Democratic Left - Volume 030 Number 03

16 Pages·2002·0.24 MB·English

Vol. XXX, No. 3 Winter 2002
Anti-Racist Politics Today
Special Issue with the DSA Anti-Racism and Latino Commissions
Bill Fletcher on The Future of TransAfrica Forum
The Central Park Jogger Case: Scottsboro Boys Revisited
Crisis in Urban Education
On The March with the UFW
plus
Memories of Jim Chapin and Gordon Haskell
DSA Locals Report
DSA Statement on Reparations
DSA joins in solidarity with the position expressed by the Black Radical Congress (April 17, 1999):
Reparations is a well-established principle of international law that should be applied in the US. Historically, the US has
been both the recipient and disburser of reparations. As the descendants of enslaved Africans, we have the legal and
moral right to receive just compensation for the oppression, systematic brutality and economic exploitation Black
people have suffered historically and continue to experience today. Thus, we seek reparations from the US for its illegal
assault on African peoples during the slave trade; its exploitation of Black labor during slavery; and its systematic and
totalitarian physical, economic and cultural violence against people of African descent over the last four centuries.
DSA, as a socialist organization, rejects the proposition that corporate wealth and individual property are the
same. The wealth that we plan to re-distribute is corporate wealth not personal private property.
The wealth of the US corporate class was developed from the exploitation of vast numbers of Africans and a
great many indigenous peoples by slavery and the theft of indigenous wealth and land by the Spanish, the Portu-
guese, and the English-speaking peoples. The current wealth of the ruling elite and the poverty in African-American
and indigenous communities are direct consequences of this incorporation by force and terrorism of these and
other dominated communities into the capitalist system.
And we, along with the Latino Commission of DSA, further call for reparations for the assaults and despoliation
of the indigenous peoples of the Americas and their descendants, including Mexicans, Puerto Ricans and others, for
the loss of their lands and the attempted destruction of their cultures and institutions. This includes supporting the
land claims and other treaty-related social justice cases of the Native American tribal nations.
In pursuit of these reparations, we take the following steps:
1. DSA supports H.R. 40, introduced by Representative John Conyers, to study the issues related to slavery and
to make recommendations to Congress.
2. We further recognize that reparations are fundamentally a social rather than an individual process. It is clear
from a number of studies that the underdevelopment of communities of African Americans, indigenous people, and
their descendants continues to this date. We recognize that this underdevelopment is a direct result of the crimes of
the past, and the forced subjugation of these people and their incorporation into a White Supremacist society based
upon the unfair and inequitable extraction of labor and capital from the work, and death, of these people.
We therefore call for monetary
reparations to be in the form of pub- Editorial Committee
Bill Dixon, Jeffrey Gold, Bill Mosley,
lic ownership of utilities and means
Kathy Quinn, Jason Schulman, Joe Schwartz,
of production. And we call for the John Strauss
investment of compensatory funds
Founding Editor
into publicly owned institutions for
Michael Harrington
the development of their communi- (1928-1989)
ties. And public funds shall be used
to promote the general welfare, edu-
Democratic Socialists of America share a vision of a humane international social order based
cation, health care, public transpor- on equitable distribution of resources, meaningful work, a healthy environment, sustainable
tation and infrastructure targeted on growth, gender and racial equality, and non-oppressive relationships. Equality, solidarity, and
democracy can only be achieved through international political and social cooperation aimed
those communities historically de-
at ensuring that economic institutions benefit all people. We are dedicated to building truly
nied lack of access to capital and international social movements—of unionists, environmentalists, feminists, and people of
education by prior governmental color—which together can elevate global justice over brutalizing global competition.
and corporate actions.
DSA NATIONAL OFFICE
180 Varick Street, 12th Floor
3. DSA will conduct internal New York, NY 10014
212-727-8610
and public education around the is-
http://www.dsausa.org
sue of reparations.
Democratic Left (ISSN 1643207) is published quarterly at 180 Varick Street, New York, NY 10014. Periodicals
postage paid at New York, NY (Publication No. 701-960). Subscriptions: $10 regular; $15 institutional.
