ICP R£VOiimoN/ucrWOI{f<£R Voice of the

Revolutionary Communist Party, USA

No. 555 (Vol. 12, No. 3) May 13, 1990 Editions in English and Spanish published weekly $1.00

coSSSSAnoN May 1st RbBbIsniSSsED! Gonlniit the Itanmlome¥

i

* « »

3Los Angeles:

Confrontation Behindthe Barricades

4New York:

No Peace 4 Racists

on May]

6May 1st Across the Planel

8Storming the Gates

ofi^ome

10La Resistencia:

Coost to Coast

"Shift Down America'sConcentration Camps"

13Chicago:

FTP Locks Up CHA

Come to

Washington, O.C.on May 14A Call to Action Against MandatoryPotriotism from Joey Jofmson

10 BIG MIGRA RAIDS STALK HOUSTON

Page 2—Revolutionary Worker—May 13,1990

NOWAVAILABLE! REFLECTIONS,

SKETCHES &PROVOCATIONS

y

This broad-ranging collection of articles and essays is a kind ofpolitical compass of the 1980s, Certain themes stand out: theobscene hypocrisy of the imperialists, the limits of reformism, theshifts in the world since the 1960s and the strategic weakness ofimperialism, the crucial importance of internationalism, the need tooppose war with revolution, and the nature and necessity ofrevolutionary preparation. Whether drawing lessons from an NCAAbasketball championship game, addressing fundamental questionsabout intellectual inquiry and debate to Carl Sagan and Stephen JayGould, reviewing a routine by Richard Pryor or a song by Ptiil Ochs,or contrasting two kinds of "festivals" occurring simultaneously inMiami (a rebellion in the Black community and the Orange Bowlregalia), Avakian is consistently fresh and original in his insights.From a piece that extends only a paragraph to an expansive essay,he draws the reader into invigorating debate.

$5.95Order from RCP Publications, Box 3436, Ctilcago, IL 60654.Add S1 for shipping.

Bob AvakianEssays and Commentary

1981-1987

"Bob Avakian manages the difficult featof combining theoretical scope with a

genuine teel for the life experiences andhopes of those on the bottom. What

comes through In this collection Is notjust the argument for Marxism but adisplay of Its breadth and depth, and,above all, a vital affirmation of Its

revolutionary essence."ih» introdueflon

s._ ) ome people say we shouldn't just go off and do something drastic, liketry to overthrow the system, without giving the system a chance to reformitself. Well, alright, let's see. Maybe the system can change its nature, and thepeople who run it can change their ways. Maybe, if they were given time,they would no longer enslave, oppress, and degrade people. Maybe theywould turn away from mass slaughter in wars and instead devote theirtechnology to eliminating human suffering throughout the world. Maybethey would stop treating people as things to be used so long as money canbe made off them and to be thrown onto the garbage heap when there te nomoney to be made from them. Let's be reasonable. Let's give them not just afew months or a few years. Let's give them a long time—say, maybe 200 or300 years. . .Okay. . .TIME'S UP!

Bob Avakian. Cbairman of the RCRUSA

ThreeMainPointsby Bob AvakianChairman of

the RCP, USA

What do we in the Revolutionary Communist Partywant people to learn from all that is exposed andrevealed in this newspaper? Mainly, three things:

1) The whole system we now live under is based onexploitation — here and all over the world. It Iscompletely worthless and no basic change for thebetter can come about until this system is overthrown.

2) Many different groups will protest and rebel againstthings this system does, and these protests andrebellions should be supported and strengthened. Yetit is only those with nothing to lose but their chainswho can be the backbone of a struggle to aauailyoverthrow this system and create a new system thatwill put an end to exploitation and help pave the wayto a whole new world.

3) Such a revolutionary struggle is possible. There is apolitical Party that can lead such a struggle, a politicalParty that speaks and acts for those with nothing tolose but their chains; The Revolutionary CommunistParty. USA.

This Party has the vision, the program, the leadership,and the organizational principles to unite those whomust be united and enable them to do what must bedone. There is a challenge for ail those who would liketo see such a revolution, those with a burning desire tosee a drastic change for the better, all those who dareto dream and to act to bring about a completely newand better world: Support this Party.join this Party,spread its message and its organized strength, andprepare the ground for a revolutionary rising that hasa solid basis and a real chance of winning. □

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May 13,1990—Revolutionary Worker—Page 3

ANIERimA'S COHCmAJION CAim EXPOSED!

May 1st RebekConfront theTerrordome

Powerful actions rocked prison walls last week onopposite ends of the country. On April 29,thousands of Haitians and supporters stormed theKrome "processing center" outside Miami! Andthen, on May First Itself, on the other coast, for ashort time hundreds of revolutionary people shutdown a secret "detention center" hidden In one ofLos Angeles' "barricaded" ghetto districts!

This is Amerikkka 1990: walls of police and mediasilence protect concentration camp realities. Haitianrefugees fleeing the brutality of the TontonMacoute's Haiti are imprisoned, even raped andmurdered in Krome "processing center." CentralAmerican immigrants escape U.S.-sponsored warsagainst the people only to be captured in constantL.A. roundups and "detained"—facing deportationback to death-squad regimes.

But this week the people took some significantsteps. Right up in the face of the enemy! Red flagsand banners flying! Key centers of oppression takenon, hard. Secrecy and lies ripped away.

In a call for action at Pico-Union detention centerfor Cinco de Mayo, La Reslstencia in SouthernCalifornia issued a news release that said: "Thesetwo outbreaks show that determined, mass action isboth POSSIBLE and the only way to stop andprevent the government from rounding up, detainingand deporting immigrants. Through these actionsnew opportunities have opened up. Theseimmigrants, refugees and youth have set anexample for us all! How can we not take up theirchallenge!"

Following are reports the RIV received from LosAngeles and Miami.

/fc

Miami, April

Eos Angeles:Confrontation Behind the Barrkades

:

Los Angeles flCYB'er Ro}0 and cops on roof of INS detention center.

"The whole incident made me realize

that the people can stand up against thepigs and the support the people got wasgreat, huge—they really hurt the enemy.It was a slap in the face to them. And itwas really dreadful that the policebrought in seven helicopters and causedso much damage. They cannot continueoppressing the people in this area, theprople from Central America. This areabelongs to the people and their vanguard, the Parly. I would also like toemphasize that this is a school of war,and that the people are learning each dayand in every place, in each battle thatthey wage. And it really was great. I'mreally excited because I never expectedthis. May First was truly great, we sawthe people come out in support of thedemonstration when the dogs, were repressing them The reaction was really signiTicant."

Salvadoran youth from Pico-Union,Los Angeles

On May First in Los Angeles, a bighole was blown in the attempts of thegovernment to pen in, lock up, and killoff our people, and thespirit of rebellionand liberation was established on the

streets of Little Central America (LaCentroamcricana). Hundreds of revolutionary immigrants and youth of many

nationalities united to boldly shut downa secret concentration camp for immigrants. This camp is inside a "barricadezone"—one of L.A's six gestapo ghettosset up by the LAPD to lock down oppressed Black and Latino people. On theoutside it looks like an old motel, but upto 250 prisoners, including families andchildren, are imprisoned behind its ironbars and gates. As a reporter for Channel7 local ABC-TV news said: "Until two

hours ago, nobody knew this was a detention center." But everybody knows now!They know because the revolutionary

people of L.A went straight up againstthe clampdown/lockup plans of the rulers with the spirit of a very differentfuture. While hundreds of people gathered in the area of the INS Detention

Center, blowing whistles and chantingrevolutionary slogans, the iron gates ofthis concentration camp were chainedfrom the outside and a big banner saying"Revolution, The Only Solution" wasstretched across the front. Rubber tires

blocked all the entrances. On the roof, amember of the Revolutionary Ctommu-nist Youth Brigade, Rojo, proclaimedthe goal of all-the-way Maoist revolutionand shouted, "Free My People." For a.short time, the concentration camp was

Continued on page 8

Page 4—Revolutionaiy Worker—May 13,1990

New York:

No Peace 4 Racists on May 1May Day, New York. A bold May 1st

protest took place in downtown Brooklyn, raising the red flag of revolution andparticularly targeting the oppression ofBlack people. Also on May 1st in NewYork other outpourings of rage andstruggle took place against national oppression, especially among young Blackpeople. And revolutionaries joined inthese struggles, bringing the "We want tobury this system" politics of May Dayinto these battles.

Red FlagsIn Downtown BrooklynA May Day march starts at Long Is

land University in downtown Brooklyn.Black people, while people, Asians, andLatinos march together. There arehomeless proletarians, including members of the Revolutionary Homeless Organization, Haitian activists, andproletarians from the Free South Africa,Free South Bronx Network with a"Devastate Apartheid" banner. Abullhorn is passed from hand to handand people speak out with bitternessagainst the system and with determination to fight the Powers.

At one point an effigy of a killer cop isabout to be strung up on a lamp post. Acop grabs it and then a homelessproletarian snatches it back. He grabsthe effigy's pig head, shimmies up thelamp post, and hangs the pig head fromthe top of it. The cops go after him, chasing him for several blocks. But they nevercatch him.

When the march gets to the courthouse, people boll for the steps, shouting "Justice for Yusufl" This is the courthouse where the trial of those who murdered Yusuf Hawkins has been a platform for racisu to spew their filthy garbage. This is where the Bensonhurst trialhas been used to punish a young woman,Gina Feliciano, for daring to have Black

May 1—CUNY students march in Manhattan.

"Free South Africa!Free the South Bronxr

New York, May 5. A powerful action took place against nationaloppression in the ̂ uth Bronx. Black, Latino and white people, includingproletarians from the South Bronx, members of the Revolutionary HomelessOrganization and the RCYB, marched through the streets to declare: DOWNWITH APARTHEID AND IMPERIALISM FROM SOUTH AFRICA TO

THE USA! The march made its way past the 40th Police Precinct, also called"Fort Apache" and known and hated for its brutality against the people. Themarch also went way through the area where the Biko Lives! festivals havebeen held and where the slogan "Free South Africa, Free South Bronx"originated.

