Lllclf 3111 Table of Contents

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INTRODUCTION by JBBC (Feb. 1977)

CLASS AND REVOLUTIONARY POLITICS: the meaning of the Hard Times Conference by Prairie Fire Organizing Committee (Feb. 1976)

IN DEFENSE OF PRAIRIE FIRE by Clayton Van Lydegraf for PFOC (July 1976) 11

W.U.O. PUBLIC SELF-CRITICISM by the Revolutionary Committee of the WUO (Oct. 1976) 18 CRITICISM OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE by the Revolutionary Committee (Nov. 1976) 25

TAPE FROM BERNARDINE DOHRN (Nov. 1976) 33

LETTER FROM SISTERS IN THE W.U.O. to the women of PFOC (Sept. 1976) 36 JOHN BROWN BOOK CLUB'S SELF-CRITICISM 40 OPEN LETTER TO THE REVOLUTIONARY COMMITTEE from Native American Warriors (Jan. 1977) 41

STATEMENT ON THE BOMBING OF THE IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION SERVICE by the Revolutionary Committee (Feb. 1977) 43

THE SPLIT OF THE WEATHER UNDERGROUND ORGANIZATION breakthrough is available from John Brown Book Club, P.O. Box THE NEW REVOLUTIONARY JOURNAL OF 22383, Seattle, WA 98122 PRAIRIE FIRE ORGANIZING COMMITTEE Single copies $1.00, ten The first issue (February 1977) or more 600 each, free contains the recently adopted to prisoners. Provisional Political Statement of PFOC including the entire section People who subscribed to on women's oppression and libera- the John Brown reprints tion, which was written by Prairie of Osawatomie will have Fire women. their subscriptions filled with The Split and Break- $1.00 per copy, 6 issues for $5.00 through (each pro-rated as two issues of Osawatomie). Free to Prisoners Prisoners already on the John Brown mailing list Order from PFOC, Box 40614, Sta. C, will be sent The Split San Francisco, CA 94110 automatically, but should write PFOC for Breakthrough, introduction During the last year and a half, We are alienated by opportunist poli- John Brown Book Club has reprinted and tics, because they don't speak to our needs distributed Osawatomie, the voice of the nor do they solve the problems we face in Vfeather Underground Organization. The our political work and our personal lives. final issue of Osawatomie (June-July,1976) White supremacy and male supremacy aren't marked the end of an era in the WUO and just bad ideas. Third World people and the intensification of an organization- women live every minute of their lives un- wide political struggle. That struggle ex- der the oppressive institutions of these posed and defeated the political line that systems. When white "Marxist-Leninist" or- led the WUO for the last 2h years and split ganizations make the struggles for national the organization. and women's liberation secondary to the The WUO rode on its reputation as a "class struggle" they objectively mean that revolutionary anti-imperialist organization they don't want to confront and struggle gained through its history of armed actions with the painful realities of their own and the politics in its political statement, lives. Prairie Fire. Since the publication of Prairie Fire, the organization systemati- There have been criticisms and ques- cally negated these politics when it aban- tions about the security level of the RC's doned armed propaganda and liquidated na- materials, raised primarily by Black, Native tional and women's oppression in Osawatomie. American and some Puerto Rican comrades. These politics as put into practice in the People are concerned that the papers contain Hard Times Conference (January 1976) were too much information that may be used by the criticized by the women's and Black caucuses state, that they expose our weaknesses too and other Third World forces at the confer- widely, and that the allegations are not ence. Prairie Fire Organizing Committee, sufficiently proved and are destructive. which had provided leadership for the con- We understand that the concerns of ference, began self-criticism around their Third World revolutionaries, who have faced role by late winter of last year. "Class and still face state terror, are real and and Revolutionary Politics" and "In Defense must be respected. We also understand that of Prairie Fire", both position papers of it is difficult for these comrades to accept PFOC, outline this self-criticism and that at face value such strong criticisms of the organization's struggle to make the self- former WUO leadership, who had won respect criticism real in practice (rectification). by the positive aspects of their previous Each paper also pushed forward struggle politics and actions. It's important to within the WUO and parts of the anti-imper- point out that there are no responses or ialist left by rooting the understanding known facts that contradict what the EC of these political errors in an analysis lays out. Of course, it is forbidden to of the material basis of white and male supremacy/chauvinism in our movement and all aspects of our lives. The last issue of Osawatomie contained a shallow "self-criticism" which did not recognize that white and male supremacy were at the roots of WUO politics. On October 1, the WUO released its "Public Self-Criticism" which was written by the Revolutionary Com- mittee of WUO, but signed by the organization as a whole. By the end of the month, the WUO had split over the refusal of part of the organization, including the whole leadership, to put the self-criticism into practice. The Revolutionary Committee emerged as a new political force, deepening the self-criticism with its own criticism of the Central Committee in November. The release of a letter from women in WUO to the women of PFOC concretized the speci- fics of the development of male supremacy within the WUO. For white anti-imperialists, revolutionary politics are grounded in the struggle against white and male supremacy. Failing to wage these struggle necessarily supports imperialism. This is opportunism: selling out the long run revolutionary struggles for real or perceived short run gains. This has been the politics of the Weather Underground Organization since the summer of 1974. Black Scholar r

betray to the state that which can be used In general, basic security is people against other revolutionaries, and the struggling together and with each other's people, but the details given here are nec- politics to a level where enemies have to cessary without the sort of details that expose themselves and get dealt with. Sec- constitute evidence. The main security urity is very little about detective work danger in this struggle is from the WUO's or hiding painful truths. Warning the opportunism and unconcern about anything people and all revolutionaries is the main except themselves. The so-called security task. We of the anti-imperialist left of the former WUO was already a farce, they have been careful and prudent in our use relied on toleration of the state to sur- of the truth, but we do not fear exposing vive and used "security" to avoid strug- our political weaknesses and traitors in gle over their steadily deteriorating poli- our movement. This is necessary for our tics. survival and growth. It is true that the WOO has made important contributions to • the cause of revolution, especially to the white left, in terms of anti-inperial- ist consciousness and solidarity with the liberation struggles of the oppressed nations and peoples. However, the WUO has never been able to overcome serious opportunist, white and male supremacist and chauvinist influences and has now itself clearly acted as an obstacle to revolution. It was necessary for the old organization to be destroyed before the revolutionary struggle could move on. What little con- fort our enemies may take will be short- lived. At the same time we must take heed of messages like the letter from the Native American Warriors, that words are LNS not enough . class and revolutionary politics

by Prairie Fixe Organizing Committee, we will have failed before we start. The Bay Area only way we can show understanding and appreciation of ths special kind of help The revolutionary movement in our is to make it less necessary in the future. country can gain iititiensely from the Chi- Prairie Fire Organizing Committee was cago Hard Times Conference if its lessons the principle carrier of the wrong line in are understood and acted upon. organizing the Hard Times Conference. The The Black caucus and Third World lead- issue for us is even more specific. Can we ership intervention at Chicago posed our understand deeply enough our own brief his- choices clearly. Their criticisms of the tory to root out the causes of the chauvin- presiding leadership of the conference were ism and opportunism that made the criticism solidly based upon Marxist-Leninist prin- necessary? Can we change from an organiza- ciple as it applies to our responsibilities tion that is trying to be revolutionary and here in the US. communist to one that is so in reality? Or We were emphatically reminded that for will we join RU, PL, OL, the CP, etc. in revolutionaries of an imperialist country the swamps. the distinction between oppressor and op- We can change, we can avoid that. pressed nations is the main thing. This Provided that we analyze our own wrong line, means that to be a communist it is not its causes: ttiat we define clearly the rev- enough to be for class struggle, for socialism, the dictatorship of the proletariat. A white communist must especially fight for the national liberation of oppressed peoples, for self-determination and against special privilege, white supremacy, chauvinism. Our duty to fight great nation chauvinism and for the right of separation of captive peoples is our first priority. History further demands of us that we fight first of all for the rights and liberation of the Black colony. It also demands that we fight hard for the rights and freedom of Native America, the Mexicano people, the independence of Puerto Rico. An important strength of Chicago was that most white activists responded to the Black, Mexicano, Native American and Puerto Rican leadership. The majority of the conference were well ahead of the official leadership in consciousness of the political issues and in support for meaningful anti-imperialist class and national struggle. In the US today this is the essence— there is no other kind of politics that can progressively move toward social revolution. We need thorough criticism and correction of the disastrously wrong line put forward at Chicago. This is the only way to move on to successful struggle against the white supremacist and chauvinist opportun- olutionary course and take concrete steps ism that has been the historic downfall of to overcome the wrong line and constantly the white left and revolutionary forces in struggle to remove its causes. the US. But our aims cannot be narrowly limi- It is not enough to register and agree ted to that. We must aim to unite the with the criticisms offered by our comrades best activists of our class and people at the conference. We have to search out around politics that are anti-imperialist, and deal with the particular roots and that fight discrimination, National and causes revealed in this particular event. racial oppression, that fight white privi- We, those of the revolutionary-minded lege and for self-determination, for full part of the left who are white, must take equality, for national liberation. This this task for our own. If we leave it is an indispensible part and priority of mainly to our non-white brothers and sisters. fighting for socialist revolution. As we meaning of the hard times conference 1 examinexa e and criticize our history, we do portant factor. But it is too easy to offer r so -publicly and for the benefit of all. the remedy of changing our class base as a This is the only way to become stronger. remedy in and of itself. That mechanistic What is decisive is not us as an organi- notion is part of the problem. Historically, zation, but the creation of a solidly working class movements in imperialist coun- based revolutionary communist organiza- tries have also turned opportunist, social tion as a guarantee of the forward motion democratic, reformist, national chauvinist, of our entire movement. social-imperialist. Especially in the US. This can't be done instantly or pain- And logically, to unite intellectuals still lessly or in one paper. Theory and prac- full of chauvinism and opportunism with a. tice, politics, organization, leadership, militant but pragmatic and economist working political struggle, criticism/self-criti- class movement is never going to produce cism, all enter in. So we have to touch any other result. on a wide range of things to avoid narrow We have to strengthen our understanding and short-sighted view. We have to avoid of, and committment to, revolutionary anti- substituting issues; like talking about imperialism. We have to create a revolu- two wrong lines or making the issue how tionary ideological firmness that will grow well someone opposed the wrong line. In stronger and bolder in the very struggle due course we all have to criticize our- that we now approach so timidly and feebly. selves and others. It won't come out (We have to raise our banners high instead equally, people have different kinds and of dragging them along buried in the bagg- amounts of responsibility. age.) Right now our priority is to under- We have examined closely the devices stand and deal with the particular criti- used to justify abandonment of our revolu- cism and analysis of a particularly dan- tionary positions in the name of building gerous wrong line. We may have sane dif- a "mass" or a "class" base. (These are also ferences in our views, but we must agree not new.) First we have to put the task of to examine the main errors, the causes building a base in a revolutionary and not and remedies; to base our evaluations and opportunist way. criticisms on our political priorities. We Our task is to combine the universal need to face facts and evaluate our his- truths(world experience) of Marxism-Leninism tory. And to remember that criticism is with the revolutionary experience of the aimed at correcting policy and strengthen- working class and oppressed peoples of the ing people. Smashing is for enemy poli- US. This includes, but is a tremendous lot tics and bourgeois habits and for identi- more than "base building". fied enemies. Sharp criticism is called For this task we require a theo- for, but must be aimed at the right target. retical and historical grasp of both To turn this bad thing into a good world and US experience and a practical thing, we first have to understand why the working relationship to struggles in-

UNDER IMPERIALISM, RACE STRUGGLE IS IN ESSENCE CLASS STRUGGLE

main thing for revolutionaries in imperial- side the US. The first never arises ist countries is to understand the differ- spontaneously, we have to struggle hard ences between oppressor and oppressed na- for our science. tions . One of the splendid achievements We know that such was Lenin's conclu- of the New Left was its active response sion from his study of imperialism the and support to Black struggles, to China, stage of capitalism which is also the era Vietnam, Puerto Rico and others. In ideas of socialist revolution. It is no secret our movement has been internationalist, that Lenin also concluded that national anti-revisionist, pro-armed struggle. But liberation struggle is no longer part of within this there have been great weakness- the bourgeois revolution. National strug- es. One that is typical is the tendency gles are now a component part of proletar- to reduce the question of oppressed nations ian socialist revolution. Lenin went oh within the US entirely to a "race" question. to recognize, as did Mao Tse Tung and Ho On page 8 of the Dec., 1975 PFOC na- Chi Minn, that liberation struggles grow tional committee meeting report, amid much to become the cutting edge and vanguard general confusion, internationalism and force as imperialism is forced to give way national chauvinism are treated as matters to the advance of world revolution. of external relations whereas racism is All this is not new to us. Anti-im- posed as an internal question that divides perialists of the new left have repeated workers. this a thousand times in a thousand ways. We have a clear and urgent duty to How then did PFOC take the same old wrong oppose and defeat "racism" among the people turn toward chauvinism and opportunism? and within our class. (And also the sexism How could it lose sight of and liquidate and arrogance of white males) but there is the very foundations of revolutionary anti- more to it than this. We have to fight the imperialism? extraction of super-profit and the special It is true that middle class and intel- oppressions of the capitalist-imperialist lectual instability come through as an im- system-a system that is also white and male 7 supremacist through and through—we have make a fully Marxist analysis does not weak- to be anti-imperialist at horns as well as en the fight against "racism"; it puts it abroad. One aspect of this is to fight ag- on solid foundation. ainst the privileged positions of all whites The "Our Class Stand" article is a with extra attention to white males. step beyond earlier Osawatomie editorials To struggle against "racism" is to rec- in that it doesn't just make pronouncements, ocgnize that exploitive and oppressive soc- it discusses issues. It fails to arrive ieties use distinctions of skin color and at correct conclusions, at least in part race to divide those they oppress. But because it has a sloppy, careless approach this is not enought for scientific revolu- to basic Marxism, like most of the New Left tionary struggle. Under imperialism, race struggle is in essence class struggle. But it is also, especially in the US, part of the struggle for national liberation and overwhelmingly a part of the counter-revolution against Black liberation. Boston, the Wallace campaign, "white back-lash." At most, communists should limit the expression "racist" to describe the ideological and cultural-psychological conditioning which causes us to participate in the humiliation and oppression of other peoples at home and abroad. We can never substitute that struggle for the struggle for national liberation, self-determination, against economic, political, social-cultural discrimination and oppression, against white privilege in all those areas. If we don't carry the struggle to these levels, then we are no longer revolutionary internationalists, we are ordinary social-chauvinists, opportunists, liberal or reactionary tools of the empire and its ruling class. This means to fight •the white supremacist institutions of the system, all of them, the government, laws courts, police, prisons, schools, press- media, armed forces, medicine, Union bosses, management bosses—the whole thing. Ihese are not just "racism institutionalized". They are the imperial structure of an oppressor nation and class which uses them writers who attempt this. This reflects a to perpetuate and guard exploitation and major weakness, not only of the new left, super-exploitation; "racism" suits them to a but of the US historically. The extreme "T". They will allow anyone of any hostility to theory and science, except in color to help them run their system, terms of immediate results, pragmatism, runs but not as equal partners. very deep. So it is commendable to want to An article in Osawatomie #3, "Our try to correct weakness of the left in grasp- Class Stand" by B. Dohrn states that ing the theoretical and class struggle foun- the main contradiction within the work- dations of the largely pragmatic and imita- ing class is racism. This is wrong. The tive struggles of the late 60's. And these main contradiction within our class is struggles, objectively, were of great stra- competition between the workers. In the tegic class and revolutionary impact, re- Communist Manifesto, Marx and Engels gardless of political limitations of the wrote: "Wage labor rests exclusively upon participants. But today, to correct by competition between workers." posing class struggle against anti-imper- Internally, such competition is ex- ialism is to go backward and not forward. pressed in wage and skill competition, for The correction is worse than the error. jobs and in discrimination by race, nation- This is expressed in another error of al origins, age, sex, social status. But the same piece. It is stated that the fund- it is all about economic (material) and amental contradiction of capitalism is the social relative privilege 'offered by the contradiction between the workers and the system. Externally, there is seizure of capitalists. This is wrong. The funda- colonies, super-exploitation of oppressed mental contradiction of capitalism is that peoples, white supremacy, national arro- between social production and private ap- gance, war for redivision of the spoils,etc. propriation. The class struggle grows Racism is a major prop of empire, and from and constitutes an expression of this it can reach the level of really antagonis- fundamental relationship. So does the "an- tic contradiction between people. But to archy" of production—which is the contra- take it for the whole is to substitute a diction between the organization and plan- slogan for thought, to wipe out the duties ning of production in a single factory or of white revolutionaries. As in the app- sector of industry as against the lack of roach to organizing the HT conference. To planning of social production as a whole. .. .WE ARE OF ONE HUMAN FAMILY, UNITING ALL WORKING CLASSES AND ALL OPPRESSED PEOPLES