Adopted by the National Political Postmaster: Send address changes to 180 Varick Street, New York, NY 10014. Democratic Left is published by
the Democratic Socialists of America, 180 Varick Street, New York, NY 10014. [phone]. Signed articles
Committee, October 6, 2002.
express the opinions of the authors and not necessarily those of the organization.
page 2 • Democratic Left • Winter 2002
Lott & the Politics of Racism
DL
inside
Senator Trent Lott’s nostalgic endorsement of the segregationist politics
of Senator Strom Thurmond’s 1948 Dixiecrat Presidential campaign overtly
reflects the usually covert politics of racism and racial resentment that now
characterizes the Republican Party.
2 DSA Statement on
From Nixon’s “Southern strategy” to Reagan’s symbolic kick-off of his
Reparations
1980 campaign in Philadelphia, Mississippi—the town where Goodman,
Schwerner and Chaney were murdered—to Bush Sr.’s Willie Horton ad and
DSA National Director
Bush Jr.’s refusal to support a Florida-wide recount, the Republican Party has 3
on Lott and the
sent clear messages to whites that they value their votes more than those of
Politics of Racism
people of color.
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle’s off-hand acceptance
TransAfrica Forum:
of Senator Lott’s statement that he did not mean to say what he explicitly 4
Retooling for the 21st
said is also deeply troubling—the “collegiality” of the Senate should never
Century
preclude the criticism of overtly racist remarks. President Bush’s much more
By Bill Fletcher, Jr.
forceful statement demonstrates how serious Lott’s remark really is. But Bush’s
words should not be allowed to divert attention from the disastrous use of
The Central Park
reactionary racial politics for partisan Republican gain. Nor should it cover 5
Jogger Case:
up the timidity of moderate Democrats in confronting the continued legacy
Scottsboro for the
and reality of gross racial inequalities and institutional discrimination.
New Millennium
The fact is that Lott chose the language deliberately and he has said the
By Fabricio Rodriguez
same thing on other occasions. This is just another example of how easy it is
for Republicans—not only southern Republicans—to slip into the language
6 Racism and the Crisis
of white supremacy. After all, it was Strom Thurmond who led the Southern
of Urban Education
Dixiecrats into the Republican Party when the Democrats finally embraced
By Duane Campbell
civil rights in the 1960s.
The reluctance of establishment Democrats to directly address problems
7 Dolores & Me: On the
of race and racism must stop. We see it on issue after issue. We saw it in the
March for the UFW
debate on TANF, when providing adequate child care, health care, and job train-
By Wendy Gonzalez
ing to women moving off welfare fell victim to the conservative ideological
view of women on welfare as indolent and undeserving. We saw it in the care-
12 We Remember...
ful way in which the Democrats and candidate Gore addressed the Florida
A Tribute to Jim Chapin
debacle. The state of Florida acted in official and unofficial ways to systemati-
& By Maxine Phillips
cally reduce African-American participation in the election, yet the challenge
Gordon Haskell:
was limited to abstract calls for recounts in only a few counties.
13 Stalwart of
Senator Lott has a long history of making statements that unambigu-
Democratic Socialism
ously support racism and has maintained relationships with organizations
By Leo Casey
that preach white supremacy. Only a few years ago he spoke at meeting of
the white supremacist Council of Conservative Citizens, the successor orga-
plus
nization to the White Citizens Councils that led southern white resistance to
desegregation.
8 What is the Latino
Behind the scenes Republican operatives are asking themselves how
Commission?
long they can afford to stand behind a Senate party leader who repeatedly
embarrasses himself and the Republican Party by making overtly racist state-
10 What is the Anti-Racism
ments. Democratic Senators should be asking how long they can afford a
Commission?
minority leader that helps Lott cover up the obvious intent of his despicable
remarks.
10
Letters to the Editor
—Frank Llewellyn
DSA National Director
11
DSA Locals Report
Editor’s Note: After this writing, many Republicans in the Senate decided
that they could not afford to stand behind Lott any longer, especially in
the face of criticism by influential black conservatives, and threw their
support behind the White House’s preferred candidate for party leader,
Bill Frist of Tennessee. Lott resigned leadership on Friday, December 20.
Democratic Left • Winter 2002 • page 3
TransAfrica Forum:
Retooling for the 21st Century
By Bill Fletcher, Jr.