The pigs, freaked by the march, ran to the front and grabbed and arresteda Latino man who was speaking out over a bullhorn. When a Latina womanstarted yelling, "Let him go," she was also arrested. By this time, hundreds ofpeople had gathered on the streets and more were hanging out of windows.Things got very tense, very fast. The pigs started going after a Black man in thecrowd but then retreated.

People then marched to the precinct to demand that the two peoplearrested be freed. A few dozen Black and Latino youth joined in. Youth wereyelling, "Riot! Riot!" The raps "Fight the Power" and "Fuck Tha Police"blasted out on the street across from the precinct. Youth bought eggs andthrew them at the pigs. Stickers with "Fight the Power, Seize the Power" andother slogans were all over pig cars parked in front. Hundreds of leaflets andMay Day Manifestos got out as youth debated what to do to bring the systemdown.

In less than fifteen minutes the two people arrested were freed! The groupmarched back to the site of the arrest, where someone from the RCYB and theLatino man who had been arrested climbed up on a phone booth and spoke tothe aowd. After the demonstration ended, behind on the sidewalk, someonehad spraypainted, "Fight the Power, Devastate Apartheid, Free SouthAfrica/South Bronx, I^ck Police."

and Latin friends and for defying theracist men who think they own her. Thisis the courthouse that most of Yusufismurderers have never seen—becausethey've never been arrested. And this isthe courthouse where killer cops, likethose who murdered Juan Rodriguez, getset free. Now the people fill the steps ofthis courthouse with banners declaring:"Racists, Rambos, Rulers of Amerik-kka—It's All Going lb Fall on You!"When the police start to shove people

off the steps the march takes off again,only to take over the steps at the back ofthe courthouse. More cops come running and push people out into the street.The police are furious when they lookback and find May 1st Manifestos up onthe courthouse. They charge after theprotesters, flinging people to the ground,beating them in full view of rush hourtraffic on the entrance road to the

Brooklyn Bridge. In all, thirteenpeople—ten women and three men—arearrested and charged with criminal mischief, disorderly conduct and resistingarrest.

CUNY Students:"This Is Our March"

On May 1st, 500 students from theCity University of New York (CUNY)hit the streets of lower Manhattan. The

protest was called to commemorate lastyear's city-wide student strike thatdefeated the authorities' plan to raisetuition and protest current efforts to increase tuition.

Black students, students from theCaribbean, Latinos, Palestinians, andother from different CUNY campusesdefiantly marched down Broadway. Students sang in Caribbean style, "No, no,no Cuomomomo." Some marched withkafiyas wrapped around their heads.Others wore bright African prims, joining in with the Wd 'n Play-styled youth.The pigs ringed the march on both sideswith motorq'Cle cops, confining it to one

May 2—Demonstration at Long Island University.

May 13,1990—Revolutionary Worker—Pages

lane of traffic. But students resistedthis—one student shouted into a cop'sface, "This is OUR march!"The marcli went down Street and

then occupied the steps of Federal Hail.At this point some students boughtAmerican flags from a street vendor andpromptly torched them. One studentstarted up the chant, "The whole system's got to go."The march then went to the World

ll-ade Center where Governor Cuomo's

ofiicc is and people sat down in the middle of the street. Pigs in and out ofuniform charged in, viciously grabbingstudents and arresting nine people.Throughout the day RCP May Isi

Manifestos got out broadly in the crowd.One student told the RW when askedabout May Day, "Revolution outrage.That's right. That's just what it's supposed to be. And that's just why we doingit today."As we go to press, student protests are

continuing. At CUNY's Hunter Collegethe students have taken over a buildingand are still holding it.

No Peace for Racistsat Long Island UniversityStudents at CUNY are predominantly

proletarians and lower middle class. A

Continued on page 6

^^Resist to Exist^^at T-Square Park

May Day marchat Brooklyncourthouse.

"For all the brothers and sisters here who are flghting theseracist dogs.... In every city you can find you find killer copskilling African, Latino, and European people who are standing upfor stru^Ie against oppression. So he says for everybody to standstrong and fight back. Freedom or death!"

A! Hajj idris Mohammed who delivered a message of support fromAdam Abdul Hakeem (formerly known as Larry Davis)

"Those who hate the system need to be out here marchingwith us 'cause this is May 1st, the day when people all around theworld struggle against their oppressors and say, 'No More. We'retired of this shit and we're not gonna take it' They say get back.We say fuck that!"

Black woman at the New York May Day march

r

Tbmpkins Square Park is in ihe EastVillage section of New York City. It's aplace where people of all differentnationalities go to hang out together.Where middle class youth from the suburbs mix with Latin proletarian youthfrom the neighborhood. And it's a placepeople go if they want to fight the system.This whole scene is a threat to the clamp-down the powers-that-be arc bringingdown on the people—especially Blackand Latin youth. And that's why th^'veattacked people over and over again andtried to shut the park down.May First: A concert in Tbmpkins

Square Park was viciously attacked bythe pigs. The concert was the last of fourdays of May Day events sponsored byR^ist to Exist, which is a coalition ofEast Village activists including squatters,anarchists, homeless people and othersactive in the struggle against homcless-ness. The gathering of a few hundredpeople was a mixed crowd—mostlyyoung middle class youth, anarchists,squatters and some homeless people. At9 p.m. when the sound permit expired,without warning the pigs stormed thestage, arrested three organizers of theevent, and began beating band membersand people dancing.

People fought back and defendedthemselves against the police. The pressreported that rocks and bottles flewthrough the air at the cops. The pigsdidn't expect this response. They thoughtthey could just get away with this .shit.Th^ didn't even have the backup onhand to get the injured cops off the stage,and it took them over fifteen minutes toget reinforcements. Then thirty pigs inmilitary formation were sent in to rescuethe wounded pigs and haul away thethree who had been arrested.

Suddenly a Black man jumped up on a55-gaHon drum and burned a hugeAmerican flag. Some fascist skinheads

kicked the drum out from under him.

The skinheads collaborate with thepolice and have been used to help enforce their control over the area, by confusing and intimidaling people. But thislime the youth weren't gonna go out likethai. The skinhead was driven off. Other

skins with sticks were disarmed and

chased out of the park. This sparked off aheated debate for about forty-fiveminutes over what the U.S. flag reallystands for. Many people spoke out on thecrimes of U.S. imperialism the flag represents, including the oppression ofBlack people, the invasion of Panama,the war in Vietnam and homclcssness. In

the midst of this RCP May Day Manifestos got out in the crowd.

All this strengthened people's determination not to let the powers-that-beget away with their brutal attack, especially not on May Day. They marched tothe precinct to demand that those arrested be released. The pigs had the entire precinct barricaded off. The marchcontinued through the East Village. Atone housing project a crew of six Latinand white youths II to 13 years oldjoined and held up the May Day Manifesto, saying, "Yeah, we wanna bury thissystem." Haffic was blocked around thearea for about an hour. When policefinally brought in some backups andblocked the march youth dumped overgarbage dumpstcrs lo block the streetsand made their way back to the park.Throughout the night people chanted,"May Day, May Day!"

According to the press, twenty-eightpigs were wounded, wenty-seven people were arrested. Most were chargedwith a.ssaull, Inciting to riot and disorderly conduct. Many more were beatenand injured by police, as the people continued to block traffic and confront thepolice until 3 a.m. □

1

May 1, Tompklns Square Park

Page6—Revolutionary Worker—May 13,1990

May 1, Kreuzberg, West Berlin.

South Korea

In the days leading up to May First, theU.S.-backed South Korean governmentof Roh The-woo tried to crush mass resis

tance of workers using the most brutalmeans. On Saturday, April 28 onethousand government police stormedthe shipbuilding complex of HyundaiHeavy Industries in the ciiyofUlsan toremove striking members who had takenover the site. More than 600 workers

were arrested. This Ignited a surge ofstruggle throughout South Korea whichburst into full flame on May First. Tbnsof thousands of South Korean students

and workers rose up in battles againstthe brutal South Korean ruling classacross the country.An illegal network of workers called

for a national strike to mark May Day.Authorities responded by saying thai allsuch strikes are illegal and that organizers would be arrested. Ignoringsuch pig threats, about 110,000 workersstaged May First strikes at more thanfifty major worksites. Massive May Dayrallies and protests were held in at leastfive cities, and in many cities workersfought riot police with rocks andfirebombs. In Ulsan, which is the centerof Hyundai Motors, about 19,000workers held May Day rallies, and 4,000battled riot police with rocks and

The U.S. ruling class had a script for their parrot media to follow on this May Day.That script read, "Communism Is dead. Capitalism Is victorious. So May First mustbe dead foo."

TV news on May Day was full of pictures of Soviet leader Gorbachev being booedIn Moscow and of people In Eastern Europe having nonpolltlcal p/cn/cs—/usf likeLabor Day In the U.S. The U.S. propaganda machine Is trying to take advantage ofthe fact that the phony communism of the Soviet bloc has collapsed. That phonycommunism claimed to be a society without exploitation, but It was really Just a littledifferent form of capitalism—full of corruption, oppression, crisis, and suffering Justlike In the U.S. and other Western countries.

But that doesn't mean that real revolutionary struggle has stopped. In fact,revolutionary May Day Is very much alive around the world!

This article Is an early summary of May First events worldwide. Much of thismaterial comes from bourgeois news sources, which often put out lies anddistortions when reporting on people's struggles. But one thing Is clear: Importantand radical struggles ripped on this May First across the globe.

molotov cocktails.

More than 8,000 students fromtwenty-two universities gathered inSeoul, the capital, for a rally that turnedinto widespread street fighting with riotpolice. About 1,000 protesting studentsat Seoul National University adopted aresolution vowing to "stage strugglesagainst the government party in alliancewith Hyundai workers who arc standingup against cruel suppression to pushtheir cause."

