Corresponder Articles from the Corresponder Vol. 7
No. 3 - click on title:
NCC
plans 'working convention' in August The NCC decided at its November meeting to hold a national working
convention next August. It will be held on the campus of North Carolina Central University
in Durham, N.C. Jay Shaffner, a member of the National Executive Committee, opened
the discussion of the convention at the NCC meeting. He proposed a timeline that would
allow sufficient time for preconvention discussion, preparation of a draft resolution,
regional meetings, as well as visits and phone contacts to local areas. There was much discussion of the character of the convention. The
dominant opinion was that the CofC needs a convention, and a preconvention period, that
can reinvigorate the membership. Some felt there should be a conscious effort to reach out
to North Carolina activists, while others felt it should be a more internal convention,
answering questions about the nature of our organization and members' role in the mass
movement. Carole Lambiase noted that we need a convention that is both
theoretical and practical - combining such questions as an analysis of the theoretical
aspects of neoliberal policy with concrete discussions of how you mobilize to save Social
Security. Charlene Mitchell urged that we take advantage of the convention
site to reach out to activists in North Carolina's mass movement and help build on the
work of local CofC chapters. Carl Bloice stressed the importance of gearing our convention Leslie Cagan added that the convention should be an attempt to
"recruit our own members." By a "working convention," she said, she
means hashing out issues like "what does it mean to be in a socialist
organization?" and "what is it that we do?" Eric Quezada said that we need a convention that both reinvigorates
our members and engages local forces in North Carolina. Among the proposals that were
adopted was one to create a Convention Organizing Committee consisting of Robin Busch,
Leslie Cagan, Jim Campbell, Pat Fry, Charlene Mitchell, Eric Quezada, Cheryl Richards and
Jay Schaffner. It was agreed that Jay Schaffner and Barry Cohen will draft a
convention resolution that attempts to outline the issues of discussion. It will be
submitted to the NCC by Feb. 1, 1999, for discussion at their March meeting. Regional
meetings will be held after the convention resolution has been finalized. The Corresponder
and the CofC web page will be used for preconvention discussion, and the entire membership
will receive Dialog & Initiative throughout the preconvention period. Six Southern
Regional Assemble: Zach Robinson, NEC member and chair of the Living Wage Committee,
noted that "it is right to seek justice for the poor and oppressed." He pointed
out that Dr. King had come to the conclusion that it was necessary to "restructure
the edifice" of capitalism to abolish poverty and want. Jim Campbell, NCC member from
South Carolina, discussed Dr. King's role as a radical in the literal sense - one who gets
to the root of a problem. He cited the example of the Poor People's Campaign as a
way to organize people against poverty and unemployment. Participants in the meeting discussed current struggles and the
CofC's role in those struggles. Shirley McClain, an NCC member, pointed out the importance
of struggle as a conduit for change and how the Living Wage campaign helps to change
people's consciousness. For years socialism has been a taboo subject, she said, and it is
important to educate people about socialism. "There is power in knowledge,"
McClain said, "and we must raise people's knowledge about socialism."
Meeting participants also took time to discuss their personal lives and how they came to
political activity. They come from a variety of backgrounds, including activities in the
trade union movement, elections, housing struggles, the civil rights and anti-war
movements. Some participants are from small towns in the South with backgrounds as
sharecroppers, while others are from the cities, with more industrial backgrounds. On Saturday afternoon the meeting was moved to the King Memorial and
the federal park adjacent to it. After a brief discussion on the significance of Dr. King
as a radical leader the group toured the site, viewing personal effects of Dr. King that
are kept on display. After a trip to the gift shop to purchase items for friends and
family, the group visited the federal memorial. There they viewed photographs of King and
the civil rights movement, a dramatic life-sized statue of a civil rights march, and a NCC discusses struggle for socialism, democracy There was considerable discussion about the concept of
"neoliberalism," with some not sure what it means and others thinking that use
of the term is not applicable to the United States. There was also discussion on the
validity of significant divisions within the capitalist class and whether tactical
alliances are possible with some sections of that class. It was also noted that we cannot
neglect other social movements, and that the trade union movement is not the only form of
organization of the working class. Fry's contribution was an attempt to further define the CofC. She
made it clear that she was offering her contribution for discussion and was not proposing
its adoption by the NCC. However, she expressed concern that if we fail to "further
define our organization we will lose it." Fry pointed out that the struggles
for economic justice and social equality are the key arenas for progress, and that the
Living Wage campaign is an effort to link these two issues. In that struggle she
identified the importance of the alliance between the labor movement and the movements for
social equality, particularly the African American and Latino movements, as being
key. She also noted that failure to take on the struggles against racism and sexism
will cripple the fight for social progress. In the electoral field, she argued that the
CofC should fight against reactionary candidates, mobilize support for candidates running
on a progressive agenda, and strengthen independent political expressions. On building the
CofC, she reiterated that we must build the mass democratic movement, build the broad
left, and build socialist organizations. NCC members expressed some difference of opinion about the
importance of the Living Wage campaign. Jay Shaffner said that it should be our goal to
have every chapter work on the campaign. On the other hand, David Cohen said that he
considers the living wage campaign to be the wrong focus, and that it will not move us
forward. Harry Targ argued that the campaign allows us to address a number of other
related issues. Charlene Mitchell stated that the CofC needs a sense of direction.
She noted that advocating pluralism does not mean that an organization must refrain from
taking a stand, and argued that class, race, and gender should be the prism through which
we view things. Mike Smith argued for the importance of independent politics and
criticized CofC support for Democratic Party candidates. LABOR TASK FORCE MEETING Labor movement activists from coast to coast gathered in Chicago
Sept. 25-27 for the first national meeting hosted by the CofC Labor Task Force. Forty-five
trade unionists from several unions - both seasoned and younger activists - responded to
the Conference Call to participate in a discussion of the role of socialists in the labor
movement. In opening remarks, national Labor Task Force chair David Cohen
called for a frank and sharp discussion on the key issues facing today's labor movement.
"The balance of forces today in terms of union power vs. corporate power is defined
by a growing imbalance in the distribution of wealth," he said. "The gap between
rich and poor is growing while union membership is declining." Cohen
highlighted the defense of Social Security from efforts to privatize the system as one of
many important challenges. "The right wing and the corporate agenda is pushing for
privatization. The right sees it as driving a stake through the last remnant of socialism
in the U.S. Social Security is an issue that can unite the working class." Six workshops on questions posed in the conference call provided
lively exchanges. Differences and agreements were put frankly on the table. Participants
expressed frustration with lack of time, noting that the meeting provided a forum for a
much-needed discussion among socialists on strategies and tactics. A plenary discussion on the role of socialists in the labor movement
followed a presentation by Carl Bloice on the second day. Bloice posed the question,
"Is there something to being a socialist that goes beyond having the right positions
or the most moral or ethical position on most questions?" In answer, he
suggested that the role of socialists in the trade union movement is "how to be
ideological. It is the ability to see the larger picture, to analyze and project possible
answers to problems, to raise and ponder theoretical and practical questions, to affect
class consciousness." Bloice pointed to the example of the Communist Manifesto, which 150
years ago spelled out fundamental political objectives of the workers' movement.
"Every one of those objectives is now under attack," he said. "Eighty five
years after the Communist Manifesto was written, the U.S. labor movement, largely under
left influence, was able to enact some of that political program in the form of Social
Security, unemployment insurance, and a whole host of other measures. The challenge before
us as socialists is to figure out how our work relates to that goal of advancing that
political perspective." The meeting ended with agreement to publish workshop presentations
as a basis for continued discussions nationally and locally on the following principles:
Participants agreed that the discussions and exchanges should lead
to the publication of pamphlets as well as an additional piece on defense of Social
Security. It was also agreed that the CofC should initiate discussion with others for the
building of a left in the labor movement aimed at unity on programmatic issues, and should
organize left labor and rank and file forms in local areas. It was agreed that the Labor
Task Force should plan for annual national meetings of CofC union activists. Two
CofC activists win Bannerman Fellowships Mitchell, a lifelong activist, became involved in the anti-fascist
movement during World War II, the anti-McCarthy and Disarmament campaigns of the '50s and
the civil rights movement of the '60s. She led the campaign that freed Angela Davis, then
was the founder and executive director of the National Alliance against Racist &
Political Repression. She was the CofC's first national coordinator and has been a
national co-chair since its founding. Bennett has been at the center of labor organizing in Charleston,
S.C., since the 1940s, including the historic Charleston hospital workers' strike in 1969
and numerous successful union drives for RWDSU. He continues to organize with the Carolina
Alliance for Fair Employment (CAFE), a multiracial workers' rights organization, and the
Grassroots Coalition, which was formed to address problems related to the closure of the
Charleston Navy Yard. Week-long
school expands CofC educational work Key to the wonderful dynamic of the six days was the diversity of
the group - 15 women and nine men drawn from many regions of the country, with 12 Black
participants, eleven white, and one Latino, as well as four people under the age of 30.