TransAfrica, Inc., and TransAfrica term effort to mount a reparations
Forum collectively emerged as a sig- campaign focused on Africa; support
nificant and leading force in the anti- for labor movements in Africa, the
apartheid movement of the 1980s. Caribbean and Latin America; and
Under the direction of Randall support for normalized relations
Robinson, TransAfrica and with Cuba. As part of reinvigorating
TransAfrica Forum were successful the organization, TransAfrica Forum
in building a broad front to pressure is taking steps to organize a
the US government to impose sanc- TransAfrica Student Network as a
tions on the racist South African re- means of organizing and mobilizing
gime. Subsequently TransAfrica Fo- students of color around these issues
rum helped lead opposition to the in particular, and global justice gen-
military juntas in Nigeria and Haiti. erally.
As important and courageous as The challenges are substantial.
these stands were, the campaigns did TransAfrica Forum cannot afford to
not attract nearly as much attention rest on its laurels. While its historic
or mass support as the anti-apartheid role in the anti-apartheid movement
movement. The reasons are com- should not be forgotten, it is also the
plex, but certainly the neo-colonial/ case that this legacy is insufficient
post-colonial nature of the lat- in making TransAfrica Forum a
ter regimes—compared with 21st century organization. New
New conditions necessitate
the virulently racist apartheid conditions necessitate new
system—served to confuse strategies, new alliances, and a
new strategies, new alliances,
many people of good will as to new vision. Thus, we under-
who were friends and who take the difficult journey that
and a new vision.
were enemies. involves remaking the organi-
In 2002 we are beginning zation, and translating the good
a process of retooling and re- will we have received into a
focusing TransAfrica Forum. This is gies as well as alliances. Class and commitment to movement building.
taking place within the context of gender politics have risen in impor- Our success in this endeavor can
neoliberal globalization and the cor- tance and visibility in the shaping of result in the development of a dif-
responding global justice movement, social movements and nation build- ferent sort of global justice move-
the September 11, 2001 terror at- ing. ment with people of color at its core,
tacks, and the “declaration of empire” In this context the direction of a movement that reshapes US for-
by the US government. We are now TransAfrica Forum has shifted. eign policy, the role of global multi-
in an environment vastly different TransAfrica Forum seeks to become lateral economic institutions, and
from the one that existed at the time a Black global justice organization efforts at solidarity with the nations
of the anti-apartheid movement. focusing on the African world. This and peoples of Africa, Asia, and Latin
A massive polarization of wealth means developing or redeveloping America.
between the haves and have-nots, a constituency, principally within
both domestically and internation- Black America, committed to reshap- Bill Fletcher, Jr. is a long-time labor
ally, has developed over the last 20 ing US foreign policy and address- activist who currently serves as
years. National liberation projects ing international solidarity of the president of TransAfrica Forum, a
have, in many cases, stalled. This is historically oppressed. To carry this Washington, DC-based non-profit
illustrated by the degeneration of out TransAfrica Forum is placing an organizing and educational center
those post-independence leaders emphasis on reconstructing a policy formed to raise awareness
who—irrespective of their rheto- operation largely through our Schol- regarding the issues facing the na-
ric—have sold their souls to global ars Council, and an organizing com- tions and peoples of Africa, the
capital. As with the domestic civil ponent largely through mass-based Caribbean and Latin America.
rights movement, the implications coalitional campaigns. This includes He can be reached at
for this turn have been quite serious work to defend Haitian sovereignty; [email protected].
both at the level of potential strate- an anti-sweatshops campaign; a long-
page 4 • Democratic Left • Winter 2002
The Central Park Jogger Case:
Scottsboro for the new millennium
By Fabricio Rodriguez
The old saying goes something the stories bore much of a resem-
like, “Those who don’t know the past blance to the crime as reconstructed
are doomed to repeat it.” The cryp- by investigators. None of the admis-
tic warning indicates that darker sions accurately described the time,
times have passed, and that if we ig- place or even the substance of the
nore our mistakes then the future actual events. Apparently, neither the
will bring sorrow and disgrace. Ap- press nor the twelve people who panions were lined up while two
parently, the hard learned lessons convicted the five youths had any white young women pointed them
have been forgotten. problem with the conflicting ac- each out. The police officer who was
Recently, it has been reported counts. running the line-up instructed the
that five black and Hispanic men The DNA of another man, who young ladies to pick out the ones
have been seemingly cleared of guilt is serving time for an unrelated mur- who had “had them.” The story that
in the notorious “Central Park Jog- der, has proven the convictions nine black transients had beaten and
ger Case.” This case, which gang raped two white
captivated the nation at a southern “ladies” exploded
time when white-middle- into graphic stories in the
History has shown once again that
class fears were reaching a national newspapers.
