People Before Profit blog

Labor: a special interest?

Fri, 29 Aug 2003 02:44:00 +0000

The labor movement today is under attack by the monopoly corporations as a greedy “special interest” bunch. The attack starts in the White House and fills every media form every day. It increases in intensity as the 2004 elections draw ever closer.

There is only one way by which labor can defeat this attack, and that is by saying right up front: We are indeed a special interest group – we subscribe to and support the special interests of common people. We want for the American people what AFL President Samuel Gompers called for many decades ago:

“What does labor want?

“We want more schools, houses and less jails; more books and less arsenals; more learning and less vice; more leisure and less greed; more justice and less revenge. In fact, more of the opportunities to cultivate our better nature.”

For that, he and labor were accused of being a greedy selfish, special interest group.

What Gompers said is today what the AFL-CIO and all of labor are fighting for.

Corporate America has only one – yes, just one – reason to exist. Its only reason for being is to make maximum profits for its owners.

Corporate America will do anything, bar nothing, to extract those maximum profits. And it has – and it does. When the corporations say more, more, more, they are truly the greedy special interest. They yell “stop thief” but they are the thieves.

The history of corporate American growth has two very specific and defined features: covering up the crass, greedy, murderous things they do, and controlling the state apparatus, that is, the government. George W. Bush, his cabinet and agency heads, all carry the corporate message. Giant corporations own and control practically every media outlet: TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, and their web sites. They own the TV anchorpeople and big name reporters whose paychecks they control.

Just what is it that is so important about this corporate one-two punch? Especially in these times?

Corporate America is stealing America, just as they are trying to steal the whole world. Because of their control, stolen though it is, they have looted the national treasury, our health care system, environment, resources, jobs and safety net.

They do all of this, they say, because “it’s good for the country.” They wage propaganda war at every twist and turn. When anything goes wrong it’s not their fault they say. It’s someone else’s fault, like environmentalists, affirmative action, or single mothers “who have too many children.” The biggest and heaviest ideological blows are fired at workers and their unions. It’s those “greedy, demanding unions,” they say.

Now that the 2004 national elections are drawing near, corporate America is opening up the propaganda floodgates to try to block labor from playing an effective role in the elections. How? Just as they have done since Gompers’ speech, by labeling labor as “a greedy special interest” bunch who only think about themselves. They are out to divide labor within its own ranks and split it from its natural allies. Who are these allies? All people who work and produce goods and services, the racially and nationally oppressed, all those who fight racism, who seek peace and justice.

The outcome of the 2004 elections will determine labor’s future for a long time to come. Labor and its allies cannot tolerate four more years of the Bush/monopoly-corporate policy of destroying U.S. industrial might and reducing the working people to an unskilled minimum wage mass.

The trade union movement across the board needs a united front against this destructive process. Its first line of defense must be to defeat the lies of the monopoly corporations and their monopoly media. Labor has to win the ideological battle in order to win the election.

Labor stands for more of “the good things” for the mass of the people. What’s good for labor is good for America. The working people built America. The working people are America.

Pat Barile is a member of the National Board of the Communist Party USA. He can be reached at pww@pww.org

Letters

Fri, 29 Aug 2003 02:42:00 +0000

Bush recruits Saddam’s thugs

Now we learn that the Bush administration plans to recruit former agents of Saddam’s internal security apparatus to help the precarious U.S. occupation defend itself against a growing Iraqi insurgency. Freedom loving Iraqis will spit at this cynical maneuver. It’s difficult to imagine how the White House will get out of the Iraqi vortex in any decent political shape for next year’s election. Bush is quickly losing the public’s confidence. There’s already a widespread sentiment in favor of bringing the troops home now. Democrats and the press smell blood.

A mere four months after the supposed end of the war, more than two-thirds of Americans polled think the U.S. has entered a “quagmire” in Iraq, one that will last for many years and be very expensive in dollars and lives. The people are beginning to understand how monstrously we’ve been misled into an unnecessary and counter productive war. Unless America is subject to another terrorist attack, Bush will probably be thrown out of office by the voters next year, if he hasn’t already been impeached. Until that time, Iraqis will have to deal with a U.S. occupation that will be abetted by some of Saddam’s most fearsome thugs.

Cord MacGuire

Boulder CO

Military-industrial-complex

I read your article titled “White House and Wall Street treason” (8/23), in which you mention the Bush administration’s personal and financial links to companies that have profited from the war in Iraq.

One additional corporation that never gets mentioned is Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC). They are a San Diego corporation that receives two-thirds of its operating budget from the feds, mainly the Pentagon.

SAIC is heavily involved in Iraq. They also are the second biggest donor to the UC San Diego Engineering Department and have endowed two faculty chairs there. The military/corporate axis needs to be understood as the military/corporate/university axis much more clearly because the privatization of public universities is just about complete.

Rosalio Munoz

via e-mail

PWW/NM a high priority

I was a professional computer programmer until May 2001 when my company closed. After 24 years of work, the field is deceased. I went into real estate last year, so technically I’m unemployed. I guess something will sell eventually. But I wouldn’t give up the PWW for anything! Enclosed is my check for a two-year renewal.

Bruce Rifkin

Wanaque NJ

Bush photo-ops in Africa

Your report on the Bush visit to Africa mentioned his realized need to gain more of the African American vote in 2004. That was behind many of his tactics during the tour and it had nothing to do with reaching out to that beleaguered continent. In that light, very little was made in the U.S. press that, when Bush’s party reached South Africa, former president Nelson Mandela just happened to be out of town and was therefore not available for Bush’s planned photo-ops. Mandela’s colleagues said he did not want to give the upcoming Bush campaign the opportunities to brandish the photos to manipulate the U.S. voters with such a charade. We can expect, however, many more shenanigans by the Bush people. Our only weapon is to stay alert and remind our neighbors and friends to be on their toes.

Don Sloan

New York NY

Communism and religion

I wish to correct a common misconception that all those who believe in the principles of Communism are atheists. This is simply untrue – I happen to believe in a Creator and the doctrines of Communism. I hold an M.A. in Biblical Studies. When Moses was given the Law, he was instructed to have special care for the average worker and the poor. Gleaning, the gathering of the grain, was done to a point of leaving a good proportion for the needy. Christ in his teachings stressed that: “A worker is deserving of his wages.” And that “You will always have the poor among you.” If we truly analyze the “Sermon on the Mount,” we will see that care for the common people and love for the common poor was strongly encouraged. The religious leaders accused him of “sitting with sinners.”

Would we rather have a cruel tyranny or a system of having property for all and in common? All that is needed is the use of common sense.

Jad A. Ghanem

Tucson AZ

Editorials

Fri, 29 Aug 2003 02:40:00 +0000

It takes a fight to win

On Labor Day 2003, a specter is haunting America. It is called unemployment.