The goal of the school was to prepare cadre for the growth and development of the CofC,
and to expand the organization's educational work beyond the study groups that have been
established in several areas of the country. The issues of class, race and gender were
threaded throughout the discussions, both formal and informal. A session on the Communist
Manifesto brimmed over to many other topics, giving rise to requests for extra time to
discuss the work. "How can we decide what we want to do together, before we
understand why we are doing it?" asked Timothy Johnson. His session on strategy and
tactics related reform struggles to revolutionary goals. The group explored the political
basis for the Living Wage campaign with Charlene Mitchell. Those ideas were further
developed in a subsequent session on building the campaign, drawing lessons from the
experience of North Carolina CofC members. The school closed with a day of specific ideas
for living wage legislation, a petition drive, and a lively round-robin in which everyone
suggested creative campaign tactics to the Living Wage Committee. A typical day began at 9:30 with a hearty breakfast, followed by a
gathering under the trees for a presentation and discussion. Reading materials for each
day were distributed the day before. Lunch was followed by several hours of free time for
study, recreation or rest. A second presentation and discussion began at 3:30 and
continued until suppertime. But the discussion continued spontaneously most evenings, in
gatherings around the campfire. On the second day of the school, participants were shaken by news of
the murder of a Black youth by members of the predominantly white police force of nearby
Ossining. The evening class was suspended and participants joined a protest march led by
the local NAACP through downtown Ossining, followed by a community meeting. The campfire
discussion that followed was dominated by a lively debate on the struggle for affirmative
action in the nation's police forces. Evening cultural programs included a songfest around a campfire with
Local 802 musician John O'Connor. A storyteller, Lynn Beville, drew on original material
with African American themes. The final evening was a huge barbecue with music, song,
dance and reluctant farewells. The curriculum was planned by a committee composed of Mael Apollon,
Robin Busch, Leslie Cagan, Pat Fry, Bob Greenberg, Mel Pritchard, Roque Ristorucci and
Zach Robinson. In the follow-up to the Leadership Training School, the curriculum planning
committee has now become the National Education and Literature Committee. It is co-chaired
by Bob Greenberg and Mel Pritchard. One of the new committee's goals will be to develop
study guides and popular literature. If you think that you can be a resource to this
committee, please contact the national office. Participants assess the school On the aspect of the school they most enjoyed:
Other comments included:
CofC TASK FORCES The Labor Task Force proposed to publish the workshop presentations
from its recent conference and to add an additional publication on saving Social Security.
They also resolved to pay more attention to the South and to help build
communication between the Task Force and Southern trade unionists affiliated with the
CofC. Several members of the Labor Task Force attended the Labor Party convention and
submitted a report. For a copy see our website ()
or contact the national office. The African American Task Force is in the process of being
reconstituted. A core group has been formed and in the following months they plan to
reach out to other CofC members engaged in anti-racist work or working in the African
American community. There is a tentative plan for a meeting in the spring of 1999 that
would help build for the Convention. The Task Force views its work as theoretical
and practical. The theoretical section will concentrate on the production of articles and
pamphlets on such topics as AIDS and the African American community, the centrality of the
movement for African American equality, and living wage campaign strategies. The practical part will deal with organizing and collectivizing the
participation of CofC members in organizations such as the Black Radical Congress and
other areas where members are actively involved. A survey will be sent out to African
American CofC members to identify areas of political activity. The Youth Task Force presented its new editor for Relevant -
Allen Praness, who has worked on a number of left publications, including one for DSA. His
conception of Relevant is that it be an outlet for the writings of youth who are slightly
to the left of the mainstream left publications. The Publications Committee resolved to continue publishing D&I
and to make the Corresponder the central vehicle for preconvention discussion. Depending
upon the flow of submissions, this may necessitate a more frequent publishing schedule. It
was also decided to use the CofC's web page for preconvention discussion and to publicize
the convention. The Education Committee is considering the possibility of a
three-day school to be held just prior to the convention, an educational trip to Cuba, and
printing a number of pamphlets on various subjects. The Independent Political Parties Task
Force is continuing to work on a national dialogue to encourage unity and networking among
the various independent political parties. It will also look at the issue of campaign
finance reform in relation to independent politics. The Peace & Solidarity Task Force is in discussion with
representatives from the World Peace Council about an organizing effort for an
international meeting to be held in the fall. The Fund Drive Committee urged work on a
year-end appeal and a fund drive aimed at building for the convention. They will also work
on preparing a budget for the convention. African-American Task Force CofC
urges immediate action to save Mumia This will not happen immediately, because Mumia's attorneys have
filed an application for a rehearing of the appeal (on the grounds that the state Supreme
Court accepted the finding of facts by Judge Albert Sabo as though the hearings before him
were fair and honest). The filing for a new trial will keep the case in the state court
system for the immediate future, and may delay a new death warrant. However, when Gov. Ridge signs a death warrant, Mumia will have just
30-90 days to convince a federal judge to issue a stay of execution. That may be hard to
obtain because standards for federal review are dramatically higher than in the past, due
to passage of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1996. Developments in the case will require
an immediate response, so it is extremely important that Mumia's supporters arrange to
stay abreast of the latest news and be prepared to take action as soon as news breaks. For information on the East Coast, call (215) 476-8812 or (212)
330-8029; in San Francisco, call (415) 821-0459. To be on an e-mail list that provides
constant updates on the case, send your e-mail address to radioqc@sirius.com. To receive regular mailings, send
a contribution of $25 or more to Prison Radio/Quixote, PO Box 5206, Hyattsville, MD. Here are some other ways you can help:
CofC members across the country have been active in the campaign to
save Mumia. CofC joined hundreds of activists and organizations in placing a full page
advertisement in the New York Times of Oct. 16, 1998. Many local CofC's contributed to the
cost. LIVING WAGE CAMPAIGN Several NCC members questioned two aspects of the proposal. Barry
Cohen suggested that advocating that Medicare be extended to those covered by the living
wage would exclude those who are unemployed. He argued that we have always been
"universal" in our demands for coverage by social programs, and that this would
be an unfortunate departure from that history. Charlene Mitchell argued that the proposal
reflected a partial demand and that, short of universal health coverage (which we
support), this would represent a significant advance. A vote was taken and the majority of NCC members decided that the
language of the legislation should be amended to make it universal. That decision caused
several members of the Living Wage Committee, who had drafted the original proposal, to
decline to continue serving on the committee. A compromise was reached in which it was
decided that the Living Wage Committee will continue as constituted for the time being and
that an ad hoc committee consisting of Barry Cohen, Mike Smith, Merle Ratner and Arthur
Kinoy will be created for the sole purpose of drafting new legislation encompassing the
position put forward by the NCC. There was also some discussion on whether the CofC should advance
specific legislation at all - as opposed to discussing, in general, the need for national
legislation and drawing on the ideas of other organizations. It was thought that the CofC
should advance its own concept and try to build unity around that vision, while being open
to compromise about the specific language that embodies the proposal. Campaigns are gaining around the country Living-wage advocates in San Francisco have begun drafting a
proposal that calls for at least $13 an hour with benefits and $14.50 an hour without. The
San Francisco Chronicle reported that San Jose is the 18th U.S. city to have established a
living wage. Others include Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Des Moines, Detroit, Durham, N.C.,
Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Portland, Ore., and St. Paul, Minn. Louisvillians lay plans to win a living wage The proposed ordinance also provides that covered businesses must
comply with affirmative action laws. At this summer's State Fair, Louisville activists
gathered over 6,000 signatures on petitions favoring such a law. It is hoped that the
ordinance will be introduced in 1999, the year that Louisville will host the national Jobs with Justice convention. BLACK RADICAL CONGRESS On the weekend of June 19-21, more than 2,000 activists gathered for
the founding convention of the Black Radical Congress. A number of left-wing organizations
and prominent personalities participated in the workshops and plenary sessions. Some 15
members of the Committees of Correspondence participated in the conference, staffing a
literature table and distributing a CofC leaflet. Charlene Mitchell, a member of the
CofC's National Executive Committee, described the gathering as "an important and
impressive event." She noted that many young people participated, and that
people from the Midwest and the South took part. "This was also the first conference of its kind where feminists
played an active and leading role," Mitchell noted. "And they made a
difference." A draft proposal for the continuation of the BRC was voted on and
adopted during the last day. Among other things, it notes that membership includes
individuals and organizations and represents a "united front of the Black left."