frenzied pitch, helped fuel Within three weeks of ar-
white fear can sanction horrid
a decade of tough-love, rest all but the youngest,
lock-em’-up-and-throw- who was twelve years old
perversions of justice.
away-the-key, tough-on- at the time, had been tried,
crime laws. Punitive legis- convicted, and sentenced
lation such as “Three to death for the rape of
Strikes” and “mandatory Victoria Price and Ruby
minimums” laws seemingly reaf- wrong. Sadly, this isn’t the first time Bates. The two young women, like
firmed the racist fears that prompted rampant suppositions, buttressed by the accused, were hobos jumping
the harsher sentencing laws in the age-old myths of black sexuality, have the train on the search for employ-
first place, in a self-fulfilling pro- whipped the press into a noose- ment. Six of the defendants stated
phetic fashion that is only now be- twisting frenzy and our courts into that they had never seen the girls.
ginning to wane. a klansman’s den. Three others first claimed to know
Americans today are aghast to In March of 1931, four African- nothing of the women and then,
learn that five boys who were con- American hobos hopped a west- under cross-examination, gave vari-
victed of severely beating and gang bound train through northern Ala- ous, conflicting accounts that essen-
raping a New York City jogger may bama. On the train, there was a tially protected the group that they
have, in fact, had nothing to do with scuffle between nine black drifters had boarded the train with. Though
the crime at all. No DNA evidence and as many whites; in the end the this frame-up differed in degree, the
has linked any of the convicted to whites were ousted from the train. poor and uneducated black youths
the victim. The fury over the case and When the train stopped forty miles knew the drill well: if a white man
the taped “confessions” of the five up the track, the police and the blames you for something that you
scared youths resulted in a rhetori- white hobos were waiting. The po- didn’t do, you can’t deny it. Editors
cal lynching in the nation-wide press. lice rounded up every black face that and reporters stated that this was a
The coverage in the mainstream jumped off the train. In a fiasco now crime that “savored of the jungle, the
press, conservative radio call-in referred to by historians as the way back dark ages of the meanest
shows and the political pandering of “Scottsboro Boys,” the fist fight African corruption.”
Democratic and Republican talking would throw nine innocent lives Sam Leibowitz, a New York at-
heads alike in retrospect appears to into a storm that illustrated how big- torney, backed by the International
be little more than convenient cover otry hides just below the surface of Labor Defense (ILD), a Communist
for latent racism. Four of the obvi- America at any time. Party front group, would fight to
ously frightened boys confessed dur- Several hours later, the six
ing videotaped interviews. None of strangers and three traveling com- continued on page 10
Democratic Left • Winter 2002 • page 5
Racism and the Crisis of Urban Education
By Duane Campbell
Of all the civil rights for which the world has struggled and
fought for 5,000 years, the right to learn is undoubtedly the
most fundamental.... The freedom to learn...has been bought by
bitter sacrifice. And whatever we may think of the curtailment
of other civil rights, we should fight to the last ditch to keep
open the right to learn, the right to have examined in our schools
not only what we believe, but what we do not believe; not only
what our leaders say, but what the leaders of other groups and
nations, and the leaders of other centuries have said. We must
insist upon this to give our children the fairness of a start which
will equip them with such an array of facts and such an atti-
tude toward truth that they can have a real chance to judge
what the world is and what its greater minds have thought it
might be.
