Sandy Nelson left. Both trends reject Leninism My generation Fascism in Germany 5 vs. News Tribune 3 in all of its forms. Most of us Lately I can't help but notice Dateline Australia 6 Thelma 61 Louise CoCers wantpluralism; the fight all of the attention being paid to is for inclusiveness. my supposed "post-boomer" gen­ Features and Clara eration, also referred to as neo­ Below is an excerpt from a letter I'll defend your right to raise National Clara Fraser 1 your positions within the CoC, boomers, generation x, the lost by a former Socialist Workers Party generation, and many other Clinton 1 Editorials colleague, one ofthe foremost women but I'll be damned if I'll let you impose Marxism-LeniniSin­ names created by the generation Anti-Nazi demos 4 USSR 6 leaders of the SWP until she quit in that made a noble yet failed at­ the '60s. Her letter responds to a Trotskyism -Clara Fraser Though t Malcolm X 8 Public employees 6 on the rest of us!@! . tempt at raiSing us. They so gra­ Youth on Malcolm 8 Voices of Color 7 diatribe by the Spartacist League ciously gave us a huge national against the column "Thelma and C'mon comrades, do you re­ ally believe that the "fundamen­ debt, ethnocentric attitudes, and Louise 'R' Us" (FS Vol. 13 #3) by a depleting environment, and Clara Fraser. tal question which forged the CoC" is that tired, old Trot hob­ now they're calling us lost. My generation consists of the Unlike Clara I never broke off byhorse "The Russian QUES­ Staff TION"? It's past timeto give Lenin most intelligent, conscious, with any male comrade over his compassionate, and .cre­ -'- and Leninism - a decent aware, Managing Editor Staff Writer Design it sexism. All men in my opinion ative people to hit this earth. Andrea Bauer Linda Averill Production are afflicted to one extent or an­ burial!@! Hannah Adams Count on us taking this world in other with this disease. After all Kurt Hill Production Editors Jamie McMurry Brooklyn, New York a more positive direction than Manager YOlanda Alaniz Jesse Le we are all raised in a patriarchal it's ever gone before. Kathleen Merrigan Clara Fraser Davyne Parks society and the effects linger on Jamie McMurry Guerry Hoddersen despite our efforts to escape them. Justice for Wong Seattle, Washington Asst. Production Janet Sutherland Camera So I always had a friendly rela­ David Wong is a 29-year-old & Printing Manager Business Assistant tionship with Dick [Fraser]. Still I national from the Peoples Re­ Steve Hoffman Advertisir,g Servi~e" considered him one of the most public of China who was charged Readers are encouraged to submit Karl Kearney V ALCO Glaphics sexist males I ever knew. with and found guilty of stab­ letters, news stories, commentary, Business Manager Illustrator Never in a million years could bing to death another inmate in cartoons, graphics, photographs, Wendy McPherson John A. Bourque I ever join either you or the Spar­ a New York prison in 1986. and pertinent resource informa­ tacists in making fun of Clara's David, however, was not in tion on world and national affairs.

o $100 for a 5-year sponsoring sub (20 issues) and a free copy of Socialist Feminism: The First Decade, 1966·1976 by Gloria Martin. o $50 for a 3-year sustaining subscription, 12 issues. o $25 for a 2-year supporting subscription, 8 issues. o $5 for a 1-year subscription, 4 iSsues. Institutions $10. o $4.00, plus $2.50 for postage, for the nine installments -Revolt and counterrevolution In the former Soviet __ '... _, of The Chicano Struggle: A Racial or National Movement? ". -tenlnlsm and the vanguard party (ple.se print) .Tbeexploslve power of workers of color -Crisis' of leadership In the labor, sodal 'Issue, and radical movements ______State ______

______Count~------Phone------_ April-June 1993 Freedom Socialist 3 Interviews Cuba sends s.o.s. Nicanor LeOn (otayo, anti-embargo spokesman and author, appeals for intemational aid

an analysis of the promise, problems, and to the Cuban people, we would be able to is decisive, and I stress decisive, against unfinished tasks of this defiant revolution. have civilized trade relations with any the blockade. country in the world and to proceed much I think the White House cannot ignore Barnes: What is tht: economic situa­ the position of their own public opinion, tion of Cuba? Havana, 1993. Mass transit Is so Inad­ particularly that of the workers. This is Cotayo: We are facing the most diffi­ equate that passengers ride outside as why we paid so much attention to the cult years in the last 34 years of our his­ well as Inside. show of solidarity in defense of Cuban tory. At the beginning of the '60s, independence that took place last year in we were able to face the economic different cities across the U.S. as well as to BY DOUG BARNES blockade imposed by the U.S. be­ the donations that some organizations cause of the existence of the So­ sent to Cuba. This interview with Nicanor Leon Cotayo viet Union and the socialist field U.S. workers can fightagainstthe block­ was conducted in Havana in January 1993 by in Eastern Europe. The breakup of ade first by supporting organizations that Freedom Socialist Party leader Doug Barnes, that relationship, which affected are already working on this issue. Certain visiting from Seattle, Washington. Cotayo is dates of the blockade are very meaningful Cuba's expert on the trade blockade and a for organizing. For example, next May 14 journalist for the official Granma newspaper. The U.S. blockade will mark the passage of 29 years since the The U.S. embargo, which President Clin­ U.S. prohibited sales of food and medicine ton backs avidly, is three decades long. and slashes in to Cuba. This would be a good opportu­ Com bined with the recent Soviet withdrawal nity to make a journey around that date, of trade and economic assistance, the block­ imports such as to show a great opposition to the blockade ade has brought about devastating short­ more rapidly in the process of starting with food and medicine. ages, necessitating the severe rationing of all oil from the ex-USSR have perfecting democracy in Cuba. The other help we need is for the work­ basicfoods and consumer goods. Great num­ created crisis in health care, ers' movement to publish information bers of industrial plants are closing due to Barnes: Cuba's internation­ about the significance of the blockade. As lack of raw materials and equipment. farming, and transportation. alism has inspired workers of this moment, this small country, made The Cuban Communist Party has em­ worldwide for decades. Half of up of just a little bit more than ten million barked on a revitalization plan that includes internationalism is supporting inhabitants on a small Caribbean island, building up food self-sufficiency, specialized 81 percent of our exports and 85 percent workers' struggles globally. The other has lost 38 billion dollars due to the U.S. export trade, tourism, and joint ventures of our imports, created a very big blow. For half is asking people from other coun­ blockade. 0 with foreign investors. But Cu bans today are example, in 1989 we received 30 million tries to defend your own revolution. surviving literally on rice, beans, and large tons of oil and last year only six million. What role do you see for U.S. workers in The Torricelli bill, passed at the end of last doses of ingenuity and revolutionary spirit. ending the blockade? year with Clinton's support, tightened the "-Cuba's 5U1V;verJ 8s'a workers state is inte­ Barnes: What would happen if the Cotayo: The workers of the United embargo through means such as. placing gral to freedom struggles worldwide. These U.S. blockade were lifted tomorrow? States have a role of maximum impor­ sanctions on other nations trading with Cu ba. interview excerpts are meant to help broad­ Cotayo: If the government of the U.S. tance. As Castro said last year, the solidar­ To demand repeal of the legislation, call the cast the embattled island's appeal for sup­ lifted the blockade, stopped the Torricelli ity of the North American people, and White House at 202-456-1414. Fax number port. Next issue, Barnes will follow up with law, and gave back the base at Guantanamo especially the workers of the United States, is 202-224-2237. The journalist as activist Sandy Nelson, target of Moming News Tribune reprisals, speaks out