One of the more inventive sessions of the congress was a dialogue between young activists
and activists of the 1960s. There was some criticism of the limited role of trade union
activists. Mitchell noted that "there are some who don't see labor as playing a
significant role and some of those who claim that they see this role have not figured out
how to actually organize trade union activists to participate." Workshops covering a variety of topics were organized. They included
police brutality, welfare reform, radicalism in the 1930s, and women's, feminist, and gay
issues. A Continuations Committee was formed to to handle organizational details, resolve
problems, and plan for the next national congress. It has already met several times,
elected a national leadership, and approved a document entitled "The Freedom Agenda
for the 21st Century." The Freedom Agenda consists of ten points expressing the
vision of the BRC. It addresses the issues of employment at a living wage, secure housing,
quality healthcare, the right to reproductive choice, free education, and freedom from
national, racial, sexual, or gender-based discrimination. It was decided that BRC's main areas of work will be around the
issues of economic justice, the police state, reparations, and public education. Plans are
also being made for another Congress in the year 2000, which will be held in Washington,
D.C. Documents from the BRC are available on the World Wide Web at .
blackradicalcongress.com. Critical
Resistance Conference Targets Prison-Industrial Complex Over 3,000 people came together in Berkeley Sept. 25-27 to challenge
the prison-industrial complex, and to develop a movement that can inject the issue into
the wide range of struggles they are already involved in. More than a year in the
organizing, the Critical Resistance Conference was an incredible success. Widespread
interest in the issue was reflected in pre-registrations by more than 1,200 people. In
fact, over 3,000 people ultimately attended the conference at the University of
California/Berkeley. Questions around the prison-industrial complex were addressed in
more than 180 workshops, panel discussions, cultural performances and film festivals. An
extremely diverse group of presenters included youths, prisoners (including former
political prisoners), parents, scholars, etc. The conference was made possible with the
help of over 150 volunteers who performed a variety of tasks from art to security. Speaking at the opening plenary, Angela Y. Davis, a member of the
conference organizing committee, defined critical resistance as meaning to
"critically resist and resist critically the prison-industrial complex."
In that process of resistance, she said, the term "prison-industrial complex"
will become part of the everyday vocabulary of the general public. One important focus of the workshops was to educate participants
about the inhumane treatment that prisoners endure, and the corporate motives that have
resulted in a wave of construction of new prisons - "213 from 1990 to 1995,"
according to the New York Times. One example of the link between profits and conditions in
the nation's prisons and jails is the correlation between the growth of managed health
care in New York jails and the number of deaths this year. As the New York Times reported
on Oct. 1, "health officials insist that the overall quality of care for inmates
remains high. But both the Manhattan District Attorney's office and the New York City
Board of Correction are investigating whether a deterioration in medical care contributed
to the deaths of several inmates this year. And some critics, including current and former
jail doctors, have contended that pressure to cut costs have seriously eroded the level of
service provided." This kind of profit at the cost of prisoners' lives was a point
made very well by the presenters of the conference. Other crucial topics included: the increasing number of women
incarcerated in prisons built for men; the extent to which prisoners' labor is exploited;
the link between the military and the prison-industrial complex, etc. I was impressed by
the profound level of youth participation, both inside and outside the conference. I met
members of a group called OLIN, which means "movement," organizing a walk-out by
thousands of students in the Bay Area, to protest the building of jails and prisons. For
security reasons, OLIN did not divulge the date of the action at the conference - but on
Oct. 1 thousands of students walked out, by word-of-mouth alone. After the conference closing plenary, a march and demonstration were
scheduled at a jail which is being constructed near a high school in Berkeley. At the
steps of Sproul Hall, on the U.C./Berkeley campus, there were huge puppets representing
the groups of people (youth, women, the poor, people of color, etc.) unjustly imprisoned
as a result of the prison-industrial complex. A wooden structure of a prison was erected
in the center of Sproul Plaza, with a puppet representing Mumia Abu Jamal at its center.
Everyone wrote the names of prisons or prisoners on pieces of paper and taped them to the
wooden prison. After breaking down the walls of Jericho - the prison-industrial complex -
conference participants freed Mumia, then walked to the prison construction site to
demonstrate in protest Audio clips of presentations and Pacifica radio coverage of
the conference, as well as prisoners' poems and letters, are available on the internet, at
www.prisonactivist.org/critical/netcast/
. CofC Update: Metro
New York: Metro NY CofC accelerated its activity in the Living Wage campaign
by urging its chapters to develop lists of potential supporters of national legislation
for a living wage that includes medical care and child care for workers. It was reported
that the organizations and coalitions on the final list will receive a letter enlisting
them in the national campaign and asking them to contact their local CofC's. A financial report was soberly received and the first step to
improvement has been taken: a fund-appeal letter was sent to New York members from
Charlene Mitchell, National Co-Chair, and Irving Beinin, of the NY Coordinating Committee.
It urges members "to make as generous a financial contribution as you can, so that
together we will be able to continue the enthusiasm by having the resources to implement
our resolutions." The letter noted that "the exciting accomplishment of the
(Oct. 25) meeting was that we were able to have intense discussion including important
disagreements in an atmosphere of camaraderie. The ... resolution on our approach to the
elections and the vote reflects not only the fact that we have important differences but The latest edition of Neighborhood News was distributed. A
publication of the Lower East Side chapter, the eight-page mewsletter featured stories
about local school board reforms spearheaded by the Por Los Ninos/ Parent-Community
Coalition in which CofC members participate, news about an effort by Mexican workers in
green groceries to join a union and a report on the city's auction of Charas/El
Bohio, an important community and cultural center, and the struggle to save it. The Metro
New York Holiday Party will take place Saturday, Dec. 19, at 7 p.m., at 122 W. 27th St.,
10th floor. Several CofC members were among the hundreds of people who turned
out in Warren, Ohio, on Aug. 8, as the Klu Klux Klan held a demonstration here, part of
its campaign to demonstrate in every Ohio county. Earlier rallies by this handful of robed
racists have also been met by hundreds of concerned anti-racist citizens. Downtown Warren
was barricaded by police, sheriffs and deputized private security guards, who actively
discouraged protestors from getting to the courthouse. However, several hundred students,
trade unionists, religious leaders and concerned citizens showed up to exhibit our disgust
and to exercise our right to drown out the KKK's racist dribble. Several members and
supporters of the Committees of Correspondence drove in from Cleveland to participate in
the anti-Klan demonstration. PRECONVENTION
DISCUSSION The following position by Corresponder editor Tim Johnson was
written in response to the CofC National Labor Task Force's call to a conference held in
September in Chicago (see page 4). It is reprinted here as part of pre-convention
discussion. Responses are welcomed. This is written with the assumption that there is
consensus in the CofC on the correctness of affirmative action and that any differences
that exist are of relative unimportance. But restating the obvious may be necessary.
Affirmative action, put simply, is merely a means to remedy past discrimination and limit
current discrimination. Literally, it demands that an employer (in the case of job-related
affirmative action) do something positive to ensure equality of opportunity and/or result.