—W.E.B. Du Bois
“The Freedom to Learn”
Quality schools are an issue of open interesting career paths for the National Reading Report Card
human rights for young people. Our them. demonstrate that, after 20 years of
public schools should provide all In most of our major urban cen- announcements, programs, and pro-
students with a quality education. At ters, a new majority of students has nouncements, achievement levels of
present, in urban and poverty areas, emerged—one composed of diverse US children remain remarkably
they do not. Public schooling is in people of color: African-Americans, stable and remarkably unequal.
crisis, particularly for children living Latinos, Asians, Pacific Islanders,
in poverty in urban areas. Inequality multi-racial kids, and many more. But, A crisis of inequality
and white supremacy are created in the face of this dramatic shift, the We do not have a general edu-
and re-created each year in our population of teachers remains over cation crisis in the nation: we have a
schools. One group of students 78 percent European American. This crisis for black, Latino, and some
learns skills and confidence and is division would not be so much a Asian and poor white kids. We are
prepared for their future, while other cause for concern except that, ac- not providing the children of the
students learn their place (at the cording to the 2000 Reading Report new majorities with “a fair start
bottom) in a stratified and difficult Card of the National Center for Edu- which will equip them with such an
economic system. cational Statistics, nationally, while array of facts and such an attitude
Of the 11.5 million poor chil- 40 percent of White students are toward truth that they can have a
dren living below the official pov- proficient in reading in the 4th grade, real chance to judge what the world
erty line—39.8 percent of all African only 12 percent of black students, 16 is and what its greater minds have
American children, 32.2 percent of percent of Hispanic students and 17 thought it might be.”
all Latino children, 17.1 percent of percent of Native American students As Berliner and Biddle demon-
all Asian children, 38.8 percent of are proficient. The achievement gap strated well in The Manufactured
Native American children, 12.5 per- in math scores is equally stark. Crisis (1995), schools for middle-
cent of all White children—most at- The gaps between groups re- class kids—Black, Latino, Asian and
tend underfunded, poverty-stricken mained relatively unchanged during European-American—fundamentally
schools. Students in these schools the 1990s, a decade in which presi- fulfill their purposes. But the schools
learn that society does not choose dents, governors, mayors and legis- for poor African-American, Latino
to provide them with decent school lators all made promises about and European-American children fail.
buildings, computers, counselors, “school reform.” Meanwhile, the lon-
and well prepared teachers or to gitudinal studies of achievement in continued on page 9
page 6 • Democratic Left • Winter 2002
Dolores & Me:
On the March for the UFW
By Wendy Gonzalez
I woke up August 20th at 5:00 many more people that I would later work in the fields of the Central Val-
AM not knowing what to expect. All get to know and learn from. ley. I know the sacrifices and
I knew was that I had packed my Once outside, the barren and struggles that people have made in
backpack with five days worth of quiet streets that I had walked order for me to have the luxuries
clothes, that I would catch the 6:00 through in the morning were now that they never had. Five days of
AM Greyhound bus from Sacra- filled with shouts of “Una linea, una marching is nothing compared to
mento to Stockton and that I would
be walking all the way back. In those
five days I received an education that
no textbook or classroom could ever
provide.
What am I talking about? The 10-
day march from Merced to Sacra-
mento to let everyone, especially the
governor of California, know that the
United Farm Workers and its sup-
porters wanted justice for farm
workers. We were marching to let
the governor know that he must sign
the legislation that would allow
workers to negotiate a union con-
tract in a reasonable amount of time.
We do not want to wait years and
years for workers to negotiate union
contracts to get decent wages and
basic benefits.
Wendy Gonzalez (left) with Dolores Huerta
Once the bus dropped me off
in Stockton, a city that is unfamiliar
to me, I looked at the address and linea, cinco pies de distancia!” (“One what others have given up for social
the street map that would get me to line, one line, five feet of distance justice.
the Teamsters union hall. “How from each other!”) Someone handed At first I was simply walking
ironic,” I chuckled to myself, think- me a red flag with the words, “United quietly, following the line of people,
ing back to my Chicano studies class Farm Workers of America, AFL-CIO” observing everyone else. There were
in which I had learned that back in circling around a bold black eagle. a little over 100 people marching
the sixties the Teamsters were the Someone once told me that the UFW that day. Out of all those people one
ones that came in to try to break the flag should not be used as a decora- little boy caught my attention. This
strikes the UFW put on. tion on your wall, but should be used little boy, who I later found out was
I got to the hall just in time for as a tool to attain justice and dignity. named Emilio, would deviate from
mass. Relieved that I saw a familiar I now know what he meant by that. the line, carrying his red flag high,
face, I went to the back to sit next to I was asked by one of my friends shouting, “Sí se puede!” He couldn’t
my friend, Jose, “El Rascuache.” He why I would sacrifice a couple of have been more than seven years old.