BUT EACH WORKING CLASS AND PEOPLE ARE NECESSARILY THE MAIN FORCE OF THEIR OWN REVOLUTION These contradictions express themsel- nally and externally as the US is a modern ves in intense competition developing via prison-house of nations. the laws of value, leading to monopoly and This is the crux of proletarian revol- world-wide extension of the fundamental an- utionary class conscioussness and struggle tagonism between social production and pri- in our time. Anti-imperialism is the es- vate appropriation. And to the giant mono- sence of class struggle in our time and polies succeeding small scale competition place. (See Englels, Socialism, Utopian and swallowing up all previous productive and Scientific for better description of stages and forms, slave feudal, tribal, etc. the fundamental contradictions of capital- All this creates new and greater contradic- ism, Ch. Ill, from Anti-Duhring.) tions, rivalries, wars, crises, power clashes, revolutions, etc. & etc. When Within this overall unity, our stra- imperialism became a world system, dominat- tegic fronts and forms of struggle and ing all previous social formations, this national identities are different. There- compelled the socialist revolution to also fore we compose separate national contin- become world-wide in scope, not abolishing, gents against the common enemy. A most but uniting with and transforming earlier important form of our unity is alliance. forms, principally national liberation in This is also an expression of the principle our time, but still with anti-feudal anti- of self-determination. We unite and work slavery tasks in many cases. together even as we respect our differen- This process is what Lenin deals with ces. There can be no working class version in the work, Imperialism and in his address- of the melting-pot that does not end serving es to the Communist International after the the enemy. At the same time our unity is 1917 revolution. Whoever wishes to define not merely one of convenience, uniting an- US imperialism in a different way than the tagonistic systems against a more immediate classics should explain why, not just mush danger as was the Alliance of capitalist it over. But it is clear that imperialism and socialist countries in WWII. and national liberation could never be understood if we take class struggle as the We share a common goal and ultimate foundation without considering the contra- destiny that unites us all in fighting for dictions between the material base and the the world-wide victory of social revolu- social relations of production which give tion. In this sense, we are of one human rise to that struggle, and condition its family, uniting all working classes and form at the present stage. all oppressed peoples. It is this fundamental process under- Our alliances are between equals. lying the uneven development of empire and No one from a dominant nation can be allowed the super-exploitation of colonies and de- to regard others as mere reserves to their pendent peoples and countries, and neo- own more important cause. Internationalism colonies and the resistance thereto in the can be crucial for victory, but each working era of victorious socialist revolutions class and people are necessarily the main and national liberation struggles that force of their own revolution. makes the struggle against imperialism the primary focus of world revolution in our Another of our departures from revol- time. This applies to the US both inter- utionary thinking and action has been in our attitude toward the economic crisis. ,In order to justify the substitution of "class struggle" in general for revolutionary anti- imperialism (which had to be put down as 'left-sectarian") the crisis was described as just another cyclical crisis of the system, or as primarily the result of the inf- lation attending the Vietnam War. It was "analyzed" out of wishful thinking that the crisis would level out the material base of relative privilege. Oppression would become more equal. The needs of the whole class could be primary. Of course, facts proved the opposite. Millions of whites suffered, but Blacks, Mexicanos, Puerto Ricans, Native Americans were hit by far the hardest. Within the white population, sex, age, skill, lack of organization also created greater rather than less distinctions . While not everyone expressed all of these errors, in sum. they justified an organizing strategy that wiped out the Lenin- ist analysis of reflections of the class struggle within the class, and of Mao's line of Unite with the advanced, win over the in- termediate, struggle with the conservative. And in our country we have whole strata that are even reactionary and outright support the enemyl Worse, proposals to base our poli- tee which was moving toward unity around tics and organizing on the needs and strug- correct politics. gles of the most oppressed peoples and the In our society all weaknesses feed most militant, conscious and advanced white into and reinforce the wrong line on class workers and women were not heeded but re- and national sturggle, as in the case of jected. This happened at the Boston Con- PPOC- This is not only a theoretical and ference and in the Bay Area immediately political process. It is profoundly influ- afterwards when the July National Confer- enced by social, cultural,psychological and ence report was discussed. In this ins- material competitive pressures. And it is tance, national representatives took the most essential to understand that the ever lead in pushing the wrong line and criti- present climate of white superiority and cising heavily those who spoke for a rev- chauvinism feeds all other class and poli- olutionary content. The same sort of push tical weaknesses of white revolutionaries for the wrong line then followed in the and activists. steering committee, in membership meetings So it is with the contempt for theory in documents. In some cases it was even mentioned before. For the first half*of theorized that the economic crisis was 1975 the question of who and what we are wiping out or at least reducing the mater- was debated in terms of cadre and organiza- ial base of national and racial oppression tional form as opposed to mass organizing. and privilege. It took months of struggle to gain a toe hold for the idea that communist organiza- In the Hard Times work, even talk tion is an urgent priority of political about white supremacy and chauvinism am- analysis, of line and of leadership. Poli- ong the white left and white workers was tics in command and the strategic unity of dropped. Instead there was substituted theory and practice. Even then, spontan- an emphasis on working with particular eous ideas remained very strong. Boston Black and Third World activists. Criti- reinforced those ideas, even after we ac- cism of the opportunism involved in this cepted communist organization as a goal. was called racist. Thus, right from the In fact organization was put ahead of poli- start, all out "unity", economism, reform- tics to protect opportunism. ism, utopianism became the politics and About bourgeois concepts of leadership: the style. All unity and no struggle wrong politics need bureaucratic protection. with liberalism and all struggle and no Manipulative and factional methods serve unity with proposals to give priority to bad politics. They cover for opportunism. national liberation and to the needs of They facilitate liquidation of struggle those hardest hit by crisis and most open against national oppression and white su- to struggle. Events compelled some ges- premacy. This is the real content of the tures toward change. They were too half- "non-political" approach of the organizers hearted and too late. At the end of Dec. of our Boston conference. (EPOC) A headlong the NC was still defending its wrong line rush to national organization without a in a report rejecting criticism and pro- revolutionary political line led directly posals from the Bay Area Steering Commit- to the suppression of the anti-imperialist 10 and pro-cortmunist party politics of elected We can't go on living as we have. Society delegates from San Francisco Bay Area. En- is wasting. The rulers can't go on ruling forced by an indecent attack upon women the same old way either. What is missing and men alike for our politics, but covered is a strong Communist Party with massive by false charges of sexism. Charges "with- revolutionary support. But there have been drawn" but never dealt with. too many hollow revolutionaries with loud This opportunist misuse of the cause promises. We need honesty and hard work of women's liberation expresses a tendency to produce results and show strength, not to substitute the issue of sexism for the timidity. Lenin said it: struggle against male supremacy and women's Don't blame the workers for your liberation as a major component part of own backwardness. social revolution. This misuse and wrong Facing the facts is the first part of cor- focus not only weakened our sturggle ag- rection. More is required. Thinking .deeply, ainst national oppression, it weakened our serious political evaluation and criticism. struggle against the oppression of women as Digging out roots and causes. well. This was the case at Chicago. PFOC leaders made a committment to struggle for Then self-criticism: concrete searching a stronger position, they did not do so. out the individual and group and leadership They were heavily criticized at the con- responsibilities for wrong line and bad meth- ference by Black, Third World and white ods. This has to include the active partici- women. Properly so, it was a major fail- pation nationally of those who opposed the ing. wrong line: there must be recognition of the Thus, bad methods are not only inter- inner struggle. Honesty is totally impor- nal questions. They always affect mass pol- tant for us now. itics and practice. Bad politics and lead- Our rectification must be public as ership at Boston reproduce themselves a well as internal. This is the only guar- hundredfold at Chicago. Suppression of antee of a new style of responsibility to politics at Boston matched at Chicago by members, the left and our class and peoples. a program that restricted political debate Our study and political statement discussion to the chosen. Black and Third World must be re-oriented to these needs. women and men were strong enough to break We must be exemplary in struggle ag- through. Otherwise it would nave been dis- ainst national oppression and white and male astrous . supremacy. We also need to criticise acceptance of the PL, CP, RU mush about multi-national class and party. And reject the title Claim no easy victories — tell "socialist revolutionaries." (Jan. Ground- no lies. (Amilcar Cabral) swell). There isn't space here—we need to say a little more about causes and cor- REVOLUTIONARY INTERNATIONALIST POLITICS rections . IN COMMAND. We already said that the system conditions us. One way is by the old left, Prairie Fire Organizing Committee, the CP, Trotskyists, the in-betweens, PL, Bay Area RU; we react to them and to even "newer" dogmatist-opportunists. But we haven't criticized their bad politics and treachery. This is a liberal conception of uniting the left. We have to expose their wrong policy on National liberation and their phony anti- racism. Instead of imitating it. Unless we fight for our anti-imperialism, it will always fade under attack. We too are crippled by a heavy resistance to theory and a devotion to "practi- cality". A variant of this contempt is to study classics without regard to our real needs. Again, the Dec. NC report is a prime negative example. The NC studied Lenin's "What is to be Done" and ended up supporting everything that Lenin opposed! s&?^ Too-many of us imagine that ordinary ..•»i|f$M!f..N workers and people will only fight for the most immediate selfish needs. This is nonsense. Most people need and want a better life even more desperately than we ourselves. They are right, the crisis is a cumulative one marked by convulsions of a dying system.

DON'T BLAME THE WORKERS FOR YOUR OWN BACKWARDNESS ^1 11 in defense of prairie fire by Clayton Van Lydegraf, for P.F.O.C. In this spirit the National Committee of Prairie Fire Organizing Committee It is now two years since the (March, 1976) seriously evaluated and ac- public circulation of the book Prai- cepted the criticism made by the Black Cau- rie Fire. We may anticipate that 200 cus and CASA speakers at the January 1976 years from now something more positive Hard Times Conference in Chicago of the will have emerged from this final quar- political and organizational preparations ter of the 20th century than the world for the conference. Since PFOC had major has experienced from the birth of the responsibility it made a public (though United States as an independent country belated) statement accepting the criticism: in the fourth quarter of the 18th.(1776) (excerpt) In any case, those who offered Prairie At the Chicago conference, the Black Fire to us expressed high hopes and good Caucus led in a comradely and correct intent. manner in overturning the errors of From the letter introducing the Pol- the conference. It identified the pri- itical Statement of the Weather Under- mary error which had resulted from our ground Organization as contained in the abandonment of anti-imperialism; our book Prairie Fire, May 9, 1974: failure to recognize the right of self- ...we hope people will take PRAIRIE determination for Black People. CASA, FIRE as seriously as we do, study the PSP and Native American speakers ex- content and write and publish their plained that unity must be based on re- views of the paper as well as their spect for each nation's right to self- analysis of their own practice. We determination. Most of the 2,200 will respond as best we can. people at the conference strongly sup- Our movement urgently needs a con- ported this line. crete analysis of the particular con- PFOC's wrong line was an attempt to . ditions of our time and place. We win popular support in an unprincipled need strategy. We need to battle for and opportunist way.This was reinforced a correct ideology and win people by our failure to see party-building over. In this way we create the con- as the primary task of US communists ditions for the development of a suc- at this time. This is bowing to spon- cessful revolutionary communist party taneity. This is to downplay the role in order to lead the struggle, give of Marxist-Leninist conscious leader- coherence and direction to the fight, ship. To negate principled political seize power and build the new society. struggle in turn always leads to the . .At this time, the unity and cons- emergence of white supremacist and na- olidation of anti-imperialist forces tional chauvinist tendencies. In the around a revolutionary program is an conditions of US imperialism, the cen- urgent and pressing strategic neces- tral task in creating a revolutionary sity. Prairie Fire is offered as a communist party is to unite on the ba- contribution to this unity of action sis of a strong political line on the and purpose. Now it is in your hands. national question and on the relationship between class and national strug- Many people did respond seriously, and gle. PFOC did not advance such an with enthusiasm. 35,000 copies of the book anti-imperialist and internationalist have been circulated, rrany groups have stu- political line in preparation for the died it. This without commercial 'distri- conference or at the conference it- bution facilities or much advertising. And self. .. many of us have applied ourselves to fur- thering those fundamental political aims Similar criticism had been made in- and principles with which we found our- ternally to PFOC by some of us, but this selves in agreement. had been rejected by the then national We have not had an easy time of it. leadership prior to the conference. Since We too are the product of our age, the conference, PFOC has engaged in serious conditioned by US imperial history and cul- struggle to correct our own wrong politics. ture; our convictions and committment, our PFOC has also evaluated and changed the enthusiasm for revolution and a better leadership responsible, and publicly stated world do not of themselves automatically the nature and causes and proposed remedies cancel out the arrogance and cults of sup- and changes. Now it is timely and possible eriority built in by the system. But' to give some attention and effort to com- where we have stumbled and fallen we can radely but equally rigorous criticism of still pick ourselves up again and push on, serious and far-reaching wrong political hoping to do better this time. line and impact of some other groups and There is no reason or right to think individuals. that it is easier to make revolution in the It is one of the many ironies of his- US than elsewhere. In some ways it is hard- tory that WUO has itself led in undermin- er. Those who blunder must accept the blame ing and rejecting the politics of its own and also the responsibility for rectifica- written statement. We shall not dwell up- tion. on this; Prairie Fire is still in print. 12

As to WUO as an organization, its forward debate over vital issues and be political initiative and its actions are accountable for changes in their own line. a significant part of the historical chal- WUO also states that it wants to draw les- lenge of the movements of the 60's and the sons useful for the entire left. 70's to the reformism, revisionism and These aims are not realized. Al- liberalism that formerly dominated in the though deep criticism may be going on in old and corrupt left scene in the US. The WUO, it does not emerge in this editorial re-claiming and deepening of a revolution- This is demonstrated by the definition of ary anti-imperialist consciousness and "opportunist errors." A definite politi- politics; promoting realism about the cal line of WUO that has been and remains world and the role of armed struggle and wrong in theory and practice is much more the state and anti-imperialist and soc- than merely "errors". The WUO editorial ialist and comnunist revolution; demon- spells out its own conception of the strating dedication, conviction and com- "errors". mittment are.all tremendous things. 1) abandoning revolutionary anti- These positives are also reflected in the imperialism. book. , 2) submerging the national question Revolutionary organizations that into the class question, especially work mainly legally and openly among the in relation to the Black liberation people and the working class can only wel- struggle. come and support comrades and organiza- 3) downplaying the struggle against tions that uphold revolutionary principle the special oppression of women/sex- in deeds as well as words and at the cost ism and male supremacy. of great risk and sacrifice. We have the 4)downplaying the essential role of duty to explain and support the necessity revolutionary theory and communist or- and righteousness of this among our class ganization. and people. However, when bad politics From all our own experience we conclude and wrong positions are promoted by such that this adds up to more than error and comrades, they are all the more dangerous downplaying. It has to be called betray- because they come from respected leaders. al of revolutionary internationalism, of It is our duty to criticise this. (At the anti-imperialism, of Leninism itself. same time, we also criticise those who To assess the wrong line of WUO objec- follow authority passively and blindly tively, it is necessary to examine the ed- and they must struggle to. find their own itorial line of Osawatomie from its first bearings.) issue and also an article titled "Politics WUO has opened these questions to in Conmand", issued separately in June of public discussion in Osawatomie Vol.2#2, 1975 by WUO. Such examination reveals a June-July, 1976 in an editorial titled systematic liquidation of the basic poli- "Anti-imperialism vs. Opportunism: Self- tics of the book Prairie Fire. Criticism." The editorial states: "We have made opportunist errors." It also (PF, May 1974, p. 11):Now the movement states that WUO has been engaged in a deep is disorganized, divided and defensive criticism/self-criticism and wants to ad- ...There are serious problems and bar- dress and correct its own errors and push riers to revolutionary growth—some 13 are anti-revolutionary currents and of the left. Also for substituting the errors within the movement. question of relating to Black and Third (Os.#l, Spring, 1975, slightly over World organizations and contacts for the 6 months after circulation of PF): entire question of fighting white and Now comes a time of decision for the male supremacy and for support of Black left. Can we overcome the small points and Third World liberation struggles that divide us? among the white working class and people. (Politics in Command, p. 1, June 1975): Also for opportunist and populist concepts There are many on the left who self- of base building and unity of the left, righteously condemn all violence of leading to liberal notions of mass sup- revolutionaries. They are keeping port and solidarity work and united fronts their own hands clean by avoiding the without the necessity of cornnunists to or- full consequences of revolutionary ganize and fight for anti-imperialist and ideas. For these people the revolu- revolutionary content. tion will happen only some day and Os. #2 defended and carried much fur- hopefully be made by somebody else. ther the wrong line of #1. On page 4 it (Os.#lp.4): The immediate task for the sets up it critics: "But we are opposed to left is this: organize the masses — the mechanistic idea that developed cadre We need to out-organize the sophisti- organizations are a necessary prerequisite cated and well-financed forces of to mass work." (Os. emphasis) Then on p.5 George Meany, Louise Day Hicks...it at the end it finished us all off with this: is the people who will create the "Besides organizing, revolutionaries should ultimate solutions. Waiting to be- be talking to working people everywhere, gin until theory is fully worked out checking out every picket line you pass, is to create the certainty of failure taking notes. This is not so complicated." (p. 5) It (theory) will grow from In short, us stupes shouldn't bother practice.... ideology is for everyone. leaders with stupid theory, etc., but should Compare the above with "at this time, the get busy with the real work. unity and consolidation of anti-imperialist Alongside Os. #2, the question of armed forces around a revolutionary program is Struggle cones in for attention. This is an urgent and pressing strategic necessity. the subject of the article. Politics in ...We need a communist party," from the Command (hereafter PiC), dated June, 1975. introductory letter to PF previously men- PF had said this: "To wait, to not prepare tioned. people for the fight, is to seriously mis- Osawatcmie #2 gives something of a lead about what kind of fierce struggle political context by talking about the lies ahead." (p. 2) Considering that once state of class struggle on a world scale. OS makes its appearance, PF hardly ever gets It quite properly gives recognition to the mentioned by WUO and its politics practical- great importance of the anti-imperialist ly never, the question is, does this turn revolutionary victory of the Vietnamese. toward opportunist politics reflect itself However, like PF, the first sentence of in questions concerning armed struggle? which is "The unique and fundamental con- PF is quoted on the first page of PiC: dition of this time is the.decline of US "...Revolution is the most powerful resource imperialism", the result is a too narrow of the people." On page 5 of the typed ver- definition. "This is the stage of anti- sion this has already become "Organization imperialist struggle." is the way it is is the strongest resource of the people." put in OS. This leaves out of account This puts the whole thing in focus, for it the fundamental role of victorious soc- perfectly matches the "reductionism" which ialist revolution from October, 1917 to is the mechanism by which Os #1 and 2 liqui- the present. Leaving this out omits the date revolutionary politics and substitute organic basis of unity of national libera- capitualation to opportunism, white supre- tion and proletarian revolution. Not macy and male "supremacy. 'taking seriously the-Marxist-Leninist In the cover letter Jbr PiC the analysis of all the principal contradic- two authors write: "..In our statement tions of revolutionary struggle on a we argue that at this time armed strug- world scale opens the door to all kinds gle must be seen as a central part of of wrong conclusions. building a broad revolutionary movement From the same editorial, p.4:1 based in the masses of people and we op- Some comrades criticised us for pose three strategies which in our view this approach: they argued that are of more limited scope..." we were ignoring the primary im- So we may ask, did armed struggle portance of developing cadre or- grow from a "small point" in the spring ganization at this stage. We dis- to something worth a whole paper in June? agree Did WUO change its strategy so quick? No, Yes, some of us did criticize Os. to both questions. This paper is not a- #1 (and later #2 even more so), but not bout returning to the strategy of Prairie just for ignoring "cadre organization" Fire, which really was a turn toward poli- as WUO puts it and in doing so WUO is tics in command. It is an effort to con- setting up a straw target. We criticiz- vert the military line of PF in the same ed #1 for downgrading revolutionary pol- manner as Os. #1 and 2 deal with politics. itics, communist party and for a totally The editorial in Os #2 Vol 2 ignores this wrong negative estimate of the strength whole subject in its self-criticism. All the more reason to give it close attention. 14