In July, the official unemployment level rose to 6.2 percent. This figure hides hundreds of thousands who have given up looking for jobs. The Bureau of Labor Statistics only counts those who are “actively looking for work.” Three million jobs, largely in manufacturing, have been lost since George W. Bush seized office.

Large manufacturing layoffs continue even as the White House and big business pundits declare, “the worst is over.” Take the case of Pillowtex in North Carolina. Last month the company shut down 16 factories, throwing nearly 5,000 workers into the streets. A recent survey of laid-off Pillowtex workers reveals a striking picture of the devastation: 47.7 percent have dependent children, 22.3 percent have three or more, 42.5 percent are behind in their rent or house payments, 10.6 percent have already received notice of eviction or foreclosure, 92.7 percent cannot afford or get health care. Many report using up to half of their unemployment checks to pay for prescriptions.

A rise in the stock market and increased corporate profits do not make a recovery. While the yardsticks that capitalists use to measure economic progress may be improving, several signs point to more hard times for workers. Capital investment in factories and machinery remains stagnant. Capital flight continues to mean the export of jobs overseas to low-wage, high exploitation areas.

There are no easy solutions to this crisis. But there are solutions.

An estimated $60 billion a year is being spent on the occupation of Iraq. Sixty billion a year invested in repairing our crumbling infrastructure, including schools, hospitals and electric grid, would put millions back to work. A shorter workweek, with no cut in pay, would create new jobs. And requiring companies to invest $5 at home for every $1 they invest abroad would promote the kind of fair trade that creates jobs.

It takes a fight to win.

Bush is beatable

On May 1, George W. Bush dressed up like a “top gun” naval aviator and landed on the deck of the Abraham Lincoln. Before a huge banner reading “Mission Accomplished” Bush bragged that “major combat is at an end” in Iraq. Public approval of his handling of the presidency had reached 71 percent. His position seemed unassailable and his re-election certain a year-and-a-half before the polls open in November 2004.

What a difference a couple of months makes! Since his boast, some 150 U.S. soldiers and an unknown number of Iraqis have died and the occupation is becoming a costly quagmire. A just released Newsweek poll showed that only 53 percent approve of Bush’s job performance. The same poll showed that the people reject sending more troops by an emphatic 55 percent to 40 percent. Ominously for Bush, the poll showed that 48 percent believe U.S. troops should be brought home from Iraq now while only 47 percent support the occupation.

The Washington Post carried an op-ed piece warning that even Republican advisers pondering the “unthinkable,” that Bush’s pose as a wartime president defending national security could turn into a “vulnerability.” Already, the Democratic contenders are hammering him on his lies and deceptions in tricking the nation into war.

Add to it Bush’s “reverse Robin Hood” economic and tax policies. Yes, they fattened the coffers of his rich cronies, but the economy remains in the pits and state and local governments are awash in red ink. Consider other burning issues: the repressive Patriot Act, his attack on affirmative action, his drive to strip women of their reproductive rights, his prescription drug scam, and his phony “No Child Left Behind” legislation.

Surely these too are “vulnerabilities.” The point is, that on this Labor Day as we look ahead, Bush looks more and more beatable. We must expose his corporate ultra-right agenda relentlessly. We must start now to mobilize the voters to turn him out of office in November 2004.

Letters

Fri, 22 Aug 2003 07:20:00 +0000

Restore rights to ex-offenders

A recent forum in Chicago on the expungement of criminal records of ex-offenders, held at Roberto Clemente High School, featured a diverse panel of elected officials and community leaders. We learned about state legislation awaiting Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s signature to give persons with non-violent misdemeanor convictions a second chance by establishing an expungement program that would recognize factual innocence, provide for a certificate of disability and good conduct, and assist ex-offenders in finding jobs.

Ex-offenders in the audience were asked to identify employers who rejected their job applications because of their criminal record. Some of the ex-offenders told their stories and were directed to persons who could help them. Our elected officials and community leaders asked for our help, our massive and committed support. Our voices, addressing the rights and concerns of ex-offenders and their families, need to be heard loud and clear, including picketing and boycotting offending employers.

One of the clearest challenges for us as a community, city, and state is to change the perception of “once an ex-offender, always ex-offender.” At the end of the forum, the ex-offenders availed themselves of legal assistance, job help, and job training opportunities. I left the forum both educated and inspired.

David NekimkenChicago IL

Terminator as ‘farce’

When Karl Marx wrote, about the rise of Napoleon III, that history repeats itself, the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce, modern mass media had not yet given us the rerun. If Ronald Reagan’s political career was a farcical replay of the McCarthyite 1950s (in 1965, he initially told a group of wealthy backers that he did not know if he could be an effective governor of California because he had never played a governor in the movies), Arnold Schwarzenegger’s entering the bizarre California recall election is recycled and very low farce.

The former Mr. Universe, known for his portrayal of mythical barbarians and robots from the future, has thrown his barbells into the ring with a pledge that he will “clean house” in Sacramento (he does have servants) and stand heroically above special interests. When another Austrian came to Germany after WWI and made similar promises, it had disastrous consequences for the world. California’s fiscal crisis is a direct result of the disastrous policies of the Bush administration and a federal government which spends the people’s tax money for military and corporate subsidies and trickles down responsibilities for basic human needs to state and local governments.

Today, the entire California state debt, a center of the crisis, is a little more than two weeks of Bush administration military spending. Absorbing California’s debt would be a real solution to the problems facing California. Putting Arnold Schwarzenegger in the governor’s mansion would only increase job opportunities for comedians.

Norman MarkowitzNew Brunswick NJ

Child tax credit denied

I did not qualify for the child tax credit. I make more than minimum wage, but I only work 36 hours a week. My income is about $22,000 a year. I want to know if this is going to be bill passed or has it already passed for the low income families to receive the child tax credit.

Dedravia e-mail

Editor’s note: An amendment to extend the child tax credit to households earning less than $26,000 has been blocked by the Republicans in the House of Representatives. About seven million families, with about 12 million children, are being cruelly denied this benefit. Child advocacy and labor groups urging citizens to put pressure on Congress and Bush to pass the amendment when Congress reconvenes.

Signs for peace and justice

The Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation vigils two times every week at two prominent locations in downtown Olympia. Although some of our signs are rather pointed (e.g., “Bush lied” has been getting good responses), I much prefer signs that are worded positively rather than negatively and signs that invite people to a better way rather than blame them implicitly or explicitly.

Effective vigil signs should have the fewest possible words, so people can quickly read them as they pass by. Here are some examples: “All nations are ONE human family,” “All people are ONE human family,” “Bush’s pals get rich from war,” “Dissent is how America makes progress,” “Feed the people, not the Pentagon,” “It is about oil,” “Protect our troops from this reckless foreign policy,” “Speak truth to power,” “Yes, YOU can do something for peace.”