A leaflet distributed at a demonstration by students of Ewha Women'sUniversity called for "crushing thegovernment parly" in a "sea of fire with ageneral strike by students and workers"on May 9. CNN TV news has shownyoung women playing a front-rank rolein the street fighting—squads of fiercesisters can be seen hurling firebombs asthey charge riot police.Around midnight Monday police

raided the Korean Broadcasting Systemheadquarters in Seoul and detained 333striking reporters, producers and technicians staging a sit-in there. As thatstruggle continues the South Koreanmass media may remain shut down—depriving the ruling class of one of itsmost powerful weapons for suppression.

West Berlin

The reunification of Germany is supposed to be the only real issue in Westand East Germany these days—at leastaccording to the bourgeoisie. On MayFirst, various revisionist, social democrat, and other such reactionary forcesheld a "unified" May Day in Berlin todrink beer, eat sausages, and specuJatewhat their slice of some future Fourth

Reich might be.But this ugly fest was overshadowed by

powerful actions centered in Kreuzberg,an inner-city ghetto of Berlin with a reputation for revolutionary energy. About15,000 people participated in a counter-rally in Kreuzberg which broughttogether both immigrant Tkirkish and native German rebel youth."We are all a bit nervous," said West

Berlin's city spokesman. "We just hopethe rioting doesn't spread to other citydistricts." As part of the new "East-Westcooperation" between the two Germanics, East Berlin deployed 3,000 of itspolice Thesday—preparing to help suppress any May First uprising that theirWest German brother-pigs couldn't con-lain!

The column of protesters weaved itsway for two miles through Kreuzbergunder the watchful eye of police in fullriot gear. Marchers chant^ refreshingantipatriotic slogans against the Germanimperialist reunification. Banners said"No to one Germany" and "Smash theEuropean house."As night approached fighting broke

out. According to bourgeois newssources, "More than 500 youths foughtpitched battles with police Ticsday in theKreuzberg District on into Wednesdaymorning." They further claim that policearrested more than fifty rioters but wereunsuccessful in suppressing the action.There were repeated volleys of rocks andbottles. There were molotov cocktails,and at least two police vehicles supposedly went up in flames. City officialslater claimed a great number of policewere injured in the fighting.

Peru

We have not yet heard any news ofwhat happened on May First in Peru,where a genuine people's war under theleadership of the Communist Party ofPeru (PGP) has been growing. But wecan report that exciting signs of supportfor the Peruvian people's war werevisible right in the U.S.—under the nosesof the U.S. imperialists who are settingup a Green Beret base in Peru and stepping up other military interventionagainst the people's war.On Monday evening, April 30 the face

of Mao "Bctung was projected on theUnited Nations Assembly Building inNew York, filling the expanse fromground to roof. Above Mao's portraitwere the words "Victory to the People'sWar in Peru" and below it the words"Mao More Than Ever."At New York's Peruvian consulate,

two large pillars on both sides of theentrance were covered with May Daymanifestos. "Rvo walls on both sides ofthe main door were covered with Englishand Spanish slogans stenciled in brightyellow paint: "Support the People's Warin Peru!" and "Down with U.S. Interven

tion in Peru!" Tfen feel of sidewalk graffiti spelled out in red: "U.S. Out of Peru"and "Viva el PGP!" Meanwhile, at NewYork's office of the Drug EnforcementAgency, the walls wore covered withslogans that read "DBA Murderers ofthe People!", "The War on Drugs Is aN^^r on the People!", and "Viva cJ PGP!"There was also a hammer and sickle.

DEA agents are stationed at the Vietnam War-style Santa Lucfa fircbase inPeru.

New YorkContinued from page 5lot of students are Irom oppressednationalities, many are from othercountries, many are young women. Theoppressors are now not only making ithard for these students to afford to go toschool. They are also bringing open reaction and racism onto the campuses.White professor Levin at City College

in Harlem openly teaches that Blackpeople are intellectually inferior towhites. This racist claims that whitepeople have a moral right to be afraid ofBlack people when they see them on thestreet because "Black people are criminals." This racist has been getting

promoted in the media and was invited tospeak at a May 2 conference at thedowntown Brooklyn campus of Long Island University. LIU's PhilosophyDepartment defended this invitation,saying Levin had a right to "free speech."The students look a firm stand of "No

peace for this racist!" And ihcy weren'tstopped by hypocritical talk of "freespeech." Tliey saw: Levin ain't about freespeech. He's about justifying the racistattacks coming down on Black people.Hundreds of students gathered, determined to stop Levin from speaking. Thecops were immediately on hand to stoppeople from getting inside the meeting

room. But this only made the studentsangrier and more determined. Angrychants rang out: "Get the racist' out!""No Justice, No Peace," "Racism is ignorance," "No Peace, No Peace, NoPeace for Racists!"

One Black woman talked about howBlack people were brought here inchains, robbed of their culture andreligion, raped, and called less thanhuman. Now, she said, wc are paying$10,000 a year to go to a school thatallows this racist to speak! When onestudent said, "They think we're 'niggers,' " another student shot back: "Niggers with attitudes," and the crowd

cheered. A table blocked the way to themeeting room where Levin was speaking. People started to pound it like a wardrum.

At one point an older Black man addressed the students, asking them whatwas preventing them from stoppingLevin. There was a one-second pause.And then the students surged for thedoor. Cops guarding Levin's room picked up two meial coat racks, formed a V,and rammed into the students. Then allhell broke loose. Fi-sts pounded on thewalls. Coffee urns went flying. One Blacksister fearlessly cursed out the police asblood dripped from her head. Asludcnl

May 13,1990—Revolutionary Worker—Page 7

Afross the PlanetTurkey

R)r a decade, celebrating May Day hasbeen illegal in Turk<^. Police have shotinto May Day crowds and killed people.Yet this year, once again, the masses ofpeople seized May First to express theirhatred of the reactionary system inTbrkey.

"Ibrkish news agencies reported thatthe police used extreme means to try tostop the demonstrations. Serious fightsbetween police and demonstrators brokeout. at marches in Istanbul. More than

380 people were arrested. Sevendemonstrators were seriously injured,including two with gunshot wounds. Oneyoung woman student was shot twice inthe back. At least seven police were alsoinjured.

According to this report, demonstrators defied both the legal ban and thepolice attack and continued their rally inthe early afternoon.

Mexico

Usually the Mexican governmentholds official May First rituals in thecapital city of Mexico City—even forcinggovernment employees to show theirloyalty by attending, But this year severaldifferent antigovernmcnt countermarches wound their way through thecity. The protesters targeted the U.S.imperialists who dominate Mexico andthe reactionary Mexican ruling class. According to the As.sociatcd Press, twogroups marched past the U.S. embassychanting, "Gringo thieves to the firingsquads!" Police on horseback and onfoot charged one of the antigovernmentmarches and beat demonstrators as well

as journalists.

PhilippinesMay First this year saw a powerful new

upsurge of anti-imperialist struggleagainst U.S. military bases on Philippinesoil. The reactionary Corazon Aquinogovernment starts negotiations with theBush administration this month over thefuture of U.S. bases in the Philippines.Demonstrations of thousands rockedmost major cities, and street fightingraged outside U.S. bases. There were50,000 people at the largest demo, nearthe U.S. embassy in Manila. Filipinotroops charged into nearly 5,000protesters near Clark Air Base. Over andover again demonstrators destroyed theU.S. flag—they burned it, they stompedit, and, in one case, a crowd threwtomatoes at it. Speakers denounced theAquino government as "pro-rich" and "apuppet of the Americans."

Panama

In Panama City, 5,000 workerschanted, "Get out Yankee invaders," and"Here, there, the Yankees will die" asthey marched down Central Avenue indowntown Panama City. A poster carriedby marchers said, "Panama; OccupiedTferritory" and had a picture of a U.S.soldier arresting a Panamanian. U.S.troops received orders from their commanders to avoid going out amongPanamanian civilians on May First. TheMay Day march was the greatest outpouring of anti-American protest inPanama since the U.S. invasion lastDecember. □

i

inside the room where Levin was speaking told the RW that when the chantingoutside grew to a roar, a terrified Levinstood up with such force he knockedover his chair and his papers went flying.Levin was quickly escorted out via thebasement and the conference was canceled. More cops flooded the lobby, billyclubs flying, forcing students out into thecourtyard. But all this brutality did theoppressors no good. They lost controland were dealt a defeat: their racistmouthpiece Levin was shut up, shutdown, and shipped out.

The politics of revolutionary May Daywas boldly united with this struggle. LIU

students had gotten May Day Manifestosand revolutionaries from the BrooklynMay Day march had been invited to jointhe protest againsfLevin. At a rally heldafter Levin was- shut down, (3arl Dix,spokesperson for the RCP, and Maryl^u Greenberg, spokesperson for theRCP New York Branch, addressed thecrowd of students who gave them an enthusiastic response.

There's a war coming down—a warthat would have Black people lockeddown and subjugated. But on May Daythe oppressor didn't have things theirway as the people made sure there was"No Peace for Racists!" □

May 1—United Nations Assembly Building, New York.

"People out here notice that this march is made up of peopleof all different nationalities, all different colors. And that's theway it's gotta be if we're gonna go after the enemy and reallybring him down... . When we unite it's gotta be firmly against themale chauvinism and the white supremacy that keeps both womenand Black people and people of all different nationalities down."

Mary Lou Greenberg, spokesperson for the RCP New York Branch, wearing a"Mao More Than Ever" T-shirt at the May Day march

"Get off the sidewalks and get in the streets, join thisdemonstration. Take your stand now. Don't wait until it happensto yours 'cause as far as we're concerned it already did.... We'renot gonna tolerate this shit no more.... Don't be intimidated bythis sea of blue, for this sea of blue will soon be through!"