This is far from an advanced democratic demand (Lyndon Johnson was a big proponent). It
only attempts to ensure equality of access and representation. The particular forms of
affirmative action may vary. In its effort to restrict gains made as a result of the civil rights
movement, the right wing has brought affirmative action under direct attack. In many
cases, such as at the University of California, it has been eliminated. If we can't win
the struggle for a general democratic demand, we are unlikely to win struggles for
advanced demands. Various articles in CofC publications have argued the validity of
affirmative action. I won't repeat them here. Rather, this article will look at the
strategic importance of the struggle for affirmative action as a part of the movement for
African American equality, and its role in building an alignment of social forces that can
challenge the rule of capital. In spite of possible differences on issues of strategy, there are
some generally understood assumptions on a few questions. Firstly, that the alliance
between the multi-national working class (including its organized sector) and the
oppressed nationalities is critical in any alignment of forces that would be capable of
advancing towards socialism. This point is made in the call for a labor conference, which
states: "Concrete programs that advance the struggle for equality of all racially and
nationally oppressed people, in particular African American and Latino peoples, are
fundamental to a united working class movement." However, the correctness of this
formulation is somewhat circumscribed by the previous formulation, which states:
"Attempts to organize or mobilize for progressive goals on the basis of anything but
full equality of women and men and opposition to homophobia will fail." The problem is that the formulations, taken together or separately,
fail to recognize the centrality of the issue of African American equality. The struggle
for African American equality is central to any struggle for the radical transformation of
the United States. The two main reasons are the role of the African American people in
U.S. history and political economy, and the historic and current role that anti-African
American racism plays in the general society. Marx recognized the role of the slave trade in relation to primitive
accumulation in Europe. This was behind his comment in "Capital" that "the
turning of Africa into a warren for the commercial hunting oflack-skins, signalised the
rosy dawn of the era of capitalist production." Less widely known is the role that the slave trade played in the
development of capitalism in the U.S. A recent dissertation showed that U.S. participation
in the slave trade "facilitated the accumulation of capital by a wealthy merchant
class mainly in New England. This class was thus enabled to expand its commercial activity
and later to invest in manufacturing and industrial capitalism, especially in the textile
industry." The African American people have been central to the productive
process since the beginning of capital formation in the U.S. Primitive accumulation was
largely the result of the slave trade and the relatively small role played by U.S.
mercantile capitalists. While the genesis of the industrial working class was in the
textile mills of New England, the raw materials they were spinning and weaving were grown
in the South through the use of African American slave labor. This key role in the
productive process has continued down through today. African Americans are a
disproportionate share of workers in a number of key industries and fields, including
auto, steel, public service and healthcare. In addition, they are a disproportionate share of those Marx
referred to as the relative surplus population or "reserve army of the
unemployed" - particularly its stagnant sector. Discussing the stagnant sector of the
relative surplus population, Marx noted: "Its conditions of life sink below the
average normal level of the working class ... It is characterized by maximum of working
time, and minimum of wages." He pointed out: "not only the number of births and
deaths, but the absolute size of the families stand in inverse proportion to the height of
wages ... This law of capitalistic society would sound absurd to savages, or even
civilized colonists. It calls to mind the boundless reproduction of animals individually
weak and constantly hunted down." Marx concludes, "The greater the social wealth, the functioning
capital .. the greater is the industrial reserve army ... This is the absolute general law
of capitalist accumulation." Certainly it's no revelation to note that racism is
totally woven into the fabric of American social life. And its most intractable form is
anti-African American racism. Through the measurement of what sociologists refer to as
"social distance scales," to intermarriage rates, and public opinion polls, it
is clear that the racism directed at African Americans is qualitatively different than
that directed at other nationally oppressed people. One example of this is the rate of intermarriage. A recent article
in the New York Times noted that intermarriage rates for Hispanic men and women married to
white spouses are 31.6% and 31.4% respectively. For Asian Americans the rates are 36% and
45.2% respectively, and for Native Americans, 52.9% and 53.9% respectively. But among
African Americans aged 25-34, only 8 percent of men and 4 percent of women outmarry. The article's author concludes that a future American may be "a
white-Asian-Hispanic melting pot majority . . . offset by a minority consisting of Blacks
who have been left out of the melting pot once again." One consequence of this is that, once working class whites break
through this blinder of racism, they are more likely to challenge other aspects of
bourgeois ideology and policy. A recent historical example that illustrates this is the
civil rights movement. Having "pierced the veil" of racism through their
activity in the civil rights movement, whites were much more capable of challenging other
aspects of bourgeois inequality. As a direct result of the civil rights movement, there
developed the anti-war movement, women's movement, environmental movement, movements for
the rights of the disabled, etc. Not insignificantly, it is the role of racism that allows the
bourgeois to shield the functioning of the capitalist system. Consequently, since the
stagnant sector of the reserve army of the unemployed is predominantly African American,
the influence of racism leads many to see this phenomenon not as a product of the
functioning of capitalism but, rather, as a reflection of some type of defect in the
culture, morality, or mores of the unemployed. Marx's description of the stagnant sector of the relative surplus
population is parallel to descriptions of the so-called "underclass," from their
poverty to family-size. But this natural functioning of the capitalist system is masked by
the ideology of racism. Consequently, the existence of a stagnant sector is not seen as a
result of the system, but rather as due to their own cultural or racial characteristics. Rest assured, the country simply would not tolerate the levels of
unemployment that exist in the African American community were it to spread to the white
population. In many urban communities unemployment reaches 70%. If this percentage existed
among whites it would be seen as a national issue. Yet African American unemployment was
never widely discussed in this election year. Similarly - and existing as a reflection of the growth of the
stagnant sector among African American youth - there has been the oft-quoted study by the
Sentencing Project that one-third of African American youth are under the jurisdiction of
the criminal justice system. Can one imagine this situation existing in the nation as a
whole without it being a national issue - one that politicians are forced to address. Yet,
relegated to African Americans, it gets little attention. This in part explains why the spontaneous demands of the movement
for African American equality are almost revolutionary in nature. It is because their
exploitation lies at the root of the logic of the capitalist system. The spontaneous demands of the trade union movement do not, in and
of themselves, break the bounds of capitalism. The very nature of the demands of the
African American movement for equality (taken as a whole) - demands for full employment,
reparations, an end to racism, etc. - are nearly impossible to envision being met without
a radical reordering of the social system: ie., without socialism. Finally, if the struggle for African American equality is central,
then certainly the role of African American trade unionists is a very important one. As
workers with one foot in each movement, it is doubly important that they be won over to
the necessity of radical transformation. And it is clear that they will not be won over to
any struggle that views their role in any "second class" light. The clearest expression of the struggle for African American
equality - at this moment - is the struggle to defend affirmative action. It may not even
be the most important struggle - but if we cannot win that, there is no possibility of
winning struggles for more important democratic rights for equality. Finally, the role of socialists in the trade union movement is not
simply to fight for democratic trade unionism, or the right to organize, or for political
independence. Democratic trade unionists will fight for this spontaneously. The particular
role of socialists is to galvanize the trade union movement with the movement for African
American equality - to attempt to bring about an alignment of unity of these social
forces, while pressing both of them to recognize their role in leading the whole of
society. The South African Communist Party met for its 10th Congress during
the first week of July last summer. Delegates from across the country met to debate and
discuss the relationship of the SACP to the African National Congress, the Party's
attitude toward South Africa's macro-economic policy, and other important issues. The CofC was represented at the Congress by Charlene Mitchell, an
NEC member. She reported that she was very impressed by the seriousness of the issues
discussed and the composition of the Congress. "A major constitutional change was
implemented," Mitchell said, "that mandates that all leadership bodies be 30
percent composed of women." She also noted the large number of youth in attendance. The Party's discussion of South Africa's macro-economic policy -
GEAR - was probably the most important and contentious issue taken up at the Congress. The
Congress was addressed by President Nelson Mandela, who made it clear that GEAR was the
economic policy of the government and that it was not likely to change. Mitchell
characterized his tone as that of someone who is "talking to a family gathering about
extremely important matters," in contrast with the speech by Thabo Mbeki who, in
Mitchell's words, "laid down the law" about GEAR. GEAR is a variation of the structural adjustment programs which have
been forced on many African countries. Essentially, its logic is based on spurring the
growth of the economy by encouraging investment. Other pressing matters - such as
education, housing and health care - are forced to take a back seat under GEAR. In spite
of the differences, the party resolved to strengthen its relationship to its Alliance
partners - the ANC and COSATU, the Congress of South African Trade Unions. The party
stated, in a resolution, that "the current government macro-economic policy (GEAR)
has not succeeded in improving the economic outlook, and is far from delivering growth,
employment and redistribution." They also resolved to "continue to engage
the government on the contents of GEAR." The Congress also reiterated that "the development of a Party
cadre grounded in the Marxist-Leninist perspective is key to the SACP's role as a
socialist vanguard." They resolved to pay particular attention to the dialectic
between reform and revolution, gender exploitation, environmental issues and
globalization. In other resolutions they decided to open a Party discussion on
whether to establish a Young Communist League. In a Central Committee meeting following
