IN DEFENSE OF THE RIGHT TO POLITICAL SECESSION FOR THE AFRO-AMERICAN NATION Papers and Resolutions from the School on the Afro-American National Question September, 1982 $2.50 TABLE OF CONTENTS DOCUMENTS FROM SCHOOL ON AFRO-AMERICAN NATIONAL QUESTION Introduction — In Defense of the Right to Political Secession for the Afro-American Nation . 1 Marxism and the National-Colonial Question 3 The Development of the Afro-American Nation 16 Against Revisionism on the Afro-American National Question 24 Bibliography 41 Has the Afro-American Nation 'Disappeared?' 42 Statement by the Red Dawn Collective 45 Resolutions 46 Sponsored by: Revolutionary Political Organization Marxist Leninist Amilcar Cabral/Paul Robeson Collective Also participating: Red Dawn Collective and progressive anti-imperialist fighters ADDITIONAL COPIES OF THIS PAMPHLET MAY BE ORDERED FROM: Revolutionary Political Organization Marxist-Leninist P.O. Box 15914 New Orleans, Louisiana 70175 Amilcar Cabral/Paul Robeson Collective P.O. Box 27314 Raleigh, North Carolina 26610 Red Dawn Collective P.O. Box 1854 Manhattanville Station New York, New York 10027 PRICE: $2.50 Bulk Rates Available Introduction In Defense of the Right to Political Secession for the Afro-American Nation The articles published in this pamphlet were originally others. Thus, we see growing and intensifying political presented at the Marxist-Leninist School on the Afro- tyranny and suffering inflicted upon the Afro-American American National Question, held in September, 1982, in Nation, manifested in the revival of the fascist movement, the Black Belt. Participating in the conference were the KKK, the Moral Majority, etc., using the doctrine of members of three organizations — the Amilcar white supremacy as its main tenet. The years ahead pro- Cabral/Paul Robeson Collective, the Revolutionary mise a great sharpening of both the national and class Political Organization/Marxist-Leninist, and the Red Dawn conflicts in this country. The ruling class is working to in- Collective — as well as other anti-imperialist fighters. The cite what it calls "race war" in order to undermine and conference was called in order to reaffirm and clarify the defeat both the class war of the proletariat and the war of position of the Afro-American people as an oppressed na- national liberation of the Afro-American people. tion and to defend the slogan of the right of self- There is no question but that only a strong Marxist- determination for the Afro-American Nation, i.e., the right Leninist movement, which recognizes and fights for the to secede from the United States and to establish an in- right of the oppressed nations to secede and form their dependent state. own national states, can make proletarian unity possible. The recognition of the Afro-American people as an op- Only such a movement can guarantee that the struggle of pressed nation is not a new position — indeed, Lenin, the Afro-American people for liberation and the class Stalin, the Communist Internationale, and the Communist struggle of the workers are united and not split apart and Party U.S.A., in its revolutionary period, all upheld this derailed. view. Revolutionary petty bourgeois Afro-American na- Recognizing the necessity of reaffirming and further tionalists have also, throughout the history of the Afro- developing the Marxist-Leninist position on the Afro- American liberation struggle, demanded the right to an in- American national question in preparation for the strug- dependent state. However, there has been tremendous gles ahead, the Amilcar Cabral/Paul Robeson Collective resistance to this view, emanating in the first place from and the Revolutionary Political Organization/Marxist- the Anglo-American imperialist bourgeoisie which insists Leninist organized this school. The groups and individuals that the borders of the United States are immutable, "one that participated all uphold the right of the Afro-American nation, under Cod, indivisible with liberty and justice for Nation to self-determination and also share unity on a all." number of other questions of principle. They came The chauvinist view of the Anglo-American bourgeoisie together to reach agreement on the critical questions of has been defended with determination by the revisionists political line involved in the Afro-American national ques- of the CPUSA as well as the other revisionist organizations tion, and to establish a program of common action. The that have emerged over the last decade. These chauvinists conference was characterized by a comradely spirit and cover their defense of the subjugation of the Afro- frank, vigorous discussion and participation. American Nation with elaborate arguments on why the It should be noted that there are still differences outstand- Afro-American people are not a nation and therefore have ing on several very important points: (1) the role of mass no national rights, and some even theorize away the Afro- organizations established along national lines and the at- American Nation and its struggle under the slogan, "For a titude of Marxist-Leninists towards this form