Black brother at the New York May Day march

Page 8—RevoluHonafy Worker—May 13,1990

Miami, Sunday, April 29. The KromeDetention Center—an INS concentration camp where almost 400 Haitian immigrants are imprisoned. Veye-Yo, amass organization of progressive andrevolutionary Haitians has called for ademonstration and 5,000 people havegathered to demand: "We want ourpeople freed! Shut Down the Camp!"

Tlie authorities have put the concentration camp on "lockdown" status.They have announced the posting of 90Federal sharpshooters and a special riotcontrol team of 79 INS officers has beendeployed. The police have sealed off thearea and have prevented several hundredpeople from getting to the demonstration.

The angry crowd is overwhelminglyHaitian, but there are also people ofother nationalities, including progressive white attorneys. Black and PuertoRican youth, revolutionary communistsand Iranian revolutionaries. Angry signsare everywhere: "Never again—How canthis happen?" "Haiti-Fort Diraanche =INS-Krome" (Fort Dimanche is aninfamous Duvalier political prison andtorture chamber in Haiti) "KromeCamp, Tbuch of Hitlerism!" "Apartheid^ la INS!" Father Gerard Jean-Juste tells

the crowd, "Wcwani freedom and justicefor the Haitian refugees and all therefugees detained. We must break downthe walls of Krome, which remind us ofHitlerism."Most of the crowd has gathered

around a makeshift stage set up outsidethe camp. But there is a section of severalhundred people who aren't into speecheson this day. Many youth, women and newimmigrants are in this group, and theyare determined to shut this concentra

tion camp down.Pointing to a police helicopter over

head and then at the camp, one manshouts, "They can't kill us all. They cankill some, but not all. We should go in!"A couple of hundred people move

back and forth between the stage and theouter gate. Officials are trying to in

timidate people by taking their photos atthe front gate. But people are defiant andtheir attitude is; "How many times arewe going to just come out here and makespeeches when they're beating andraping our people in there?" Recently,over 100 affidavits have been filed bypeople testifying to the brutalities goingon inside Krome—from broken bonesand beatings to women prisoners beingraped and others simply disappearing.Many of those demonstrating on this dayhave been on the other side of the gate—and this sharpens their determination tofree the people still held prisoners.

In the midst of all this is an RCYB

May Day banner held high. It reads:"Outcasts, Downcasts, Slaves, Illegalsand Rebels—It's Right to Rebel!" It hadbeen made by Puerto Rican youth from aMiami neighborhood where the copshave been clamping down. People laketurns holding it up—an Iranian, Blackpeople born in the U.S., a Puerto Rican,Haitians. Revolutionaries circulate aleaflet by the RCP and another by supporters of the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement which demands:

"Shut Down the Camps! Tbar Down theVigils! Break Down the Borders! Make

Revolution All Over the World!" Red

armbands and headbands arc also grabbed up and worn by many in the crowd.Someone starts singing a battle song

by Les Frere Parents (a popular Haitiansinging group) which says, "Duvalier'sgone. Hallelujah, Hallelujah." Onegroup of people begin singing "Grenadier a IjAssaut," traditionally sung bymen going into battle. Suddenly thosebetween the stage and the gate cometogether as one mass of several hundred.They push into those already at the gate.In an instant the huge gate lopped withbarbed wire is toppled and people rushon through. With the RCYB banner upfront, the crowd marches and dances tothe second gate, a quarter of a mile upthe road.

The people are determined to breakthrough this second gate as welt. But it

Los Angeles

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has been fortified on the other side with

seventy-five marshals in riot gear and gasmasks. The road between the two gatesquickly became liberated territory. The

crowd is furious, hurling taunts of "Ibn-ton Macoutes" (the death-squad policeof the Duvalier regime in Haiti). Somerocks fly over the fence at the riot squad.

Continued from page 3shut down. The rulers' fantasy of immigrants being penned up like sheep andshipped back to the death squads ofCentral America—while the rest of the

people went along with the program—had been challenged.Stung badly, the enemies of the p^plc

went crazy. It's fine with theLAPDifouryouth fight or kill each other over somebullshit. They get off on that. But whenouryouth rise up, united, with a vision ofa new kind of society, the authorities seetheir doom and go all out to crush theyouth.The LAPD launched a brutal assault

on the courageous revolutionaries, attacking them with billy clubs and jackboots. A pig pulled his gun out andpointed it right at Rojo on the roof of theconcentration camp, but Rojo wasdefiant. He did not move off the roof.Los Angeles TV viewers witnessed livecoverage as Rojo was taken into custodyon the roof by firemen and police. Thereporter later stated that police weresaying he had head injuries, but theyclaimed that he had not been injuredwhen taken into custody. Then, a spokesman for the INS concentration camp saidon TV that Rojo had hit his own headagainst the wall!

In fact, Rojo was beaten in custody byeight pigs with clubs and required twelvestitches, six of them for very deep gashes.He has bruises all over his body, including a boot mark on his back. Sasha, awoman leader of the RCYB, whose lifehas been threatened repeatedly in thepast by the LAPD (who have deliberatelyput her in their "Salvadoran" file-implying she is a target of LA death-squad attacks), has had her lifethreatened again by the authorities whilein jail. One youth was hog-tied andseriously beaten, causing kidney or liverdamage, and both of his eyes arc swollenshut, Another youth had his spine in

jured when he was beaten by police withhis hands tied behind his head. He

needed four stitches to his head and his

eye is swollen shut. A woman RCYBerwas repeatedly beaten, stepped on anddragged on the ground in front of thedetention center, but she continuedshouting revolutionary slogans—including "You can kill a revolutionary but youcan't kill the revolution." Altogether, thepigs arrested eighteen people and heldthem for a total ransom of 586,000 bail.By Saturday, due to the support of thepeople, all those arrested were out onbail.

The heroic actions of the revolutionary youth and immigrants on May First,in the face of the fascist assault, reverberated throughout the city and beyond.A Latino columnist for the L.A. Timeshad to admit that the revolutionaries hadbecome "Heroes of the Barrio":

"Policemen, like tiger sharks, are lessthan discriminating when it comes to afeeding frenzy. They jumped on anythingyoung and noisy, sometimes six of themwrestling one scrawny kid to the groundin a display of witless overreaction Ihaven't seen since the riots of Berkeley25 years ago In the odd transformation of social protest, the winners werethe people behind bars, and the loserswere the ones who had put them there."Hundreds went up against the concentration camp and the pigs (who foundthemselves under siege for much of theday), with people shouting "21ona delPueblo" and "Vayan a la mierda" at thepolice all day long.May First had started with a rally at

DamiSn Garcia Park—a rally burstingwith youthful revolutionary spirit. Redflags, revolutionary banners—"Revolution, Die Only Solution," "Mao MoreThan Ever" "Outcasts, Downcasts,Slaves, Illegals and Rebels, It's Right toRebel!"—red streamers, manifestos upon the trees, revolutionary graffiti sud-

ING THEf KROME

May 13, 1990—Revolulionary Worker—Page 9

}

i

One Haitian man, dead serious, calmlypoints to the guards and says, "We'regonna get you."One group of Haitian youth repeated-

April 29—Breaking through the gate at Krome.

ly bangs on the gate and shouts at thecops, then breate out in laughter anddancing. A young woman steps back andtries earnestly, in rapid-fire Creole, to

"The confrontation lasted about a half hour. Eventually thedemonstrators who had broken through the camp enclosureresigned themselves to withdrawing and. to rejoining the rest ofthe demonstration. They left proudly, singing la Desalinienne andbringing with them, as a trophy, the twisted metal gate. Theycarried it on their shoulders for more than a kilometer. One of

them planted this sign in front of the camp before leaving: 'LetOur People Go.' "

From Haiti en Marche

"1 am pleased to see our people break down the gate. But thatisn't enough, i wish they would destroy the camp—stone by stone.Our countrymen haven't committed any crime to justify lockingthem behind the bars of Krome."

Man6s A., from Haiti en Marche

"Some of us started singing, 'Grenadiers a I'Assaut,' " saidEddy Sanon, "In a second, everyone was excited. And then like oneperson, the crowd dived toward the metal barrier."

From Haiti en Marche

explain to an English-speaking demonstrator what Ihcy are saying to the cops.She gets her message across: "The Haitian people are going to kick their ass."Meanwhile a group of white youth hanga banner right on the fence that reads,"Refuse and Resist the Concentration

Camps!"For an hour the struggle goes on at the

second gate. Some rally marshals try andcool things out, telling people they are"going too far." They form a line between the angry crowd and the gate, butthe people try to push on through. Ayoung Haitian woman, who was thesecond person through the first gate,leads the charge at the second gate, wrestling herself from the grasp of one gate"defender" after another. The crowd is

unable to break through the second gate,but they leave victoriously. They pick upthe first broken gate, hold it high abovetheir heads, and dance around with it.Later they hurl it into the swamp.

In the aftermath of this powerfuldemonstration the INS is desperatelytrying to cool things out. They releasedsixteen Haitians on the eve of the demo

and afterwards announced plans torelease 200 more. The April 29 demonstration represents a real leap in thestruggle of Haitian immigrants—a leapto determined offensive action by themasses to actually shut Krome down.V^e-Yo has now called for anotherdemonstration on May 10 at 3:00 p.m. atthe INS main office in Miami.

In the Black Miami communities ofLiberty City and Overtown, news of theKrome demonstration was greeted like abreath of fresh air. One Overtownwoman said, "Wc talked about it all dayat work." One Haitian woman said,"Now I think they're starting to see justhowangrywe really are." A Puerto Ricanyouth who participated in the Kromedemo said, "I've always supported theHaitian people's struggle, but now I seejust how important they can be to revolutionary struggle here." □

denly app>earing all over the place, asculpture of Damidn Garcia done by alocal artist. Hte rally featured a shortspeech by Lucas Martinez, spokespersonfrom Libros Revolucidn.