BY ANDREA BAUER anee of objectivity might be compromised in specific communities, because they're by my political activities. involved. They care. The questions below were put to Sandy It wasn't any lack of fairness on my part Nelson, formerly an award-winning educa­ that bothered them. Besides the gay issue, Bauer: You were transferred because tion reporter for the Tacoma, Washington it was the fact that I am an outspoken of your involvement in gay rights orga­ Morning News Tribune, by Andrea Bauer in socialist and active unionist, and they nizing. Where do you think the lesbian/ Seattle. In 1990, management took away were trying to take away our contract and gay movement should be headed? Nelson's beat and transferred her to an bust our union - which they finally suc­ Nelson: To the barricades! Absolutely! evening copy-desk shift because they disap­ ceeded in doing in 1991. But we'll get We've had our moment in the head­ proved of her off-duty political work on them back. lines and now it's obvious that the /'1'r'~;;i1~;;fI. behalfof a pro-gay-rights city initiative, claim­ politicians, including Clinton and ing it jeopardized her journalistic objectivity. Bauer: Why is it valuable to have this whole new crop of Demo­ Nelson, who is also the organizer for reporters who are activists working in crats, are trying to push . Tacoma Radical Women, has been fighting the media? us back onto the back ever since for reinstatement to her reporting Nelson: Reporters deal with a com­ pages and into our clos­ position, with steadfast support from the modity, information, that people need to ets. Whether or not we Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild. make life-and-death decisions. A huge part choose to fight to keep of the world depends on the U.S. media for going forward - well, Bauer: What is "objectivity" in their news. The media is a very powerful the time to decide is right journalism? institution. now. We're at a cross­ Nelson: What objectivity should mean And it's a class institution. It's an in­ roads. and how management uses it are two dustry, run for profit. My bosses have one Drawing by different things. All a journalist needs to set of interests, and I have another. You Bauer: What's hap­ John A. Bourque do to be objective is to tell the truth and can see what the owners' interests are in pening in your case? Nelson addressing the 1992 conference of the National show all sides of an issue honestly. But the way the USSR is covered. Most of the Nelson: I'm very Lawyers Guild In Chicago. management builds a big mystique around rah-rah-for-capitalism stories are just wish­ happy to say that the it and uses it as an excuse to discriminate ful thinking. They don't reflect real events state American Civil Liberties Union agreed Bauer: How can people help? against employees it wants to censor or there at all. The news is strained through last year to represent me because the case Nelson: Every letter that gets sent to punish. It's been used historically to throw a class colander and what comes out is is so important to protecting constitu­ the Morning News Tribune demanding that radicals out of work. It's a high-sounding highly selective - and often wrong. tional rights. We're trying to negotiate they reinstate me means a lot. Mail them pretext for being able to control what Working people need journalists who with management to get my byline back, to Managing Editor Jan Brandt at P.O. Box journalists do and say and who they asso­ are independent of that whole operation. but it looks like we'll have to take them to 11000, Tacoma, W A 98411. Donations to ciate with off the job. Publishers certainly The concept that reporters owe loyalty to court. They're being very arrogant about help cover the costs of pursuing this fight cherish their own political associations. the people who write our checks is like their supposed prerogative to control their can be sent to my defense committee at The idea of objectivity is taken to ab­ saying openly that we're being bought off. employees' off-duty lives. If we end up in P.O. Box 5847, Tacoma, WA 98405. surd extremes, like in my case. My bosses My loyalty is to readers and to the truth. court, it will be a completely groundbreak­ The support I've gotten over the past never tried to say that I actually came Plus, activists are just great journalists. ing legal case for the First Amendment three years has been incredible. I'm confi­ across as biased - just that the appear- They know what's going on in the world, rights of workers in the media. dent that we'll win my job back. 0 4 ril-June 1993

Winning West Coast strategy.,; I(noel( out theazis with a United Front BY LINDA AVERILL provided rousing spirit. 1993: A rally of 3,000, the largest anti-rac­ spontaneously storm the Na­ The police presence was low-key due to ism/anti-fascism demonstration in Canada's zis' meeting place - a P and down the West Coast of the the insistence of rally organizers - a reversal history, utterly routed British Columbia's hotel guarded by 150 u.s. and Canada, anti-fascist from the first year's showdown, when riot would-be fuhrers, forcing them to change riot police. For­ groups have Nazis on the run. police almost outnumbered protesters. meeting plans four times in as many weeks tunately, UCoalitions are linking up, sharing Another breakthrough was the intense and to flee "like terrified prey" (Vancouver thi s lessons and triumphs, and forging a diverse participation by labor, kicked off by an Au­ Sun) when angry protesters discovered the and effective movement. Three rallies in gust endorsement by the Washington State ultimate location of their secret gathering. different settings - a rural island, cosmo­ Labor Council (WSLC). At first, White Aryan Resistance in­ politan city, and Los Angeles suburb - are The labor council's Black Caucus, headed tended to hold a special public meet­ success stories of united fronts that have by Jacqueline Jones-Walsh, president of ing. When W.A.R. began adver­ forced the brownshirts to retreat. At a time Washington Federation of State Employees tising, however, B.C. Orga­ when economic crisis lends explosive power Local 843, was a prime mover of a resolu­ nization to Fight Racism to the message of scapegoating Hitlerites, tion, adopted overwhelmingly, that called (BCOFR) quickly initiated a counter- these victories illustrate how to defuse the on WSLC to support the demo. It asserted: rally. But BCOFR wanted a non-con­ fascist movement. "Since working people, the poor, immigrants, frontational event confined to a and the homeless are among the first targets strictly anti-racist focus. Whidbey Island: Nazi-free zone. of the fascists, the labor movement is the Coalition United to December 5, 1992: On a cold, blustery day, first line of defense against fascism." Fight Oppression four hundred people, many of them from as The story of UFAF's success begins in (CUFO), far away as Oregon and British Columbia, 1988, when news surfaced that fascists multi- travelled by ferry to a Washington state park planned to hold a commemoration for white to turn the tables on the Nazis. supremacist Robert Matthews on Whidbey, Unionists a Racist skinheads had occupied a Whid­ where he had been killed by federal activists \I bey campsite most years since 1988 and agents. The Freedom Socialist Party, those who been counter-picketed each time. But 1992 Radical Women, and leaders from onWhidb4 was a turning point: the targets of the ultra­ the gay and people of color communi- the annu, right - unionists, feminists, people of color, ties called for an open meeting lesbians and gays, Romani (Gypsies), Jews, to develop a response. macho adventurism resulted in immigrants, homeless people, and radi­ UFAFwas launch­ racial militant only a few arrests and minor injury. Deter­ cals - reclaimed the park. The ed out of grassroots group, broadened the mined and prepared Left leadership, not Nazis never appeared! this rally's impact. It organized a Rainbow infantile ultra-leftism, is needed in the life­ The take-back was Contingent Against Fascism to -educate and-death struggle against fascism. sponsored by 'United meeting people about·the many-pronged nature of_ Front Against Fas­ and held the fascism's agenda and highlight the need for Simi Valley kicks out the KKK. cism (UFAF) and led Northwest's first direct solidarity among its wide-ranging targets - January 30, 1993: Last year Simi Valley, by organized labor, confrontation of the everyone from refugees to the disabled and California gained international notoriety as people of color, and so­ supremacists. UFAF's people with AIDS. Under a multi-issue ban­ the site where cops were acquitted of beating cialists. The rally achieved protests and public ner, 800 people marched from the heart of Rodney King. But residents and regional a new level of racial diver­ education since Vancouver's gay community to join the supporters are determined to make this city sity. It is also significant that then have shown the rally, to enthusiastic applause. an international symbol of resistance to many white youth, a constitu­ whole region the power In contrast, the Trotskyist League racism, and they scored a coup when they ency fascists want to recruit, of united front organizing. (Canada's section of the Spartacist League) squashed Ku Klux Klan plans to rally early came to show their allegiance to took an anti-united front approach. They this year at the local courthouse. civil rights. Youngpeople,includ­ Vancouver marches sepa­ boycotted the Rainbow Contingent and then, Neighbors Against Nazis hustled to se­ ing musicians who took the stage, rately, strikes jointly. January 22, after the rally, urged remaining protesters to cure a rally permit before the Klan and