the Congress, the SACP stated, "While our longstanding alliance with the ANC has not,
in the nature of things, always been plain sailing, it was agreed that these two
interventions [Mandela and Mbeki] were relatively unprecedented and unfortunate in their
tone and character. On the positive side, both interventions committed themselves to the
perpetuation of the alliance." The Central Committee added that "the SACP
is an independent organization within the alliance and ... will continue fearlessly to
raise its perspectives and concerns." CofC
statement: Protest Clinton's Terrorist Bombings The CofC Peace & Solidarity Task Force reached out to members
around the country this summer, urging them to protest President Clinton's racist bombings
of targets in Kenya and Tanzania in August: to help mobilize through trade unions,
churches, community organizations; to call the White House and Congress to condemn
the action and demand no further bombings Acts of terror do not in any way repay the lives lost in Nairobi and
Dares Salaam, or any others . .. Crimes can only be dealt with by justice. [Those
responsible for the embassy bombings] should be brought to justice under international
laws, tried, convicted, and sentenced. Vigilante reaction is not justice . . . As security
measures tighten throughout the U.S. in the aftermath of the bombings, "terrorism
experts" warn that new curbs on civil liberties will be necessary. The U.S. people
are being conditioned to accept a future where due process is a luxury. But these measures will not end terrorism. If our government were
truly committed to fighting terrorism, it would act to end the oppression and injustices
under which people suffer around the world, often at the hands of the U.S. government and
U.S. corporations. It would genuinely support the highest standards of human rights and
the most basic of human needs throughout the world . . . Julian Bartley, U.S. Consul
General in Nairobi, was a friend of members of the CofC. We have no doubt that he would
have been horrified by these acts. We believe that he would not have wanted anyone to be killed in
revenge for his death . . . Two other matters must be addressed. First, the United States
has clearly replaced the cold war with a war on Islam. Arabic people are automatically
suspect . . . Whoever may have committed the atrocities in Nairobi and Dares Salaam, the
assumption that they are Islamic or Arabic, without evidence, is a clear injustice and the
grossest of bigotry . . . Second, we cannot know if this is coincidence or if there is a
relationship [between the fact that] the bombings came immediately after the President's
angry and embarrassed speech following a Grand Jury appearance . . . The Committees of
Correspondence joins in sorrow with the families and loved ones of Julian and Jay Bartley
and all other victims in Kenya, Tanzania, Afghanistan and Sudan. We commit ourselves to
the continuing pursuit of peace, justice and freedom, democracy and equality. Election in Germany opens
possibilities for progress Germany's Sept. 27 election had spectacular results: It ended 16
years of conservative rule by Chancellor Helmut Kohl's Christian Democrats; brought to
power the first Social Democratic (SPD)/Green coalition government ever elected; and won
full parliamentary status for the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS). With 5.1 percent of the national vote, the PDS achieved the
requirement for full parliamentary rights for its elected members. (In the last
legislative period, 30 PDS candidates had been seated because the party had achieved a
majority in three electoral districts, but with limited rights.) Kohl's supporters
objected strongly to the PDS's right to occupy one of the four vice- presidential
positions which set the legislature's agendas, but in the end the job went to them. Another very significant PDS advance was achieved in the eastern
state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, where a "Red/Red" (SPD/PDS) coalition emerged
as a result of the Sept. 27 vote. Although the national government coalition is still
keeping the PDS at arm's length, this inspires the hope that a strong PDS presence in
local governments may help may push the political The most important demands of the new government's program call for
reducing the unemployment rate, now in double-digits; revision of the tax law to benefit
low income taxpayers; changes in the country's racist, discriminatory naturalization
rules; and repeal of a Kohl government plan to reduce pensions. The new government's tax reform package includes some of the
environmental demands put forward by Green Party Chair and Foreign Minister Joschka
Fischer, for increased taxes on gasoline and heating oil, and the down-scaling and
eventual elimination of nuclear power plants. An asset in pressing these demands is the
presence of SPD Chair and Finance Minister Oskar Lafontaine, who represents the left wing
of German Social Democracy. He is publicly questioning whether Germany's monetary policy
is hindering efforts to reduce joblessness. Such considerations fly in the face of the
"fiscal restraint" championed by Kohl, a central theme of European banking
interests. A window of opportunity for Europe is opening as the new German
government joins other social democratic European states. The extent to which it succeeds
will depend on the determination of the populations of the member countries to assert
their needs. While the European parliament negotiates under the reluctant tutelage
of bankers, extra-parliamentary struggles are the peoples' best hope. CofC
hails electoral victory of PDS and Greens The CofC sent messages to the Green Alliance and the Party of
Democratic Socialism, expressing congratulations on their recent electoral victories. "We are very excited for the new possibilities that have opened
up as a result of the new political majority manifested in these elections," the CofC
said. It noted that Germany has joined "with the many other European victories of the
center-left tendency which gives hope to the world for an effective challenge" to the
policies of global capitalism. "Our best wishes for continued progress in the
struggle for peace, democracy, equality and a safe environment." Campaign
urges U.S. to file charges against Pinochet The arrest of Gen. Augusto Pinochet in Britain, at the request of
Spanish judges seeking to interrogate him for genocide and crimes against humanity, has
generated an international campaign aimed at guaranteeing that he does not escape
prosecution for the torture, disappearances and repression committed under his regime. The Committees of Correspondence is part of the campaign. Our web
site carries a letter to Attorney General Janet Reno urging that the United States also
seek Pinochet's extradition, to answer for crimes committed against U.S. citizens and on
U.S. soil. You can send the letter by logging on to the web site (www.cofc.org) - or you may wish to compose and mail (or
e-mail) your own letter. The CofC letter reads: "Hon. Janet Reno, Attorney General of the United States, "I will be grateful to hear that this request has been
positively accepted, and that a fair and thorough investigation will be carried out in
order to proceed to Gen. Pinochet's extradition." (Add your name & address.)Mail your letter to Attorney General
Reno at: U.S. Department of Justice, 950 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, WDC 20530-0001 or e-mail it
to: janet.reno@us.justice.gov . The New York Ad Hoc Committee is publicizing a wave of attacks and
death threats targeting scores of Chilean labor, human rights and political activists in
the wake of Pinochet's arrest. The Committee sees the attacks as an escalation of
right-wing efforts to maintain Chile's neoliberal economic program and preserve the 1978
Law of Amnesty, which shields the Chilean military, police and others who took part in the
repression of the Pinochet years. For information about the situation and suggestions on how you can
help, write: NY Ad Hoc Committee on Chile, 122 West 27th St., 10th floor, New York, NY
10001-6281. Conferences
on 'Taking on the multinational monster' Two remarkable conferences, timed to coincide with the annual
meeting of the finance ministers of countries in the World Bank and IMF, were held at
American University in Washington, D.C. in early October and mark a new departure for the
progressive movement in the United States. One, with the theme "Sado-Monetarism: The
Other Capital Punishment," subtitled "The IMF & World Bank in the Global
Economic Order," was sponsored by 50 Years is Enough; the U.S. Network for Global
Economic Justice. It attracted 400 participants from all over the country. The other -
organized by an emerging faith-based coalition, Jubilee 2000/USA and attended by 150
participants - was titled "Break The Chains of Debt!" The conferences ended with demonstrations at the World Bank and the
International Monetary Fund. Both coalitions have headquarters in Washington, D.C. The 50 Years is Enough conference provided my first opportunity in
years to experience middle America so intimately. Many sessions were shared with the
Jubilee 2000 group. Seven plenary sessions attracted about 500 people each, covering such
topics as basics of international economics, background on the World Bank and IMF, stories
of resistance and success around the world, and action and direction for the future. Three sets of workshops, running 15 at a time, covered topics such
as the Multinational Agreement on Investment (MAI), Debt and International Financial
Institutions, the East Asian Financial Crisis, Tools for Grassroots Advocacy, Africa's
Debt Crisis, the World Bank and Labor Rights, Disney/Haiti, and so on. Participants came
from all over the world. I counted 13 from Asia, ten from Africa, 11 from the Caribbean
and Latin America. Many of them were presenters at plenary sessions and workshops. Perhaps
10 to 20 percent of the U.S. participants were people of color, about half of them African
American. An impressive feature of the proceedings was the seriousness of the
participants' efforts to learn about international economic issues. Sessions in which
economists held forth were packed. In past years the emphasis in liberal circles was
toward encouraging the World Bank to hasten the implementation of its Highly Indebted Poor
Countries Debt Initiative (HIPC). Now the emphasis is shifting toward demanding
cancellation of their external debt. Many of the groups participating in this conference have already
been active on other issues. Such groups (such as Friends of the Earth, Central America
groups and some concerned with Asia) have now resolved to look at the economic
underpinnings of current crises. Not every aspect of these meetings was positive. A few
presenters and many participants grossly underestimated the amount of struggle necessary
to fix the present international financial system. Also, there was little or no The human toll
of U.S. intervention The Sivard pamphlet, which is issued annually, contains an enormous
amount of data. The 1996 version includes a table/list entitled "Wars and War Related
Deaths, 1900-1995," from which Targ excerpted the following listing of deaths related
to U.S. foreign policy from 1945 to 1985: Do you have books you would like to share with South African
activists? Many U.S. political activists have extensive libraries which, later in life,
they would like to share with others. A project is being initiated to ship political
books, particularly Marxist classics, to South African left activists at low cost to the
North American donors. In this way, you could share your library with activists in the
townships and rural areas of South Africa who would love to read these books. A carton of
books might cost only $25 to ship. Are you interested? Please contact me with some idea of the titles
of books that you would like to send. Marilyn Albert, 110 Clifton Place, #2B, Brooklyn, NY
11238 e-mail: AlbertMJ98@aol.com . Conspiracy
charges, entrapment & Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act powers, win criminal
conviction On Oct. 23 - at the end of a two-week espionage trial notable for
lack of evidence that the defendants ever passed classified information to a foreign power
- a northern Virginia jury found Kurt Stand and Theresa Squillacote guilty on all counts.