From the park, the May Day activiststook off on a militant march down Al-varado Street toward the barricadedzone. Before it had gone a block, theLAPD attacked and arrested severalpeople, including the driver of a car withthe Dami^tn sculpture sticking out itsroof. But the marchers quickly regrouped and headed off down the street,double-time and into the barricadedzone. People from the neighborhood—including some who had previously toldreporters that they didn't know what wasgoing on—^joined up along the way, waving red fla^, some chanting the revolulionary slogans of the day and otherscrying out, "Viva Mexico" or "Viva ElSalvador."

When the marchers arrived at the concentration camp, the prisoners werewatching from the barred windows. Themarchers moved quickly to shut downthe detention center while hundredsgathered nearby. The police attack onthose right in front of the concentrationcamp began immediately. Within minutes, several large squads of police hadmoved on the crowd, making repeatedassaults on the people with their billyclubs as they tried to push the peopleaway from the once secret prison. Theyblocked off four square city blocks tokeep people away. But many of thepeople fought back, and the cops—whoattacked and beat people as they tried topick out those who had gone on themarch—found themselves besieged andunder attack for much of the afternoon.

The very next day, while ail those arrested and brutaliz^ by the police werestill in jail, the May Day Committee helda pre« conference right in front of thedetention center to announce the deter

mination of the people to keep up thestruggle until the concentration campwas shut down. Among those whoshowed up at the press conference wereimmigrants who spoke about the brutalattach of the police. A doctoral studentin Religion and Social Ethics from theUniversity of Southern California cameto tell the press that reports from Christian base communities in El Salvadorreveal ihat the U.S.-backed governmentis pouring napalm on the countrysideand that this is what the immigrants inthe concentration camp are beingdeported back to.

How uptight the authorities wereabout this whole situation was furtherrevealed when this press conference wassurrounded by LAPD units, who blocked

off four square blocks with barricadesand flares once again and prepared toarrest everyone in the area, lite pressconference participants marched out ofthe area. But demonstrations and pressconferences in front of the detentioncenter continued throughout the week—including an appearance by a batteredbut defiant Rojo just after he was bailedout of jail.

As the communique from the LAMay Day Committee says, "All those whosaw a new future on Alvarado on MayFirst, and the millions who were inspiredby seeing the heroic youth out there ontV, must step forward! The oppressorhas thrown out all pretext of freedomand democracy and declared his intention to openly beat and brutalize and jail

anyone who exposes their evil concentration camp and their fascist future. Whilethey go on about how there's not enoughfreedom for dissidents in their rival superpower—they act like nazis when a different future is fought for here.

"Step forward! Hike up the revolutionary tasks presented by the advance ofMay First. The eyes of people like us—and even many who have had their eyesclosed until now—are on Pico-Unionand the Concentration Camp. Will it goback to business as usual? Never! Itcan't! Will the revolutionary cause bejailed, beaten and terrorized off the mapso they can get over with theirclampdown? It's in your hands " □

May 1, Los Angeles

Page 10—flevcrfutionary Worker—May 13,1990

la Resisteniia: "liberar todos

,

BIG MIGRA RAIDSSTALK HOUSTONHouston, Tfexas. Early morning. May

4. Stormtroopers begin a coordinated assault against immigrants and Blackpeople living in the Gulfton district, anarea which has the largest concentrationof Central Americans in Tfexas. On a day-labor comer where men from El Sal

vador and Mexico gather to find work,the pigs swoop down and I.D. everyoneand arrest several people. Youth walkingto school or standing at bus stops arcjacked up by the pigs. Some are made tospreadeagle against cop cars and arehandcuffed and taken away.

In the name of the "war on drugs" aone-and-a-half square mile area is quickly turned into pig city. Virtually anyoneout on the street is stopped. The pigsalso go door-to-door in apartment complexes, demanding people show papers.They use their snitch network to fingerpeople and break down people's doors.By nightfall, the normally lively area is litup by the flashing cherry tops of numerous prowl cars and the piercingbeams of pig helicopters. As one personsaid, the scene was like something fromSan Salvador.By the 10 o'clock news, the pigs claim

214 people have been arrested, onlytwelve on drug-related charges. They announce this operation will go on for thirty days, until "these people meet a brickwall wherever they go." By Sunday, according to the Houston Chronicle, 329people had been arrested.

Police sweeps and raids by La Migraare not unusual in Gulfton. About a yearago, a major immigration sweep roundedup over 500 people, and 50 ptiiple weredeported. Now the powers are again escalating their fascistic terror and repr^-sion against the masses. All the information on people being arrested is beingturned over to the INS and anyone ar

rested on anything more than a class Cmisdemeanor is being scrutinized by theINS for possible deportation. The policethemselves admit the INS is interviewingpeople. But even more, La Migra is helping the pigs coordinate this whole effort.An article in the Houston Post revealed

that "two individuals at the police command post in the Gulfton area acknowledged they represented the INS butrefused to comment."

On Saturday, May 5 La Rcsistenciaheld a press conference and demonstration at the Gulfton pig station which isbeing used as the command post for thisoperation. Travis Morales, a spokesperson for La Resistencia, denounced theraids for being a pretext, under the banner of the "war on drugs," to "terrorizeand round up immigrants, and deportthem to death squads in El Salvador andGuatemala." He called on peoplethroughout the city to launch resistanceto this vicious attack. That evening allthree TV networks covered the pressconference on the news.

After the press conference, demonstrators marched through the Gulftonarea and got a tremendous responsefrom people. The La Rcsistencia leafleton the struggle against the INS concentration camp in L.A got out to manypeople. At one point the march stoppedwhere some pigs were harassing people.People began chanting and exposing howthis whole operation is a war on thepeople, and the pigs were preventedfrom making any arrests.More plans are now being made for

further actions to stop the clampdown inGulfton and all attacks on immigrants.The situation urgently demands thatbroader levels of resistance meet anddefeat this vicious attack. □

Pico-Union, Los Angeles, Cinco de Mayo

At 10 a.m. La Resistencia held apowerful rally, picket line and press conference in front of the INS DetentionCenter in Pico-Union. They had come todemand an end to an intolerable situation—^whcre immigrant people arelocked up in concentration camps to bedeported back to the death-squad regimes in Central America. But to thepowers-that-be, this gathering was intolerable. They do not want the massesof people to know about these prisons.And they do not want the basic people toknow that people from many walks of lifeand different classes are standing withthem. For the third time in five days,squads of riot police attacked those whodemonstrated at this location.

1\vo dozen people marched in front ofthe detention center's iron gates, whilesixty more, mostly immigrants from thearea, participated from across the street.The demon-straiors—including La Rcsistencia activists and supporters, RCYByouth and other revolutionaries, and •youth of different nationalities from thearea—carried banners reading "ShutDown the INS Concentration Camp"and "From Krome to Pico-Union, ShutDown the Concentration Camps" andhomemade picket signs that read"Dachau, Krome, Auschwitz, Pico-Union, Tfeblinka" and "Liberar todoslos detenidos." There was also a blackcoffin with "U.S. imperialism" writtenon it.

The press conference/rally showedboth the depth of feeling about shuttingdown Amerikkka's concentration camps

and the breadth of forces that are beginning to turn this into a national movement. Speakers included Rorvil Samedlfrom the Krome concentration campstruggle; Rojo from the RCYB; DickLaird from the Los Angeles chapter ofLa Resistencia; Roberto, a revolutionaryyouth from the area who was arrested onMay 1; and Lucas Martinez, spokesperson for Libros Revolucidn and the MayDay Committee. Statements were readfrom Father Gerard Jcan-Justc, from VicScutari of Project Lifeline in N.Y. andfrom Peter Schey, executive director ofthe Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law in Los Angeles.

In Amerikkka 1990, concentrationcamps are legal, but protest against themis met with police violence. The rally wasmet with massive repression from thestart. Armed INS agents on the roof withflak jackets and videocameras. Phalanxesof riot police on either end of the picketline, blocking the sidewalk. Many moreriot police, vans and buses in a stagingarea just a half block away. It was apolice-state atmosphere all around.

Suddenly, banners appeared right onthe front of the concentration camp, andthe iron gate that appeared to be newlybattered Ilew open. The pigs decided todeclare the picket line officially illegaland began a massive assault with aboutsixty riot police moving on thedemonstrators and pushing them furtherand further north on Alvarado Street. Acouple hundred people from the neighborhood gathered on the corner of Alvarado and Olympic, many blowingwhistles and others following along asthe police drove the demonstrators

l.a Migra captures an immigrant.

50,000Sometimes the political force and potential of a section of the

people appears on the scene overnight, seemingly out of nowhere.That happened In New York City on Friday, April 20. A demonstrationof over 50,000 people, mainly Haitians, delivered a sharp blow tonational oppression In the United States. Last February the FederalDrug Administration Issued a memo to all blood banks and hospitals Inthe country advising them that all people born In or emigrating fromHaiti and Sub-Saharan Africa should be barred from donating blood asa precaution against AIDS. This was an extension of previous racistgovernment policies branding Haitians as carriers of the AIDS virus.There Is no scientific basis to this notion—It is based solely on racismand discrimination.