already had five days of marching un- days of summer to walk 10-15 miles I smiled and thought to myself, “a
der his belt, all the way from the start a day in the hot sun of the Central future leader.”
in Merced. After mass, he filled me Valley. My answer was simple: At lunchtime I finally had the
in on all the people that he had met, “People in the past fought for me to honor of meeting the phenomenal
People like Pascaulito, the serene be able to be where I am today.” It is Dolores Huerta. I was sitting alone
and softspoken priest that came all my obligation and duty to give back at one of the picnic table waiting for
the way from Phoenix, Arizona; Ruth to my community and fight for fu- Jose. Mrs. Huerta walked up to me
the nurse; the unofficial water boys ture generations to have a better fu- and said hi. I looked up and saw her
who drove the porta-potties and ture in a society where things are still magical smile. Her eyes had this soft
handed us bottles of water every so not equal for everyone. My father
often; Bernie and Don Ruben; and told me stories of when he would continued on page 8
Democratic Left • Winter 2002 • page 7
Dolores & Me a people have once we organize is to support causes that promote
ourselves. It was so empowering to social justice. As Dolores Huerta told
continued from page 9
see over 5000 people together in a me, “One of the most important
peaceful demonstration in support things you can learn is to fight for
of a law that will bring justice to so your rights and the rights of others.
glow that showed years of love, many workers. It really made me Fighting for social justice is the best
struggle, and sacrifice for other proud to be a part of such a move- education you can get.” This is so
people. She asked me my name and ment. true. Fighting for social justice has
where I was from. I nervously an- I know that everything that I been the one of the best learning ex-
swered that I was from the Bay Area learned from the people that I met periences that I have ever had!
but I was going to school in Sacra- and from the experiences that I had
mento. She then called Arturo will truly help me in my quest of Wendy Gonzalez is a bilingual teacher
Rodriguez over and introduced me becoming a bilingual elementary and a graduate student in bilingual
to him. It is hard for me to describe school teacher. I will use these ex- education at California State Univer-
how I felt having met Mrs. Huerta, periences to pass on to my students sity Sacramento. She is also a mem-
someone that I respect and admire in teaching them how important it ber of the DSA Latino Commission.
so much. I told her how much I
looked up to her and how she is truly
an outstanding person. She humbly
What is the
smiled and said thank you. I would
stare in awe every time Mrs. Huerta Latino Commission?
would speak. She is such a strong
human being and it is evident that
she is passionate about what she
The Latino Commission of DSA is a group of Latino DSA mem-
believes in. She is the type of per-
bers, chartered by the national, who choose to make Latino issues
son that I strive to be. In those few
central to their work. DSA members become members of the com-
days that I marched with her I
mission by paying dues of $15 per year and working to support
learned from her more than I could
the campaigns.
ever learn in a book.
As I continued marching that
Our mission statement says in part:
day, I began meeting more and more
wonderful people—people like Mrs.
In the current situation, we intend to create a left pole within
Jessie De La Cruz, whom the direc-
the Chicano/Latino Community. This involves setting forth the posi-
tor of California Rural Legal Assis-
tion that politics matters. We assert that all residents need to under-
tance, Jose Padilla, described as a
stand the political economy of our nation and to believe that we
militant of life. Being with the union
can change the course of the future by the struggle for political
since the beginning, she inspired me
power. We recognize and accept the liberal ideals of the nation.
every time that I would get tired.
We admire the generations of working people who have fought to
Here she was, over 80 years old and
achieve the right to vote, the right to join a union, and the rights
marching; even when she stumbled
contained in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
and tripped over a large speed bump
she kept going. It’s people like her
As a minority group (some 12 percent of the national popula-
that keep me going and keep me
tion and over 30 percent of the population in key states including
passionate and true to the struggle.