share a common economy, territory, lan­ didn't live to see the explosive mass move­ guage, history, and culture distinct from ments of students, women, all people of those shared by other groups in the U.S. color, and lesbians and gays. He missed ... MalcolmX They concluded that African Americans are witnessing the tremendous entry of women, ... Youth not victimized on the basis of national char­ immigrants, and people of color into the acteristics but as a race - a biologically work force that has produced a generation of from page 8 unscientific category resting solely on skin preeminent labor militants, with Black from page 8 economic philosophy was Black national­ color. But racial oppression is no less impor­ women in the forefront. Black Panther. But I think that we were ism, he asked me very frankly,. where did tant than national oppression. But Malcolm's ideas have never been more pacified because oflack of education, a lot of that leave him? Because he was white ... So In "Revolutionary Integration: The Dia­ alive. His advice to dump the Democrats is our people getting killed or put in prison, he showed me where I was alienating people lectics of Black Liberation," the SWP group finding practical expression in the growing being all caught up with drugs, and every­ who were true revolutionaries dedicated to. wrote, "For an oppressed nation to become demand for an anti-capitalist rainbow labor body was trying to organize but nobody overturning the system of exploitation that integrated is a reactionary concession to the party. His slogan "by any means necessary" wanted to do it all together. exists on this earth." status quo, a defeat; integration for Negroes echoes in rap songs and on ghetto streets. Seeing that kind of stuff and then going Once freed from the NOI, Malcolm devel­ is revolutionary, because American capital­ His criticisms of reformist and separatist to school was a trip. The teachers worked on oped an anti-capitalist position: "All of the ism incorporates segregation in its funda­ misleaders who offer dead-end solutions are our heads by putting us in special ed classes countries that are emerging today from un­ mental structure and cannot survive with­ catching up with politicians such as Louis or telling us we talked too much or we asked der the shackles of colonialism," he ob­ out it." Farrakhan and Jesse Jackson. too many questions. served, "are turning toward socialism. I don't The slogan of nationhood denies the van­ Increasingly, cultural-nationalist politics This generation and the next one coming think it's an accident ... You can't have capi­ guard role that Black women and men play are being replaced with the drive for equality are tired of getting pushed around. I think a talism without racism." as leaders of the entire U.S. working class. within a fundamentally transformed soci­ big revolution is coming. Like a soup boiling In his last year, Malcolm formed the Or­ Revolutionary integration further links ety. On African American terms, without over, it's just getting too hot. ganization of Afro-American Unity, whose the U.S. Black struggle with the global up­ racism or forced assimilation, integration is motto was "by any means necessary." He surge against imperialism, as did Malcolm. a revolutionary demand, and that is why Linda: In his last year, Malcolm began, offered OAAU's support to civil rights mili­ Noted Malcolm: "You can't separate the Blacks are destined to lead us all forward! Cl to see capitalism rather than whites as the tants who were wearying of the reformist­ African revolution from the mood of the pacifist approach of Dr. Martin Luther King, Black man in America. Since Africa has got­ Jr. In so doing, Malcolm showed how the ten its independence, you'll notice the CALIFORNIA WA struggle for integration could acquire a revo­ stepped-up cry against discrimination in the Los Angeles: 1918 W. 7th St., #204, Los Angeles, CA Port Angeles: 512 E. 7th., ' lutionary character. Black community." 90057. 213-413-1350. FAX 213-935-4534. 206-452-7534. In 1966, Seattle members of the revolu­ San Francisco: 523-A Valencia St., San Francisco, CA tionary integration tendency left the SWP 1 Black liberation and class revolt 94110.415-864-1278. FAX 415-864-0778. Seattle: National Office, B are intertwined. Just before Malcolm X and formed the Freedom Socialist Party. Ave. South, Seattle, #20 turned toward a revolutionary integration­ Their departure was largely due to the SWP's NEW YORK FAX 206-682-8120. ist outlook, a multi-racial group within the opportunistic support for cultural national­ New York City: 32 Union Square E., Rm. 907, NY, NY Seattle Branch, New Free Socialist Workers Party (SWP) led by Richard ism - a reactionary rejection by Marxists of 10003.212-677-7002. FAX 212-491-4634. South, Seattle, WA 9811 and Clara Fraser was preparing a document class solidarity in favor of a race solidarity FAX 206-723-7691. that provides the theoretical and historical that would subordinate Black workers to a NORTH CAROLINA underpinnings for this position. Black bourgeoisie and petty bourgeoisie. Durham: Beech Lake #20 E, 4800 University Dr., Tacoma: P.O. Box 5847, ~ They asserted that if Blacks constituted a Durham, NC 27707. 919-489-6916. 206-756-9971. FAX 206;1 nation (like Native Americans), they would Basta la victoria siempre. Malcolm