To protest this racist policy tens of thousands of Haitians andothers refused to go to work or school on April 20. Instead theygathered early In the morning to demonstrate In downtown Brooklynand then marched across the Brooklyn Bridge to lower Manhattan,virtually shutting It down. There were simultaneous protests InWashington, D.C. and outside the U.S. Embassy In Port-au-Prlnce,Haiti. New York police and city authorities were caught completely offguard by the huge crowd of angry people In the streets. Mayor Dinkinsrushed out to urge people to disperse. And later the press voicedconcern that such a massive action could have been built through theCreole network, totally outside the English-language media. But forthe basic people, this demonstration was a welcome round In thebattle against national oppression in this country. Haitians In the U.S.face all the racism that's dished out to Black people In general andthen some. The stigma of AIDS they have been branded with hasmeant increased discrimination In the schools, in employment, inmedical care and Insurance. The very afternoon of the demonstrationthe FDA Blood Products Advisory Committee met In emergencysession and voted to retract their policy and to submit It to review bythe entire FDA.

los detenidos"

I

farther away from the prison. When theywere far enough away, some flak-jacketed INS agents came down from theroofand took down thebanners and then

backed their way into the prison onceagain.The pigs singled out people for arrest

and charged after them. Included amongthe five people arrested and charged withmisdemeanors were Sasha, the RCYBleader, and Lucas Martinez, as well as

two other youths who were arrested andbrutally beaten on May First.But the situation has been dramatical

ly changed, and no matter what the pigsdo, the struggle must be taken higher.Everybody in Pico-Union, even thosewho weren't aware of the concentrationcamp before, is now talking about it andthe struggle to shut it down. The next dayLa Rcsistencia issued a call for nationalaction to take the struggle higher. □

This is an excerpt from a call put out by the Los Angeles chapter of LaResistencia on Sunday, May 6:

News Flash #2 from La Resistencia, Los AngelesCOAST TO COAST:

Step Up the Struggle to Shut DownAmerica's Concentration Camps!

The struggle to close America's concentration camps for immigrants andrefugees has been taken to a new level this past week

The events of this week exposed the existence of concentration camps in theU.S. used to inca-cerate refugees and immigrants from throughout the world.

The efforts to SHUT DOWN the Pico-Union concentration camp is also part ofa campaign initiated by La Resistencia during October 1989 aimed at bringingdown the barricades from areas of Los Angeles made up of mainly immigrants,other Lainos and Blacks. The barricades and concentration camp in thePico-Union area has as its primary purpose the roundup of Saivadoran andGuatemalan refugees by joint Los Angeles police/INS forces, resulting in thedeportation of the refugees to their death at the hands of U.S.-sponsored deathsquads in their home countries.

The Los Angeles chapter of La Resistencia, along with other chaptersthroughout the country. Is calling for a National Day of Action within the next3 to 4 weeks to shut down all concentration camps In the U.S. as well as theremoval of all barricades from metropolitan neighborhoods. The NationalDay of Action will also expose the U.S. government's phony "war on drugs"which Is being used as a cover to barricade whole communities, suppresshuman and civil rights, and clamp down on refugees, Immigrants and otheroppressed peoples In the U.S.

Join the Campaign to Shut Down America's Concentration Camps! For moreinformation, contact:

La Resistencia1833 W. 8th St. #100-163Los Angeles, OA 90057;(213) 285-3071.For Campaign expenses or to help cover the cost for bail for those arrested

this week, checks can t>e made out to "La Resistencia."

May 13,1990—Revolutionary Worker—Page 11"I'm here because we found out after we stormed the coacentratloo

camp at Krome that they have coocentratiou camps all around the countrvThey need to be shut down.

"The more you shut up, the more they gonna kill you. like me, I don'tmind—if one of them shot me right here, I know I got killed because I'mworking for my freedom, I'm working for the freedom of the other people, wegot to be free." ^

Florvll Samedf, a Haitian Immigrant active (n the Krome concentrationcamp struggle, at the La Resistencia action May 5 in Los Angeles.The U.S.-backed Haitian government killed Samedi's father before heescaped to the U.S. only to be locked up In lOome for 17 months.Four friends of his from Krome who were deported back to Haiti werekilled by government forces there.

******

"This operation is part of an operation by the U.S. government to Idll thepeople of Central America. That war to kill people in Central America iswaged in Central America and it is waged elsewhere. It is waged here in LosAngeles. This building, this concentration camp, is part of that war. Thesepeople liave not committed any crime. The only 'crime' they have committedis to be from a country that the United States has invaded or has decided totake over and sponsor death squads and kill the people there

"When a government engages in these kind of atrocious activities, as theU.S. government is so engaged around the world and In our own country, ithas to find an excuse for these atrocities. That excuse Is the war on drugs.It's a phony wur. They're not making drug busts. The barricading of thisneighborhood, with a concentration camp within a concentration camp, Is forthe purpose of rounding up these refugees and sending them back to theircertain death.

"We are challenging the people of Los Angeles, the people of the country.This effort Is part of a national effort to close down concentration campsaround the country. We are challenging anyone of conscience. These peopleare going to die unless we stop them. We are calling for everybody in this cityand across the country to challenge these atrocities that are beingaccomplished by the U.S. government along with local police agencies and INSagents. We are challengiog organizations that represent refugees andimmigrants. We are chalienging organizations who are opposed to the U.S.involvement in Central America.. . . We are challenging you to participate inshutting down the concentration camps."

Dick Laird, spokesperson for the Los Angeles chapter of La Resistencia

*•**•

"We Haitians in South Florida call upon the U.S. Justice Dept, PresidentBush to listen to our voices for justice and freedom. Close all theconcentration camps in the United States of America. Freedom and justice toall detainees, particularly the Haitian detainees and the Central Americanrefugees. These camps remind us of Hitlerism. They are an ugly scar on theface of America. Americans who seek justice for all—stand up. Help theImmigrants fight for their rights. We need each other to change America forthe better."

Statement by Father Gerard Jean-Juste, Veye-Yo, Miami, FloridaRead at the La Resistencia action May 5 in Los Angeles

Haitians Mardi Against Ratism

Page 12—Revolutionary Workef—May 13,1990

Rojo:">4 bold stand withcold revolutionary politicsin command

A correspondent Tor the RW in LosAngeles talked with Rojo, a member ofthe RCYB who took part in the May 1staction against the INS concentrationcamp in the Pico-Union area of Los Angeles on May IsL This is one ofthe areasin Los Angeles which the police havebarricaded up, using the so-called Waron Drugs as an excuse:

RW: Coming into the barricaded area,it was a fairly intense situation. Thepolice first attacked the march between7th and 8th—right in front of wherethere used to be a Revolution Books out

let More and more police kept cominginto the area. Why did you feel it wasnecessary to continue to go on in thatkind of intense situation?

Rojo: Because, as I have said, they willnot pen in, lock up and kill us off. Wemust continue to expose the lies that this^vernment continues to throw out at us.First of all, we are not to believe 'em, andwe must not believe 'em. We must con

tinue with this struggle, and we mustkeep on exposing their lies, also theirplans to lock down and isolate entireneighborhoods, and ghcttoize 'em, likethey did in 1939 in '^rsaw. Unless werise up and speak up now, there willcome a point, like in 1939, when it wastoo late to do anything about it. That iswhy we must continue, and we will notstop.RW. You didn't feel any intimidation

on your way down the street when youknew the police were coming fory'all?Rojo; That is the only tool they have is

intimidation, brutality and terror. And ifwe buckle under to their only power,then they have won. But we will not allowthem to win. We know that they will brutalize us, we know that they will beat us,andwe know that they will kill us off. Butif they kill us off, then we are ready forthat. I am ready for that. Because if that'swhat it takes to expose them, that is whatI am willing to do for my people.RW: People were really jazzed by what

you did. What were you thinking upthere on the roof, what was goingthrough your mind?

Rojo: What I was thinking was—I wasup there to make a statement. Make avery powerful statement, that they wereeither going to release our people, orthey were going to kill me tiying to do it.If that's what it would have taken, forthem to do that, then that is exactly whatI was ready to sacrifice. I was ready tosacrifice my life if that's what it took toliberate my people.RW: People in the area, the masses in

the area I was talking with yesterday,people themselves who got brutalizedjust for being there, who weren't part ofthe demonstration—th^ had welts verymuch like your own on their bodies justfor being there. But they were all verysupportive and wanting to know what

• s--r -

' i * •

f »

happened to you. What do you want tosay to these people?

Rojo: That goes to further expose theLAPD and their terror tactics as well asthe brutality that they will take in orderto suppress such people getting this wordout, that this is indeed a concentrationcamp and that it is indeed a center ofdeath. Basically, the day of the demonstration went to show that simply forbeing the color of skin that you are, theywill beat you and they will brutalize youand they will terrorize you and they willstop you and put you on your knees, andtheywill simply dehumanize you in orderto get their point across that they are thepower and they will go to any extent toprove that point.RW: So what should the masses do in

the face of that—that's their conditionsof life every day—^what should they do inthe face of that?

Rojo: WhaL they should do is take abold stand with cold revolutionarypolitics in command, and they should notbuckle under and they should not submitthemselves to the enemy, and theyshould not have any fear, because if youshow fear, then the enemy has won. Aswe know, they will go to these brutalmeasures. If they are willing to do itsimply on the basis of the color of yourskin, then take it much higher, and fightfor your people, and fight foroirrpwple,our people which is the Black, Latin and

all oppressed people in this country, aswell as worldwide.

RW: Yesterday there was a press conference and the LAPD locked down theneighborhood again. Clearly the otherside sees something they don't want getting out, and I think we're looking at asituation where they've made clear theirintentions. They don't want this gettingout, they wanted to stop the demonstration before it even got started, they triedand couldn't. People fought through thatfirst attack with determination. Even theLA. Times reporter admitted they hadno reason for that first attack. How do

the people take forward the fight aroundthese concentration camps? Where doesthat struggle go from here?