Glen AndersonLacey WA

Editorials

Fri, 22 Aug 2003 07:07:00 +0000

A dream still unfulfilled

This week marks the 40th anniversary of the March on Washington, a watershed event in the history of the United States. On Aug. 28, 1963, more than 250,000 marchers came to Washington, D.C., to hear Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders champion the cause of freedom and equality for the African American people.

In his extraordinary “I Have a Dream” speech, Dr. King noted that 100 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, African Americans were “still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of segregation,” still beset by poverty, still living in appalling conditions.

Forty years later, it’s important to recognize that the March and the Civil Rights Movement had a lasting impact. Great victories have been won in the fight against racism. Formal segregation has been virtually abolished. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 won the franchise for African Americans in the South. Advances have been registered in access to education and public services. More African Americans hold political office.

But Dr. King’s words about the persistence of economic inequality between Black and white still ring true today. Full equality is far from achieved. African Americans are still victims of a racist wage-gap and suffer disproportionately from unemployment. Segregation in housing persists in many cities and towns. Police brutality against African Americans and other racially oppressed people remains rampant.

Further, two tools used to advance the struggle for equality – voting rights and affirmative action – are under assault by the Bush administration and the ultra-right. Witness the mass disenfranchisement of African American voters in Florida in the 2000 elections, or the campaign against affirmative action.

As Dr. King said in his speech, “This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism.” It is in the interests of all workers to step up the fight against racism. It is time to re-commit to fulfilling Dr. King’s dream.

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U.S.-UK occupation: more misery and chaos

The bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad is yet another tragedy that dramatizes the consequences of the illegal U.S.-British occupation of Iraq. The war and occupation make the world a much more dangerous place. Humanitarian efforts by international aid groups are almost impossible in the chaotic atmosphere of the occupation.

At the 100-day mark of the end of the war, the Bush administration issued a report detailing the accomplishments of the occupation in their customary sleight of hand way, substituting fact with spin. Meanwhile Iraqis and U.S. troops die every day.

The Iraq Center for Research and Strategic Studies has released a poll that says that that nearly half of Iraqis polled say that the violence is attributable to provocations by the U.S. armed forces or resistance to the occupation.

The Bush administration and the far right also turn a blind eye to the mounting opposition to the occupation at home, including among military families, veterans and active service people.

War, “regime change” and occupation do not bring about peace and democracy. Though many in Iraq criticize the history of the UN role in Iraq, the UN is the only international organization that can provide the umbrella for peacekeeping forces from countries that refuse to participate in the U.S.-UK occupation.

The Bush administration threw roadblocks in the way of the UN weapons inspections before the war and lied about weapons of mass destruction. Bush has rejected any meaningful UN role all the way along.

The entire region has been destabilized, giving new life to far right religious fundamentalism. The possibilities of the Iraqi people and their organizations taking charge of their future are almost nil while the U.S.-British occupation continues.

Peacekeepers, not occupiers, are needed for the Iraqi people to take charge of rebuilding their country. Call Congress and demand an investigation into why Bush administration made war on Iraq and continues the illegal occupation. Tell them “Bring the troops home” and let the UN play its rightful role.

Letters

Fri, 15 Aug 2003 07:03:00 +0000

Time for a shorter workweek

Over the past two decades, the productivity of labor, due to computer and robotic technology, has vastly increased while the income of workers has stagnated. So far, most of the benefits of these technical advances have gone to the corporate owning class, as reflected in fattened profits. The rich are getting much, much richer. The working class, which makes all these innovations possible, should share in the benefits. Instead, those of us who still have jobs are working too much – 350 hours (nine weeks!) per year more than our counterparts in Western Europe.

Overwork threatens our health, reducing time for exercise and encouraging consumption of artery-clogging fast foods. It leaves many of us with little time to vote – much less be informed, active citizens. At the same time, the ranks of the unemployed and homeless are growing due to automation. This is what high technology means in capitalist hands.

Shortening working hours will increase total employment by spreading the work around.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Under a rational economic system, improvements in technology and increased labor productivity would mean a shorter workweek, not an increase in unemployment and poverty.

Participation in environmental, community, union, and political activities all take time. With more free time, people would find more opportunities for building relationships, citizenship, and empowerment. For more on this, see http://www.timeday.org

David ZinkTacoma WA

Calif. recall

Although I am not a resident of California, the recall campaign against Governor Davis is really a national issue. However unpopular he may be, the recall Governor Davis campaign is another example of the Republican Party’s “will to power” and willingness to subvert representative government and free elections. “Will to power” is a term associated with an Austrian of slighter build than Arnold Schwarzenegger who used a martial law provision of the Weimar Constitution to destroy German democracy in 1933.

It is part of a whole series of sinister developments in which a president appointed 5-4 by a GOP-dominated Supreme Court has thrown together a goverment preaching 19th century Robber Baron capitalism, 18th century state church morality, and early 20th century gunboat diplomacy. If the Republicans aren’t stopped in California, what and where will be next?

A good deal of California’s problems stem from the economic crisis that the Bush service cuts and vast increases in military spending have meant for state governments. California’s problems are greatly compounded by the billions swindled from the state by the GOP’s Enron friends and funders.

“Recalling” George Bush democratically in 2004 and replacing him with a pro-labor progressive like Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who support major reductions in the military budget and federal aid to states and cities, along with repeal of the Taft-Hartley law and its “right to work” clause 14B, is a genuine answer to California’s and the nation’s problems.

Norman MarkowitzNew Brunswick NJ

Oppose anti-Semitism

Those who are Jewish have felt the wrath of anti-Semitism, and many years ago a lot of progressive Jews became Communists.

A friend of mine who can’t stand religion or Israeli policy was called a “cheap Jew” for bringing outside food into the Pennsylvania hospital cafeteria, upsetting him greatly. Somehow only right-wing Jews seem to get a chance to fight anti-Semitism and, more ominously, get to define what anti-Semitism is.

To make a long story short, I urge the People’s Weekly World to be in the forefront of fighting (and defining) anti-Semitism.

Richard Kanegisvia e-mail

Say no to ‘culture of greed’

First I really want to say thank you, thank you so much for doing what you do. I live in a very conservative part of the world, where dissent is viewed as downright evil and to have an open mind can be a terrible offense. I work in a major financial enslavement facility, credit card collections. I see first-hand capitalism eating itself alive. [We’re told] the war is over yet Americans and Iraqis are still dying; there were never any weapons and still no Saddam.

I was outraged and physically ill seeing Saddam’s sons’ dead bodies paraded like trophies on television. We have a president who lies and a government that tries to cover it up.