PiC seeks to substitute the advocacy sis here; it is the old pragmatic praxis- of revolutionary armed struggle as a nec- axis, do it philosophy. Quoting Ho Chi essary path to victory with an opportunist Minn about armed propaganda can by no means and spontaneous strategy of calling forth rescue this non-analysis. mass response primarily by an "exemplary" P. 11: (toward the close qf a discussion armed propaganda. Political strategy is of the "foco theory"): consigned instead to the guerrillas. It The task of the armed revolutionary is not even seen as the task of the revolu- organization at this point is to tionary anti-imperialists among the guer- make a plan to help ensure the vic- rillas but rather "all the diverse forces tory of the people in a long and cost- now engaging in some form of armed strug- ly war. gle in our country" who are to learn the This was given as a refutation of the foco laws of revolutionary warfare and apply theory but it still contains the essence of them to the concrete conditions of the US the gun in command considering the real and today. A truly populist receipt. There not fantastic state of affairs "at this is no mention whatever of the world-wide point". What "armed revolutionary organiza- and internal changes of the US situation tion" is now capable of making or carrying that would call for and make possible this forward such a plan? Or is it merely specu- or that stage and form of the struggle and lative? It seems more likely that this is the various priorities. Political analy- a self-image of the authors; they are the sis, line, strategic role of a communist army and the revolutionary party, if only party are all reduced to vague mentions in anticipation, and their stamp of appro- as things one is bound to mention but not val transforms nonsense into "Politics in take seriously. Such things were to some Command." degree understandable in the late 60's There is more. P. 11 (on the theory before anyone in the Students for a Demo- that the guerrilla role is to bring about cratic Society took Marxism-Leninism very chaos inside...the oppressor nation.) seriously and before the book Prairie Fire People do not need us to be fearful, was dreamed of. or to create chaos. Chaos prevails. On page 5 of PiC we find this: '.'..Ac- Our task is to show the way out of tion ...should pull forward the people's the madness. All revolutionary com- understanding" and then a real hymn munists love peace— to organization, " Organization capable Right after calling for distinguishing the of waging full internal political struggle violence of the revolution and that of cap- around direction and capable of uniting italist society, they are all mushed into in action, directs people's energies like one result dialled chaos. But of course a spear"— and "Military actions and of- there is counter-revolutionary chaos in- fensive are at their heart political." flicted by the system on the people and "...consciousness is decisive. At this the chaos that the people and their arm- point timing is critical because timing ed forced must of necessity inflict upon makes action comprehensible. Guerrillas the armed and violent structures and forces must integrate armed struggle with mass of their enemies. political struggle thru precision and More: (still P. 11): timing.,etc....the strategic necessity of ...the fault of the strategy of an this period is to mobilize the oppressed eye for an eye in our country at this and exploited people against US imperial- time: we can never match the violence ism. of the enemy one for one—or avenge This doesn't dealrwith the political each death, (here you take your pick task of how to unite the working class and between "at this time" and "never"— people of the oppressor nation in support but never will prevail) We retaliate of the national liberation struggles of to educate— and to exact a price the oppressed nations and people. It sub- for imperial crimes — This is also the,- stitutes "mobilizing". The entire section only way to prevent the enemy from is saturated with this arrogant mani- carrying out false murderous acts in pulative approach to people. But the the name of guerrillas." real work of uniting can only be done There is another page of text, but the by hard work and struggle based upon motion of PiC ends with this. Starting with theoretical clarity and political analy- a committment to build armed struggle as a sis and line that resolves concrete con- necessary means to overthrow capitalism/im- tradictions of real existing class and perialism after enough repeats of "politics national relationships. These tasks are in command" and "at this time", we are sup- not even posed; they are all dropped in posed to arrive at armed actions to coerce order to chase after populist unity a- the enemy into better behavior. This is round petty reforms. the conclusion of the piece. It will be Pg.7: Because imperialism is in decline, said that this is pulling things out of con- whole sectors of the poor and working text and the sounder parts of the text have population can be won to a radical been omitted. However, what still must be perspective. answered is that this reading is consistent The mishmash of populism substitutes again with the politics of the Osawatomie editor- for anti-imperialist and revolutionary ials and the self-criticism of WUO so far mass consciousness. There is no context as it goes. Where is the evidence that any or even a grain of serious political analy- other line consistent with revolutionary L 15

anti-imperialism is being followed? It This conception is very good. But, isn't easy to work out the best strategy there is still something missing; without for the struggles of the present times. But which we shall all fail, and not advance if a correct strategy is to be found, the a single inch toward revolution. This wrong ideas of Politics in Ccnmand mast be unique thing is the application of that rejected and given up. Marxist-Leninist Analysis and strategic Retreating from instead of growing line not just to imperialism and the imp- from the politics of Prairie Fire is also eralists in general, but also to the his- an explanation of the authoritative style tory and present situation of the working of giving directives and having all the an- class and revolutionary movement of the swers. Without a solid revolutionary pers- oppressor imperial nation itself. Doing pective, it is easy, given a little success, this in a thoroughly revolutionary way is for leaders to think that all they need are something that is new in the revolutionary networks and organizational cogs and levers movement of the US. The Communist Party, and they will be able to make miracles. It USA, with the help of the Communist Inter- seems evident that WUO came to totally un- national had made some important beginnings derestimate the importance and difficulty on this task, but in the end it failed and of creating a communist party in the above abandoned anti-imperialism for opportunist ground world; that it never understood the and revisionist politics. importance of revolutionaries at all levels The self-critics of this article have of political organization also learning to either forgotten or still have not learned find their own bearings and to be able to the real weight and decisiveness of the stand on their own feet. , task PF seriously attempted—the integra- All this sheds light on the content tion of Lenin's basic class analysis of and quality of the self-criticism found in imperialism with the history and the pros- the article, "Anti-Iniperialism vs. Cpportun- pects of national and class struggles in ism", Osawatomie, June-July, 1976. Here the US. This is true even though they sum- PF is credited with the strength of its marize it and conclude that "Anti-imper- strategic line of anti-imperialism and ialism is the necessary basis for class with making a sound definition of imperial- struggle in the US." Which is very good ism. With modesty now, it is said that but better if you add the work revolution- this is not new, Lenin made the defini- ary, for class struggle goes on at many tion in 1916 and 1920. The writers also levels and has two sides, not one only. understand that many who accept Lenin as The failure in depth of understanding shows an authority ignore the strategic implica- in the very next section titled: "The Work- tions of his analysis. Ramon Arbona, a ing Class, A Self-Criticism." leader of the Puerto Rican Socialist Party It is very strange that in a criticism is quoted: of the abandonment of revolutionary anti- We know this already, many will say. imperialism, the first criticism to be True, but it is one thing to say it strongly affirmed should be one that is and quite another to take it as a profoundly wrong and was made months ago serious central strategic conception in the full swing of the wrong line. To to define struggles in the very heart reassert this now is not to criticise the of the imperialist nation. wrong opportunist line, rather it is to 16

confirm it. Hence, there are really two swamp of chauvinism, racism, opportunism, lines in the editorial, both mixed toge- white supremacy, spontaniety, betrayal of ther and side by side. The wrong line is the oppressed nations, the revolution, the in tactical retreat but not vanquished, working class and people. Many "leftists" not overthrown. in the US get so brainwashed they don't So the writers, on behalf of WUO, recognize class analysis unless it is cer- accept whole-hog the criticism that PF tified by a direct quote from classics and 'Dismisses the central role of the prole- think that all problems are solved by find- tariet and fails to develop a full anti- ing such a quote. imperialist strategy." The real weakness of PF, the book and The WUO ought to have been suspicious its sponsors is not in one bad compromise of this right off because this is the paragraph that J. Hill and every other op- charge that has always been the heavy art- portunist pounced on to prove their own illery of all the opportunist, white and self-asserted devotion to the centrality male supremacists that still infect the of the working class and its historic rev- left, against anything that smacks of in- olutionary mission. The real weakness of ternationalism or genuine Leninism. Any- PF and its sponsors is that they could not one (Judah Hill in this case) whose work adequately analyze and comprehend all the "lacks an anti-imperialist framework",p.17) complications of world and US contradic- cannot be a Marxist, a Leninist, or a rev- tions at their first serious attempt. Being olutionary—not in the US. In passing, very new and aspiring but shaky Marxist- when did anti-imperialism cease to be a Leninists, it is not amazing that there are basic and turn into a "framework"? So here errors, gaps and definitions that are not . is no authority on Leninist analysis. precise. But there are facts and there is The introductory letter to PF poses a problem. Actually, PF, far from dis- the task of building a revolutionary com- missing the role of the proletariat and munist party in the US. There is no anal- its historic mission, in its main thrust, ysis in the book as to why this is nec- spends a major part of the book in histor- cessary or how to go about it. They were ical and current analysis aimed at discov- not able to do that. But PF did break- ering and disclosing why and how this cen- through to analyze the historic blockage tral revolutionary role of the working of working class revolution in the US due class has been restricted, diverted to the effects of white and male supre- and frustrated by the impact of imperial macy and opportunism, the most necessary expansion and its consequences. PF at- preparation for such a party. ' tempts to discover the factors that can PF presents internationalist theory break the chains of US arrogance and white and politics of revolutionary class strug- and male supremacy and competition and gle in the stage of modern imperialism and privilege. of national and socialist revolutions. For the US this is the essence of Which must prevail if there is to be a real class analysis and revolutionary class change. The book identifies the sectors of struggle and Leninist internationalism. the working class it sees as most open to Without this content there is only the revolutionary consciousness and organiza- 17

tion. It understands and supports the The entire structure of relative pri- leading role cf.,Black revolution and self- vilege, economic and social, of the male determination and the liberation struggles sex is used by the ruling class to hang on of all nations .and peoples. It exposes to power and the structure is bolstered and revisionist doctrines of pacifism, gradu- perpetrated by an unrelenting resort to all alism, reformism. It affirms the necessity varieties of sexism. Not to take all this of armed struggle. into account is to mystify everything. PF didn't understand and couldn't dem- The article "The Women's Question is a onstrate how a class controlled by a cor- Class Question" (Os. #4) is a part of the rupt economist labor movement could break wrong line of WUO and reflects not only through to produce a revolutionary van- left economist and sectarian attitudes, but guard force and a communist leadership. it denies the real social as well as class Or, on the other hand, how there could be content of women's oppression and libera- a revolutionary working class cortmunist tion issues. This weakens the struggle party if there are almost no advanced rev- against male supremacy. Opposing this olutionary communist workers. The New Left wrong line is also a part of combating WUO's started out seeing all this as failure not generally bourgeois concepts of leadership only of the Old Left, but of Marxism-Lenin- methods and style. Women's leadership is ism, theory, and the working class itself. not just a question of reflecting politics, Moving away from this origin, people didn't it is also a question of power—who leads have a lot of faith in a historic mission whom,when and why and how. that they did not themselves know how to A final point: In the US spontaneiety bring to life. needs spelling out. Competitiveness, in- The real tragic thing was when WUO ac- dividualism, selfishness, male and white cepted economist criticism without analy- supremacy, arrogance; all this is spontane- sis. It thereby substituted blind faith iety, US imperial model. in the WC for its own developing anti-imperialist and Leninist class analyses. That is the formal and ideological process by which its internationalism gets turned around into its opposite. More basically— the cause is the total social and cultural pressures working—not just middle class and intellectual backgrounds. There are the whole imperial sets of values and conditioning and fears and insecurity of seeming to stand alone against the famil- iar world and the powerful state—all this multiplies the power of rationalizing chauvinism and opportunism tremendously. When serious gains are made in prole- tarianizing our revolutionary forces both in class stand and in social composition— we shall still find various forms of chauvinism and opportunism to combat—questions of immediate and long range objectives, of small group vs. class, national vs. international, age, sex privilege vs. necessity and survival, etc. But this is another article. The same thing applies to the struggle for women's liberation and against male supremacy. The material basis of the special oppression of women lies in the fact that the capitalists derive super-profit from the differential lower wages paid to women and from the role of women as a special reserve army of labor, temporary workers. To protect those profits and defend its power over society, the ruling class continues and upholds all the oppressive and reactionary institutions of male supremacy. This includes the basic family unit where "wanen's work" in the hone is given inferior economic and social status and she is generally expected to play a subordinate role to husband, father, brother or son. This condition prevails in one way or another in all social and cultural formations up to the most powerful instruments of class rule—the laws, courts, prisons, police, etc. of the state. r 18 w.u.o. public self-criticism

Comrades, This is an essential addition and' The opposition of these opportunists correction to the October 1st self- to the application of the politics of our criticism of the Weather Underground self-criticism has caused a split. When we Organization. signed the Self-Criticism it was wrong to In our self-criticism we exposed the sign it as the WUO, thus implying that white and male supremacist political line there is still one unified organization. We and activity of the WUO during the past should have signed ourselves the Revolution- two years to push forward the struggle for ary Committee of the WUO, defined on the revolutionary anti-imperialism. Further side of the split that takes its stand in we say, "Based on this unity the leader- the best revolutionary anti-imperialist ship structure and goals of the WUO has tradition, of the WUO. been changed." To those who have supported us and This was a misleading and incomplete worked in solidarity with us, we want to analysis of the situation. In fact, a say that the only way to judge which side part of the former membership of the WUO, of this split particular cadre are on must concentrated in, though not restricted to, be based on political line and practice day New York City has failed to disband the by day, and not on past associations. The manipulative apparatus founded on opportun- name of the WUO must not be a cover for ist politics. people to get by shoddy work and unprincipled These opportunist elements stated struggle. Remember that Lenin said "When agreement with our revolutionary criticism dealing with opportunists, listen to their of the WUO up to the point where real change words, but watch their hands." was called for. At this point they parted Signed, company with revolutionary anti-imperialism. Revolutionary Committee of the WUO The opportunists were driven to this VenceremosI end by a desire to maintain individual October 12, 1976 power.