Rojo: One thing I would like to pointout—this is not business as usual. TTiis isnot your simple demonstration whereyou go out for a couple of hours, say whatyou have to say, and then you go home,and you lay down in your soft bed, andhave your nice meal, and forget thatthese problems exist. This Is not that typeof struggle. We must remember that thisis a revolutionary struggle, this is a struggle where we will take it much higher. Wewill keep advancing and we will keephounding the enemy until we win. Andthat's what this struggle is about. This isnot a simple exposure, or two-hourdemonstration, or a one-day thing, andthen people forget about it. This is the

beginning of revolutionary struggle.RW\ So in otherwords, what happened

on May 1st was kind of like the announcement, the opening statement ofthis political battle?Rojo: Correct, correct. Not only will it

have been May 1st, but May 2nd, andMay 3rd, and May 4th, and May 5th, andon and on until we have won. Our true

victory will be when we finally tear thissystem down from power and put it in thehands of the people.RW: What brought you to become a

revolutionary?Rojo: First of all I had a consciousness,

knowing that all this injustice and suffering that is being brought on by this U.S.capitalist system is indeed affecting thewhole world, and is indeed affecting thepeoples of the world. Not only does itexist within our own borders, but it grapples just about every continent on theface of this world. Not only is it a systemthat oppresses the people nationwide,but worldwide. What brought my revolutionary consciousness was when I askedmyself what was I going to do about it.Was I going to stand on the sidelines andlet this go on and not say anything, like agood German? Or say I did not know, orsay it was just a job. It's not about that,it's about liberating our people andbringing this struggle on a much higherbasis, 'niat's what brought me about towhere I am today. □

FTP Locks Up CHAMay 13,1990—Revolutionary Worker—Pagfl'13

May Day in Chicago was marked by amilitant action in the Chicago HousingAuthority projects called by Fight thePower, "nie tables were turned when FTPcarried out a brief takeover of a CHAoffice that erupted into a wild fight withthe security guards and Chicago pigs. Aswe go to press, the enemy has viciouslycounterattacked and the struggle is escalating.The stage was set for this bold action

two days earlier as Black public housingresidents and homeless people fromFight the Power joined Latino brothersand sisters and radical white youth in aninternationalist contingent within thetraditional May Day march. The vibrantcontingent of 30 to 35 people, the largestin the demonstration, was charged upand ready to get it on. Chants of "Maomore than ever" and "Support thepeople's war in Peru" blasted out as themarch of 100 people went through theSpanish-speaking Pilsen community.The American flag was righteously torched and while youth. Black proletarians, and revolutionary artist DreadScott dashed to the front of the march

waving the burning rag and stomping onit. A spokeswoman from Fight the Powerreceived a strong response from thecrowd as she linked the apartheid-styleCHA lockdowns and ID cards for Blackpeople with green cards and the oppression of immigrants. Black, brown andwhite fists shot into the air as the contingent concluded with a determined andunited singing of the "Internationale."That evening Fight the Power issued

its proclamation for the coming action at: May Day party. It condemned the CHA

lockdowns which have already turned 16high-rise buildings into jails and calledon the masses to "Break the chains thatbind us. We proclaim this right as freehuman beings in a world that now chainsus down and locks us up. .. . We havebeen THREATENED with Evictions,Fines and Harassed by Managers andGuards." In the spirit of internationalism the proclamation continued, "We as residents of the CHA seeand can identify ourselves with the SouthAfricans and apartheid, with the Jewishcommunity because of their permanentID numbers tattooed on them, theHispanics, because they were issuedgreen cards, and the dogs in the kennelswho must also wear tags."A mood of anticipation was in the air

as May 1st dawned in the Harold Ickcshousing project. Overnight May Daymanifestos and graffiti reading "CHA =

r

Apartheid" had appeared on the walls ofthe buildings. At 3 p.m., a contingent of"people's guards" from FTP entered theCHA office while a dozen radical youthand RCP supporters posted themselvesoutside. The Chicago THbune reportedthat the protesters "used 2-by-4 lumberand a metal gate to barricade eight CHAemployees and three residents inside theoffice." Within minutes, two burningtires were sending black smoke into theair, drawing a crowd and more securityguards. A banner reading "Lock downthe real criminals—the CHA' was hungon the building and a dumpster wasmoved to block a fire lane. The guardswere quickly surrounded, and as thecrowd swelled a barrage of paint-filledballoons splattered red paint on thebuildings and the guards. They backedoff as protesters refused to be grabbedand dragged off.A 15-minutc confrontation went down

until reinforcements arrived—six Chi

cago pig squad cars, drawing a crowd of150 p^ple. An object smashed against apolice car and ihe pigs.went wild, clubbing and grabbing demonstrators andbeating them with blackjacks. A leafletfrom "revolutionaries at the Ickes"

which appeared the next day said, "FTPraised a ferocious fight right in front ofour eyes." Fbur people were arrested,two of them requiring hospital treatmentafter they were beaten by the pigs. Threewere charged with mob action, criminaltrespass and destruction of property; thefourth with the additional charge of battery.

"ITie manager of the project, BeverlyShcpard, a hated symbol of authority,came out after the police arrived. Peoplewere yelling "stop the lockdowns" and"fight the power" and demanded toknow, "Why are you beating thesepeople?" Shcpard, her legs splatteredwith paint, screamed, "They were goingto lock us up in there!" A youthresponded, "Right, that's what you aredoing to uj!"The CHA office closed down for the

rest of the day—no business as usual forthe enforcers of the clampdown—andShcpard returned to retrieve her belongings under police escort. Shcpard andthe pigs and guards who front for thewhole rotlen system had gotten a lastc ofthe people's righteous anger. People onthe scene after the battle grinned andreported, "They jumped on CHA bad,"and "Th(^ beat their ass."

Ttvo groups of residents were mobi- ,lized to go to the jail to bail out FTPmember Maurice who lives in a high-risein Prairie Courts, the annex to Ickes andthe only building in the complex whichhas been locked down. But there was

widespread sentiment that much morethan this should have been done to cometo the aid of FTP during the fight."Everyone was saying, 'We should havehelped them,"" one tenant reported, and

May 1, Chicago

this question is being widely debated.The necessity to build organization in

the projects that can defeat theclampdown was driven home within daysas the enemy counterattacked viciouslyand the struggle began escalating. According to residents, Shcpard called ameeting of a CHA-sponsored tenantgroup to complain that she's beingharassed and pelted with garbage andbottles. Then she delivered outrageousthreats of massive retaliation for thecrime of protesting the lockdowns.Shcpard told the Local Advisory Council(LAC) that everyone in the crowd at theFTP action will be evicted, and she calledon the LAC to act as her snitch networkto identify those on the scene.For his courageous stand as a frontline

fighter in defying the lockdown, Mauriceand his family were immediately targetedfor eviction. This is on the bogus groundsthat he created a "threat to the healthand safety of others" for his participationin the action to lock down the CHA office. Maurice's teenage daughter wasalso threatened by Beverly Shepard'snephew during school, but students fromthe Ickes came to her defense. The struggle is heating up in the high school, withthree youth suspended for putting upMay Day stickers.During the struggle in revolutionary

China, the masses had a saying that "Thepeople cannot light a candle, but theemperor can burn down whole villages."In the housing projects, ihe authoritieshave carried out an offensive against thepeople—the lockdowns, pig patrols,evictions, repressive rules and regulations—and constructed a whole setupwhere Black people arc treated likecriminals and animals. But at the first

sign of determined protest against this,the Man has brought his foot down onthe people's necks to oppress them andkeep them down. This not only shows thedesperate viciousness of the enemy buthis fear of the revolutionary potentialamong Black people. If ever there was atime to turn the tables on the real

criminals, to stand up and fight and toexercise some power of the people, it'snow. FTP, supported by the Campaign toEnd the CHA Lockdowns, is makingplans to mobilize the masses and take onthese attacks in a real battle that can

explode right in the faces of the CHA,the pigs, the school authorities, and thewhole imperialist system they front for.The leaflet that appeared from

"revolutionaries in the Ickes" on May 2read, "We lost ihc initiative once. Let'snot lose it again. Let's hit them hard,make them think twice about comingdown with more oppression. . . . Let'sturn the Ickcs into another Soweto orPeru. If we can drive the enforcers outeven one time, this will be a seed of thefuture revolutionary people's war whenwc can defeat them and run all ofsociety." □

—Revotutionaiy Wbrker—May 13,1990

The FightfortheLandof theFlint

On the weekend of April 7, we droveup Interstate 87 in New York not knowing quite what to C3q)ca. Wc knew thatstate police and the FBI were threatening to invade Ganienkeh Ttrritorywhere the Ganienkehaga live.(Ganienkehaga is Mohawk for "thePeople of the Land of the Hint.") OnMarch 30 a Vermont National Guard

helicopter on a medical flight had beenshot at and a doctor on board wounded.Authorities claimed the shots came

from Ganienkeh. The Indian people:claimed that the shots came from near

Akwesasne Reservation, about fiftymiles away. One thing was clear: theauthorities used this as an excuse to

bring out their armed forces andprepare to invade Ganienkeh Tfcrritory.Ganienkeh Tferritoiy is in northern

New York state, just south of theCanadian border. It is beautiful

country, full of snow-capped mountains, streams and lakes. BeforeEuropeans colonized the United Statesand stole the land from the Indianpeople, almost 9 million acres of landin what is now New York, Vermont andCanada was the land of the MohawkNation. In 1774 Joseph Grant, a Britishcitizen who was half Mohawk, sold theland for 51,000. The Mohawks explainthat he was not a chief and had no

authority to do this. The Indians didnot believe in European concepts ofproperty, they did not believe that theland could be owned or sold. This

"sale" has been and is still being usedto rob the Mohawks of their land andtheir right to exist as a sovereign nation.This land is valuable to the powers-

that-be. And even more, they cannottolerate the fact that the Indians do notrecognize their authority on this land.It looks like the powers are putting onsome heavy power moves to get it back.As we turned onto Route 190 head

ing north, signs announced that theroad was closed ahead. The state policehad blockaded all the roads leadinginto Ganienkeh. Local citizens were allowed in and out. But they had to havepicture IDs, their trunks were searchedand pictures were taken of all adultsgoing in and out. But the police wouldnot allow any reporters or supportersof the people of Ganienkeh into theterritory.Shortly after the helicopter was shot

down, authorities demanded access toGanienkeh to conduct an "investigation." They were told that Ganienkehwas a sovereign nation and that they