They will be sentenced on Jan. 8 and face 15 years to life in federal prison. The case of the two activists, who live in Washington, D.C., has
focussed public attention on how the extraordinary powers granted to the FBI by the
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) have undermined Fourth Amendment protections
against unreasonable search and seizure. Stand and Squillacote were convicted of conspiracy to commit
espionage for East Germany, the Soviet Union, Russia and South Africa, and attempted
espionage for South Africa - the latter count stemming from a successful FBI sting
operation. Squillacote was also convicted of removing classified documents from the
Pentagon, her employer when the sting began. The trial revealed how the government's use
of FISA powers, combined with insurmountably broad conspiracy charges and entrapment, can
create a criminal conviction. Stand's attorney noted that, before the 1996 FBI sting, 200 FBI
agents had uncovered nothing of a criminal nature in Stand and Squillacote's behavior
despite tapping their phones, bugging their house, downloading their computer and secretly
searching their home - all authorized by a secret FISA court. The FBI knew that the two
had never passed classified information to the East German intelligence officer with whom
they had personal and political relationships. (The undercover agent admitted as much on
the witness stand.) But they also knew that Squillacote's psychological vulnerabilities
made her a promising target for a sting operation. FBI agent Douglas Gregory, who posed as a South African official,
described how the FBI team monitoring the couple's phone conversations - with her
psychiatrist, among others - learned she was on antidepression medication and undergoing
psychiatric treatment. With this information, the FBI developed a personality profile and
tailored the sting accordingly. (Details of the sting and of FISA's dangerous erosion of
the Fourth Amendment have appeared in several previous issues of the Corresponder.) On the
stand Agent Gregory stated, after some hesitation, that apartheid was
"occasionally" brutal to blacks; that he believes Nelson Mandela is a communist;
and that South Africa "is a member of the communist bloc." His testimony
demonstrated the cold war mentality that permeated the case. An aggressive defense team
showed that the information in classified documents Squillacote gave the FBI had already
been included in government budget testimony and year-end reports, and was leaked numerous
times to defense industry trade publications. Material in the public domain cannot be the
basis for an espionage conviction. The defense also presented extensive and compelling psychiatric
testimony from Squillacote's own doctor and from outside experts. They agreed that she
suffers from borderline personality disorder that affected her judgment, likely due to the
trauma of lengthy repeated painful hospitalizations as a child to correct birth defects.
The FBI's profile, the experts said, showed that the government was well aware of her
difficulties, including her anxiety about her sister's suicide. The witnesses emphatically
deplored government ethics in fashioning a profile to exploit a patient's problems. Among
the government's witnesses was Jim Clark, a friend of Stand and Squillacote since college,
who was arrested with them and pled guilty to conspiracy to commit espionage in June. He
stated emphatically that the three had never worked together to give information to East
Germany. German government witnesses brought by the prosecution from Berlin for the trial
also confirmed that neither Stand nor Squillacote ever gave East Germany classified
information. In essence, the government's argument was that the defendants had Corresponder readers may wish to write Attorney General Janet Reno,
protesting government's use of a sting and its use of GDR files against Stand and
Squillacote. A full scale campaign on their behalf will be launched following sentencing
in early January. For more information about the case, and how you can help, contact the
Fund for the Fourth Amendment: Box 5685, Washington, DC 20016/tel: (202) 829-6167. RESOURCES:
New from CofC authors: PBS
Preparing Documentary on Paul Robeson CORRESPONDER READERS RESPOND: Much of the statement on nuclear disarmament adopted by the National
Executive Committee (which appeared in the April/June 1998 Corresponder) gave welcome
attention to this critical issue. However, for many peace activists, the emphasis
reflected in the proposed tactics raise a serious question. When President Clinton signed
the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty in The DOE "Greenbook," whose declassification was forced by
a 39-party lawsuit against DOE, provides proof of this intent. Dr. Hans Bethe, the senior
living atomic scientist of World War II, has warned of the danger of developing a pure
fusion bomb (where the raw material would be readily available and which would make
verification virtually impossible). Many peace activists point out that early nuclear
explosion protests pushed the tests from the atmosphere to underground. They reject any Peace activists and an overwhelming majority of the U.S. public do
agree on the campaign for a nuclear weapon-free world - abolition. Already nearly 1,200
organizations from at least 75 countries have joined in this call through the
international Abolition 2000 network. An October 1998 meeting in Chicago developed
strategies and structure for a U.S. campaign whose short term goal is to inject the
nuclear issue into the political debates leading up to 2000. But what is the broader
context in which these activities take place? In December 1995 the Nobel Peace Prize was
awarded to Dr. Joseph Rotblat and the Pugwash Conferences for their dedication to nuclear
abolition. A distinguished physicist who worked on the British and American bomb projects,
Dr. Rotblat resigned from the WW II Manhattan Project when he learned that Germany would
not succeed in creating an atomic weapon. Earlier this year he wrote that, on more than one occasion, he heard
General Leslie Groves, who headed the Manhattan Project, state that the project's main
purpose was to subdue the Russians. The first time was in March 1944, when our ally,
Russia, was carrying the main brunt of the war effort! Now, with NATO expansion bringing
nuclear weapons to its border U.S. Policy: International Law: The Court subsequently received written statements from 34
countries, and 22 nations presented oral statements from government officials and
professors of law. Petitions were submitted to the Court bearing the signatures of two
million people from 25 countries. On July 8, 1996, the Court issued its opinion. The 14
judges from 14 countries (including the first five nuclear powers) ruled unanimously:
"There exists an obligation to pursue in good faith and bring to a conclusion
negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament in all its aspects under strict and effective
international control." On Dec. 12, 1996, the General Assembly adopted a resolution
welcoming the Court's opinion. Among those supporting the resolution were 35 nations that
had earlier opposed sending the nuclear weapons question to the Court. A total of 115 out
of 178 nations voted to call on member nations to fulfill their obligation as outlined by
the Court's ruling. A joint declaration issued on June 6, 1998 by the ministers of
foreign affairs for Brazil, Egypt, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, Slovenia, South Africa
and Sweden included this statement: "The international community must not enter the
third millennium with the prospect that the maintenance of these weapons will be
considered legitimate for the indefinite future, when the present juncture provides a
unique opportunity to eradicate and prohibit them for all time." All CofC members need to take the time to become familiar with the
basic problem of current U.S. nuclear weapons policy for two reasons. First, nuclear
weapons are a major component of the social order in the U.S. now, and to attack them is
to call for extensive social change in the world. Second, the future of the human race
requires it. Betty Brown is a member of the Northern California CofC Peace &
Solidarity Task Force, Women Strike for Peace and Peace Action. Let's be more
introspective I am writing as a rank and filer on the well-being of our Committees
of Correspondence. I will focus on what I know best, the CofC in Northern California
(essentially the San Francisco Bay Area). What should we members infer from a 50 percent
decline in membership during the last five years? Remember when Northern California prided
itself on having 11 chapters and 12 task forces? Now we have no chapter in San Francisco,
the heart of the Bay Area. The only vibrant chapter now is Oakland-Berkeley. The rest are
mostly gone, or of minor consequence. So too with the task forces (Peace & Solidarity, Billie Holiday
Collective, African-American, Latino, Asian Pacific, Labor, Women, Youth,
Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual, Health Issues, Marxist-Feminist Study Group, Higher Education).