of organization; United Struggle for Socialism." Thus, the fight for (2) the revolutionary capacity of the Anglo-American section socialism itself, in the hands of the revisionists, is used to of the U.S. proletariat and the effect of the bribery of the attack the fight for self-determination of the oppressed na- labor aristocracy on this section. Despite this, however, the tion. The overwhelming chauvinism that has pervaded the conference was marked by the agreement of the organiza- "left" in the United States has not helped to unite the U.S. tions on critical questions of political line and by the en- proletariat, as is claimed by the revisionists, but instead thusiastic agreement on the part of all of the participants to has helped to perpetuate national oppression, national carry out joint work to implant the Marxist-Leninist position conflicts and antagonisms. on the Afro-American national question. The publication of The necessity for advancing a thoroughly democratic this pamphlet is the first step in this work. and Marxist-Leninist line on the Afro-American national The first article in this pamphlet reviews the general line of question is becoming more pressing with every passing Marxism-Leninism on the national question. It brings to the day. The world-wide economic and political crisis of reader's attention the most important teachings of Lenin and capitalism is creating conditions of grave political instabili- Stalin on the national question, teachings which have been ty and growing unrest among the working class and op- distorted or ignored by the revisionists. pressed peoples. The Anglo-American bourgeoisie is The second article outlines the history, formation and mounting an all-sided attack on the working class and the characteristics of the Afro-American Nation. It refutes the oppressed nations, including the Afro-American Nation, baseless arguments and sophistry used by the revisionists to in order to place the burden of thjs crisis on the backs of deny the national characteristics and national rights of the Afro-American people. The third article specifically exposes the history of revi- sionism on the Afro-American national question. Starting with the roots of this revisionism in the CPUSA, it goes on to criticize the various manifestations of this chauvinist line to- day, both subtle and blatant, in a number of revisionist organizations. A fourth article was added to the papers following the school. It reviews bourgeois census statistics which show that the Black Belt remains an area of stable and, in fact, growing Afro-American population. A final article outlines the views of the Red Dawn Col- lective on the Afro-American national question, reaffirm- ing its unity with the demand for self-determination. Resolutions which were adopted by the participants follow the papers. A paper presented at the school on the history of the Afro-American liberation movement will be published at a future date. Marxism-Leninism and the National-Colonial Question REVOLUTIONARY POLITICAL ORGANIZATION/MARXIST-LENINIST IMPERIALISM AND THE Imperialist domination today takes various forms. Some nations, such as Puerto Rico, remain under the rule of NATIONAL QUESTION classical colonial regimes. Others, such as El Salvador, are A feature of imperialism is the oppression of nations. ruled by neo-colonial regimes. Still other nations have The capitalist world is divided into two types of nations — evolved within the state boundaries of the imperialist the handful of developed, capitalist oppressor nations, states, and are retained within those boundaries by force. and the great majority of underdeveloped, oppressed na- In these multinational imperialist states, the oppressed na- tions. This division took place with the colonial conquest tions are subject to persecution and exploitation by the of the less developed nations and peoples by the im- oppressor nation. Such is the case with the oppressed perialist powers. In the period of colonial rule, nearly all Afro-American and Chicano Nations and native peoples of the nations and peoples of Africa, Asia, and Latin within the United States. America were reduced to colonial possessions under the As the world economy becomes ever more integrated, rule of the imperialist nations. Others were reduced to national economic independence is continually nar- semi-colonial status — nominally independent, but still rowed. Because imperialist exploitation constantly rein- subject to economic, political and military domination by forces the inequality of nations, economic power is being the imperialist powers. Today, as the result of the heroic concentrated more and more into the hands of the im- national liberation wars waged by the colonized peoples, perialist powers, while the oppressed nations become the number of colonies has been reduced to a handful. more and more dependent. As long as the system of However, despite the fact that these oppressed nations capitalist imperialism exists, national inequality and na- won nominal political independence, they were still tional conflict will continue and intensify.