In June 1976 the WUO published the The political struggle to define the article "Revolutionary Anti-Imperialism content, material and social roots, and vs. Opportunism: A Self-Criticism," but the consequences of our errors has this was not real self-criticism. This developed unity within the organization article reflected directly, both in its that revolutionary anti-imperialism, title and content, a two-line struggle as formulated in Prairie Fire, is the within the WUO, and showed that correct line and strategy for revolution opportunism still dominated. This in the U.S. oppressor nation; and, that reality made true self-criticism of the for two years the political line of the WUO's errors impossible. WUO has been opposed to these politics; The membership of the WUO rejected that it has been an opportunist line, this article as a basis of political characterized by a white and male unity; at the same time severe and chauvinist political content. correct criticisms were made of it by Based on this unity, the leadership, progressive and revolutionary people structure and goals of the WUO has been throughout the U.S. Despite all this changed. the central committee of the WUO refused Throughout the course of the internal to accept further criticism and adopted political struggle, our main goal has been a stance of "business as usual." to release a self-criticism that is as full This position made it clear that the and correct as possible; one that streng- central committee was no longer able to thens the struggle to undo the damage lead politically. In the period of no caused by our wrong line in the past two leadership a number of forces and years. coalitions emerged within the WUO that This self-criticism is to -the antional opposed the central committee, but which liberation movements and communist organ- based themselves on the same erroneous izations in the oppressed nations; to the political concepts of the central women's movement; and to the anti-imperial- committee. ist movement in the U.S. oppressor nation. In the political struggle to criti- Most especially it is for those revolu- cize these wrong notions another force tionaries who adopted the wrong line of developed and organized itself within the the WUO and carried it into practice. We WUO. This force bases itself on the poli- hope this statement provides a political tical line of revolutionary anti-imper- basis to understand and overturn errors ialism of the book Prairie Fire, and the in your political work, to make appro- further developments of these politics priate self-criticism, and to deepen made by the Prairie Fire Organizing criticism of our line and its consequences. Committee in its own struggle against This political struggle against opportunism. opportunism, in the WUO and the entire left 19

movement in the U.S. oppressor nation, is taking place in the midst of a world-wide counter-offensive by U.S. imperialism against revolutionary movements. U.S. imperialism's counter-offensive, a response to defeat in Angola, has inten- sified struggle on all fronts, especially in the Middle East, Argentina, Chile, Africa. It is the context necessary to understand Kissinger's neo-colonial moves in Southern Africa. The struggle against opportunism in the oppressor nation revolutionary movement is part and parcel of developing our own revolutionary offensive against U.S. imperialism. Events in the world and this country only make this struggle more immediate and important. We hope that this statement, and this organization, will aid, and be a part of Marxism that ignored the changes brought the growth of our movement into one that about by the development of imperialism. strikes real blows and scores revolutionary Our errors are the classic errors of victories against U.S. imperialism. revolutionary organizationsIn oppressor nations, particularly in the U.S. They Venceremos, are rooted in a fo.ur-hundred year history Weather Underground Organization and tradition of empire-building and imperialist expansion; and grow directly October 1, 1976 out of the fact that the rulers have been able to involve the whole population of the oppressor nation, including the For two years, the WUO has pursued working class, in its crimes. a wrong direction - our strategy and Oppression of nations is firmly organizing has been based on a white and rooted in the development of U.S.imper- male chauvinist political line. We have ialism, in the rip-off of land from completely abandoned the anti-imperialist Native Americans and genocide against politics of Prairie Fire, the correct them; in the enslavement of Black Africans; politics that guided the organization from in the seizure of half of Mexico; etc., 1969 to 1974. The errors of the WUO were etc. Implicit in the Louisiana Purchase not limited to a few areas of work, rather and so on is the essence of imperial they ahve dominated every aspect of our ideology: that the world belongs to white politics and have created a complete rever- people, to be divided up as they see fit. sal of direction. From the beginning, the U.S. colonist The WUO's history of anti-imperialist bourgeoisie organized support for manifest struggle and the writing of Prairie Fire destiny, for slavery, for the Indian wars are real strengths that have led many by passing on a share of the plunder to people to respect it as a leading force white people, and by granting to them in the anti-imperialist movement. But, privileges and status denied to the this history does not create any immunity oppressed people. These were the rights from the very same forces - white and male of the overseer: protection for the white supremacy - that have turned previous trades unionists against competition from revolutionary organizations into opportun- free Black labor; the right to own land ist and revisionist organizations. while it was denied to free Blacks; access The force of white and male chau- to training and education while it was a vinism, operating in society and in all crime for Black people to learn to read; of us, was not effectively opposed be- the possibility of freedom after years, cause of anachistic, anti-political, and while Black slaves were owned for life. anti-ideological tendencies that existed The modern-day expressions are not really throughout the organization. These different; they exist as privileged access tendencies are rooted in our history, in to higher paying jobs, better working con- the history of the New Left; in the ditions, better housing, schools, etc. reaction against the revisionism and in- But privilege is more than just the bribe; , action of the CP. Anarchism has also it is the bribe plus a culture of self- manifested itself within the organi- justification, .social approval and status. zation through spontaneous concepts of White supremacy is the rock upon which strategy for revolution; and in concepts U.S. capitalism and imperialism have of organization and leadership that were been erected. not collective and not founded on The combination of modern capitalism political struggle. based in industry in the North and the White and male chauvinism merged capitalized slave colony in the South with New Left spontaneity led to an expanded West, and finally crossed the economist, populist program of struggle. oceans, seizing territory for the This strategy was justified with a phony investment of surplus capital, insuring 20

struggle to respond to the crimes of imperialism. From 1970-74 we developed this basic strategy, and our actions guided by a principled political line, 5were an important contribution to the whole anti-imperialist movement in the oppressor nation. Yet, throughout this period there was a continual two-line struggle between opportunism and anti-imperialism. The most significant right opportunist politics in this period were that of New Morning. It put forward the existence of a youth nation, that would become revolutionary and become the basis of revolutionary struggle in the U.S. This document completely liquidated the distinction between oppressor and oppressed nations, and extolled "dope" at supplies of raw materials, and markets a time when a main strategy of imperialism for its junk. Imperialism arrives at an against the Black nation was the importa- historical stage on the North American tion of heroin into Black communities. The continent. Bolstered by super-profit New Morning line completely opposed the derived from the exploitation of the political basis for the organization's whole world, U.S. imperialism vastly existence and its actions. All of this was expanded the extent and breadth of pointed out by the New York 21 in a bribery of the oppressor nation people. criticism, but the organization never All the social institutions are adapted responded. The failure of the WUO to to the goal of material gain and power engage in political struggle with Third of the imperialist bourgeoisie. World revolutionaries is a measure of the White and male supremacy are built national chauvinism and arrogance that has into every social structure and institu- existed within the organization. tion: churches, schools, the press, lit- Prairie Fire was written in opposition erature andtart. All social concepts and to the line of New Morning and to overcome behavior are developed in the adequate the de-mobilization caused by its oppor- fashion to insure imperialist rule, and tunist line. Prairie Fire once again laid jsutify and mobilize for imperialism. a correct political basis for the organ- Most especially white and male suprem- ization to exist and act. It clearly acy are built into the state, written analyzes the leading role of the national into law and enforced through the police, liberation movements in the world prole- courts prisons, probation and parole tarian revolution and in this country. departments. It begins an historical analysis of the White and male supremacy are rooted forces which have prevented revolution in the material base of imperialism, per- in the oppressor nation, and the means meate all social institutions, and dominate and necessity to oppose the forces of the ideology of the oppressor nation. national and male chauvinism in the devel- White and male chauvinism are reproduced opment of revolution in the oppressor continually, day-by-day, minute-by-minute; nation. Prairie Fire began to correct they are reflections of the primary and the WUO's incorrect line on women, for the essential social relations of production first time. On the whole, it was an under imperialism. important step toward the formulation of A revolutionary line and strategy for an anti-imperialist line and strategy for the oppressor nation can only be formed the oppressor nation, and a useful contri- in the context of a constant struggle bution to the struggle against oppor- against the forces of white and male chau- tunism within the U.S. Left. vinism and arrogance. The WUO grew out of At the same time, opportunism, white this struggle, carried on within the New and male chauvinism, is clearly expressed Left against organizations (CP,PL,RU) in Prairie Fire. The Go to the People which claimed to be revolutionary, but section shows this tendency most clearly. opposed the struggle of Black people for It puts forward a totally spontaneous and liberation, opposed the struggle of Vietnam economist concept of organizing, completely against U.S. imperialism, and opposed the abandoning the political principles that women's movement. The WUO developed in predominate in the book. 1969 the basic strategic principle of The Go to the People section clearly building an organization and movement to summarizes the anarchist, spontaneous and lend concrete assistance to the national opportunist tendency that has existed in liberation movements in their struggle the organization since the beginning. It against U.S. imperialism. was between these two tendencies that Following the chaining and gagging struggle broke out and which led to the of Bobby Seale at the Chicago Seven trial, defeat of anti-imperialism within the WUO. and the assassination of Fred Hampton, the By the time Prairie Fire was printed in WUO decided to create an underground cap- July of 1974^this struggle had been able of developing and sustaining armed completed within the leadership, and an 21

opportunist, economist direction firmly In the action in support of the Ponce set. strike in Puerto Rico, we don't raise the For two years, the WUO has used demand "Independence for Puerto Rico". We Prairie Fire and the real strengths of try to organize support on the basis of its history to cover the abandonment of the anti-worker, strike-breaking tactics the movements of national liberation being used there; not because it is our (especially the Black liberation move- duty to fight for the liberation of nations ment) and the women's movement. Because oppressed by U.S. imperialism. In the the WUO has been respected and trusted, the follow-up article we reduced ourselves to effect of its line and organizing has been asking readers to send money to the Ponce to mislead, disorganize and destroy anti- strike fund. imperialist organization nationally. Support for the right of self-deter- The WUO abandoned the strategy of mination is a fundamental principle for building an organization and movement in revolutionaries of oppressor nations; in the oppressor nation to give concrete abandoning the national liberation move- support to the national liberation ments we adopted a stance of socialism in movements and replaced it with the popu- words, but imperialism and chauvinism list strategy of "uniting the multi- in deeds. national working class" (see Our Class Within the U.S. oppressor nation (and Stand). This strategy opposed the throughout the imperialist system) male distinction between oppressor and oppressed supremacy operates as a system to main- nations, and subsumed the Black liberation tain the private servitude and super- movement into the struggle of the whole exploitation of women aid. to maintain class. For example, in the article "Break their social domination. The bourgeois the Chains" prisons are described as tools nuclear family is the cornerstone of this of capitalist oppression, not forces of system, a form which maintains the sub- national and colonial oppression. servience of women to men, individualizes In Our Class Stand the entire system child-rearing and domestic work, and of white supremacy through which imperi- maintains women as a ready reserve army alism oppresses nations is reduced to a of labor to be called on and super- problem of bad ideas among white workers. exploited according to the unequal devel- The material basis and structure of opment of different sectors of the imper- bribery, privilege, political and social ialist economy, and the incidence of war status granted to the whole population which drains the labor pool of male of the oppressor nation is liquidated , workers. and along with it the material basis for This system grants to all men the liquidation of the national question (including workers) real privileges (very within the oppressor nation left. This similar to those all white people hold in led directly to the abandonment of the relation to oppressed peoples): the ability struggle against opportunism: in fact, to dominate women and a sense of superi- the leadership became convinced that the ority; more educational opportunities; main danger within the left was "left better jobs and wages; access to positions sectarianism." of power within the system; and protection The WUO liquidated all struggle in from prosecution for rape and wife beating. support of national liberation. The Male supremacy manifests itself in every WUO has not done an action in support of social institution and in a dominant Black people since June of 1974.. In Boston ideology of male chauvinism (sexism). we said that the issue was racism, not Male chauvinism is socialized into all national liberation for the Black nation. men and is continually reinforced by We did nothing to support the Black Liber- society. The system of male supremacy is ation Army in this period when they were the material and social basis of opposition struggling within the prisons and courts. by "revolutionaries" to the revolutionary The WUO has not done a single thing struggle of women for liberation. Male to support the struggle of undocumented supremacy is a foundation of the whole workers. In the article "Imperialism = system of imperialism, key to imperialist Hunger" we do not say among the suggestions exploitation and domination. of things to do: support the demands of undocumented workers. Mexicanos are forced by imperialism's domination of the Mexican economy to emigrate to the U.S. in search of employment and decent wages but then are murdered at the border and WTieWL HISTORIC Silt brutally hunted down in the fashion of the 3 PET-AUTHENTIC ARTS •• CRAFT "search and destroy" missions used in ;. Vietnam. The only project group for this work within the WUO was disbanded. « 5! MILES ON THE BIB FOOT 'TRAIL In the period since Wounded Knee, the Native American movement has suffered I_J::t..lt extreme repression by the imperialist state and has still dealt it some revolutionary blows. The WUO has done nothing to i support this movement beyond sporadic propaganda. oppose solidarity among them, the women in the organization at all levels have been made to depend on the opinions of men. This phenomenon was a major lever for pushing the wrong line within the WUO. The liquidation of the material and social basis of women's oppression in the WUO's political line led t having no comprehension of the revolutionary content of the independent women's movement, and a consistent line that women could only be revolutionaries if they worked in the whole movement. At one point this meant the anti-imperialist movement, for the last two years it was the "class struggle." In every case, the consistent feature was this: women can be revolutionary only if they work with men. In every respect the WUO's line has reinforced the domination of women by men. The abandonment of these two key revolutionary principles meant the abandonment of the concept of revolutionary class struggle. In its place the WUO developed an economist, spontaneous view of class struggle. Under the cover of Racism and sexism operate in close supporting the historic mission of the connection within U.S. imperialism. White working class to make revolution, the men are given license to rape and assault organization put forward a view that wor- women of oppressed nations; Black men are kers could only be fooled into making lynched and castrated. But when imperi- revolution, lured and manipulated into alism uses the white woman to fortify struggle by the bait of higher wages. the oppression of nations by participation This is precisely the view of the imper- in white perogatives, it does so in such ialist bourgeoisie, which bribes and a way that her own degradation and manipulates workers in the oppressor oppression are driven home all the more. nation in order to gain their support. The WUO has never previously developed In the name of responding to a correct analysis of the material basis "weaknesses" on the working class, we of male supremacy. Without this under- abandoned the strongest part of our standing it has been impossible for the WUO analysis of the working class, simply to develop a correct line on the struggle that it, like every class in the oppressor of women for liberation. One form of the nation, has to be analyzed on the basis wrong line has been to see sexism as a of how imperialist expansion and empire problem of bad ideas among men, again has affected it. This involves more stripping ideology from its material and than mechanical recitation of Marx's social basis. The most reactionary form Capital. It means discovering the of the line was that expressed in "The forces that have prevented revolution in Women's Question is a Class Question" and the oppressor nation, and finding those in "Women Workers": the line that reduces sectors of the working class where the special oppression of women to opposition to national and male chau- their superexploitation as members of the vinism and arrogance have and are waged work force. This eliminates the developing. Class analysis in the basis of this superexploitation - women's oppressor nation must take as its basis servitude in the family; and eliminates the growth of capitalism into a world its concrete manifestations in the system of exploitation and oppression - institutions of society and conciousness imperialism. On this basis we can deter- and attitudes of men. mine the advanced sectors of the working The consequences of this wrong line class in the oppressor nation, within has been to have an attitude that bourgeois which an anti-imperialist communist feminism and seperatism are the greatest party can develop, and a revolutionary dangers in relation to the women's move- mass movement can be build. ment. Stated directly, this means that White and male chauvinist politics the greatest danger to women is other led to the liquidation of military and women. clandestine struggle, which has been a, The WUO's male chauvinist line has major strength and contribution of the consistently opposed the independent WUO to the whole anti-imperialist move- women's movement, and internally the ment. The revolutionary basis for leadership has opposed the development of engaging in armed struggle in the oppressor women's groups with power to develop nation is the recognition of the leader- strategy, and criticize men within the ship of the national liberation move- organization. Because the policy of the ments in attacking and defeating imperi- leadership has been to divide women and alism. A proletarian internationalist 23 view of the socialist revolution involves the wrong line and strategy of the WUO developing all forms of struggle necessary was to cover the left flank of Meany and to support the most advanced, not waiting Woodcock et al. for the most backward. The existence of The WUO's white and male chauvinist bourgeois democracy in the oppressor path would lead the great revolutionary nation can not be an excuse for failing advances made in the oppressor nation to respond to the fascism and genocide during the '60's, the movement and its used against the oppressed nations. leaders into reformism and class colla- Abandoning revolutionary anti- boration. imperialism was the political basis for a denigration of the anti-imperialist left, and cadres; and reduction, in our view, of the anti-imperialist left to The struggle within the WUO to over- dupers, suitable and necessary only to turn its opportunist line has produced carry our line to the people. Our many changes. The hegemonic relation to spontaneous attituded twoards mass the Left; the chauvinist response to work, and our opposition to ideological criticism from national liberation move- struggle within the left was arrogant and ments, communist organizations, and manipulative. It was the reflection revolutionaries in the oppressed nations; of a hegemonic view of party-building; an and rejection of the importance of the attitude that we alone build the Party, women's movement isolated us from that we were the only people capable of political struggle and suppressed developing theory and strategy for criticism of the wrong line. Over- revolution. We constinually rejected turning all these things has been essert-

A PROLETARIAN INTERNATIONALIST VIEW OF THE SOCIALIST REVOLUTION INVOLVES DEVELOPING ALL FORMS OF STRUGGLE NECESSARY TO SUPPORT THE MOST ADVANCED, NOT WAITING FOR THE MOST BACKWARD.