Where have all those flowers gone? What should we infer from the decline in participation
at Northern California CofC's general membership meetings? From the days when they
attracted over 100 members, a good ethnic mix, and a wholesome diversity of left opinions,
they became a gathering of one-third that size. The last general meeting saw no expression
of diverse political views, and there were few African Americans, Latinos, and youth
attending. Wouldn't you wonder what has become of our organization? Should we assume such hard times have only afflicted Northern
California? Look at national membership numbers. What has happened to chapters and
taskforces in districts like New York, Illinois, and Southern California? Are we seeing a
general decline in vitality? I have wondered why CofC's regression in well-being has not
been addressed in issues of the Corresponder and Dialogue & Initiative. I have
wondered why our National Coordinating Committee did not directly and analytically address
these distressing trends at its spring meeting in San Francisco. Has it found out why members have left - and also what are the
characteristics of those who joined CofC in recent years? Perhaps we should reexamine the
CofC's concept of leadership. Should not we have in Northern California (and nationally?)
one or more leaders from whom we would expect a reflective, analytical statement on our
internal well-being at each leadership and membership meeting, and from whom we would be
given a focused sense of responsibility - what we should expect of them and what they
expect of us? Most current members may have negative memories of the Communist Party's
dominating leadership, but have we gone to the opposite extreme? Then there is the most basic question. What should we see as the
essential purpose(s) of our CofC? Keep in mind how very few we are, how few chapters and
task forces have survived, how inadequately we have recruited and retained people of
color, poor people, and youth. (On a national scale, keep in mind also that only a handful
of America's cities have CofC chapters, and very few Americans can hear our voice.) Where we are fairly well rooted on the community level, as we are in
Oakland, our chapter there can play an initiating role. How few are the other communities
in Northern California and across the nation in which CofC is capable of giving leadership
and many foot soldiers to mass protests? When I participated during the past few years in
demonstrations of many thousands - against the Gulf War, for the strawberry workers, for
affirmative action, etc. - I looked to see how many rallied behind the CofC's banner and
saw just dozens. And what of CofC's prospects for becoming an organization likely to
attract and retain ample numbers of people of color, of poor people, of youth? How
white most of us are, how many of our heads are gray, how separate many of our lives are
from those on welfare or with poor paying jobs! What steps must CofC take to make it
attractive to our fellows in America who most need an end to the injustices of capitalism? Should we not see CofC primarily as an organization that provides
left activists with the opportunity to share a common purpose and to grow in political
understanding? If we are few in number, we are rich in the dedication and experience of
our members. They are most often key players in the progressive organizations in their
communities and in their unions. CofC chapters offer the opportunity to share experiences
with fellow members who are active in diverse organizations. And, since we are a
democratic socialist organization, our members can grow in understanding of the society in
which we live and the strategies for changing it. If we are poor in many ways, we are quite rich in political
understanding. Articles by our members in Dialogue & Initiative regularly remind us
that we have a good number of non-doctrinaire Marxists in our ranks. In Northern
California - and in other parts of the country and on a national level - a large portion
of our members are richly experienced in left activities and learning. I offer these
thoughts and raise these questions with full respect for every member who has been giving
CofC much concern, much time and effort. I write with appreciation for the ideas and activities of fellow
members who have made valuable contributions to our communities and to links with other
parts of the left. I believe that systematic introspection has been insufficient, and I
see it as essential if the Committees of Correspondence is to survive and attain its
potential. Ed Hoffman is a member of the Contra Costa chapter Corresponder editor
replies: In terms of the broader questions: The leadership of the CofC has
addressed these issues. The result of the discussion was the initiation of the Campaign
for a Living Wage. I would hazard a guess that any demoralization or lack of growth and
activity may be related to the level of inactivity around the living wage issue. The
response to your question about how we can interest poor and nationally oppressed people
in the CofC can only be found in local CofC's taking up the living wage issue in a myriad
of creative ways. Whether it be welfare reform, workfare, hunger, or poverty - this issue
provides an angle to organize people around. One of the areas of growth for the CofC - both in membership and
influence - is in the Carolinas. That growth is resulting directly from the activities of
local CofC people in the living wage campaign.
By Timothy V Johnson
By Pat Fry
By Timothy V Johnson
CofC members recently published these timely and informative books.
Test Ban campaign must be tied to ending "SS&M" program - By Betty
Brown
preparations to bring about the type of composition that was achieved in 1992, at the
Berkeley conference. He noted that many of the people who attended that conference,
especially African American and Latino activists, are still active, but they are no longer
involved in the CofC.
Activists seek ways to expand work in the South
By Timothy V Johnson
The CofC's Sixth Southern Regional Assembly took place in Atlanta on the weekend of Nov.
6. Although scheduling problems prevented members from Atlanta from attending, nearly one
dozen members from North and South Carolina met to discuss continuing efforts to organize
in the South, the Living Wage campaign, and the import of the recent elections. Given the
location of the meeting, the words and deeds of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., were
often quoted in reference to the CofC's work.
video on King's life and the movement. "It was very moving," McClain said.
"It filled me with so much emotion that I began to feel weak. Everyone should see
this." The meeting ended on Sunday with a discussion of the Living Wage
Campaign, the Voting Rights Act, and activity in preparation for the elections in the year
2000. It was felt that the CofC needs a broader representation of its Southern
members and plans were made to hold several conference-call meetings to more actively
engage those who had been unable to attend the meeting in Atlanta.
The main political discussion at the November NCC meeting was centered around two papers
that were presented - one by NCC member Harry Targ, entitled "Late Capitalism and the
Struggle for a Socialist Future," and one by National Coordinator Pat Fry, entitled
"Toward the 1999 National Convention of CofC: the Struggle for Democracy and
Socialism." Targ reasserted the Marxist conception of the nature of exploitation,
class struggle, capitalist accumulation and imperialism. He termed the present period of
capitalist production as "late capitalism," marked by greater concentration, a
quickening of the redistribution of wealth, and changes in the production and circulation
of capital. Targ asserted that competing sectors of capital "engage in an
increasingly fractionalized politics: with international banking and manufacturing capital
reflected in the positions of moderate Democrats and Republicans and smaller capital
reflected in various right-wing movements." However, he added, the policies of
neoliberalism are the policies of capital. "Whether it is fully embraced or
not," he continued, "is determined by the constellation of political and
economic forces challenging it across the world and at home." He noted that the
working class is fragmented also, because of racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. Targ
concluded that the left should develop campaigns that address the connections of sectors
of the working class and the entire class - developing programs that promote unity out of
difference.
After the discussion it was decided to send both Harry and Pat's contributions out to the
membership, indicating areas in which there are disagreements within the NCC.
Role of socialists in the labor movement discussed
By Pat Fry
The CofC salutes two of our members - Charlene Mitchell and Isaiah Bennett - who were
among ten activists awarded the prestigious Bannerman fellowship for 1998. The awards are
given each year to people of color who are leaders and teachers in movements for social
justice.
By Georgia Wever
The first Leadership Training School ever organized by the CofC took place during July, at
a woodland location in upstate New York. For almost a week, the 24 participants - who came
from Northern California, Chicago, North Carolina, South Carolina, and the New York
metropolitan area - talked, challenged, sang, learned, swam, disagreed, feasted, danced,
camped, and asked questions.
People who took part in the Leadership Training School were asked to evaluate the
experience. Here are some of their responses:
A summary of reports & proposals at NCC meeting
Members of the National Coordinating Committee heard reports and proposals for action from
CofC task forces at the recent NCC meeting. These taskforces included Labor, African
American, Youth, Publications, Education, Independent Political Parties, Peace &
Solidarity and Fund Drive. (A separate article on the Living Wage Committee report appears
on page 7.)