New York, Illinois, California, New Mexico and Texas), we recog-
As I would march past the fields
nize the need to develop coalitions and to work in coalitions with
and the farmworkers it only made it
persons of several racial, national, class and identity groupings.
more obvious that a lot more work
needs to be done to improve the
The Latino Commission has been active since 1983. We have
conditions that these hard working
carried out campaigns for immigrant rights, union solidarity, Cen-
people must endure. It only made
tral American solidarity, and others. Our current focus is on immi-
me angrier to think about how these
grant rights and union rights. You can find out more at our web
large companies want to keep these
site: www.dsausa.org/antiracism.
people from being able to sign a
union contract.
Co-chairs of the Latino Commission are Eric Vega and Dolores
The final day of the march, the
Delgado Campbell, both of the Sacramento Local of DSA.
rally at the state capitol really opened
my eyes at how much power we as
page 8 • Democratic Left • Winter 2002
Crisis of Urban Education and plaster doesn’t fall from the ceil-
ings. We ought to be able to at least
continued from page 7
assure our students that the toilets
work and fresh water is available. But
the Williams v. California suit and the
And while this failure affects all poor ing made little substantive difference Campaign for Fiscal Equity decision
children, it disproportionately im- in students’ test scores. We need to in New York clearly show we can-
pacts the children of African-Ameri- invest in urban schools, provide not.
cans, Latinos and Asians. Fully half of equal educational opportunities in The Williams complaint alleges:
all their children are in failing these schools, and recruit a well-pre-
schools. Not 10 percent, not 20 per- pared teaching force that begins to Tens of thousands of children
cent, but over 50 percent of these reflect the student populations in attending public schools lo-
children are being failed. these schools. cated throughout the State of
The problem is not race: there California are being deprived
is no intellectually defensible evi- Testing vs. investment of basic educational opportu-
dence of differences in learning abili- Rather than invest money in re- nities available to more privi-
ties by race. The problem is racism. form, most states have followed the leged children attending the
Racism is developed and strength- lead of conservative foundations and majority of the State’s public
ened in the continuation of radically the Clinton and Bush administrations schools. State law requires stu-
dents to attend school. Yet all
too many California school
children must go to school
The persistence of inadequate, unsafe, and without trained teachers, nec-
essary educational supplies,
disruptive conditions clearly indicates that voters classrooms, or seats in class-
rooms. Students attempt to
and elected officials accept the failure of many of learn in schools that lack func-
tioning heating or air condi-
our children, particularly students of color. tioning systems, that lack suffi-
cient numbers of functional
toilets, and that are infested
with vermin, including rats,
mice, and cockroaches. These
unequal learning conditions. and increased emphasis on testing appalling conditions in Califor-
Schools are more segregated by to improve scores. This is the heart nia public schools have per-
race today than they have been for of school reform passed by the Bush sisted for years and have wors-
decades. A close look at the de facto regime in PL 107-110, the misnamed ened over time.
segregated urban schools serving No Child Left Behind Act.
people of color reveals, for example, In California, it’s the Academic A fundamental purpose of
that we have the greatest number of Performance Index; in Texas, the Aca- schools is to prepare future citizens
teachers without appropriate prepa- demic Excellence Indicator system; to be stakeholders in society. Public
ration in our lowest performing in Illinois, the Illinois Standards As- schools are one of the few institu-
schools. We have teachers with de- sessment Systems; and in Massachu- tions designed to produce a public,
grees in social studies and art teach- setts, the MCAS. What you will find civic community. Schools distribute
ing math. Guess what—the students when looking at the scores in each knowledge. Unequal schools distrib-
don’t learn as much math as they of these systems is—surprise!— ute knowledge unequally. When
should. In some urban areas, those schools with high concentrations of schools distribute knowledge un-
teaching out of field approach 40 student in poverty have very low equally, as they do, they contribute
percent of the total. academic performance rankings. We to the social stratification of the
We now have significant evi- are spending millions of dollars to economy and the decline of demo-
dence from New York City, Los An- find out what we already know cratic opportunity. Schools do not
geles, Houston, and many other ma- rather than to improve the schools. exist in a vacuum. They are not iso-
jor city school districts that we can One would think that we could lated from their neighborhoods and
have an African-American superin- all agree that children ought to be communities. Inequality in schooling
tendent and staff or a Latino super- able to attend public schools that are reflects inequality in society.