principled criticisms of our wrong line, tial to the development and resolution and engaged in personal attacks, character of political struggle in the WUO. The assassination, etc. against those who criticisms made of us by all these forces continued to make revolutionary criticisms have played an important role in this of our line and strategy. process. The political struggle against The very same course was foolowed opportunism has been of special importance by the organization in its practical work to us. in the left. We attempted to dominate The existence of forces within the organizations, rather than leading thru PFOC that have stood by the politics of education and persuasion, and open Prairie Fire, and continued to develop political struggle based on unity-struggle- them has been decisive to the struggle unity. Our activity in the left has been for a revolutionary line within the WUO. disastrous and destructive, it has caused We have grown and learned much from a tremendous set-back to the development study of the documents produced by of revolution in the oppressor nation by revolutionaries in the PFOC. We feel destroying revolutionary anti-imperialist that the revolutionary anti-imperialist organizations, and cadres; isolating those line expressed in the March report of the we couldn't destroy; and by legitimizing PFOC National Committee, and subsequent and strengthening white and male chauvinist documents, especially the Draft Program, politics in the movement. We abandoned is a correct and leading line for our revolutionary duty to support the revolutionaries in the oppressor nation. national liberation movements and the fight We wish to express profound gratitude to for the liberation of women and led others the comrades who have struggled for these to adopt the same stance. politics, and who have consistently criticized the wrong line of the WUO in In "Osawatomie" we attacked OL, RU, a correct and principled manner. the CPUSA; but internally the leadership This whole process has driven home adopted the stance of conciliation, the lesson of the wrongness of the elitist and desiring unity with the opportunists bureaucratic concepts of leadership and and revisionists. This attitude shows organization previously held by the WUO. that the organization was not pursuing We intend to develop our organization the goal of revolution, but rather the and its practice as a part of the whole goal of replacing these sects as the anti-imperialist/communist movement; a main "left" opposition in the bourgeois part subordinate to the interests of the labor movement. The concrete result of whole movement. r 24

Because of this attitude we feel that When revolution succeeds it will be the most important task of anti-imperialist because all these forms of struggle, communists in the oppressor nation is the including armed struggle, have been development of unity around a correct developed by the participation of millions political line and strategy; and the of people. Armed struggle is not the formation of organizations that embody main form of struggle in this period, yet these politics and carry them into struggle to successfully lead our own people in with U.S. imperialism, and opportunists. socialist revolution we must struggle to In the long run our goal is the formation understand and develop armed struggle of a Leninist combat Party. alongside all our other movements. We What underlies this goal is the are committed to maintain and develop the need to create a militant, proletarian experience and history of the WUO in internationalist force that supports armed struggle, and to communicate the national liberation movements through important lessons. all forms of struggle. Support for the We intend to participate in the struggle of women for liberation is essen- political and revolutionary struggle tial to this strategy. This is the necessary to create political and organ- " only path to the destruction of U.S. izational unity. For us, self-criticisim/ imperialism, the dictatorship of the criticism is the most important form of proletariat, and the construction of struggle within the revolutionary move- socialism in the U.S. ment. "Tell no lies, claim no easy Revolutionary struggle in the U.S. victories" - Amilcar Cabral. will take many forms, peaceful and vio- Llent; legal and illegal; open and secret. Weather Underground Organization 25 criticism of the central committee By the Revolutionary Committee There is no reason to protect from criticism those who made a positive acc- In the Public Self-Criticism of the omplishment after they have abandoned that Revolutionary Committee we attempted to direction. It is our view that the line expose the transformation of the WUO from of the CC of the WUO and the entirety of a revolutionary organization to an opportun- the organization's practice for the past ist one that based its practice on white and two years has been opportunist and served male supremacist political lines and poli- the US imperialists; but, we are not the cies. We did this to provide a tool for ones who must make this judgment. This is revolutionaries in the struggle against op- why we are releasing this information. portunism and to aid in the undoing of the damage wreaked by the politics and activities of the WUO. Because the base, networks, and leader- Very little has ever been written ship of the WUO are still at work promoting about the internal history of the WUO; the same old bad practice in many areas, what has been is mainly false. This makes it is necessary to go further and place re- it difficult for people outside the organi- sponsibility for specific crimes against the zation to understand the development or mo- revolutionary movements. We do this so that tivation of the organization's practice. the role and effect of the WUO will no long- In the present circumstances we feel that er be invisible; to contribute to helping it is necessary to provide a summary of the identify and destroy the ability of the WUO past three years, and place key events in to continue as agents of the bourgeoisie their proper relationships. within the revolution. In October of 1973 the WUO was comp- This statement is necessary because letely disorganized as a result of three the Central Committee of the WUO has con- political factors. First, the white supre- sciously used a variety of media and gim- macy of New Morning (see Weather Eye, poli- micks to promote a mythology about the org- tics formulated by Jeff Jones and supported anization and themselves. This veil only by the entire CC) had eliminated the polit- serves to hide the damage that they have ical basis of many members original commit- done to the revolutionary movements and ment—support for Black liberation, Vietnam, their own abandonment of revolutionary prin- and armed struggle. Second, male supremacy ciples and direction. Before anyone of the acted on in two ways: smashing of women's Central Conmittee members, or their allies solidarity and organization, rejection of put themselves forward as part of the rev- criticism of sexism in men, especially among olution they must asnwer for their actions. the CC; and an organized campaign by the This statement is put forward in opposition leadership against gay women and men within to the vested interest of the Central Com- the organization. Finally, the CC's practice mittee, and its allies, in maintaining the of isolating, villifying and driving out any- WUO. one who disagreed with them, combined with For ourselves, who were members and giving more responsibility and power to those leaders of the WUO in our own right, and who supported them. were organized by and put into practice the The CC analysis was that they had vac- white and male supremacist policies of the illated, and that the cadres were not build- Central Committee, the release of this crit- ing their leadership, and had been "irres- icism of the CC makes deepening of our own ponsible" in criticizing them for authori- self-criticism more necessary. Investiga- tarian methods. tion of the practice of the organization At this time the CC, led by Bill Ayers, has uncovered the full weight of the crimes developed a plan for re-organization. It of the organization, and shown how deeply was summarized by three slogans: "Educate white and male supremacy went in all of us. Ourselves, Organize Ourselves, Activate Our- This depth of realization was not a part selves Around a Written Program" (see "Our of our consciousness in writing the Public Class Stand", Os. #3). At no time did the Self-Criticism, and led to compromise with CC make self-criticism for the politics of wrong lines, and a re-emergence of the New Morning, their male supremacy, or bour- domineering and arrogant tone so. character- geois methods of leadership. The initiation istic of statements by the WUO. These of the plan was actually accompanied by the errors were the direct outcome of white smashing of a woman's initiative. In retro- and male supremacy within us. In order to spect it is possible to see that the develop- write this document we have had to engage ment of women's organization was a force con- in fuller self-criticism/criticism of tending with both the power and politics of these politics among us. We recognize the CC proposal, for nowhere in their slogans that everyone who was a member of the WUO is there any mention of why we should be has a reason to want to limit its politi- organized. This is, then organization for cal exposure; our own self-conceptions, the sake of individual power; not to support status and power have been based on being national liberation or to fight for the lib- part of the WUO. So this examination of eration of women. the Central Committee has forced us to The writing of Prairie Fire was the examine ourselves. center-piece for generating organization, 26 and Bill Ayers assumed this responsibility. it would be an important step toward realiz- But his first draft was no good, and was ing its over-blown ambitions to control the strongly criticized. At this point, the whole left. For a year and a half they CC called on the skills of an experienced tried hard. Editorials in Osawatomie were and trusted comrade (E.G.) but one who was fired off against the revolutionary forces not under their discipline. He was able to in PFOC; people outside PFOC were mobilized ally with and lead a small group within the to denounce the revolutionary line and organization to struggle over line and do people inside; after these tactics were re- the writing. Together with a separate buffed and defeated, direct intervention group of women this group was responsible was attempted. But this had an opposite for the dominance of a revolutionary line effect: the resistance of genuine revolu- in Prairie Fire. The CC did not lead this tionaries outside and inside PFOC led to process and four of them— Ayers, Jones, rejection of the wrong opportunist and white Sojourn and Reed— fought tooth and nail and male supremacist politics and organizing for opportunist lines. For all five of and to exposure and crisis for the line of them the politics were secondary to the the CC and its authority within the WUO it- fact that it was producing organization. self. When opportunist criticisms were made Along with this activity the CC had a of the drafts produced ("Support for nat- strategy of making the main work of the or- ional liberation is moralism" and Sojourn's ganization recruitment from the anti-imper- "idealism, not economism is the main danger") ialist and womens1 movements. The goal was by the writing group, Ayers and B. Dohrn to extend the direct influence of the CC discouraged struggle against them by say- over the whole movement, and to redirect ing it was sectarian and factional. Through- these movements along revisionist lines. out the writing the CC put organizational The OC thought they were the only force cap- unity above political principle and at able of leading the movement in the oppres- every point defended the opportunists. sor nation: These struggles finally came out in We need to build a successful struggle, the open at the national meeting to ratify strong organization and a winning rev- the final draft. Consistently and overwhelm- olutionary party...We know where to ingly, the opportunist position was voted begin. (Osawatomie,Spring 1975) down on every issue. Yet three months later the main opportunist leader at this meeting Because of the respect held for the WUO was put in charge of political education by in the anti-imperialist left, and because of the CC, and the leader who defended the line Prairie Fire, the organization was able to of the book, B.C., was forced out of the or- grow rapidly in the months after the publi- ganization by Bill Ayers. cation of the book. By wintertime the WUO This occurred because the struggles had the resources and members to fund and over line also emerged in questions of stra- distribute Osawatomie. When the CC .was ques- tegy for using the book. The difference was tioned about military work, they replied, over whether to present it as a contribution "distribution is an action, this increases to the political struggle for a revolution- our clandestine capability." It really in- ary line going on in the left, or whether to creased the power and influence of the CC, use it as a means to recruit more members and it s opportunism. out of the open movement. These differences In the lead editorial of issue il of broke out over whether the book should be printed secretly or in the open; and over how to distribute the book. The CC wanted to use the book to establish its control over the anti-imperialist left, a position that was mainly supported by the secret members, and the few people who supported the oppostie position were forced out. At the same time the CC had gone a long way toward overthrowing the political line of the book, so that its goal was not only to control the anti-imperialist til left, but to change its direction away from support for national liberation movements, toward unprincipled participation in economic struggle. These politics can be seen in the Go to the People section of Prairie Fire, which section was. written by Bill Ayers (also the main architect of the organizational plan of the WUO). The Prairie Fire Organizing Committee, established and built up by comrades who wel- comed and supported the general revolutionary and anti-imperialist content of the book, began to be a significant political force on the left. The Central Committee concluded that if it could control this organization Weather Eye 27 revolutionary cotmunist party to lead the working class to seize power and build socialism. This involves taking responsibility for every aspect of the struggle. This is our direction... (Our Class Stand, Sept. 1975) It is our responsibility... to rouse the working class and join wholeheart- edly in all its struggles against US Imperialism (ibid.) The original plan to surface two members of the CC to lead the inversion was rejected that sunnier, but not from a revolutionary position. It was thought that two people would be ineffective, so the concept was broadened to include the entire organization. The CC position on surfacing was raised internally as the question, "Are we organized correctly to do what we want?" Vfe evaluate action by analyzing the extent to which it reflects and builds the organization whether actions win people—at this point a compara- tively small sector of the population actively supports armed struggle. (Politics in Contnand,Spring,1975) This was the theoretical justification for the elimination of armed struggle. From the fall of 1975 on, this plan, termed "inversion", was put into practice without the knowledge of most members. Lawyers were organized to prepare legal defense, the film Underground was planned both as a means to sanitize the image of the organization and to raise money for legal defense; new organ- INS izational bases were set up from which to surface; and a plan was developed to increase Osawatomie, the women's movement is not men- the frequency of Osawatomie and to create a tioned, even though the article is about the "professional" staff. Overtures were made left. In the same issue, the Toolbox on to the Democratic Party in connection with "Internationalism" does not mention the nec- break-ins against family and associates of essity for revolutionaries in oppressor na- the WUO. This provided the possibility of tions to support the right of self-determina- deals in return for the trials being a lever tion and secession of oppressed nations. The for purging of Nixon people from the Justice issue in Boston is racism, not white supre- Department and the FBI. macy. The economic crisis comes from inade- This plan would be the culmination of quate markets and the struggle of the working the organizational strategy to dominate and class for higher wages. In these articles control large sections of the left. It is the basic direction of abandoning anti-imp- the logical outcome of the abandonment of erialist principles in order to expand the the political principles that generated the mass base is clear. WUO in the first place. For the CC, who Along with Osawatomie, the CC began a once stood at the head of the largest stu- whole media blitz advertising the organiza- dent organization in the US oppressor nation, tion. The original contacts for the film it would mean the re-establishment of former Underground were made and Abby Hoffman was position and power. given support and assistance by the CC in The consequences of this history are return for promoting the WUO on TV and in the crimes of social imperialism; deadly, the New Times Magazine. Support for the grave crimes cottmitted against the women's organization was developed on the basis of movement, against revolutionary anti-imper- hype. ialist politics and organization in the By the spring of 1975 the CC felt that oppressor nation. These crimes are backed the organization's power had been built up and justified by the CC's writings in sufficiently to take on bigger projects, but Osawatomie and in their internal documents. at the same time the restrictions of clandestinity were a fetter on its development. Crimes Against National Liberation Struggles Jeff Jones hatches a plan to begin surfacing In a word, white supremacy meant active the organization. Jones planned his bid for opposition to the national liberation strug- power along the lines expressed in Osawatomie: gles, and especially the Black liberation We are building a conmunist organization struggle. The CC sought to dominate and con- to be part of the forces which build a trol national liberation struggles and Third • n•»> /r »if£ 1