J r I Socialist 1993 5

German state encourages spread of fascist violence

BY MEEGHAN TRUELOVE toral seats - has tolerated and even col­ laborated with this brutal chauvinism. he crack-up of Germany's Over 500 bombings of the residences economy has provoked an in­ of non-natives were reported during 1992, tense surge of rightist violence. and not a single conviction of criminal T The gossamer vision of a reuni­ arson was handed down. And in Novem­ fied capitalist Germany that German offi­ ber 1992, the defense ministry admitted cials bespoke so confidently is falling apart. that the far right had used military train­ But the picture is not all bleak: leftist ing bases to practice for their assaults on counter-organizing is also on the rise. immigrant shelters. As the crisis expanded and public pres­ Refugees and immigrants sud­ sure to do something mounted, the au­ big business. In The denly "alien." German authorities thorities did crack down - against the Struggle Against Fascism state that in 1990, rightwing extremists victims. A new law proposed by the Chris­ in Gennany, he wrote: committed 130 acts of violence, and that tian Democrats and agreed to by the by 1992, the number topped 2,000. And Social Democrats drastically restricts the To try to find a way out [of those are the official statistics. rights of asylum seekers. economic crisis], the bourgeoisie Immigrants and asylum seekers, scape­ The government has also officially must rid itself of the pressure goa ted as the reason that unemployment banned some fascist groups and insignia orga­ exerted by the workers' organi­ is up ·and government services are down, - a move that is totally ineffectual in nized a "Soli­ zations; these must be eliminated, bear the brunt of Nazi rampages. halting the spread of Nazism, and can darity Celebration destroyed, utterly crushed. A family may have lived and worked in easily be turned against the Left. Against Fascism, Racism, Germany for several generations and still and Bigotry." The fascist threat appears when economic remain "immigrants," because racist laws Left and labor organize in the NAN's impressive endors­ troubles are greatest and the ruling class make it exceedingly difficult for anyone streets. Radicals, unionists, and the ers ranged from Youth Against must resort to desperate measures to make without a German ethnic background to immigrants and refugees under siege have Racism and the Temple Street workers absorb the costs of the crisis. This is become a citizen. Immigrants belonging been taking increasingly resolute steps and Party Locos gangs to lead­ why the battle against Nazism is above all to long-established and well-integrated toward solidarity and an offensive mobi­ ers from the African Ameri­ the task of the labor movement: the foreign communities may earn as little as lization against the fascists. can, Asian American, Chi­ workingclass women and men of all races, two dollars per hour at a job where Ger- The most visible resistance has been cano, Black, Native American, gay and straight, who together have the mans make $20 per the massive demon- and gay communities. At­ clout to stop fascism cold. hour. strations that have tended by gang members, The vehicle that joins these groups into The asylum laws I f been occurring all mothers, punk-rock youth, one unit is the united front - an alliance of that were in force un- Peop e 0 color over Germanyandin unionists, and many others, disparate people who share a common class til recen tl y were d I neighboring coun- among the large multi-racial rally­ interest against a mutual foe. Democracy, widely considered the an asy um seekers tries like Poland and 1IOIIne!CI forces NAN's third - kept the KKK honesty about programmatic disagreements, most liberal in Eu- Austria. It's estimated closeout away. This time around, riot respect for diversity, and militancy - the rope. However, refu- bear the brunt of that over two million Nazi-fest. police stayed away too. willingness to do what it takes - are the keys gees were forbidden. people have partici- When the Klan resched­ to building the united front. to work legally while NaZI rampages. pated in these rallies. uled its rally for February 20, NAN organized Reliance on the police and other agencies their cases were being The Berlin chap- another counter-demonstration. The lone of capitalist states is worse than futile, be­ reviewed, and only ter of DGB, the trade Nazi who appeared soon fled. cause the rising far-right movement is actu­ about five percent of the total applicants union federation, helped to organize a Composed of Simi/Conejo NOW, Los ally a tool of the government against work­ could expect to be granted asylum. demonstration of 5,000 people. I.G. Angeles Radical Women. and Freedom So­ ers. The behavior of cops at Nazi/anti-Nazi The outbreak of r.acist, nationalist, and Metall, Germany's largest union, was in­ cialist Party, People Against Racist Terror, face~offs shows what side they're on! anti-Semitic hatred has e~cQmpass«l. ev-·-,'-!<>~\>ed in staging a march of 200,000 and many independents - predominantly Fascism is capitalism's final solution. But erything from arson that destroyed a' people. An effort to form a nationwide single moms and working women - NAN history doesn't have to repeat itself. The Rostock refugee hostel to the storming of anti-fascist coalition is underway. proves that people with different programs power to bury fascism is in our hands. Work­ a Greifswald dormitory for foreign stu- Direct self-defense is also being can combine to beat a common enemy. ing people have the capability to not only dents and the firebombing murder of a adopted. Immigrants, asylum seekers, and roll the bigots back, but to fight for the Turkish woman and her granddaughter leftists are organizing themselves into , United front: power against fas­ alternative to their Third Reich - a socialist and niece in Molln. groups to protect homes and dorms. cism. To combat fascism, one must under­ future that will provide the material basis to As the battle rages on, the stakes get stand it. During the 1930s, Russian revolu­ rout fascism permanently. D Top-down edicts won't stop the higher. The Left must not stray from its tionary leader Leon Trotsky uncovered the Nazis. The German government - course of challenging the racism and na­ i economic roots of fascism and showed how -with reporting by Marcel Hatch/ which more and more includes Nazis in tionalism of both the Nazi terrorists and to fight it. Its fundamental aim, he taught, Vancouver, B.e. and Monica Hill/Los its ranks as the ultra right picks up elec- the government. D . was to smash the working class on behalf of Angeles, Cal.