America has so much potential to do great things yet the culture of greed puts us in awkward and bad places.

G. CoatesEastern Tennessee

Editorials

Fri, 15 Aug 2003 06:56:00 +0000

Looting the treasury

The Bush administration’s economic policies are tantamount to looting the national treasury. And that is not just our opinion, but what Nobel Prize winner and economist Prof. Akerlof said to the German magazine Der Spiegel, July 29.

Between the deficits from the tax breaks for the filthy rich, which are not creating jobs, the huge military expenditures, which is not about ending terrorism, but building an empire – including paying for an illegal and immoral war and occupation in Iraq – privatization and cut backs to public, social programs, especially Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security the Bush administration is running the national economy into the ground. Akerlof warns the huge deficit will only worsen the markets and confidence in the U.S. government world-wide. Allowing mega-corporate mergers, unending war, attacks on union, civil and human rights, and environmental protection also depress living standards and feed instability.

The Bush administration is worried about this too, which is why they are huddling in Crawford, Texas, Aug. 13, for an economic summit. They are worried because they could lose the 2004 elections. But that is exactly why George W. Bush needs to be booted out of the White House and the ultra right out of Congress.

What is needed is a federal government willing to investment in the infrastructure of this country, woefully neglected for many years. Water and sewage systems, environmental clean-up, public transportation, schools, housing, parks, libraries and hospitals all need an infusion of capital. This would create jobs. More research in discovering renewable energy sources along with creating a real international solidarity fund to help undo the decades of destruction wrought by U.S. imperialism would also provide jobs and more stability.

These investments would have to be accompanied by strengthening anti-monopoly laws and corporate regulation; reversing privatization of public entities; upholding collective bargaining and civil rights; raising the minimum wage and college scholarships.

These steps would put our country on the right path both at home and abroad.

* * * * * *

Say no to police spying

Earlier this year Federal Judge Charles S. Haight Jr. released the New York City Police Department from almost all aspects of a 1985 consent decree prohibiting the NYPD from spying on political protests and groups. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly used the Sept. 11 terrorist attack to convince the court that the Handschu consent decree, entered into in 1985 as a result of a 1971 class action suit against police infiltration and spying on left political groups, was outdated and hampered the fight against terrorism. He argued that the NYPD’s own surveillance guidelines protected protesters’ rights.

It now comes to light that many of the New York antiwar demonstrators arrested in February on minor charges were interrogated by the police about their political beliefs. Questions included “Do you hate George W. Bush?” and “Do you think anything would be different if Al Gore were elected?”

The revelations have prompted Judge Haight to reinstitute federal court oversight of the NYPD’s own surveillance guidelines. If the NYPD violates these, they will be held in contempt of court.

All progressive and democratic forces should welcome this decision, but much more needs to be done – including at the federal level.

Attorney General John Ashcroft’s new proposals to expand the Patriot Act would make consent decrees against political spying a thing of the past. Patriot Act II would expand the antidemocratic powers of police agencies against people. It would free police officers from prosecution for illegal searches if they are “following orders.” It would permit the suspension of the right of habeas corpus. U.S. citizens, native or foreign-born, could be deprived of citizenship at the whim of the Justice Department. It would permit wiretaps and reading of e-mail without judicial oversight. It would create a gigantic “Terrorist Identification Database” that would be shielded from judicial review.

In short, Patriot Act II would be an antidemocratic nightmare. No supporter of liberty and justice should rest until it is scrapped.

Fri, 15 Aug 2003 02:19:00 +0000

OAKLAND – While front-running Republican gubernatorial contender Arnold Schwarzenegger dominates the airways with cute sound bites, organized labor and other people’s movements are vigorously gathering their forces to oppose California’s special recall election Oct. 7.

“This is personal! They are out to get your wages, your pensions, your health benefits,” Bill Camp, Sacramento Central Labor Council executive secretary, told a spirited crowd of more than 125 trade union activists gathered in Sacramento on Aug. 9. Camp was speaking at the fifth in a series of training workshops being held statewide entitled Workers Against Recall, or WAR. The State Building and Construction Trades Council of California, in cooperation with central labor councils and the California Labor Federation, is sponsoring the sessions.

Dorothea Revell, NAACP California state secretary, blasted the recall as “a clown act” with serious consequences for democracy and the people. Two hundred forty-seven candidates have entered the race for governor in the event Democratic Gov. Gray Davis is recalled by a majority of the voters. The number of certified candidates was unknown at press time.

If the recall passes, a replacement to Davis could be installed with as little as 10 to 20 percent of the vote, since only a plurality, not a majority of voters is needed to elect.

“Why spend $35 [to $70] million to do a recall instead of putting it in the schools to teach our children,” Revell told the World in an Aug. 12 phone interview. Revell said the NAACP and the AFL-CIO constituency groups are sponsoring California appearances by NAACP leaders Kweisi Mfume and Julian Bond against both the recall and Proposition 54, “Classification by Race, Ethnicity, Color, or National Origin Initiative,” to help mobilize massive voter registration, education and get out the vote drives.

“Arnold is out there smiling,” Sofia Mendoza, longtime San Jose community activist, told the World in a phone interview, “but I’m sick of hearing him talk about how much money he has while avoiding the critical issues affecting working people’s lives.”

The economy in the Silicon Valley, where San Jose is located, is in shambles, largely due to “Bush administration big business policies,” which Schwarzenegger is expected to emulate for California, she said.

Meanwhile, it was former Republican Gov. Pete Wilson, Schwarzenegger’s campaign chairman, who stood in for the multi-millionaire actor in last weekend’s news talk shows. Despised by organized labor, minority groups and others, during his tenure as governor Wilson overturned daily overtime pay regulations, prevailing wage guarantees in construction, pushed through electricity deregulation, which later led to the monopoly-created energy crisis during Davis’ tenure, and successfully promoted Propositions 187 against immigrants and 209 against affirmative action. He also pushed anti-union proposition 226, which failed. Wilson’s top advisors and staff have all taken top posts in the Schwarzenegger campaign.

While Schwarzenegger initially made much about someone like himself, an immigrant (from Austria) making it big in America, under public pressure this week the actor revealed he voted for Prop. 187, which denied undocumented immigrants and their children, including those born in the U.S., the right to public education, social services and democratic rights.

“How can an immigrant have voted for it?” Mendoza asked, “Where’s this guy’s head?”

Speaking to the labor activists, Sacramento’s Camp was more blunt: “Pete Wilson’s head is on the Terminator’s body,” he quipped.