Gay Liberation took to the streets in the late 60's Gay Flames World organizations. In all relationships —Pushing economic reform as an alterna- with Third World organizations the CC put tive to anti-racist work, Third World soli- the WUO's safety first, refused to accept darity work, prison defense. "Prisons are criticism, and rejected Third World leader- the state's first line of defense in the ship. Since 1971, the CC put first the class war." (Osawatomie #2 Summer,1975) struggle of Vietnam and then Puerto Rico —At a time when the prisons were the forward in opposition to Black liberation front line of the Black liberation struggle, in the US. the CC attacked this movement as ultra left The CC used its relationships with extremists, pulled cadres out of prison de- Ihird World organizations to increase its fense work, and controlled and dominated own power and prestige, and to justify re- resources of the prison movement. jecting criticism of its white supremacy. —Refused to do prison breaks of Black Joe Reed, August 1975 internal paper on prisoners when asked. Leary the only pris- Cadre School: oner ever liberated, were paid for that. The Black worker—male and female—play the decisive role in the US revolution. In a sentence, the program means this: While stressing the central role of the Mobilize the oppressed and exploited Black liberation struggle this analysis people to wage class struggle against differs from the sentence in Prairie US imperialism, the common enemy. Fire which says:'The Black liberation (Osawatonie, 2/6, "Who We Are") struggle for self-determination is the leading force in the US revolution.' —This line organized for the prosecution This sentence implies that the national of undocumented workers on the basis they struggle of the Black people has the were scabs. task of leading the whole US revolution —abandoned the Native American people to victory. It is the particular res- in their struggle for survival and self-de- ponsibility of the multinational prole- termination and ignored opportunities to tariat to lead the struggle for socialist give conceret support and assistance. revolution in the whole US and to lead —The one action in alleged support of in the seizure of state power. Puerto Rico does not call for independence —In Boston, this meant withdrawing for Puerto Rico; it is limited to support armed and political support from Black peo- for the Ponce cement strike. ple who faced physical attacks by fascists: Revolution grows through the accumu- attacking their allies; taking cadre out of lated experience of the working class anti-racist work. in every form of struggle, against 29 racism, lousy schools and high prices: ribute to women's culture. Lesbian poetv- for jobs, a living wage, for socially ry axed by Sojourn, on explicit anti-gay meaningful lives; against police re- basis. pression, sexism, hunger—only in the —HEW action carried out to leapfrog practical work of building the class the women's movement and speak directly struggle can we develop the guerrila to masses of women, on "the basis of op- struggle into popular armed struggle. posing the organized struggle against Anted Struggle and the SIA, male supremacy within the revolution. (Osawatomie #4, B. Dohrn) —pulled women out of women's unions —meant the abandonment of armed strug- and organizations; competed with women's gle in support of national liberation, movement for cadres; discredited women —attacked the BIA for being "militar- who fought against male supremacy ist", refused to give any form of aid or —set up B. Dohrn as archtypical support (to any Black revolutionary organ- exceptional woman in opposition to all izations, ed.) on the alleged basis that other women to enforce and be a cover they weren't Marxist-Leninist, or organ- for male supremacy ized along the lines of democratic cen- —dominated or made the attempt all tralism, as defined by us. The same was major anti-imperialist women's confer- true for Native .American fighters. ences and demonstrations with liquida- —disregarded all criticisms (direct tionist politics on women, using Third and indirect, ed.) about our line and World struggles to justify a male sup- practice from Third World revolutionaries: remacist line: the Panther 21, Ruchell Magee, the Black —At HTC used influence to oppose caucus at HTC, prisoners' letter about all attempte to struggle for women's the film. caucus, or to challenge corrupt line —opposed the Palestinian struggle as on women in Bill of Rights. terrorist. —Opposed support for gay women in struggle against the state: Susan Saxe, Terry Turgeon, Ellen Grusse. Crimes Against Women and the Women's Movement —Rejected revolutionary criticism For seven years the CC has supported of women fugitives, refused to assist male supremacy, denied the special oppres- them. sion of women, sought to avoid criticism, —Opposed support for Third World attempted to co-opt, then dominate and women in prison and under attack by then destroy the women's movement. The the state: Assata Shakur, Joanne Little, all-out attack is most clearly stated by Inez Garcia. Celia Sojourn in "Women's Question is a —destroyed anti-rape, anti-ster- Class Question," Winter 1975: ilization work; opposed all superstruc- We need a women's movement right tural aspects of women's oppression now unlike anything we have built struggles. in the last ten years.(emphasis added) A mass movement of women whose Crimes Against the Anti-Imperialist Left organization reaches into every of- In a word, abandoning anti-imperial- fice, sweatshop, household and high ism meant substituting a spontaneous and school to demand jobs, equal pay, economic strategy in place of support adequate income, day care the right for national liberation and the liberation to unionize, an end to every type of women. The practical task to carry out of racial discrimination and equal- this strategy was the achievement of hege- ity for women. This is a turning mony and leadership over the anti-imperial- point for the women's movement when ist forces in the oppressor nation. Thus, it could fall definitively to the to subvert and control the development of elitist leadership of bourgeois revolutionary anti-imperialism within the women's organizations.. oppressor nation and stamp out principled Part of the male supremacist line was opposition. the CC's explicitly anti-gay line and —sought to penetrate and control by practice. Thei't stated line was that bringing under our leadership key sectors gayness was a matter of sexual preference of anti-imperialist organization and work: not politics; but their line in practice Third World solidarity work, presses, pub- was to define gay relationships, poli- lications, collectives tics and organizations as inherently rac- —under the cover of Prairie Fire, ist, reactionary and irrelevant. Lesbian- raised hundreds of thousands of dollars ism was a separatist nightmare and threat- from the movement given in support of ened their politics and power. national liberation and armed struggle, In a word, male supremacy meant op- but used to attack national liberation posing in every way, and with the weight and armed struggle through Osawatomie, of the entire organization, the struggle the film, HTC. against male supremacy, power and libera- —organized for white and male sup- tion for women. remacy inside all organizations had infl- —the poetry book "sing a Battle Song" uence in; attacked revolutionary line of was an attempt to co-opt and fend off those we could not control thru use of criticisms for male supremacist politics, character assassination. thru showing we were nice and could cont- —Secretry attended major conferences and demonstrations to promote domination 30 of the white and male supremacist line of —the portrayal of ourselves as WUO. gentle, reasonable, well-educated and —Gave aid and comfort to opportunists, WHITE was a move to disassociate our- pushed people as leaders on the basis of selves from the alleged "extremism" of their willingness to ally with the WUO's prison struggles, the BIA, FALN, SIA... white and male supremacy politics, under from armed struggle itself. Bill Ayers the guise of commitment to building the is indignant at people who call us ad- WUO. venturist and terrorists. —Used the cover of the need for sec- —the discussion about the Town House urity to hide the crimes of WUO and to explosion is a way of saying, "our com- wall off revolutionaries from one another. rades have died, we have crossed the line, Meanwhile building an organization and we are beyond criticism, not subject to practice that violated all rules of real the same pressures towards sellout that security. Relied upon white privilege every other white organization faces." and the tolerance of the state instead of Jeff Jones' rap about waking up each upon the revolutionary movement. morning wondering how many times he'll be nervous that day is an arrogant lie The Film, Underground that denies the existence of privilege Underground is a crime against nation- in our lives. al liberation movements, women, and the —the reality of oppressor/oppressed anti-imperialist left. It is a vehicle nations is liquidated constantly. Exam- for promoting opportunist politics, and ples: B. Dohm asks, "who created the was part of the WUO's strategy for achiev- wealth of this country?" and answers with ing hegemony over the revolutionary forces "the people," followed by several shots in the US, The CC is responsible for of white workers. No mention of Black the film — Jeff Jones initiated the idea slavery, of the land and labor stolen and led its implementation. Our denuncia- from Native Americans and Mexicanos, of tion of the film is not a criticism of the the tremendous wealth derived from im- f ilmrakers. perialist plunder around the world. Bill 1. The Film is national chauvinist. Ayers talks about the "American people" —the focus is on us as individual rising up to become a people for them- white revolutionaries instead of national selves, comparing them to the Vietnamese. liberation movements, the leading revolu- B. Donrn says we are a white organization tionary forces in the US and the world. for historical reasons, but never names When footage of Black and Third World national oppression and white supremacy people appears, it is only part of ex- for the creation of separate organization. plaining our political development. 2. The film reeks of male supremacy from Third World prople are again used in the beginning to end. street interviews, to show us relating —the material basis of women's opp- to oppressed people. This is substi- ression is denied, and with one exception tuting "relating to Third World people" sexism is defined as a bad attitude, a for a revolutionary line and practice bad idea. The reality of male privilege about national liberation. is denied. The women's movement is never mentioned. The WUO has a reputation in the Left for deep male supremacy but Ayers assures the audience that even though sexism used to be a bad attitude in some of the men, things are different now because of how "loving and encourag- ing" the women have been. This is an attack on women who fiercely fight against male supremacy as man-hating separatists — that is not loving and encourag- ing. —The presence of the three women in the film is the substitution for the missing revolutionary line on women. We are clearly an organization of exceptional people: women who have made it without the women's movement, men who stopped being sexist so painlessly they didn't feel a thing. 3. The film attacks the anti-imperialist left by denying its existence. —The message is clear: the WUO and the masses of white American people will make the revolution. "Socialism for white people." This film organized for opportunist politics. It is a setback to revolution, a betrayal. —It was a direct attempt to counter the effects of PFOC's rectification. The What Have Women Done? T 31

fact that it was released after the Hard Truck Stop 1 and 2; Korea; Cambodia. Times Conference, when the WUO's line was Bernardine Dohrn: Both major leader in publicly discredited, indicates that the own right, and spokeswoman for Ayers and CC really rejected revolutionary criticism Jones. Fronted self to speak for the en- of its line while pretending to accept it. tire organization (CG) when leaders and —It also reveals the CC's willingness developers of line were Ayers and Jones. to go to any lengths to try to build its Had major and primary responsibility for own power without regard to revolutionary development and carrying out of line with principles. regard to solidarity work—relations with For these crimes, the WUO and in par- Third World people, national liberation ticular the entire Central Committee is struggles; and in developing line to des- collectively responsible. Within the CC, troy the women's movement. On the backs competition, not political struggle over of women who were wasted and excluded principles, was the way of life. Defining from the revolution Dohrn ascended and particular responsibility among them is was put forward by Ayers and Jones as a not a function of sorting out two line leader of women. They built a pedestal struggle. Their method was division of based on contempt for women and for nat- labor and unity and conciliation at all ional liberation struggles and on it costs. So ascribing individual responsi- Dohrn got her strength, dignity, pres- bility must be understood in this light. tige and power on the basis of superiority—an alliance and fostering of white Bill Ayers: Wrote "Go to the People" in and male supremacy. This is bourgeois Prairie Fire, editor of Osawatomie, main feminism, the accusation with which person responsible for politics of organi- Dohrn sought to destroy the women's move- zation, for recruiting, for fund-raising. ment as a threat to the male supremacists With Jeff Jones, main leader of the organ- who guaranteed her power. She traded her ization, main developer of the opportunist history of principled support for nation- line, culminating in inversion. Osawatom- al liberation struggles and the fight to* ie articles: editorials 1 & 2, all the build armed struggle in the oppressor na- Tool Boxes. Organized for prosecution of tion for what seemed to be a guaranteed undocumented workers. Wrote Politics in position at the head of the revolution Conmand, and with Jones is main person with international recognition. Osawato- responsible for liquidation of armed * mie articles: Mighty Army; Armed Struggle struggle and clandestinity. Led public and the SLA; Our Class Stand; Anti-Imper- glorification of revisionism in Osawato- ialism vs. Opportunism: A Self-Criticism; mie, at HTC, in film Underground. Res- Out of Work. ponsible for character assassinations Joe Reed: With Ayers, editor of Osa- of above ground revolutionaries. Attemp- watomie, the driving force and lead ted destruction of prison solidarity writer for the CC's ideological line. movement. He had primary responsibility for pol- Jeff Jones: Along with Ayers, main itical education of cadres and led both leader of the organization, developed cadre schools. Developed the white sup- opportunist lines over seven years: remacist position on Boston, major res- New Mprning, his political conception ponsibility for the deadly work of the though written by Dohrn and Sojourn. WUO in that city. After cadre school #2 Never agreed to criticism of MM. To stated explicitly that Prairie Fire was this day main rear base is yippie, Abby wrong with regard to the leading role of Hoffman types, most reactionary as- the Black liberation struggle, that work- pects of youth culture. Allied with ing class struggle was leading. Consis- Ayers to throw out left-wing forces tent with this, he argued that Boston in writing of Prairie Fire, to consoli- represented a major attack against the date opportunist line and power. Con- working class, within which racism was ceived and led film and strategy for the main contradiction. Self-determina- inversion. With Ayers seized position tion was specifically not an issue: there- as military leader to control women, fore all cadre were removed from anti- limit and eventually eliminate armed racist work in support of self-determina- struggle. He has historically fought tion for Black people and put into their to do actions to counter criticism of own opportunist organizational priorities his cowardly collaborationist political by the WUO leaders. Funds were organized line. In Feb. 1976 after the Black cau- away from the Black struggle. He led cus and women at HTC strongly attacked this, developed and glorified this is Osa- opportunist politics, Jones takes res- watcmie. Osawatcmie articles: Boston ar- ponsibility for national production of ticles; Commentary: Angola; Fireworks; Osawatonie to go bimonthly and to pre- John Brown; Anti-Imperialism vs.Opportunism: pare for inversion. Tried to organize A Self Criticism; Our Class Stand, Default. a pamphlet called '.'Best of the Hard Times Conference" to recoup the blow to his pow- Celia Sojourn: In an organization domi- er. Presently working on a book about nated by male supremacy, how a wctnan got the film for the same end, and to counter to be leader was to line up-with the CC the criticism of revolutionaries. Osawa- men, on the backs of women. This was So- tonie articles: Fighting for Our Film; journ's role as well as Dohrn's. The con- 32 dition of her leadership was die unstint- the old organization to continue the ing destruction of women cadres, of every opportunist line and practice in new attempt to struggle for the liberation of forms we feel it necessary to expose women, and of the development of a politi- their leadership. While there are sev- cal line and direction to carry this put eral other members of the WUO who bear in the entire women's movement. The cul- particular responsibility after the CC, mination of this was her work in develop- we are singling out one person, SLIC, ing "Women's Question is a Class Question." who is the present leader of the con- With Dohrn had particular responsibility tinuation of these politics, and who is for carrying out solidarity work, and as actively organizing against the forces such her articles, writings and work with of revolution. regard to the Puerto Rican struggle have What do these crimes amount to for to be seen as on the back and in opposi- the Central Committee and the WUO? White tion to Black liberation struggle. Osa- and male supremacy; material privilege in watomie articles: Women's Question is a the form of prestige, power and status; Class Question; Puerto Rico articles; the ability to control others and to Prison page and prison article and cover; lead a comfortable life. The domination Politics in Conmand. of Third World nations and of women was the basis of seeking hegemony and control over the whole revolution, and turning Among the closest allies of the CC it into counter-revolution, to "social- were the "loyal lieutenants" developed ism" for white people. by the CC who achieved power and privi- The experience of the WUO showed that lege in the WUO in exchange for unfailing it is possible to initiate armed struggle public and internal support for the CC in support of national liberation move- line and practice. When public criti- ments within the oppressor nation itself, cisms of the WUO reached proportions and that the necessary base of anti-imp- which allowed the discrediting of the CC erialist support exists among people in internally some of these lieutenants the oppressor nation to sustain it. seized the opportunity to manuever their But, this experience also shows that own selves into leadership. While they revolutionary armed struggle can only be were the most outspoken in decrying the sustained if it is carried out in the con- "crimes" of the CC, their political line text of struggle against the imperialist was no different and the schemes to main- state and struggle against opportunism. tain their hegemony of the old organiza- White and male supremacy operated within tion no less determined. the WUO over the years as forces to cause Because some old WUO members have the abandonment and destruction of armed joined forces to use the resources of struggle and of clandestinity. POSITIVELY hO BEER SOLD TO INDIANS