I main enemy. What do you think of this? When they were more independent, they Desiree: I still think it's a Black and white were more involved, and they were more thing. It's gonna be that until the white responsible to the people. people in power are gotten rid of, because they're not going to settle for less. Betty: What would Malcolm have said ... Australia about the Los Angeles riots? Diletha: I don't think he would have from poge 6 Betty: How are conditions for you today, been too pleased with the Rodney King original organisations, women's groups, ACT as compared to Malcolm's time? verdict. But I think basically, the rioters UP, pensioner and church groups, and the Diletha: I think history has a way of acted on instinct, instead of trying to fight­ repeating itself. Many of us fall back instead Victorian Council for Civil Liberties, among instead of saying, hey, let's set up an organi­ many others. The crowd was determined to of taking two steps forward. People react on zation to help this man and to help stop prevent the erosion of advances in working instinct instead of trying a different way. police brutality; let's write out pamphlets, conditions won over the course of 100 years. become aware, do a protest. Robbing a store, Betty: Can things get better? These shows of collective strength could DiIetha: Definitely I think they can get breaking down your own community where revitalise the militant unionism which the you have to live, setting fires, hurting people better. But amongst our government and Accord was designed to muzzle and Kennett's - that made thousands of people not only everybody, who's really sitting down to evalu­ new laws to smash. However, the Australian ate everything? They are supposed to be homeless, it killed people. It destroyed what Council of Trade Unions, accustomed to positive role models, but I think most of took a long time to build or to struggle for. maintaining its position by mediating labor them are just in it to get paid sometimes. Betty: And so you think an organized peace, has sabotaged these protests - in­ Malcolm X was independent, the work of movement is needed? cluding one it called itself in November Martin Luther King was independent. Most Diletha: Yes, I think it would really be 1992! of our people today, like Jesse Jackson and effective, because maybe it would trigger In Victoria, the new laws that allow strik­ i the rest, are being paid from within the somebody else to think, hey, maybe they ers to be fined or jailed went into effect on : government to come out and publicly speak. really mean business. D March 1, 1993. Workers, especially from the November 10, 1992: Striking workers public sector, responded defiantly - by once refuse to give up advances won over more going out on strike. Some unions went several generations. GTON OREGON out for 24 hours, while others stopped work 'It Angeles, WA 98362. Portland: Northwest Service Center, 1819 NW Everett, for just long enough to attend a march and strengthen the hand of workers throughout Portland, OR 97209. PhonelFAX 503-228-3090. rally of nearly 100,000 in Melbourne. Australia and would pose sharply the ques­ tion of who really should and can run the h Asia Center, 409 Maynard Not a single wheel should turn. The country - the capitalist politicians or work­ ,WA 98104.206-682-0990. • • • fears of union higher-ups that they would ing people. lose control of the struggle were reinforced November 10th was a watershed. The " AUSTRALIA ay Hall, 5018 Rainier Ave. by the size and anger of the work stoppages facade of consensus is being destroyed and 206 -722-2453. Melbourne: P.O. Box 266, West Brunswick, VIC 3055. and demonstrations. class lines sharply redrawn. After a decade of 03-386- 5065. Their fears may be realized. Significant relative passivity, the Australian working CANADA numbers of rank-and-file unionists are de­ class is reasserting itself. Let Kennett actually rna, WA 98405. Vancouver: 304 1575 Beach Ave., Vancouver, BC V6G manding an indefinite general strike, which try to send a unionist to jail for organizing, 9-3988. 1Y5. PhonelFAX 604-688-5195. is exactly what it will take to defeat Kennett. and Victorians will teach the capitalists a A successful general strike in Victoria would lesson they won't forget! D 6 Freedom Socialist April-June 1993

Editorials Russia: stalemate only the workers can break AS WE GO TO PRESS, BORIS YELTSIN and the Su­ preme Soviet are locked in seemingly mortal combat. But over what, exactly? And is their conflict where the real action is? It's clear what Yeltsin wants. Capitalism, and now. Though it brings with it domination by the West, unemployment, homeless ness, a home-grown mafia, street crime, con artists, prostitution, and even starvation (Russian sailors are dying of malnutrition), he's ready. Let the deals begin!

YELTSIN IS A FOREIGN STOOGE. Everybody in his own country recognizes this. But where are his buddies when he needs them? The U.S. and its cO-imperialists have been dithering now for years about how to encourage the comeback of capitalism in the former USSR without themselves taking any risks or laying out much cold hard cash, since their own economies are in such turmoil. But some tangible support is required, or the U.S. Dateline Australia and friends will have to go shopping for a new front man. Clinton is undoubtedly calculating just how little help he can give and still shore up Yeltsin's precarious position.