“It’s not about Davis,” Judy Goff, executive secretary treasurer of the Alameda County Central Labor Council, told the World, Aug. 11, in a phone interview. “It’s about a narrow right-wing agenda pushed by an extremist part of the Republican Party that wants to recall daily overtime, prevailing wages, small class size and public schools, the new paid family leave law [first in the country], and other very positive legislation,” she said. These gains were won by organized labor and its allies after a Republican right-wing governor was replaced with Democrat Davis and both chambers of the state legislature went into Democratic hands.

At the same time, Goff said, “It’s a disgusting power ploy” aimed to install a Republican governor who “they see as helpful in the 2004 presidential elections.”

Labor, civil rights, women, environmental and other major progressive social groups, along with the Democratic Party and independent activists generally, vigorously oppose the recall. However, there are differing views over whether to support a major candidate running to replace Davis as governor in case the recall passes, and, if so, who.

The California Labor Federation, which is energetically focusing on a “no” vote on the recall and strong opposition to Prop. 54, has called a Recall Election Special Convention on Aug. 26 to mobilize its affiliates. Whether or not to endorse a candidate is also on the agenda.

The authors can be reached at ncalview@igc.org

Letters

Fri, 08 Aug 2003 03:07:00 +0000

Hepburn’s labor solidarity

The recent death of Katharine Hepburn reminded me of her solidarity with striking Box Tree Restaurant workers on Manhattan’s East 49th Street back in the 1990s. I found the following on the internet:

“On strike Christmas helper: It was a chilly evening just before Christmas in Manhattan, 1992.

Katherine Hepburn was passing by the The Box Tree restaurant, several doors down from her townhouse. Waiters and busboys were picketing outside.

The actress stopped at the police barricade and asked an organizer, “Aren’t you cold?” “Yeah a little,” he admitted. “Well,” said Ms. Hepburn, “why don’t you come to my house to warm up? If any of you have to go to the bathroom or you just want to warm up, come to my house.”

[The organizer] declined the invitation, but thanked her all the same. At that the actress raised her fist, exclaimed, “You beat them!” then continued down the street. Within the hour she sent her housekeeper back to the Box Tree, with two boxes of Christmas chocolates for [the organizer] and the picketers, and another invitation to use her bathroom if they needed to.”

Well, the strikers, who were mostly of Mexican descent, did beat the Box Tree bosses six years later with the help of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees union, other AFL-CIO members, and the solidarity of people like Katharine Hepburn. A number of World articles on the strike by the late Roy Rydell also advanced this struggle towards victory.

Rich GiovanoniCamden NJ

Likes the calendar

I received my copy of the PWW today and noticed on page 14 “August in History.” That is a great idea! You might want to think about making a calendar using the dates important to the working class. I am sure it would be a great seller and fundraiser for the PWW. Also noticed the sub rate went up. It still is the best paper going today even at double the price!

A North Carolina via e-mail

Investigate Bush lies

This summer several of us Chicanas and Chicanos, who were active in the anti-Vietnam War efforts in our communities decades ago, have been working together to try to build Latino support for a thorough investigation of intelligence abuses about Iraq.

When MoveOn took up the issue supporting Rep. Henry Waxman’s proposal, H.R. 2625, we began working to get as many Latino co-sponsors as possible as well as other representatives with large Latino constituencies. There are now 110 co-sponsors of bill, including at 13 Latinos representatives.

We are concerned that a disproportionate number of our youth are in the most vulnerable assignments in the armed services. We are incensed at the stereotype about people of color carrying concealed weapons being applied on a global scale. We believe if we do not exercise our democracy it will atrophy. Our goal is to get at least 218 co-sponsors in the House and 51 in the Senate.

Call your congressional representative after Labor Day, when Congress returns from its recess: (800) 839-5276. Si Se Puede.

Rosalio MunozLos Angeles CA.

Simple and pithy

When Clinton lied, people sighed.

When Bush lied, people died.

Bill AppelhansChicago IL

Reader on Kucinich candidacy

Thank you so much for producing such a high quality paper. Nowhere else have I found such an inclusive and comprehensive publication which addresses the issues that really matter for the people of the world.

If possible, I would like for the PWW/NM to take greater notice of presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich.

I and many others I have spoken with believe that he is the one who will speak for us all and will speak out against the administration in the most comprehensive manner. I notice him from time to time in the paper, but since the corporate mainstream media refuses to give him any standing. We must!

Thankfully and graciously yours,

Chris KarnesTacoma WA

Editor’s note: We have had several responses to the articles by Erwin Marquit on socialist market economies. Excerpts from these letters, along with a response by the author, will be printed in a future People Before Profits column.

Editorials

Fri, 08 Aug 2003 02:56:00 +0000

U.S. should lead in nuclear disarmament

Fifty-eight years ago this week, the United States – the only country to use nuclear weapons – dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These actions, which resulted in the deaths of over 300,000 people and left many more ravaged by radiation sickness, forever changed the nature of warfare. For the first time, a weapon existed that could threaten humanity’s very existence. Successive U.S. administrations, and the transnational corporations that back them, saw nuclear arms as critical to the drive to control the world’s destiny and dominate its resources.

Over the ensuing decades, a vast worldwide people’s movement to abolish nuclear weapons sprang up, with the Soviet Union playing a leading role. Though ever more dangerous and powerful arms were developed, they were hemmed in by a network of agreements. Among these were the partial and complete test bans, the anti-ballistic missile treaty, the nuclear non-proliferation agreement which commits the five acknowledged nuclear powers to eliminate their arsenals, and successive treaties to reduce numbers of weapons.

However, since the extreme right wing of the U.S. ruling class took power under the Bush administration, the specter of nuclear war looms larger than ever. Together with the doctrines of preemptive strike and perpetual war, the current administration publicly declared that seven countries including Russia and China are targeted with nuclear arms. The Bush administration destroyed the anti-ballistic missile treaty that bars weaponization of space, and its strategic doctrine includes the possibility of nuclear first strike. It plans to develop new types of nuclear arms including low-yield “bunker busters.”

It is time (some say past time) to demand that the United States – possessor of the world’s leading arsenal by far – must now live up to its pledge in the nuclear non-proliferation agreement and lead the worldwide process of nuclear disarmament by dismantling its own arsenal.

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GLBT progress tempered by new attacks

This summer will go down as historic for the successes in the struggle for gay and lesbian rights. The Supreme Court overturned state sodomy laws, Canada legalized gay marriage, Wal-Mart, the country’s largest employer, extended benefits to domestic partners, and even on TV and in movies, the GLBT community is being shown in a positive light.

But as we enter the lazy days of August, it is becoming clear just how far there still is to go. At a Rose Garden press conference last week, President Bush vowed to work for a ban on same-sex marriages. “I am mindful that we are all sinners,” said Bush, once again, injecting his religion into a political debate. Trampling squarely on the Bill of Rights, he again crossed the line which separates church and state.