Post Wolcott tape from bernardine dohrn This is Bernardine Dohrn. I am making this tape to acknowledge, repudiate and denounce the counter-revolutionary politics and direction of the Weather Underground Organization. Immediately during and after the publication of Prairie Fire, the Central Committee went back on the anti-imperialist line of Prairie Fire and aggressively opposed it. We led the entire organization to abandon the principles of anti-imperialism, liquidated the Black nation and the leading role of national liberation struggles, and heightened our attacks on the womens'movement. I repudiate and denounce the central committee of the WUO, myself included, who bear particualr responsibility for the crim- inal consequences of having led the WUO in- to full blown opportunism. I am speaking to the fascism directed against Third World for myself alone: I no longer speak for the struggles for liberation, or to our comfor- rest of the central committee—Bill Ayers, table opportunist path. Jeff Jones, Celia Sojourn, Joe Reed. Nor We pitted other national liberation do I speak for the old organization. struggles against the Black movement. For This statement is a product of criti- a long time it was Vietnam. "Common Vic- cism and struggle carried out with me by tories" , a statement we wrote on the occa- the Revolutionary committee and other com- sion of the Vietnam Cease-Fire, does not rades . mention the imperialist attacks on the BLA, The split in the WUO is real. To the - or the prison movement, or the genocidal extent that the old organization exists, murder of Black youth by racist police. it continues to maintain counter-revolution When comrades criticised this, we accused and remains a threat to revolutionary anti- them of pitting the Black struggle against imperialist politics and organization. No Vietnam. Actually, it was our liquidation member of the central committee nor any of Black liberation which failed to draw former member who promotes the continuation the relationship and support national lib- of the WUO has overturned their wrong line eration within "US borders." or speaks for revolution. These are crimes — they are naked I recognize that it will take a long white supremacy, white superiority and time and tremendous struggle to overturn chauvinist arrogance. The murder and cap- the world view from which my politics and ture of so many Black comrades has cost the leadership have come since the reversal of Black movement heavily; the principled Prairie Fire. I am making this tape to stand and ongoing revolutionary work of the acknowledge the seriousness of the crimes BLA in prison has helped make the prison carried out by the WUO and myself, to be movement a leading center of revolutionary of help to revolutionaries engaged in the struggle. Our line and practice toward the struggle against opportunism and US imperi- leading role of Black liberation, toward alism. the BLA and toward the prison movement is In this spirit, I would like to say nothing short of betrayal of revolution — to all Third World comrades and organiza- selling out the Black struggle for our own tions we have known and related to, that safety, and in the name of revolution. all ties and relationships with the old Within the central committee, Bill Ayers organization are formally dissolved. Any- and I were the most right-wing forces one from the WQO who attempts to maintain toward the BLA and the prison movement — these formal relationships is doing so on opposing solidarity and support in the the basis of white and male supremacy and name of building our organization or politi- is in opposition to revolution. cal differences. We removed cadre from Since 1973, the central committee prison work in order to do opportunist work- undermined solidarity with the Black place organizing. We dismantled defense struggle by criticising the revolutionary committees and destroyed activities which forces as left-sectarian. We elevated agitated in support of the Black struggle. differences on Connunist organization and We rejected or ignored Third World prisoners' Marxism-Leninism above oppressor nation criticism of us for our lack of armed strug- solidarity with national liberation struggle and for our increasing attacks on those gles. We completely failed to support carrying out armed struggle. and organize for the revolutionary strug- We developed and organized for a line gle of the Black Liberation Army or to on Boston that opposed the right of self- oppose the police terror directed against determination for Black people and supported them. We attributed our survival and an opportunist white supremacist analysis of ' their losses to our superior politics and the racist/fascist movement against Black organizing, and not to our white privilege, people. The consequence was to destroy 34 anti-racist work there for a year and a half. We opposed slogans and strategies supporting the right of Black people to self-determination. Wa opposed doing armed struggle in support of the struggle of Black people in Bos- ton, following the line of the article "Politics in Command" that mass work is primary and armed struggle must wait for the white working class. Within the central sommittee, Jo Reed initiated and organized for this line. We have used our support for the Puerto Rican struggle to cover our liquidation of the national question. First, we used it in the way we used Vietnam, as a banner to hide our opportunism. No force can even claim to be revolutionary today without token support for national liberation and even some practice to make it look good. We used the just demand for Puerto Rican independence to oppose self-determination for ' Black people and support for Black liberation—in Osawatomie, in the Hard Times conference and in July 4th. But even our support for Puerto Rican independence was eroded and destroyed by our opportunist line which liquidated the national question. Thus the conmunique from the Ponce Cement Workers' action and the follow-up story in Osawatomie do not call for or support independence for Puerto Rico. We argued against Puerto Rican independence as a major demand for the Hard Times conference. I organized for white supremacist and chauvinist politics which attacked undocumented workers. We organized for trade resources available only on our white terms union politics and strategy willing to sac- or by denying and withholding support. rifice the struggles and rights of Mexicano Meanwhile, this organization refused workers for the privileges and immediate to seek out or recruit revolutionary women gain of those living in the US. This is fugitives. We characterized these women clear because we never supported the strug- as anti-men, anti-communist, anti-Marxist- gle of undocumented workers. We have exis- Leninist. Actually, the central cortmittee ted as an organization on the West coast feared their effect on women in the organi- for six years without material support and zation and was threatened by their criti- solidarity with the ffexicano liberation cisms of central committee leadership for struggle. male supremacy. We attacked and defeated The solidarity work, our name for for- a tentative proposal for a women's under- mal relations with Third World organizations ground, to carry out anti-imperialist and and people, and other fugitives, was also revolutionary feminist armed struggle. This guided by white and male supremacy and re- is another example of using the solidarity sulted in serious crimes against national relationships to keep control of the weap- liberation movements and against women. ons—keeping them out of the hands of rev- Within the central commttee Celia Sojourn olutionary women as well as national lib- and I had special responsibility for this eration movements. work. While denying support to Third World We denied Black and Third World organi- Liberation, to revolutionary armed strug- zations aid and support they requested and gle forces, and to revolutionary women rejected offers of meetings and joint work fugitives, we used resource and cadre's unless they were completely on our terms. efforts to support opportunist and bourgeois That is, our security and our safety we men fugitives. The most glaring example of placed above that of Black and Third World this is our support in the form of time, organizations. This was especially true of money, cadres, of Abby Hoffman, a relation- struggles under heavy attack by the state, ship which produced media attention for us, under severe and murderous repression. I through the articles in New Times and his characterized these groups as left-sectarian, TV program. dangerous and threatening to us. By placing For seven years I have upheld a poli- our protection and resources above the rev- tics which is male supremacist and opposed olutionary principles of proletarian inter- the struggle of women for liberation. I nationalism, we in fact operated to control have attacked the women's movement as bour- Third World movements by making support and geois, separatist, anti-communist, divisive, 35 anti-Third World, and a grave danger to rev- Our view of ourselves was that we, olution. I have been a token wcman, part the central conmittee of the WOO were of the structure of women's leadership which leading the revolution. We developed actually served male supremacy, on the basis a political line that opposed the leading of liquidating the revolutionary content of role of Black and Third World national women's politics and power, thus my leader- liberation struggles and women. We sought ship was used by men on the Central Commit- therefore to oppose, control or destroy tee, and I used it against other women. who disagreed with us: to control Third In line and practice, I have given sup- World groups, destroy the women's movement, port to the continuing oppression, super- and to achieve hegemony of the WUO on the exploitation, violence, brutality, contempt, left. humiliation and suppression of women. The aim of the WUO was nothing less Throughout this period we consolidated an than to establish itself, with its white anti-gay line which blamed gay people for and male supremacist politics as the leader- the bourgeois aspects of the gay liberation ship of the whole US revolutionary movement. movement, characterized gay liberation as Jeff Jones of the central committee initia- right-wing, and failed to struggle against ted and led this strategy and the events I'm anti-gay ideas and practice. referring to. Bill Ayers was the second main leader of the plan. In 1974, we set out to destroy the , In our view, the Hard Times Conference women's movement. Using the cover of Prair- in Chicago was an opportunity to promote ie Fire to justify ourselves, and our these aims. We felt that this conference widespread influence over the movement, we would bring together almost every national had a great effect on boosting male supre- liberation struggle, women's organization macy and defeating the struggle against it. and anti-imperialist force and that the in- By the summer of 1975, the attack on fluence of our corrupt political line could the women's movement and feminist politics predominate the event. was naked and bitter. I led the attack on cadre's work in women's unions, arguing But for the revolutionary criticism of that all women cadre should leave these or- the Black caucus who repudiated the betrayal ganizations for work-place organizing of of the right of self-determination for Black women. I opposed the political struggle of people, and women who criticized and reject- women and glorified the purely economic ed our sabotage of the struggle against male struggle. "Our Class Stand" never mentions supremacy, this conference could have been women except to pat ourselves on the back turned into a major victory for opportunism. for our great record. This attack on women These criticisms constituted a setback and the women's movement was carried out but not a defeat for the central committee in a very personal way against women most and the direction of the WUO. We carried identified with the women's movement. The on a superficial rectification campaign, consequences were the collapse of several but in no way overturned our line, self- womens' organizations, and the withdrawal conception or strategy. of anti-imperialist women from women's The film Underground reeks of white and political work. It resulted in taking male supremacy and organizes against real women out of anti-rape work and in defence revolution. The release of the film in May of Third World women like Joann Little, was a further step towards implementing our Inez Garcia, and Yvonne Wanrow. It meant program; to organize a mass base of support an end to women's health care programs, on the basis of a reactionary line. It was abortion and anti-sterilization work, and a conscious attempt to organize support for work with women prisoners. the individuals in the film—not to streng-^ "Womens' Question is a Class Ques- then the revolution. tion," written by Celia Sojourn consolida- The culmination of this strategy was ted these crimes and openly attacked the to be inversion, the word we used to des- women's movement. It justified all the cribe surfacing the entire organization. male supremacy of the left and blamed it Along with the attempt to control the Hard on the "bourgeois womens' movement." It Times Conference, we had counted on the crystalized the opportunist and purely movie and the establishment of a legal economist analysis of women. apparatus to implement this strategy of inversion. Jeff Jones proposed this con- Why did we do this? I don't really cept, won the entire central committee to know. We followed the classic path of it, and has organized for its implementa- white so-called revolutionaries who sold tion. This is accurately described in the out the revolution. For me to understand revolutionary committee's statement. this requires much more study and struggle. Because the central committee has not What I do know is that by standing on my overturned its wrong line, and Jeff Jones anti-imperialist record in a self-satis- is still pursuing the opportunist line and fied and self-justifying way, by assuming direction, I cannot say this plan has been that I was beyond shite privilege or stopped. Inversion sums up the total nega- allying with male privilege because I tion of the original principles which found- understood it—I prepared and led the way ed the WUO—support for national liberation for a totally opportunist direction which movements and armed struggle. infected all our work and betrayed revolutionary principles. (end of tape by Bernardine Dohrn) letter from sisters in the w.u.o. Dear PFOC sisters. In Spring '69, SDS attacked the women's This is an internal paper tracing movement for not being revolutionary, being the development of the WUO's right oppor- racist and reformist. Bourgeois feminism tunist line on women through the last sev- and separatism were seen as the main enemy en years. We thought the paper might be of the women's movement. In "You Don't Need useful to you at this time. Please use it a Weatherman etc" (6/69, Weatherman, however seems useful to you. Jacobs) we wrote: "How do we organize women We are engaged in tremendous struggle against racism and imperialism without sub- and self-criticism in our organization over merging the principled revolutionary strug- our opportunist, white and male supremacist gle of women's liberation? We have no real - line and direction of the last two years. answer, but we recognize the real reaction- We-are sending this paper out of respect ary danger of women's groups that are not and acknowledgment of your revolutionary self-consciously revolutionary and anti- work and direction in struggling to over- imperialist. " (emphasis added) Liquidation turn opportunism and develop a revolutionary of the women's question is clearly the sec- line. We would like to do everything we can ondary concern. This error served to dis- to support you in this. Your existence and arm the organization, especially the women, work is of tremendous importance to the rev- and laid the foundation for the development olutionary forces in the oppressor nation of the right opportunist line consolidated left. Your leadership is of critical im- in the article "Women's Question is a Class portance to us in our rectification. Question." The essence of the attack on the women's movement was to make no distinc- In Struggle, tion between white women and the oppressor Sisters of WUO nation as a whole. We claimed that "any demand made by white people short of total annihilation of imperialism can be granted by the pigs—and will be." This formula- Outline History of our Opportunist Line tion made out that the struggles of white on Women women inside the oppressor nation against male supremacy were in opposition to and This is a paper arguing that our a threat to Black liberation, rather than right opportunist line on women must be potentially closest allies. overturned. Without doing so there can This attack undercut a relatively more be no revolutionary line, strategy and progressive line which was being argued practice. The development of our wrong against PL. PL's position was that the line is clear in the line of Osawatomie special oppression of women was their super- and our practice of the last two years. exploitation as members of the working class. Opportunist errors have different content We argued that women also suffered a special during different historical periods. At oppression as women, namely sexism—the this stage of imperialism and inside the ideology of the inferiority of women—and oppressor nation, the essence of opportun- that building women as fighters was a way ism is the denial of the national and women's to challenge this. Seven years later we questions, of white and male supremacy. put forward "Women's Question is a Class This paper is an attempt to define our cur- Question." The title says it. The poli- rent wrong line on women and to trace its tics consolidated in the editorial is in history and development. fact the right opportunist politics of PL The development of our right opportun- in '69. Women are once again defined only ist line on women is the result of a two- as superexploited members of the working line struggle over the seven year period class, and as members of the reserve army of our existence: the main contradiction of labor—their special oppression thus re- has been between liquidation of the strug- duced to the workplace. This is not a gle against male supremacy, on the one hand, Marxist-Leninist analysis. The material and the fight for revolutionary women's basis of women's oppression, and its con- politics on the other. In the aspect of crete expression in the institutions of the struggle for a recolutionary line, there society—the family, schools, courts, laws, has been a contradiction between revolution- religion and the state—are left out. Male ary and bourgeois feminism. The aspects of supremacy is liquidated and sexism seen as liquidation, which has been the primary as- unimportant. pect, has been characterized by: a) naming In '69 the line that stated the poli- bourgeois feminism, not male supremacy, as tics of the period was women as fighters. the main enemy of women. This was a conse- VIETNAMESE WOMEN CARRY GUNS. In "Honky quence of: b) denying the decisive impor- Tonk Women" we say: "Our liberation as tance of the special oppression of women individuals and as women is possible only to the maintenance of imperialism, thereby when it is understood as a political pro- denying the revolutionary content of the cess—part of the formation of an armed struggle against male supremacy, the need white fighting force. Political power for power for women. Along with this was grows out of the barrel of a gun, and the the definition of all forms of women working struggle to gain and use political power with women separate from men as separatism against the state is the struggle for our and anti-communism. liberation." This line completely by- 37 passed and denied a materialist analysis line and in contradiction to it was the of the special oppression of women. There liquidation line that defined women was political struggle about this, and working together as separatist. This Cathy Wilkerson wrote in New Left Notes, took the form of men out front saying 8/69: "The inability of the Weatherman this; but also the indirect form of proposal to include an organic analysis denying the validity of the action through of male supremacy stems from a weakness other arguments. in the basis analysis." In all this the political line and con- But this criticism was ignored. In tent of the action, target and communique this period, women were in self-conscious were explicitly secondary. What the content struggle over sexism throughout the organi- of the action said to and about and for wom- zation. This took the form of smashing en was secondary to the process of doing monogamous relationships, of women lead- the action. This was consistent with the ing demonstrations and actions, and fight- line that separated women from anti-imper- ing to build women's leadership in the ialism. The line of the actions maintained collectives. This coincided with the and unheld the liquidationist male suprema- struggle of women in the national organiza- cist position that the struggle of women ag- tion for leadership and a base of power in ainst male supremacy has no revolutionary the national structure. There was a call content. for a form of women's organization within The First Women's Newsletter, Winter '72 the Weather organization. This struggle also reflected and was a consequence of the was defeated by the line opposing the struggle of women to work together. The initiative as separatist and anti-communist. newsletter includes articles about a variety This corrupt line was a cover for male su- of women's experiences as well as poetry by premacy. As a consequence, the initiative women in the organization. However, none was co-opted through putting a second woman of these articles name or attempt to anal- on the Weather Bureau. The demand had been yze male supremacy or the special oppression for power for women, while the addition of of women. another woman could have been a basis for An internal paper, Mountain Moving Day, Feb. forward movement, it was token because it '73, represented an initiative by women to did not reflect the victory of a revolution- "overcome the weaknesses" in our separation ary line. This was a major defeat for women of women from anti-imperialism, (it was in the organization. Individually and col- not understood to be a wrong line.) It was lectively women were weakened. This was written after the ceasefire and argued that the basis for the worsening of political the change in the world situation made it line, and for a lowering of women's consc- possible to make a priority of correcting iousness . our weaknesses in our line on women, and was a call to develop analysis and program. Townhouse 3/6/70 In the following year women met, did re- Male supremacy and wrong line on treats together, jumped into the upusurge women played a role in the Townhouse. of women's literature and music, and began Sexism was intertwined with the military to work on projects relating to women: work error. But women had been weakened, and on HEW, health, welfare, rape and forced were unable to name and struggle against sterilization were undertaken. This work male supremacy. In the attempt to over- was weakened by not working simultaneously turn the military error, male supremacy on developing theoretical understanding continued unchallenged. Because of the of women's oppression. At the same time depth of this setback for women, the main there were aspects of this work that were form in which the struggle against male mystical, anti-male, etc; these errors were supremacy took place for some time after used as proof that the solidarity that had the Townhouse was the struggle for women been built among women was divisive and to be able to work together. that the initiative represented once more Proud Eagle(1 and 2) a move towards separatism and bourgeois The Proud Eagle actions reflected feminism. One man argued that the women's this struggle of women. To the extent movement had gone "too far". Other men that these actions represented the strug- argued that only women and gay men in the gle of women to work together, they re- organization had any hope of being revolu- presented a struggle against male sup- tionary, and that it was correct for the remacy. These were the first women's women to be separatists—they therefore armed actions in the organization. A moved out to work and live with men! The report on Proud Eagle #2 reveals a poli- national question was once more pitted tical line whose defining characteris- against the women's question and sisters tics are that: the content of the strug- were gutchecked as to their committment to gle against the special oppression of Third World struggles. This was the coup women is the struggle for women to be de grace to the initiative. fighters — doing the action is the way Six Sisters was a study group of women who that those women were liberating them- met to study the special oppression of selves. This practical activity stems women and to advance our theoretical under- from the line that male supremacy is a bad standing of the woman question (Summer '73). idea, experienced as oppressive sex roles From the work of this group emerged an an- vAiich individual women can and should alysis that HEW, i.e., the state, was the struggle to change. Coexisting with this embodiment of male supremacy, and as such 38 was the main enemy of women in our society. Cadre School 1. The school leadership ar- This group was consciously used by the gued that a revolutionary women's movement leadership to be an alternative to Mountain and program had to be based in the work- Moving Day—as such its purpose included place. That our strategy should be to ac- destroying solidarity among women and pro- quire a lot more information "(census tracts) tecting leadership from criticism. This hid- as to where women worked, what kinds of jobs, den purpose undermined the real advances etc. The development of a program and anal- made by the women and ensured that the poli- ysis of HEW was explicitly argued to be lib- tical advances of the Six Sisters study eral and reformist. The line of women and could not challenge the dominant line of the workplace was consistent with the overall the organization and overturn it. When the line of the school leadership that the fun- group finished its study, it was disbanded. damental contradiction was between the HEW Action 3/8/74 bourgeoisie and the proletariat. The ex- This action nevertheless marked the traction of superprofits and not wage labor possibility of a breakthrough around our and all the relations of production includ- politics: the special oppression of women ing the family and oppressor/oppressed na- was described and identified, and the state tions, defined the base of society. This was named as the main enemy of women. formulation laid the basis for liquidating Women's liberation was understood as a mat- the national question and the women's ques- ter of survival. tion. Linked to this reductionist view of the base, the superstructure was defined as ideology, only: the ideas which reinforced the base. The institutions of society were omitted from the superstructure. This meant omitting the analysis that the institutions of society arise from the base and exist for the purpose of maintaining the base. This eliminates the imperialist state from the analysis. Instead, the state and insti- tutuions of society come to be not embodi- ments of the wage-labor system, formulations of this error are "institutionalized racism and sexism." The wage labor system and the role of women in the family are the material basis of the special oppression of women, but if you leave out the state, you leave out how this oppression is organized, fought for and maintained. You leave out male (and white) supremacy. This is how the woman and national questions got liquidated at Cadre School, and this is at the heart of what we have to overturn now. Cadre School 1 was a turning point in the organization. It was the place where the opportunist line that was sub rosa in the writing of the book, but checked up until its publication, emerged as the dominant line of the organization. Prairie Fire Consistent with this line were com- The politics of Prairie Fire represen- mandist suppressive leadership and rank ted our most advanced understanding about sexist practice. But the wrong line dis- women. The politics of the HEW action are armed our ability to identify this. When developed in the book, both in the sections women disagreed, they were crushed, and explicitly about women, and in the whole. when they were subsequently silent, they There was a critical struggle waged by were criticized for being subjective, lack- women in the writing of the book that women ing self-confidence, unwilling to lead and be understood in the entire analysis —not build organization, passive. This has just in one section: so women are through- been a major manifestation of sexist prac- out, in the history, Vietnam, etc. We tice during the last two years. Women who understood and said that the oppression continued to oppose the line and direction of women was crucial to imperialism, al- of the organization were kicked out or though we could not explain this in depth. isolated based on the same criticisms. Sexism was linked to imperialism. At > When women returned from Cadre School, the same time, the material basis of work on HEW, health,etc. mostly stopped, the oppression of women is missing. and an attempt was made to implement the Thus the analysis is firmly anti-liqui- politics of cadre school, to research where dationist, but not a materialist analy- women work. "Working Women" came out of sis. This was the best of our political this a year later, an article which liqui- line on women (July '74). But these were dated both the national and women's ques- the politics that got once more liquidated tions. The implications of this line was a very short time later at the first Cadre to deny, this time with the cover of phoney school. ml, that the oppression of women is key to 39