THE U.S. MEDIA PORTRAYS PARLIAMENT as the Strikes shatter II consensus" main obstacle to Yeltsin's dreams of starring as comprador-in­ chief over a fully reopened capitalist shop of horrors. And there BY DEBBIE BRENNAN (ACTU). Other services simply shut is no question that the legislature (which is part of an elected In Victoria, all this has been down. State school closures can't body, though you'd never know it from the bourgeois press) quarter of a million ripped away by the LNP be counted any more. Public currently offers the main resistance to the tempo, at least, of working people on government's Employee Rela­ hospitals face the axe. The un­ Yeltsin's "market reforms," if not to the substance. the streets and nearly tions Act, which replaced the employment rate is at least 18 a million on strike for network of state industrial percent (officials acknowledge BUT THE REAL OPPOSITION, and the base upon which A the day. Large walkouts on ev­ awards with workplace-based more than 11 percent), yet the power of parliament's challenge rests, is the Russian people. ery following working day for employment contracts. But this 40,000 public and community Street demonstrations and polls show time and again that the over a month. A strike by manu­ is only the tenth part of the sector workers are being fired; workers are hostile to full-scale privatization and suspicious of facturing unions. Another dem­ attack. Kennett has declared all public the course being plotted out by the ruling pro-capitalist cheer­ onstrationof 100,000 in the state Grimly reminiscent of the employees to be a burden on the leaders. In the army, for instance, two-thirds or more of the of­ capital, Melbourne. laws of last century, the new act economy - because they "pro­ ficers disagree with the current reforms. This was the stormy atmo­ conscripts every worker. Unau­ duce not one dollar of profit!" Due to the atomizing legacy of Stalinism, the workingclass sphere in Victoria in late 1992 thorized failure to show up at Programs specifically provid­ opposition lacks leaders, organization, and program. But the crisis and early 1993 as what even the work is now a criminal offence. ing for women and for Aborigi­ itself will create these things, just as events at the turn of the mainstream media has called Strikes are also punishable by nal, migrant, homeless, and dis­ century created Lenin and Trotsky and the Bolshevik party. "class war" broke out in fines and jail. Union activity is abled people have been deliber- . Neither Yeltsin nor his main rivals in the ruling regime today Australia's second most popu­ all but outlawed; the closed shop atelytargeted for extinction. The can liberate the productivity and human potential of Russian lous state. The gloves are now is o:utlawtxi,r;mployers caq fine first services to be cut and the workers. That job is reserved for the workers themselves. 0 off in the conflict be- first agencies closed have tween labor and capital. been those that either New State Premier hired mainly women or Jeff Kennett of the reac­ In the face of depression, upon which working tionary Liberal/National women depended -like Party (LNP) coalition, Australia's profit-makers the dozens of child care Don't privatize, who defeated the Aus­ centers whose grants tralian Labor Party (ALP) are desperate to revoke were canceled. Deprived government in October, of economic security and nationalize! is bent on "deregulating and reverse the gains of a independence, women AROUND THE WORLD, GOVERNMENTS are selling off the labor market" - are being shoved into th e public goods. Russia is auctioning off nationalized industries. code for burying work- century of struggle. direst poverty and back Germany wants to sell the Autobahn. The strike wave in Aus­ ers under the weight of into reliance upon men. tralia developed in part to oppose the privatization of mass anti-labor legislation. In The most disgusting transit and communications. the face of the international de­ "disobedient" workers. There's part of this nightmare is the role In the U.S., the twin-party politicians who brought us the pression, Australia's economy no redress against unfair dis­ of top union bureaucrats who Savings and Loan bailout ($45 billion this year) are jumping on has all but collapsed, and the missal. responded to the wildfires of in­ the privatization bandwagon. A number of states are trying ev­ profit-makers are desperate to Meal and rest breaks and bo­ dustrial action by trying desper­ erything from peddling public hospitals to contracting out revoke and reverse the gains of a nus rates for long or irregular ately to douse them in order to work now performed by state employees. century of working class struggle. hours are no longer guaranteed. preserve labor's fragile "consen­ Proponents say this is harsh but necessary medicine to bring Although the Labor Party Paid maternity leave and equal sus" with the bosses. This, they down the deficit fever and cure the lingering economic crisis. maintained itself in power at pay provisions have been over­ believed, would ensure that the They claim privatization saves taxpayers' money and stream­ the federal level in elections in turned. Holiday leave bonuses electoral defeat suffered in Vic­ lines services. March, its response to the crisis (called annual leave loading) toria by the seriously discredited is fundamentally the same as were stolen: in effect, an imme­ Labor Party was not repeated NO WAY. PRIVATIZATION MEANS massive layoffs, re­ Kennett's: make workers pay the diate three percent pay cut. Sick nationally. duced public services, falling wages, and unionbusting. cost of holding together a sys­ leave has been slashed. But these misleaders are walk­ The civil service sets standards for the private sector in every tem whose expiration date has Workers' compensation has inga tightrope: for people whose area of employment, from affirmative action and seniority come and gone. virtually disappeared. For ex­ survival depends on a paycheck, structures to wage and benefit levels. Privatization is designed Victoria, the heartland of ample, the loss of an eye, or a leg the sedative of consensus has to smash these "cumbersome" standards. Australian unionism, shows the below the knee, or one lung, is worn off, and they're ready to Privatization subordinates public service to money­ shape of things to come. not enough to prove incapacity fight. grubbing. Higher fees for all and lower-quality service for those and be compensated for loss of who can't pay are the result. Who could look at the profit­ Bringing back the "Mas­ wages. Those who do qualify get "Workers strike back." driven health care industry and argue for more privatization of ters and Servants Act." meager benefits for only a re­ Thus read the banner headline industry? Australia has had a relatively lib­ stricted period. in the conservative Australian eral industrial (job) environ­ newspaper the day after mili­ ment, characterized by a near­ Taxes soar and services tant unionists forced the Victo­ HISTORICALLY, THE WORKING CLASS has fought to universal system of compulsory vanish. The Kennett regime rian Trades Hall Council (VTHC) enlarge public ownership of production and distribution so arbitration centered on labor has levied a "state deficit levy." to call a statewide mass strike on that the wealth our labor creates can be of maximum benefit to court rulings known as /I awards," Businesses and workingclass November 10,1992. VTHC Sec­ society. Public transit, hospitals, and utilities are some of the which prescribe pay rates and households alike are supposed retary John Halfpenny tried to fruits of this struggle. working conditions. Although to pay $100 on property they contain the walkout by calling So too are public-employee unions, which are the most inte­ compulsory arbitration is used own, but the corporations get out only workers covered by state grated, diverse, strongest, and most progressive in all of orga­ to keep worker militancy in tax breaks which negate the levy. laws. But, despite the threat of nized labor. check, awardsdotend to uphold In other words, the workers are large-scale firings, federal em­ Democrats and Republicans alike now want to steal these predictable minimum standards made to subsidize the theft and ployees also participated. victories and cash them in to bail out their profit system. by providing various forms of greed of the ruling class during Eight hundred thousand peo­ legal redress against violators. the 1980s. Government charges ple stayed off the job; 200,000 THE HUMANE AND EFFECTIVE SOLUTION is not to In recent years, a deli ca te class for things such as utilities and took over Melbourne's streets. privatize the public sector, but to nationalize the private sector. balance has been shored up at public transport have increased This almost-general strike Let's begin with the Savings and Loans! workers' expense by the Accord, by up to 33 percent. matched the political electricity Privatization is labor's PATCO for the '90s. The outcome will a social contract struck in 1983 Profitable services are being of the 1960s marches against determine the course of the next decade. The best defense is between Labor Party govern­ sold off daily. The privatisation the Vietnam war. Demonstrat­ always a good offense, and the time to start is right now. 0 ment heads and the Australian of power, communications, and ingunionists were joined by Ab- Council of Trade Unions transport is in progress. tOfHJgeS April-June 1993 Freedom Socialist 7

Voices of Color ... Clara Fraser

from the cover family in the machinery of capitalism.