The far right in the churches have also stepped up their attacks. The Vatican announced that papal support will be given to anything banning gay marriage, while conservatives in the Episcopalian church threatened a major split over the election of a gay bishop.

The struggle for LGBT rights and equality is important to all supporters of democracy. Human Rights Campaign Executive Director Elizabeth Birch put it well when she said, “Our nation was founded by those who held deeply in their hearts the principle that religious matters should be separate from state matters. It’s important for lawmakers – and the American people – to understand that civil marriage is about receiving more than 1,000 protections and rights under federal and state law. … No religious institution would be forced to recognize these marriages, just as today the Catholic church isn’t forced to recognize the marriage of someone who has been divorced.”

Leading up to the election, we must redouble efforts to make sure the Bill of Rights is upheld, that discrimination not become the law of the land, and that Bush has to find a new home come January 2005.

Verizon talks continue

Thu, 07 Aug 2003 10:13:00 +0000

As of this writing negotiations are continuing between the Communications Workers of America (CWA), International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), and Verizon Communications management. Local and regional contracts covering some 78,000 telephone workers expired at midnight on Aug. 2.

In past negotiations, CWA hasn’t worked without a contract. This time, union negotiators decided to stop the clock shortly before the midnight deadline, despite persisting major problems in local negotiations with Verizon Wireless and on the key issues of job security and health care. “There’s been enough progress that makes it worth it to keep talking,” said IBEW spokesman, Jim Spellane.

Verizon management has incurred significant costs in preparing for a possible strike, training managers to do the jobs of unionized workers and the recruitment and training of replacement workers. The extension of negotiations has disrupted these plans, leaving would-be “scabs” in limbo. Management has been left guessing about when, and if, the workers will strike. In some cases, Verizon is shelling out money to pay and house scabs that they can’t use.

Verizon worker Ed Rosado described management’s predicament: “Today Verizon spent big bucks ... tomorrow will be the same. And the day after that. Because in the end, Verizon doesn’t know when, or even if, we will walk. And in the end, if we don’t get a decent contract, walk we will.”

For workers on the shop floor, the watchwords are “mobilization on the job” and “no business as usual.” This has translated into informational picketing, rallies, working to rule and seeking community and political support. At a recent rally in Staten Island, N.Y., the unionized driver of a bus transporting a load of scabs allowed CWA International Staff Representative Larry DeAngelis to board the bus. After listing to his appeal, at least half a dozen people got off the bus, having been convinced not to scab.

The union’s strategy was summed up by CWA District 1 Vice President, Larry Mancino, who said, “We’re going to continue this fight and collect a paycheck. We will mobilize for as long as it takes to preserve our health care, our job security and our future.”

The author can be reached at pww@pww.org

Letters

Fri, 01 Aug 2003 05:01:00 +0000

Veterans’ health care crisis

I am a grandmother who can feel the anguish of the families of young men and women sent to Iraq, although I oppose the Bush war policies and their effect on veterans.

I am impressed when the national commander of the American Legion says “there is a veterans health care crisis in out country and the public isn’t aware of it. Our young people are sent off to war only to return to a health care system that is falling apart.”

Though “only” 157 U.S. soldiers were killed in the war in Iraq, 20,000 (30 percent) have been listed as casualties. These vets need not only hospital care, they need help for mental and drug problems. The $1 billion for veteran’s health care – advanced by Republicans and President Bush – barely covers inflation for current spending.

Veterans Administration offices are told not to give information about programs vets are entitled to – due to inadequate funding. The V.A. will have to charge higher fees and eliminate all coverage for 380,000 veterans. One vet, Ernesto A. Tafoya, has been waiting more that two and one-half years for an appointment.

The “poverty draft” sent young people to fight in Iraq. I think the government owes them a lot more than the Bush budget provides.

B.J. MangaoangSeattle WA

Du Bois legacy alive at NAACP

W.E.B. Du Bois’ vision to challenge racial oppression started with the Niagara Movement and evolved into the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Aspects of Du Bois’ vision were prevalent at the July 2003 NAACP convention in Miami, particularly in the areas of youth, education, and the defense of civil liberties.

Young people were prominent in ACT-SO (Afro-Academics, Cultural, Technological, Scientific Olympics) and other youth meetings during the first days of the convention. In ACT-SO, teens competed and were judged by professionals in their given fields.

The legal education seminar featured scholars who presented the pertinent issues that African Americans face today. These included housing segregation, funding and taxes.

The seminar on education addressed the plight of African American youth, including the denigration of the African American male, who is three times more likely to be assigned to special education classes. Attention was also given to the abuses associated with “high stakes testing,” standardized tests that preclude many minorities from attaining a high school diploma.

The seminar on the Patriot Act called that legislation a throwback to the McCarthy era, allowing the government to sneak and peep, search and seize at will. There appears to be no limit to its abridgment of democratic rights, assuming all to be potential terrorists.

Du Bois’ vision has been preserved and is to be cherished as part of the NAACP’s legacy today.

Debbie BellPhiladelphia PA

The author is the chair of the African American Equality Commission of the Communist Party.

A soldier speaks out

I am a Marine stationed in San Diego awaiting a deployment on the 22nd of August. I am also a communist. I read about “Soldier Sal” (PWW 7/19) and just wanted to tell you that there are many like him in the armed services. I have met other socialists in the corps and navy that are against these wars, and I wanted to tell you that we are out here and we are not just a minority. It seems as though the only servicemen and women that want war are the ones who are not that educated. They just want to see combat. I personally am not worried about going into combat, but I do not want to die for oil.

A readerVia e-mail

Bad plan

The Project for a New American Century (PNAC) is a plan that was drawn up in the early ’90s. Some of its authors are now in the Bush administration. The plan is to take Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Please call or write your folks in Congress and tell them you don’t want America to be part of any such plan. Thanks.

Joe RandellBellingham WA

Editor’s note: the address for this infamous plan’s website is www.newamericancentury.org

Editorials

Fri, 01 Aug 2003 04:53:00 +0000

Justice for Donovan Jackson

A jury in Los Angeles this week failed to deliver a guilty verdict against the white police officers who brutalized Donovan Jackson, a 16-year-old Black youth, despite a videotape proving the officers’ guilt in the assault last summer. The jury, with only one African American, was deadlocked in a 7-5 vote to convict Inglewood police officer Jeremy Morse of assault. The judge has declared a mistrial. Morse’s partner was acquitted of related charges.

The video, aired nationwide, showed Morse picking up the 136-pound teenager by his belt and repeatedly slamming him face down on the trunk of the police car. Then the beefy cop struck the handcuffed youth with his fist.