imperialism and that women must have a base ship against criticisms of the wrong line. of power in the struggle. Thus women work- The fiercest fighting for the opportunist ing with women was now explicitly viewed line on women was done by women, who were as at best an embarrassment, and at worst promoted and used for this purpose. inherently dangerous and separatist. Thus As women we are responsible for the the second women's newsletter (3/75) con- consequences of what we have developed and tains a short argument for why we should led. But we must look at the roots of male not have all women's collectives in the supremacy and its consequences for women organization: this would reinforce bourge- as the basis for overturning our errors. ois feminist tendencies among women. This There is a material basis for passivity was a specific attack on women in the or- amongst white women in the oppressor na- ganization with a more revolutionary line tion. We think it meant inside our organ- on women. ization complicity and alliance with male There is much more to look at, but supremacy and active enforcement of white the rest of the history is largely exposed supremacy. Passivity is a social expres- in all the issues of OSAWATGMIE and in the sion of real dominance and powerlessness film: from the second editorial where "Urg- of women, rooted in the relations of pro- ent Tasks of the Revolution" omitted the duction, especially the family: private struggle against male supremacy, to "Our servitude and economic dependence on men. Class Stand" which leaves out the special It has to be overcome by attacking male oppression of women, to "Women's Question supremacy. The WUO has always promoted is a Class Question" which liquidates it, passivity as an individual character trait to the last editorial which attempts to and problem of women. This coincides with cover it over. the line "sexism is a bad idea that indivi- In struggling over how we developed dual women should get over." This formula- this line, how we have, plainly speaking, tion makes women out to be weak and con- betrayed women and concretely opposed the firms our worst fears of ourselves. struggle against male supremacy, the pri- We are in the middle of this struggle mary reason to underscore is the material now: what is the relationship of the basis for male supremacy in the oppressor special oppression of women to imperialism? nation. Inside our organization, the male We think it is a cornerstone, decisive, supremacist line was reflected in a male very very important. We think it is a supremacist structure which aided the revolutionary principle, a law of social enforcement of the opportunist line on development in this era that the main women and the national liberation struggle. danger inside the revolutionary movement Women were both suppressed and promoted to is opportunism, that its essence in the leadership on the basis of the wrong line; oppressor nation is the liquidation of the women's leadership was not defined by poli- national and women's question. There is tical line, but as "ability to take respon- a material basis for white and male sup- sibility for the whole," willingness to remacy against which we must wage continu- build organization," "influence over and ous struggle. Agreement with this is the respect of cadre." Women were thus depen- start and the basis for overturning oppor- dent on higher bodies for their leadership tunism and developing correct political and were passive and allied with leader- line. 40 j.b.b.c. self-criticism (This self-criticism is not intended to be really works. Dialectical materialism was John Brown Book Club's final and deepest our philosophical outlook only in words, not statement on our errors during the last year in practice. We did not learn to apply it and a half. It is an initial sketch made concretely, which is it's essence as a phil- publicly - our attempt to deepen the meaning osophy. Without even a rudimentary practice of these documents by applying them to our of this, we were left hopelessly caught up own history.) in our own contradictions, unable to struggle through things in a logical manner. First JBBC came into being, grew and developed, things were often last. Our politics stood now ends its practice and sums up in a period on its head. that has been tumultuous here and elsewhere. Concretely, this meant white and male Events in Seattle and the struggles surround- supremacy were practiced in widespread ways. ing them like the development of the George Women's leadership was turned into women Jackson Brigade, its destruction by the state, could lead by allying themselves with men the deaths of two revolutionary comrades, and and their ideas. Male chauvinism went vir- a federal grand jury assault on the left all tually unchallenged and our bureaucratic helped shape our politics. Physical injuries style of work reflected this in its indivi- caused by misdirected revolutionary violence dualistic work patterns. of the GJB sparked a reactionary response Criticisms from prisoners and from from us and much of the rest of the Seattle Third World movements of the WQO political left. We participated in building a militant line were somehow seen as unimportant. We movement against the grand jury on the one accepted dogmatically the WUO positions with-, hand, while on the other we attempted allian- out struggle and rarely took responsibility ces with organizations of the left, which in for raising the differences we felt. When the face of rising repression would not chal- criticisms were raised internally, they were lenge the state. Our mistakes showed that usually judged by the political line of the we accepted, a piece at a time, the slow, people who made them, rather than substance. sure sell-out of revolutionary armed struggle We sought to correct our traditionally that the WUO made during the 1974-76 period. weak position on the working class in a mech- These were significant, but not the princi- anical way, we squeezed the validity out of pal processes of these times for us. Third World and women's liberation movements The cause of anything is an internal in favor of the "multinational working class" matter determined by the contradictions with- making socialist revolution. We didn't rec- in it. Change and development can be shaped, ognize that imperialism's fundamental contra- but never determined., by external con-- diction (between private appropriation and ditions. As we studied our recent political social production) takes different forms: history, we found that inside JBBC and in oppressor and oppressed nations; male supre- our other work we "had never taken responsibil- macy and women's liberation; bourgeoise and ity for our politics. Political line was proletariat. We saw only the third. something that came from somewhere else, too What we didn't do is lose respect for complex for us to figure out and develop in revolutionary leaders (particularly in PFOC) our busy, harried lives. Theory was some- who eventually challenged the WUO line and thing we accepted from "trusted" leaders, organized for revolutionary politics. This not part of our own political process. It provided the basis for us to begin to ques- has only been in the recent period that the tion our own errors and turn them around. Prairie Fire Organizing Committee has shown Since the Hard Times Conference a us convincingly the necessity for theory and year ago, we have undertaken our own inde- political line. pendent study in a serious way. We are Without a thorough understanding of the trying to link theory and practice in a critical process of testing political theory constantly evaluated back and forth process. in practice, then adjusting the theory to We have deepened our understanding that not account for the errors in practice, we were figuring things out and not acting in a con- totally bound up in moving erratically from scious way leads to the outcome of our work one errant position to the next, one mistake being determined by the spontaneous forces being our reaction to the last. We looked in us and in our young politics. back longingly to the mass movements against the Indochina War. In one way after another, We are coming back around to what was we sought to recreate this type of massive valid and true about our earlier anti-imper- anti-imperialist upsurge without examining ialist politics. This time, however, we carefully our errors of that period. We are armed with a new, more developed self wanted to "massify" the movement, to build of revolutionary tools. Confronting our own on the lowest common denominators. This opportunist and male supremacy and chauvinism process didn't challenge us as revolutionary has given us a political basis with which we people or the movement in general to grow are changing the quality of our realation- and develop in new and better ways. We ship and love for each, other. We see this stood still and the development of the world change as part of our growth and strength as passed us by. revolutionaries. Our only assurance against We never really tried to learn how to falling back is to be constantly shattering think and understand the world the way it the old and creating the new. 41 native american warriors

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE REVOLUTIONARY COMMITTEE OF THE WUO FROM SOME NATIVE AMERICAN WARRIORS: We have read your criticism of the WUO, its Self-Criticism, and the statement by one of its leaders, Bernardine Dohrn. We have read of the crimes which it perpetrated against the Women's Move- ment, the prison movement, the BLA, and of course, we knew only too well those crimes that it corrmitted against us, the armed segment of the Native American Litr- eration struggle—its warriors! In this past year that was such a crucial one in our struggle for sovereignty- -the Bicentennial—in this year in which you were "going to bring the fireworks"— we had begun to wonder what the WUO was going to do to contribute to the revolution we have envisioned. To add to our growing disillusionment with the WUO over these past years was the absence of actions against the State by the WUO during this Bi- centennial. Instead of armed actions directed against the enemy, we received copies of Osawatomie—but again we read an entire issue without seeing a firm dedication to revolutionary principles, knowing that in the actual struggle going on within this oppressor nation, our People were virtually fighting alone and without that WUO support we had expected. Now we understand more completely why Voices From Wounded Knee this happened. Our first reaction to Prairie Fire was one of comradely joy in knowing that some of you in the white Left had begun to publications; how "lip service" to support for Indian resistance would occassionally understand the necessity of armed struggle appear in an issue of Osawatomie; how and had made it a vital part of its program articles about Indian people were so dated for revolution. We fell to some extent un- ("historical"), failing to give current mat- der that "myth of the WUO" which you refer- erial, or actually contained errors in fact; red to in your criticism of the Central how an article referring to a Native Ameri- Committee. But that admiration soon turned can struggle was reported by a non-Indian, to skepticism when we saw how our movement instead of relying on some of the plentiful was treated by the WUO; how our struggle Native American accounts of those same was written up in your press: how little events, or failed to utilize some of our space was given to its struggles in your Native American political worker/writers for contributions. It was obvious to us that the Native American struggle was not regarded as a leading element in the US revolution by the WUO. As the year went on, the white, male, national chauvinist tone to Osawatomie—the voice of the WUO— began to become an,explosive issue with us. this before, but you do not listen. Now we still have these concerns: We are concerned how a revolutionary group criticises itself, and how it allows the enemy (the State) to know of its errors. We are concerned about the value that the Rev- olutionary Committee places on security. We are concerned about where the only group we see in the white Left that has bean able to successfully conduct clandestine warfare against the state, is now going, for we be- lieve strongly in the necessity of such an Voices From Wounded Knee organization in the revolution! We want to Ellen Moves Camp say: now that you have "cleaned house", 42 where are you in the struggle? Where are the oppressor nation continues to oppress you in the revolution? We do not mean those Indian NATIONS within its present where your statements about yourselves say borders in the exploitation of those resour- you are. We want to know if the Revolu- ces, and that this of which we speak is tionary Conmittee is indeed different from more than a historical fact of "The White the Central Conmittee that it has just ex- Man took Indian Land and built his empire posed. Do you still hold onto vestiges of on slaved labor of the Black people." In white privilege? Have you truly rid your- this period of history, when imperialism selves of male chauvinism? Are you accept- has suffered the loss of its colonies in ing Third World leadership and criticism? the Third World, it is beginning to inten- Have you truly reinstated armed struggle sify its exploitation of those resources and clandestinity to its important, vital, found on Indian land, within this country, rightful place? Do you acknowledge Third to replace those it can no longer get else- World Marxist-Leninists within the oppressor where. The importance of this fact for the nation, especially our women? future of imperialism and the potential for In what way do you differ from the old dealing a mighty death blow to this monster leadership? We can only judge by your ac- by denying it those Indian resources, is tions. Is the Revolutionary Conmittee of staggering. We would call your analysis the WUO going to lead to a change in the of the economic crisis incomplete and actions of the organization, so that the lacking in the understanding of the mat- WUO becomes a vital part of the interna- erial basis for imperialism in the oppres- tionalist struggle for nations' self-det- sor nation. Indian voices have told you And then the abandonment of armed strug- ermination, sovereignty, and ultimate gle! Armed struggle is the foundation of our Revolution? We have seen generations of movement. Our people have been fighting im- the white man speaking many words of change, perialism for 300 years. Today, extreme re- and of support for our People. We have pression and confrontations with the state learned many times over that the white man are continually upon us: our homes are at- cannot always be trusted because he says tacked, our leaders shot or assassinated, many things and that his actions do not our women raped and thrown in jail, our match his words. We want to see now, what children are dying in the cities of decay. you are To this, knowing our enemy's true nature, we have responded with direct action! We intent to defeat this enemy. We had expected the same of you. Only now we are beginning to understand how these changes in your organization had come about, and how the WUO had abandoned the politics of Prair- ie Fire. Now, in return to those revolutionary politics of the book, we wonder how deep this new insight has become. We wonder if you truly understand the meaning of armed revolution within this nation, really know the nature of our struggle and of the material basis for our oppression. Do you understand our leadership, and above all, our women? Do you know that many of our leaders in the armed struggle are women? Perhaps we are not vocal, or do not appear before the media. That has not been our concept of leadership. It surely is not guerrilla leadership! Do you know how many of us are Marxist- Leninist? In sweeping aside organizational arrogance, do you pretend to know all there is to the Native American liberation struggle? Or do you take the isolationist position that there is no need to know of our movement or struggle, since you had been planning to lead only the white classes and Left? Is it a reflection of national chauvinism' that you cannot see those of us who are Voices From Wounded Knee Marxist-Leninist? Or is it just another step which kept you from working with us, Native-American Marxist-Leninists? We may "We're not going to massacre the white man, have something to contribute to Marxism- we're going to massacre his attitude and his Leninism in the Oppressor Nation. government." We would call it national chauvinistic Leonard Crow Dog to continue to ignore the historical and Native American spritual leader current rip-off of our natural resources in your analysis of imperialism in the oppressor nation; that in the United States, 43 immigration & naturalization bombing February 3, 1977 deportation sweeps threaten everyone with Statement about the bombing of the Immi- brown skin — with or without papers. In grations and Naturalization Service of the one week last June, 9000 Mexicanos were U.S. Justice Department (San Francisco) rounded up in Los Angeles. INS agents by the Revolutionary Committee opened doors to homes without knocking, grabbed people off the street and forced The Immigration and Naturalization people to sign papers before shipping Service is the federal administrative and them to "detention" center/concentration police body with special authority for the camps. enforcement and oppression of Mexicano and Police brutality and racism are an Latino people. Thousands of Mexicans from everyday part of the lives of Mexicanos Los Angeles to Toledo to Texas to the Im- within the US. The US government puts perial Valley have named and are fighting forward racist legislation such as the against the INS as a major imperialist en- Rodino bill, the Bakke ruling — the emy of the growing movement for self- California State Supreme Court decision determination and national liberation of against open admissions, and recently the Mexicano/Chicano people. the Eilberg bill which separates children This action is done in support of un- from their parents according to their documented workers, in solidarity with the place of birth and slashes the "legal" struggle of Mexicano/Chicano people for immigration of Mexican people by 50%. self-determination. It is also a statement Male supremacy, the special oppres- of intention on our part to put into prac- sion of women, is a pillar of the im- tice as well as words our responsibility perialist's strategy to control the to all Third World people struggling for Mexican nation and its people. Forced national liberation; to women and those sterilization of Mexicanas occurs con- who struggle for the liberation of women; tinually at Los Angeles County Hospital. and to all those who struggle against im- In the fields, entire families are perialism and all forms of opportunism, forced to work to survive and Mexicano white and male supremacy and revisionism. children are often unable to attend As white people, particularly coming from school. In the barrios the tracking an immediate organizational history of of Mexicano children and 56% drop-out white and male supremacy, we do not pre- rate reinforces the attacks against the tend to the depth of understanding and family; as do the constant witch-hunts of knowledge of national liberation struggles Mexicana women on welfare, and laws such that is required of revolutionaries, or as the Eilberg bill. that this act is more than a small step Because male supremacy is a pillar in the process of overturning pst errors. of imperialism, the fight for the libera- The Southwest of what is presently tion of women is of decisive importance called the United States of America is to the overthrow of imperialism. The land stolen from and belonging to Native struggles for justice and dignity in the American and Mexican peoples. In 1976 fields and factories, the fight to pre- alone, more than 650,000 Mexican nationals, serve Mexicano culture through bilingual most living and working in the southwest eduction are only a few of the areas in US, were arrested and deported as "illegal which Mexicana women have been central to aliens." The name "illegal aliens" itself the struggle for national liberation and is a racist lie. It is the US imperialist the liberation of women. border that is illegal and the imperialists The Mexicano/Chicano struggle for themselves who are alien: who stole and self-determination, from the battles of have been exploiting the natural and human workers with or without papers, to the resources of Native American nations for armed land seizures by Mexican peasants, 400 years; who built the US off the backs to the campaigns against forced steriliz- and in the blood of the enslaved Black ation and against police repression and nation. In the past we have rejected the racist legislation is part of the leading conclusion that must be drawn from US forces destroying US imperialism. history: that the US is not a country, Our responsibility as communists of it is an empire, depending for its exist- the white oppressor nation is to oppose ence on the subjugation and domination of white and male supremacy in ourselves and whole nations abroad and at home, their in our class and to organize active revol- land, people and resources; and that the utionary support for national liberation struggle for self-determination and the movements, especially those of nations liberation of imprisoned nations means the held captive inside the US borders; and destruction of imperialism. to fight for and organize active revolu- Mexicano people south and north of tionary support for the liberation of the border live under US imperialism's women. The timetable for revolution in social, political and economic control. the US is the timetable of Third World US capital's control of the Mexican econo- peoples' struggle for self-determination my has meant rotten living and working and national liberation. conditions including over 40% unemploy- All of this is the opposite of most ment. This plus the promise of higher of oppressor nation history including our wages has forced millions of Mexicans to own. It is our responsibility to seek migrate north to work on land stolen from and recognize the leadership of national them over 100 years ago. For the US this liberation struggles and Third World migration of Mexicans is crucial to the revolutionaries, of revolutionary women; functioning of the economy; imperialism whose public and principles criticisms of requires a reserve army of labor that can us are guiding us in our struggle to expand or contract according to the needs overturn our past errors and move on. of capital. White and male supremacy, rooted in The imperialist system of national the material base of imperialism, are the oppression attacks Mexican people inside principal forces holding back revolutionary the US. At the so-called border, Mexicans struggle by the working class of the op- are faced with the well-armed INS border pressor nation in the US. Our strategy patrol using anti-personnel methods first is to arm and defend the peoples resistance developed in Vietnam. Racist gangs, to white and male supremacy; to arm and sanctioned by the INS, rob, rape and mur- defend the struggle for and in support of der Mexicanos traveling north. 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