We are the leaders 1. Will open gays endanger "national security"? Let's hope so. The generals argue that their bailiwicks were never designed to be conductors of social change. Indeed not. we've been waiting for The military juggernaut exists to protect the "American way of life" - which depends on bitter feuding among workers. What's good for BY MOlsES MONTOYA Reiko Kato traveled to Seattle to he bought into underestimating General Motors is very, very bad for non-males, non-whites, non­ Coordinator, Bay Area Comrades present a resoundingly success­ the capabilities of the other Bay Christians, non-citizens and other non-conventionals (like my read­ of Color Caucus of the Freedom ful weekend-long race relations Area comrades of color, who were ers). The business of big business is isms - classism, sexism, racism, Socialist Party and Radical Women seminar for the party and RW. Asian American and Chicano. ageism, heterosexism. And the business of the armed services is de­ The BACCC also began call­ In other words, Boot, once a fending big business. ntil recently, Tom ing the trio on their anti-N.O. staunch fighter for race libera­ Proletarian solidarity is verboten. It is dangerous to officers and or­ Boot was a promi­ sniping. The quitters then label­ tion, turned into his opposite. ders. And now that Blacks and women are entrenched in the ranks, nent Black comrade ed us as N.O. dupes and tokens When we demanded that he somebody has to remain excluded or inferior or segregated. Uin the Freedom Social­ and branded the N.O. as kowtow­ reckon with us on his political What's more, expanded rights tend to make the execrated more ist Party (FSP) and its San Fran­ ing white liberals (ignoring the differences, he took this as a uppity. Will lesbians and gays rest content with the magnanimous cisco Bay Area organizer. In Oc­ comrades of color in leadership). personal affront - and quit. cessation of witchhunts? Will they emerge from battleship brigs and tober 1991, Boot quit the party Now that we were criticizing This schism is not about per­ closets quietly? Or will they protest against unjust and unneeded with Roanne Hindin and Con­ them, they suddenly accused FSP sonalities. It is about fundamen­ wars? Or maybe demand the right to elect their officers, ala Trotsky's stance Scott, two white leaders and RW of being undemocratic. tal political disagreements. Red Army after the 1917 Russian Revolution? And what will happen in both FSP and its sister organi­ The discrimination and high­ The FSP believes that this pro­ when these newly empowered vets come marching home? zation, Radical Women (RW). handedness that Boot, Scott, and fit system has to go. To get rid of The lavender menace that terrifies skittish politicos is a beautifully The three were fleeing from Hindin charged the N.O. with it, we need a highly trained orga­ clear and present danger to the fraying fabric of Amerikkka. the leadership of people of color, was really coming from them. nization - a Leninist vanguard particularly women. More and They were the ones sabotaging party -led by the most oppres- 2. It's the military that's sick and perverted. more, they had been running a Gay people aren't the ones with a deviant, illegitimate, immoral Stalinist-style branch where criti­ lifestyle. The military establishment is the body with the disease, and cism came from the top down; its name is sexual fascism. Scott, the national RWorganizer, Army culture cements a male bonding based on shared misogyny and Hindin, her assistant, were and race-hate. Basic training relies on humiliating the raw recruit by exempt. Members were just ex­ calling him a pussy or girlie. Platoon ~pirit is buoyed by chanting jin­ pected to do the work, and our goistic jingles about the racial/physical traits of the enemy. weaknesses rather than strengths Servicemen are indoctrinated to scorn open gays who won't en­ were played up. Because people dorse their view of women as hunks of meat, rape objects, and prac­ of color made up half the branch, tice toys for sadism. Straight male G.I.s are terrified that gay men will this fostered a racist climate. treat them the way they themselves treat women. Out lesbians are de­ Scott had enlisted Hindin and spised because they refuse to be part of the victim reservoir. Boot, her housemates, as sup­ Yes, sexual marauding is intrinsic to the military, part and parcel of porters in a power play with the '" its climate of imperialist violence. party's National Office (N.O.) in But if the institution is so evil, why should gays strive to be in it? Seattle. The three found new Alaskan Native Debra O'Gara (right) and Bay Area Comrades Because it is their simple right not to be discriminated against. And ammunition when two Seattle of Color Caucus members Nancy Relko Kato (center) and Nell because some of those gals and guys are equalitarians who want to be members were racist toward Wong (left) at close of race relations seminar. in the trenches beside their workingclass sisters and brothers in order comrades of color. They tried to to better challenge the Pentagon, not promote it. use these incidences to pit the the potential of the comrades of sed workers, because those who Moral pollution exists - in the stance of the warmongers. And Bay Area branchagainsttheN.O. color. They were the aspiring face the most searing abuse are gays are the uncontaminated troops destined to clean out the stables. 'When the Bay Area comrades bureaucrats who wanted to run the best fighters. The deserters of color began to question the things their way and keep mem­ no longer believe this. 3. Lesbians and gays are oppressed because they threaten the trio's motives and demand ac­ bers and the N.O. in the dark. Boot came to depend on Scott forced maintenance of the fissioning nuclear family. countability and party loyalty In sum, they no longer agreed and Hindin socially, politically, It goes like this: The system extracts super-profits from the unpaid from them, the three persuaded with the FSP's revolutionary-in­ and financially. Demoralized, he or vastly underpaid labor of women. And the patriarchal, male-headed a few white female colleagues tegrationist program, support for lost the courage to continue as a family is the conduit for this rip-off. that they were being victimized the leadership of people of color, leader. Despite his accomplish­ A vast superstructure keeps fracturing families mortared together, by a Big Bad Marxist Machine, and democratic methods. ments, Boot's own sexism, rac­ despite widespread misery and repression in the home. Alternative and then left in a hurry, taking ism, and cultural nationalism­ ways of living are a Bad Influence, especially as practiced by lesbians their clique recruits with them. Running from the front reflected in his posture that as a - so bachelordom is chic, but old maidhood is always pathetiC, and lines. According to the party­ Black man, he was above criti­ lesbians are kicked out of the services six to ten times as often as gay Cynical manipulation of bashers, Boot's membership in cism from other members of race issues. Boot, Scott, and their clique as an African Ameri­ color - overcame him. Hindin defected because they can gay man is supposed to prove couldn't win the Bay Area FSP to that FSP and RW are racist. Our time has come. Not The military has a lifestyle their view about how to deal Boot dedicated many years to coinCidentally, most of us who with racism. Their wrong posi­ fighting for the leadership of stayed with Bay Area FSP and disease. Its name is tion was that the white mem­ women, people of color, and RW are people of color. We were bers responsible should be witch­ sexual minorities in the move­ drawn to Trotskyist feminist poli­ sexual fascism. hunted, persecuted, and driven ments. With Chicana FSP leader tics because the solution it poses out of the party. Yolanda Alaniz, he founded the speaks to our experience. The Bay Area Comrades of Seattle Comrades of Color Cau­ What happened in this inter­ men. Yet the number of lesbians is groWing, partly because hetero re­ Color Caucus disagreed with this cus, which became national. nal fire storm validates our pro­ lations today are so unappetizing. The arrogance and boorishness of method. The BACCC wanted to But the Left, including FSP gram. In this branch, the com­ typical male egos eventually repels self-respecting women. correct the racist mistakes and RW, is not immune from rades of color have taken the Both genders have every right to claim a sexual mode that is less through education and drawing the pressure of increaSing rac­ reins. We're more critical and dangerous and irritating and more sensually fulfilling, more demo­ the lessons needed to move on. ism in society, as recent splits up-front. What the movements cratic and supportive of integrity and activism, more respectful of To this end, current Bay Area and strife show. Over time, Boot need now is bold and radical motherhood and childhood, and more feminist. FSP Organizer Nell Wong and internalized the stereotypes of leadership from those at the bot­ Face it, globo-cops: the values of the Victorian hearth are falling national RW Organizer Nancy minorities as second-class citi­ tom. That's what we intend to into the ashbin of history. Alternate mores are filling the vacuum. zens. Like his co-factionalizers, continue bUilding. We are the Cultural pluralism on the family front is truly, delightfully subversive! leaders we've been waiting for. [J A NEW DAY IS DAWNING. Homosexual rights are big-media cover stories. Gays are scaling unaccustomed heights of power. The polymorphously perverse are packing up in droves for the giant April 2S March on Washington. The gay community, with a renewed life­ energy propelled by AIDS and the spectre of death, is politicized and afire. The battle against the troglodytes is joined. But this expanded confidence needs all the radical vision and au­ dacity it can muster, because our new Prez is as treacherous on civil rights as he is on the economy, stupid, and austerity and dashed hopes will be the sole rewards for his misguided supporters. The message for labor and all civil rights and civil liberties move­ ments: Insist on gay rights now. Forge a united front against the tyr­ anny of the homophobes. Protest compromises and stalls and the "practical-politics" betrayals of the so-called liberals. And ask not for whom the presidential sellout is being prepared, for the answer is you. Don't you see? Sexual liberation will never be tolerated by a mar­ ket, dog eat dog, cannibalistic economy. Free love can flourish only in a caste-free and thereby a hate-free community of equal and autono­ mous humans, who will bypass the nature/nurture niggling and se­ renely proclaim their affectional choices free of any pressure to vindi­ cate their delicate, personal decisions to anybody. The only antidote to sexual fascism is socialist democracy. The only road to gay freedom is a universal, across-the-board, non­ exploitative family of earthlings. Gay Pride shall ring out when the human race as a whole becomes proud of itself. C Freedom Socialist April-June 1993