This is a sickening replay of the beating of Rodney King and the subsequent acquittal of four LAPD officers in 1991. But police brutality is not limited to Los Angeles. A jury in Albany, N.Y., acquitted the white NYPD officers who murdered Amadou Diallo in a hail of 41 bullets when he reached for his wallet in the hallway of his apartment building.

Morse was put on trial only because of the incriminating videotape, suggesting that racist brutality is commonplace but “invisible” to those in power.

It’s as if we are trapped in the 19th century when, to paraphrase the notorious Dred Scott decision, “Black people have no rights that a white cop is bound to respect.”

LA District Attorney Steve Cooley should be bombarded with demands for a new trial. Why did he refuse to summon the man who shot the videotape? Instead, the LAPD arrested him.

When will George W. Bush stop prattling about “freedom in Iraq” and address brazen infringements on liberties here at home? When will Attorney General John Ashcroft uphold his sworn duty and file charges against these officers for violating Jackson’s civil rights?

We, the people, white, African American, Latino, Asian Pacific, and Native American, must demand justice for Donovan Jackson.

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How low can you go?

Just when you thought capitalism can’t get any lower, you read about its main trumpeters setting up a stock-market style system (read casino) in which investors get to bet on and profit from terrorist attacks, assassinations and other disasters in the Middle East. Democratic Senators Ron Wyden of Oregon and Byron L. Dorgan of North Dakota discovered the scheme and denounced it at a press conference July 28 as “ridiculous and grotesque.”

This was supposedly the brainchild of Bush appointee and convicted criminal John Poindexter, who also thought up the Total Information Awareness (TIA) program which made “big brother” look like a baby. TIA was also denounced and forced to change.

But, we say, two strikes and you’re out, Poindexter. We join the rising chorus demanding he be fired and his perverted programs cancelled.

But there are more layers to this degenerate plan. It has been in development with the Pentagon and two private partners: an arm of the publishers of The Economist magazine and a high-tech “deal-making” company called Net Exchange. On their website they introduce The Policy Analysis Market (PAM) with sanitized, corporate-Stepford Wives language: “Initially, PAM will focus on the economic, civil, and military futures of Egypt, Jordan, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Turkey and the impact of U.S. involvement with each.”

“The issues represented by PAM contracts may be interrelated; for example, the economic health of a country may affect civil stability in the country and the disposition of one country’s military may affect the disposition of another country’s military.”

These are issues of life and death, of countries and peoples, not some game for 1,000 investors to make millions. Is this why U.S. soldiers were sent to Iraq? To make it safe for terrorism investors?

Re-federalize Medicare

Fri, 01 Aug 2003 04:40:00 +0000

With the spotlight on Medicare, especially as it relates to the cost of prescription drugs, now may be a good time to redirect the discussion toward real solutions to the health care crisis.

The current crisis is the fruit of right-wing, conservative forces who have pushed “marketplace competition” between profit-making insurance carriers and HMOs as the way to contain costs. This has been the prevailing policy since 1994, when Clinton’s health plan was defeated.

Reed Abelson, writing in the July 5 issue of The New York Times, cites the failure of managed care under privatized Medicare HMOs in the 1990s. He then describes the current Medicare “reform” bill proposed by Bush, which will do exactly the same thing. The only difference is that this time around the federal government will give even more millions to the private-sector profiteers.

Unhappily, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) were among the few Democrats who voted in favor of this bill, which is nothing less than a boondoggle to the insurance and pharmaceutical companies.

With two different versions of the bill coming from the House and Senate, it appears that the bills will not be reconciled until the fall, at the earliest. The House bill is the most pro-corporate. The differences over the bill reflect the greed of the competing forces over who gets the most profits.

The prescription drug portion of the bill is a high-profile issue. A recent Wall Street Journal article reveals how the pharmaceutical companies are quite openly demanding outrageously high, guaranteed profit levels before they will consider participating in the program. In addition to working people, employers, who have to pay part of the bill, are also balking at this blatant greed. It is a classic case of intra-corporate-monopoly feuding.

The Alliance for Retired Americans, closely linked to the AFL-CIO, is taking a strong, militant lead in opposing the bill. But all of labor should be in this fight. A true people’s front to defend Medicare is needed and is possible.

To galvanize even larger numbers of activists, however, we need to think big. It simply makes no sense to repeat the failures of the 1990s. A little more or less profit in the system will not solve the problem.

While we must work to defeat the Bush Medicare bill, this is also a perfect time to open a third front. A true reform direction would demand the re-federalization of the whole Medicare and Medicaid systems. Such a vision will bring more people into the fight. It would add an anti-corporate element into the picture, something that every public poll indicates would be very popular among the electorate.

The amount of money saved by going in this direction would be in the billions of dollars. A recent publication by the Senior Action Network, written by Dr. Tom Bodenheimer, a national health care expert, says, “In 2003, Medicare privatization means that Preferred Provider Organizations (PPOs) rather than HMOs would offer care to Medicare beneficiaries. All the problems discussed in this report about Medicare HMOs are also true of Medicare PPOs. Often owned by the same private insurance companies that run HMOs, PPOs will reduce choice, increase costs to patients and government, and put insurance company business decisions above medical decisions between patient and physician.”

The financial crisis facing retirees is very dramatic and not highlighted enough. “In 2001,” Bodenheimer writes, “the average Medicare HMO enrollee in good health spent $1,786 out-of-pocket; for those in poor health, the out-of-pocket cost was a staggering $4,783.”

The Bush prescription for Medicare is a recipe for disaster. Bodenheimer shows how Bush intends to use this Medicare bill as stepping-stone to his first real election. How convenient for Bush that the bill’s harmful effects won’t show up until well after Election Day.

But Bush’s plan can be stopped. In 1989, when Congress tried to pass a disastrous catastrophic health care bill directed at seniors, former Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dan Rostenkowski was chased down the street by angry seniors. The incident made the evening news. The bill was withdrawn.

Every member of Congress must be contacted and told, “Re-federalize Medicare and Medicaid – Put billions toward health, not profits.” Bush should not be allowed any public venue to promote his anti-senior, pro-corporate Medicare proposal. This is the way to recapture Congress and the White House for the people’s needs.

The author can be reached at pww@pww.org

Philadelphians pan Bushs tax plan

Fri, 01 Aug 2003 03:31:00 +0000

PHILADELPHIA – Chanting protesters with colorful signs lined the streets across from the U.S. Treasury Department offices as a motorcade brought in George W. Bush for a photo-op to bring attention to his “tax credit checks,” supposedly ready to be mailed. But 352,000 Pennsylvania families will be receiving no check at all.

“Bush leaves 12 million children behind,” said one sign. “Bush leaves no millionaire behind,” said another. The crowd began to chant, “1-2-3-4, Tax cuts for the poor! 5-6-7-8, George Bush discriminates!”