The African American Task Force is being reconstituted. Any CofC member who is engaged in
(1) work in the anti-racist movement, (2) work in African American organizations or (3)
theoretical work on African American issues, and wishes to participate in the Task Force,
can contact the Task Force by e-mail (address your message to: timothyj@academic.touro.edu) or at the
CofC's national office.
The CofC National Executive Committee has appealed to all members and activists to protest
the threat to the life of Mumia Abu-Jamal. A flyer describing "Ten Things You Can
Do" was sent to local CofC area representatives as a guide to action, and can also be
accessed on our website. The urgency of protests around the case was heightened on Oct.
30, when the Pennsylvania Supreme Court denied Mumia Abu-Jamal's petition for a new trial,
opening the way for Pennsylvania Gov. Thomas Ridge to sign a new death warrant.
Jablow.
NCC debates the next step in Living Wage campaign
Zach Robinson, NEC member and chair of the Living Wage Committee, summarized the work that
has taken place to date in his report to the NCC. He noted that the living wage campaign
was created to give the CofC a political direction by focusing on a single campaign.
Initial work was centered in a few local chapters, and then expanded as possible. Robinson
argued that it is time to expand the focus by helping to initiate a campaign for national
legislation for a living wage. The committee has already drafted a letter to be sent to
other organizations outlining our concept of such legislation, combined with some details
of how it could be enacted. There has been some contact with a legislative aide who will
work on putting the proposal into acceptable legislative language.
Campaigns for a living wage have developed in many parts of the nation and legislation has
already been enacted in several major cities. Among them is San Jose, which recently
adopted the nation's highest "living-wage" requirement for city contracts.
Similar campaigns are being waged in several neighboring cities. The San Jose City Council
voted 7 to 3 to require companies awarded new city service contracts to pay employees at
least $9.50 an hour with health benefits, or $10.75 if workers do not receive such
benefits.
Representatives of over 40 labor, civil rights and religious organizations, including
several CofC members, met in Louisville Nov. 6 to lay out a strategy to secure passage of
a living wage ordinance. The meeting was coordinated by Kentucky Jobs with Justice, with
help from Kentucky Youth Advocates, and held at Catholic Charities headquarters.
Committees on research, lobbying and outreach were established. The proposed ordinance
calls for a $9.50 hourly wage (125 percent of the poverty level for a family with two
children) for all city employees as well as those employed by outside agencies or
companies that receive over $100,000 in city funds in contracts, grants, loans or tax
subsidies.
Recent books that make the case for a living wage The issue of a living wage is
more and more becoming a part of the
national discourse. Below are citations to recently published books on this issue.
2,000 attend founding meeting; 'Freedom agenda' projected
By Timothy V Johnson
By Mael Apollon
Fifty members of the Metro NY CofC turned out on Oct. 24 to discuss the 1998 elections in
the context of the fight to defeat the right. The discussion set the tone for the
remainder of the meeting, and resulted in new efforts on the Living Wage campaign,
education, organization and finances of the local CofC. The following statement was
adopted: "The New York Metro Committees of Correspondence urges the defeat of all
reactionary candidates and the election of Charles Schumer and Carl McCall, and a vote for
Peter Vallone on the Working Families Party line, and further that this position be
communicated to the membership in an immediate mailing."
that these differences need not become divisive."
Affirmative action & the centrality of the struggle for African American
Equality
By Timothy V Johnson, New York City
INTERNATIONAL
SOLIDARITY
SACP's Tenth Congress debates economic policy
be conducted; and to urge the Clinton administration to submit its evidence to a
Congressional investigation and cooperate fully with United Nations fact-finding efforts.
The full text of the CofC's statement on the bombings appears on our web page. Excerpts
follow.
By Margrit Pittman
spectrum towards meeting popular demands. The government coalition has 345 of parliament's
666 members, a slim majority of 24, so that the 35-member PDS caucus could have a strong
influence on legislation.
U.S. Department of Justice,
Washington, D.C.
"I am writing in support of the statement presented to you by Atty. Carlos Moreno on
behalf of many concerned citizens, regarding the possibility of filing criminal charges
against Gen. Augusto Pinochet, who is now being held by British authorities. It has also
been requested that Gen. Pinochet be extradited to the United States to answer for the
killings of three U.S. citizens (Ms. Ronnie Moffit, Mr. Charles E. Horman and Mr. Frank R.
Teruggi) and a Chilean national, Mr. Orlando Letelier. All four cases have been documented
in the request presented to you by Mr. Moreno.
Mort Frank, a member of the CofC in Philadelphia and a member of its Peace
& Solidarity Task Force, represented the Committees of Correspondence at two
conferences confronting global capitalism's agenda held in early October. The following is
a brief report.
> presence by labor, the peace movement or the left
NCC member Harry Targ has compiled a list of peoples killed between 1945 and 1985 in
connection with U.S. military actions, covert operations, and/or by regimes that had
significant military technical support from the United States. Targ based his listing,
which he considers is probably an underestimate, on data that was published in a pamphlet
by Ruth Leger Sivard, entitled "World Military and Social Expenditures."
1. Greek Civil
War/1945-49
160,000
2. Korean
War/1950-53
2,889,000
3. Vietnam/1945-54
600,000
4. Vietnam/1960-65
300,000
5. Vietnam/1965-75
2,058,000
6. Guatemala/1954
1,000
7. Guatemala/1966-85
45,000
8. Lebanon/1958
2,000
9. Lebanon/1982-85
25,000
10. Chile/1973-1974
25,000
11. Dominican
Republic/1965
3,000
12. Nicaragua/1978-79
35,000
13. Nicaragua/1981-85
12,000
14. El Salvador/1979-85
55,000
15. Argentina/1976-79
14,000
16. Laos/1963-73
19,000
17. Philippines/1950-85
43,000
18. Taiwan
5,000
19. Angola/1975-85
12,000
6,338,000
D.C. activists convicted of espionage face sentencing Jan. 8
conspired to spy for 25 years, though they never actually did so. The prosecution piled up
evidence of their relationship with East Germany. That evidence, coupled with the sting
and instructions from the judge favoring the prosecution, led the jury to convict after
two days of deliberation. The convictions will be appealed.
CofC members recently published these timely and informative books.
A PBS documentary entitled "Paul Robeson, Here I Stand" will be aired on Feb.
24, 1999, as part of the American Masters Series. CofC National Co-Chair Charlene Mitchell
was among those who were interviewed by the filmmakers.
Test Ban campaign must be tied to ending "SS&M" program
By Betty Brown
> September 1996, many hoped that the world was entering a new era of nuclear
disarmament. But long before the treaty was signed, President Clinton had authorized a
program that would allow the U.S. to maintain its nuclear arsenal and design new weapons.
This ten-year program of the Department of Energy (DOE), projected to cost $45 billion, is
called Science-Based Stockpile Stewardship & Management (SS&M). Labeled a
"second Manhattan Project" by Dr. Helen Caldicott, SS&M allows the U.S. to
continue developing new crops of nuclear scientists and potentially even more dangerous
new weapons, with the aid of supercomputers.
continuation of nuclear weapons work by converting to "virtual tests" in
laboratories. Rather than treating the passage of the CTB as "the most immediate and
pressing need," or seeing Indian and Pakistani tests making passage "more
critical than ever," one wonders if passage of a CTB, while SS&M remains in
place, won't give the public a false sense of security. Many in the peace movement think
that a better strategy is to insist that a CTB Treaty, to be meaningful, must be tied to
the elimination of the SS&M program.
and its armed forces deteriorating, Russia has abandoned its "no first use"
policy.
An article in the Washington Post on Dec. 6, 1997, contained the only declassified
information that has been released on the first Nuclear Policy Review since 1981. Signed
by President Clinton the previous month, the policy includes:
On Dec. 15, 1994, the U.N. General Assembly voted to ask the World Court (International
Court of Justice) the question: Is the threat or use of nuclear weapons in any
circumstances permitted under international law? The vote to ask the Court this
question was: Yes 79, No 43, Abstained 38, Absent 18. The U.S. voted no, but has no veto
power in the General Assembly.
By Ed Hoffman
Your letter raises a number of interesting points that deserve a response. The coming
period of pre-convention discussion will, I'm sure, be a proper forum to address these and
many other questions about the direction, nature and status of the CofC. However, there
are a few points I'd like to briefly address. The CofC's publications are open for any
member to address these concerns. For our part, at the Corresponder, we attempt to relate
successful activities of local CofC chapters so that, where possible, they can be
duplicated by other local areas.