The incendiary legacy of . a co - revolutionary internationalism BY LINDA AVERILL February 21, 1965, this talented and cou­ ing many to explore Malcolm's positions. rageous spokesman for the oppressed As "X" shows, several things forced Spike Lee should win an acad­ embarked on a series of amazing journeys. Malc~lm's split from the NOI: his discov­ emy award for Malcolm X, if only Physically, he traveled to Africa and the ery that top "prophet" Elijah Muhammad because his film exposes the Nation Middle East; politically, he arrived at an was sexually exploiting young NOI of Islam's responsibility for Malcolm's anti-capitalist perspective that predicted women; his being silenced after stating assassination. the integration of U.S. Black revolt with that John F. Kennedy's assassination was The NOI still enjoys considerable worldwide class warfare. II a case of the chickens coming home to influence, attracting some of the most roost"; and his chafing at the boundaries rebellious-minded Black youth with its Nation of Islam: hypocritical imposed by NOI's all-talk, little-action militant race message. And it does so talk shop. It's no accident that Lee's militancy. The movie doesn't show it, but today for the same reason it did so in film is released now. Malcolm's exit was also provoked by the Malcolm's time: the vacuum of other radi­ In his day, Malcolm exposed the liberal NOI's negotiations with the Ku Klux Klan cal leadership willing to do battle against hypocrisy of the. Democrats, who, he for land in the South, which Malcolm increasingly violent racism. noted, could wage a merciless war for revealed at a February 15, 1965 meeting of After spending 12 years building the "democracy" in Vietnam, but couldn't the Organization of Afro-American Unity. NOI, however, Malcolm X rejected its pro­ find their pens to sign a civil rights bill. NOI ministers liked to rail against gram of separatism and Black capitalism. Little has changed. Today Uncle Sam "white devils," but they didn't want to When he exposed its reactionary dealings bombs Iraq while addressing urban mis­ actually challenge the power elite; with the Ku Klux Klan and offered an ery at home by hiring more cops. Malcolm's independent thinking was alternative revolutionary internationalist Lee's movie has faults, like the short threatening NOI's comfortable niche. agenda, the Black Muslims and the FBI shrift and overly spiritual interpretation murdered him. given to Malcolm's last years. But Lee's Crashing separatist limits. NOI's But in the year before his death on popularization of Malcolm's life is inspir- refusal to organize for concrete changes flowed from its program, which preached moral reform, rebuild­ ingthefamily, and establishment of a capitalist Black homeland. Furthermore, NOI's backward What Malcolm X means cultural nationalist policy (" pork­ chop nationalism," the Black Panthers called it) recycled the , to young people "today' class oppression and sexism of profit-based ideology. Thus NOI treated women like domestic Young people today are seeing the movie his voice and his message. slaves, and its projected future Malcolm X in droves, picking up Malcolm's Betty: What do you think included a Black bourgeoisie that slogans, and wearing "X" fashions. What of Jesse Jackson? would still exploi t Black workers. makes Malcolm so popular? Kenya: He gets off too Cultural nationalism is an un­ The Freedom Socialist interviewed three much on small slogans like derstandable reaction to a thor­ young Black students for their views: Kenya "Keep hope alive." You can't oughly racist SOCiety, especially Moncur, 19, a sophomore at Kean College in tell this to a person who is D ..'~lr"o@Redmond (above), when the mass movement is at Union, New Jersey; Diletha Battles, 18, a starving or selling drugs, be­ Kenya Moncur (left). Not an ebb or Black leadership with a senior at Central High School in Newark, New cause there is no hope. shown: Dlletha Battles. more class-conscious program is Jersey; and Desiree Redmond., 21, a working Malcolm X's message "by missing. But by identifying the single mother who will attend Highline Com­ any means necessary" fits the enemy as whites rather than as munity College in Seattle, Washington this the profit system that manufac­ African American race be­ Linda: What is Malcolm fall. The interviewers were Betty Maloney, a cause you can get something out of it tures white prejudice for its own Newark school counselor, and Linda Averill in X to you? survival, cultural nationalism whether you're starving or hungry. , Desiree: Inspiration, because he was so Seattle. deflects rage away from that very fearless. He inspires me as a parent of a son Betty: Who benefits from racism? system. Kenya: Only the small part of the popu­ and he inspires me as a student. Malcolm rejected NOI's sepa­ Betty: Who is Malcolm X to you? lation that are well off. Because when you're He made me realize I have to rise above Kenya: The sad thing is that after he ratism after sojourning abroad. hurting me and I'm hurting you, we're hating my people in order to help them. If came back from Mecca he was killed so The film portrays this as a spiri­ both hurting. But we've got someone sit­ I waste my time arguing or fighting or tual conversion. In fact, Malcolm quickly that he never really got a chance to ting way up here in this office, and he's not doing drugs with them, that's just bringing express himself about the white race. But met revolutionaries in Africa who feeling any pressure. "Just let them kill me down, and them with me. He's changed Malcolm X was about good change for a won him to a broader, interna­ each other," that's their game. my attitude about how I am with other tionalist political prospectus. group of people. He wasn't scared of any­ Blacks and how I feel about my Blackness. thing. He was well-respected. My grand­ Betty: Can Blacks and whites and Malcolm explained, "When I mother lived in Harlem when Malcolm X people of other colors work together? Linda: Why is Malcolm so popular? was in Ghana, I was speaking was doing his speeches. She would tell me Kenya: I know for a fact they can. I Desiree: It's oppression. Eventually op­ with the Algerian ambassador, that he would get hundreds and hundreds would never support separating white and pression is going to cause outrage. Our who is a revolutionary in the true of people out in the streets in a second. He Black because it's good to interact with parents fought at first, like my mom was a sense of the word ... When I told could capture their attention just through different cultures. to page 4 him that my political, social, and to page 4 Black liberation: theory as the guide to action. ~. 1------, •••Wfl ·t· Ing5 on I Revolutionary Integration: The Dialectics of Black Name I "ol · On Liberation (1963) by Richard Kirk and Clara Kaye (please print) (1,.... 11_. ~~ [Fraser] and Revolutionary Integration: Yesterday I ~ ",' "onat,~ ~4~ and Today (1983) by Tom Boot - two ground- ~~ I ,,'.' ' '1, n t e ~ breaking documents from the Freedom Socialist Party City I that analyze the interdependence of Black freedom and workingclass revolution. Packed with theoryr State Zip I historyr poetryr and polemic! I Order today"! Country Phone I I Sets are just $.70 each. To order, please make checks out to Freedom Socialist and send to FS Business Office, I L5~ 8~ainier Ave. South, Seattler WA 9~ ~Add ~ .50 shipping for first set PluS~1.00 shipPi~f~each additiona~e~ ~