The demonstration, which was organized by ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), protested the exclusion of low-income families from receiving a $400 per child tax credit. ACORN urged Bush to quickly persuade Congress to reinstate the child tax credit for low income families, which was cut from the bill at the last moment.

ACORN member Mary Bryant is a teacher’s aide and cares for her three grandchildren. Bryant earns $22,000 a year, below the $26,000 limit, and is therefore ineligible for the tax credit. “All my money goes for bills,” said Bryant. “I still have leftover unpaid bills at the end of the month. It is not fair to deny this tax credit to the families who need it the most.”

Darlene Battle said in the past she had received a tax credit for her son, a college student, but now only children under 17 qualify. “This tax system is unfair,” she said.

Speakers from United for a Fair Economy said the huge tax cuts for the wealthy plus the huge military budget will result in dangerous deficits and huge cuts in all social programs – education, health care, affordable housing, job training and creation, and transportation. “Money for after-school programs has been cut from $1.75 billion to $600 million,” said Kathy Miller from Philadelphia’s NOW chapter. “We need to get out the vote and get Bush out of office for what he’s doing to our lives.”

A speaker from Citizens for Consumer Justice, Lauren Townsend, questioned why any person should be forced to choose between buying food and buying medicine.

A chant went up from the crowd, “Push Bush out the door, Send him to the bushes!” John Braxton, director of Philadelphia Jobs with Justice, called Bush a liar and a cheater, evoking strong applause. “Where are the weapons of mass destruction?” he asked. “He lied and people died,” answered the crowd.

“Bush’s policies are against people and for the corporations,” said Braxton.

In response to Bush’s visit to Philadelphia, the Congressional Black Caucus reported that under Bush’s stewardship, over three million jobs have been lost, African American unemployment has skyrocketed to 11.8 percent, and the projected 10-year deficit has ballooned to over $4 trillion.

Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said, “Because of the president and the congressional Republicans’ economic policies, and their unwillingness to work with the Democrats, our great country remains mired in an economic quagmire for which the Republicans have no plan for a way out.”

Philadelphia has a 7.8 percent unemployment rate with 52,400 people looking for work.

“The truth is,” said Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-Pa.), “that a $100 tax cut for the average citizen coupled with huge tax cuts for the rich does no good for our struggling economy.”

Fattah said Bush’s tax cuts will result in fewer jobs, more debt, and plummeting investments in education, health care, and affordable housing.

The author can be reached at phillyrose1@earthlink.net

National Urban League: Close equality gap

Fri, 01 Aug 2003 03:26:00 +0000

PITTSBURGH – Celebrating political achievements, business success, and cultural excellence, 3,000 National Urban League (NUL) convention delegates gathered here July 26-30. Thousands of local residents submitted resumes at a job fair, attended conference sessions, received a free check-up at the health fair or enjoyed one of the musical events at the conference focused on “The Black Family: Building on Its Resilience.”

The conference was also the site of a presidential candidates’ forum and at least two demonstrations.

Newly-inaugurated League President Marc Morial, the former mayor of New Orleans, reached out to the Greater Western Pennsylvania community for unity to confront “America’s paradox of progress … the equality gap in this nation.” Morial called on delegates to build “a movement of action … to close the equality gap … to defeat a new villain, James Crow Esquire.”

“Why are our jailhouses in better physical condition than our schoolhouses?” asked Morial pointedly, citing the fact that one out of seven Black males age 25-29 is in jail. He went on, “We must ask this nation to stop building fancy prisons and redirect these resources to building fancy schools with computers, playgrounds, libraries and with everything our children need to compete and win in the challenging global marketplace of the 21st century.”

African American unemployment has skyrocketed to 11.8 percent, double that of whites. Morial said, “We die faster, live sicker and are less likely to afford the high cost of health care.”

Morial announced several NUL initiatives, including a national summit on education, the establishment of a commission on rebuilding the nation’s cities and re-investing in urban areas, and a national legislative conference in the spring of 2004. He also called on delegates to register voters. Without endorsing a specific program, NUL pledged to be at the table of health care reform in the U.S. to promote access for African Americans.

Politics took center stage on the conference’s third day, when President Bush addressed the NUL delegates. Just three weeks earlier, Bush boycotted the NAACP convention.

“This is a photo-op,” Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, told the World. “Bush wants to get his picture taken with Black folks, but in three years, he has refused to meet with the Black Caucus.”

Morial asked delegates to stand for the U.S. president and the cameras rolled. Delegates were coolly polite. John Bugg, vice president of the Baltimore Urban League, gave Bush a grade of ‘C.’ “He addressed a lot of issues that we had really come to listen to, but it wasn’t anything we hadn’t heard before,” Bugg said.

Fifteen hundred people were present for Bush’s speech, including convention vendors and job fair corporate representatives, less than half the crowd that attended Morial’s keynote.

Outside the conference, Pittsburghers marched and rallied against the continuing occupation of Iraq and against police brutality.

Robin Ponton, 13, nearly hidden by a hand-made sign demanding: “President Bush bring my daddy back home alive!” was one of 200 Steel City protesters greeting Bush’s arrival. Robin, who is African American, is the daughter of Staff Sgt. Charles Pollard who is in Iraq. Robin’s mother, Deshauna, said, “It’s sad whenever we are reading letters from (Charles) and they sound like they are the last letter he’ll ever write. We want him to come home.”

Cathy Troiani of rural Zelienopole joined the Ponton family on the picket line. Her husband is Staff Sgt. Phillip Troiani, also in Iraq. “My husband wants to come home. I support my husband. I don’t support the war. I don’t support the president. It’s gotten more dangerous since the president declared victory,” she told the local press.

Earlier in the week, Citizens Against Police Brutality marched to the convention center, asking delegates to support their call to Allegheny County District Attorney Steven Zapalla to issue an indictment against 13 Mount Oliver Borough police for the death of Charles Angus Dixon, who died in custody last December.

In the presidential candidates’ forum on July 28, seven of nine Democratic Party candidates for president addressed the conference. Democrats focused their heat on Bush and not each other, hammering on the issues of affirmative action; unemployment; the war with Iraq; racial profiling; unfunded mandates in education and health care; poverty; and deepening income inequality.

Only Democratic Senators Kerry and Graham did not attend the NUL forum.

Founded in 1910 to provide social services to Black workers leaving the South, the NUL is one of the nation’s oldest civil rights groups. Its leadership has included corporate executives from its inception. Michael Critelli, CEO of Pitney Bowes Inc., is the NUL’s chairman. The corporate relationship has produced tensions. In the 1920s, for example, Pittsburgh Urban League president John Clark was fired from his position and forced to leave town by the owners of the steel mills after urging Black steelworkers to join the union.

The author can be reached at dwinebr696@aol.com