intendent spend 3-5 years on new safe, where gangs and narcotics are
programs and leave the district hav- not common, where roofs don’t leak continued on page 14
Democratic Left • Winter 2002 • page 9
Jogger Case Letters to the Editor
continued from page 7
Frank Llewellyn in his article instead chose to run against an in-
have the convictions overturned for
“Can the Greens See the Forest for cumbent who had recently been in-
the next five years. Each time the
the Trees?” [Fall 2002] uses exactly dicted for bribing and intimidating
ILD appealed, the convictions of the
the same argumentative tactics as voters in his election as Democratic
nine men were upheld. In 1935,
Greens who argue that the Demo- ward leader.
Ruby Bates testified that she and her
crats are no different from the Re- Of the five Green Congressional
traveling partner had made the
publicans: hold every Green respon- candidates in Pennsylvania, four ran
whole thing up. The juries at the re-
sible for whatever any Green does in heavily Republican areas of the
trials, however, believed Victoria
anywhere; and handpick your evi- state against Republican incumbents,
Price, who had stuck to the story.
dence to promote your thesis. three of whom had no Democratic
Despite the recantation and the tes-
I won’t defend the Minnesota opponent. The fifth ran against a
timony of the medical examiner who
Greens’ decision to oppose Paul moderate Democrat with an entirely
stated that he had seen no evidence
Wellstone, and neither will most of the safe seat simply to give voters in that
of rape, the convictions were upheld
Greens I know. Unfortunately, the na- district the opportunity to vote a
time and time again. The luckiest of
tional Green Party and its other state straight Green ticket.
the men, Eugene Williams, Olen
affiliates have as little power as the Which, if either (or any), is the
Montgomery, Willie Roberson and
national Republicans or Democrats to “real” Green Party? That’s the ques-
Roy Wright, spent six years in prison;
change a local party’s behavior. tion that must be answered before
the least fortunate, Haywood
Nationwide, Greens for the most we can determine what sort of fu-
Patterson, only lived his last four
part run candidates where they have ture they represent for left electoral
years as a free man by escaping. By
people willing to run. At this point politics and how DSA should relate
1976, only one of the men had been
strategy can hardly enter into it, al- to them. It would be a mistake to
pardoned.
though it did in Philadelphia, where make that determination based only
As with the Central Park Jogger
the local Greens declined with on the evidence Llewellyn presents.
case, a handful of lives were ruined
thanks an offer to run against a very John Hogan
because of little more than long held,
progressive state representative, and Philadelphia
racist fantasies of black criminality
and sex drive and the taboo of black-
on-white intermixing. The evidence
in the Scottsboro case pointed to
only one conclusion: most of the What is the
nine men convicted had never even
seen one another and none of them Anti-Racism Commission?
had ever seen their accusers. In the
Central Park case, the evidence sug-
gests that the five men convicted We are a group of DSA members from all racial and ethnic
never crossed paths with the victim. groups, from various parts of the country, who regard anti
Despite the fact that the victim racism organizing as central to building a left in the US. We
could not recall any of the crime, in- have been active since 1983 and we publish a quarterly
vestigators felt that they had their newsletter Our Struggle/Nuestra Lucha. Membership is open to
perpetrators. The five youths, who any DSA member wishing to work on this agenda. We seek to
were in custody at the time of the participate in a social justice movement and to focus on
rape for mugging someone else in defeating racism.
the vicinity, fit the profile they were
looking for. History has shown once You can find out more about our work at www.dsausa.org/
again that, once the black and white antiracism, which includes our most recent document, “Beyond
lines are perceived to be crossed, Diversity: the Struggle for Justice and Solidarity,” and strategies
white fear can sanction horrid per- for organizing.
versions of justice. Have we learned
the lesson yet? The Chair of the Commission is Duane Campbell. You can
reach him at [email protected]. Hunter Gray is the
Fabricio Rodriguez is an activ- regional organizer for the Northwest. We welcome other
ist, economist and a freelance regional organizers and activists.
writer and was formerly co-chair
of Young Democratic Socialists.
page 10 • Democratic Left • Winter 2002