\

Barricades set up to defend the Ganienkeh territory against government invasion

would conduct the investigation themselves. As soon as they were denied access to Ganienkeh Tbrritory, the government mobilized its armed forces inpreparation for an invasion. They didthis despite the fact that they didn'thave any real evidence that the shotscame from Ganienkeh. The people ofGanienkeh did conduct their own inves

tigation and found that no residents ofthe territory were responsible.An article in The Press Republican,

the main Plattsburg daily paper, randown the kind of force the governmenthad prepared to use against the peopleof Ganienkeh: "More than 200 slate

police troopers and FBI agents were inthe area and state police activated anemergency contingency plan in preparation for an armed assault of Ganienkeh.The County Sheriffs Department,CVPH Medical Center (located inPlattsburg), Altona Correctional Facility (a prison not far from Ganienkeh)and four Northern Tier ambulance

squads were put on alert and advisedthey might be asked to treat casualtiesand hou.se prisoners A triage unit(an emergency battlefield hospital) wasset up Friday in the gymnasium of theAltona Correctional Facility. An ArmyNational Guard armored personnel carrier was parked on the prison lawnSaturday. Altona Correctional is lessthan two miles from the GanienkehTtrritory." According to other pressreports, a tefnporary morgue was alsoset up. The whole thing was coordinated from Plattsburg Air ForceBase. Lawyers for Ganienkeh later toldthe press that all proposals anddecisions that wore made had to be approved by the Justice Department. So itwas clear that the top levels of thefederal government wore in on plans toinvade Ganienkeh.The people of Ganienkeh boldly

stood up in the face of the government's plans to invade. They wcrc will

ing to die, if necessary, to defend theirland. They built their own barricadesand stood armed and ready to defendany attempts of U.S. authorities tocross their borders. One of these barricades was about a hundred yards awayfrom the pig barricade. It was made ofcars, vans and trucks. Sand had beenpiled high in front with a backhoe. TheGanienkeh flag, a picture of the risingsun on a red background with aMohawk warrior in the center, wasproudly waving from the top of thebarricade.

The stale tried to keep up a pressblackout of what was going down. Theauthorities were very worried that ifword spread about their plans to attackthe people of Ganienkeh, many wouldoppose it. They were also worriedabout the image of armed Indianpeople facing down government troopsto defend their land and what kind ofmessage this would send to other oppressed people.Ganienkeh did get support from a lot

of people. The press reported thatMohawks at the nearby AkwesasneReservation, which is also barricaded bypolice, were getting food and suppliesinto Ganienkeh. Messages werereceived from people around thecountry and internationally in supportof the people of Ganienkeh. And thedoctor who was shot sent a telegramcalling for the dispute to be settled'toavoid further bloodshed.

It was also reported in the press thatPal Austin, director of public relationsat CVPH Medical Center, said thehospital has a disaster plan, iCvSied withregular drills, for dealing with "a largenumber of casualties." This reveals thatthe authorities have had plans to goafter Ganienkeh for some time. A lookat the history of Ganienkeh shows panof why the powcrs-lhai-bewant to bringGanienkeh down and why the oppressed people stand with the Indians.

Taking Back Ganienkeh

Ganienkeh is a territory, not a reservation. It is land that was laken back bythe Indian people. In 1974 Indianpeople from Caughnawaga, Akwesasneand other reservations repossessedMohawk land in what is now known as

Moss Lake, in upstate New York, southwest of Altona. "A lot of our peoplecame from reservations in different

pans of Mohawk country," a spokesperson for Ganienkeh told ihcRW."And when the repossession of landtook place, when word got out, peopleof all different nations came down. Wchad Ojibwas, wc had Sioux people, wchad Hopls, wc had Navajos, wc had alltypes of Indian people come down. Weeven had some people from SouthAmerica come down. So it wasn't a

small thing. The reason why our peopleleft the reservation is because on the

reservation there's a lot of governmentbackslabbing. And it's that governmentbackstabbing that turns the peopleupon each other And that frictionhas erupted into violence at times. So abunch of people got together and saidwhy arc wc fighting our own people.We should be trying to save our ownpeople. Bcciiuscso much energy wasgoing into fighting just within your ownreservation. And then on top of that,when they looked toward the outside,WC have to fight a whole differentforce And so people moved to starta new life. And along with that to setthe example, for not only Indianpeople, but W people all over theworld. That if somebody wants to taketheir destiny into their own hands, andto say that I am going to supportmyself, I am going to grow my ownfood, I am going to clothe my childrenany way that 1 can. That we don't haveto rely on different government handouts "

White residents in the area frequent-

May 13.199&-Revolutionary Worker—Page 15

Invasion at AkwesasneAs we go to press, the United Slates

and Canadian governments have sentSlate Police and Mounted Police into theAkwesasne Indian Reservation. The National Guard is assisting the state policeand remains on alert. And the press iscreating public opinion for a majormilitary invasion.Akwesasne reservation is 28,000 acres

of land which borders New York Stale onthe south and Canada on the north. Astruggle has been raging among theMohawks who live there over the issue ofcontrol of their nation, over sovereignty.One form this has taken is a struggle overgambling. Anti-gambling forces, led byIndian officials with ties to the U.S. and

Canadian governments, have erectedbarricades to prevent people who don'tlive on the reservation from coming on.The Warriors Society (described to us bya spokesperson as men whose duty intraditional Mohawk culture is to protectthe boundaries of their land) and otherMohawks have lorn down these bar

ricades. The press has reported gun battles between the two. The conflict escalated and on Thesday, May 1st, two Indian men were killed.

Press reports blame the WhrriorSociety for the deaths and the violence ingeneral. They say they started gun battleswith anti-gambling forces and that bothsides have been using AK-47's, grenadesand firebombs. The Whrriors Society ofAkwesasne strongly denies any involvement. A press release of theirs states,"The policy of the Warriors Society is notto fight against their own People," andthey claim that the violence is being instigated by Indian tribal officials tied tothe U.S. government. One member ofthe ̂ rriors Society told the RW\ "Fromour view, we are still a sovereign stateand our people will constantly fight. Wedo not want to be Americans. We do not

want to be Canadians. We want to be

Mohawks. Politically, economically, socially, culturally."The full story at Akwesasne has not yet

come to light. But a number of things are

very clear. It Is a testimony to the oppression of the Indian people in this countrythat they are driven to resort to gamblingin order to survive. And most importantly, whatever position one takes on thequestion ofgambling, the intervention ofU.S. and Canadian government authorities can only do great harm to the Indianpeople.U.S. authorities and their imperialist

partners in the Canadian governmenthave used the current situation as an excuse to invade. One hundred slate troopers have invaded the reservation and are

patrolling Indian land. Over two hundred others are posted at the entrancesto the reservation that border the U.S.

The National Guard is standing readywith two armored personnel carriers,three troop carriers and other militaryvehicles. Canadian military personnelhave surrounded entrances to the reser

vation. Tfoops have been sent to there.scrvation entrance in Cornwall, On

tario. They brought 14 amphibious assault vehicles, two helicopters and fourarmored personnel carriers. Senior Canadian and U.S. officials have been meeting to discu.ss long-term solutions to thegambling issue. No Mohawks arc even atthe meetings! This invasion is nothingbut a calculated attempt by these imperialists to enforce their rule and reasserttheir control over the Mohawk peopleand their land.

They say they are doing this out ofconcern for the Mohawk people. Theseimperialists are nothing but liars. TheU.S. government has a whole history ofbloody attacks against the Indianpeoples. They have broken treaty aftertreaty. And right to this day they are attempting to undermine treaty rights ofIndian people on reservations from coastto coast. They cannot tolerate having anarea within their borders where it lookslike they do not have complete control.And they are afraid of the example given

-fBtr-

Canadian armored personnel carriers outside reservation.

to the oppressed generally when the Indians lake up arms against them and donot allow their police onto Indian lands.They care only about their power.

They don't care anything about the livesof Indian people. Their filthy corporations have poisoned much of theAkwesasne reservation's land. According to an article in the City Sun byClinton Cox, six major industrial complexes dump toxic chemicals into the St.Lawrence River a few miles from "Akwesasne. Areas of the reservation are

named "Contaminant Cove," "BiphcnylBrook," and "Dead Clam Cove." Fishcan no longer be eaten. GM has createda huge PCB dump. PCS levels are 600times higher than the bottom level forhazardous waste.Both governments have been stepping

up their attacks against the Mohawks.Last month New York state police andFBI agents barricaded Ganicnkch, aMohawk Indian territory about 50 milesfrom Akwesasne. (See "The Fight for theLand of the Flint.") Sixteen warrantswere issued for the arrest of Mohawkswho righteously stood up to this attempted invasion. Then last week fourstate police and FBI agents arrogantlywent onto Ganienkeh ̂ rritory to tryaivd serve the warrants. They were unsuccessful. In the process they fired a shot atone of the Mohawk people. A spokesperson at Ganienkeh told us, "Ourpeople responded in full force and statepolice were chased off the territory."Meanwhile at Kanafaiakc Tbrriiory 40miles north of Montreal, Quebec Provincial Police are blockading Indian land because they want to expand a golf courseand take back Indian land to do it!

These cold-blooded military movesshould be called out forwhai they are; aninvasion of Indian lands and sovereignly.The U.S. government and police have noright to enter Indian land. And they ur-genlfy need to be exposed and opposed byprogressive people everywhere. U.S.HANDS OFF THE MOHAWKS! □

ly drove by and shot into the Indianencampment. It was reported andauthorities did nothing about it. Oneflight the Indian people fi red back. Ayoung girl was hit accidentally. Thepowers-that-be used the shooting to justify attacking Ganienkeh. In her bookSovereignly and Symbol, Gail H.Landsman writes, "They were told theyhad two hours in which to remove thewomen and children from the camp;after that time police would enter theterritory and Svipe them out.'" Thewomen decided not to leave, saying"There are worse ways for our childrento die than from State Police bullets."Police blockaded the territory, "Therewas a standoff for three years after.There's been a standoff ever since theinception of the community. Becausethey were looking at Mohawk people asbeing like squatters. They had no rightto be there. But we knew we had everyright to be there."

In 1977 a settlement was reached.While the government didn't outrightrecognize the sovereignly rights of theMohawks, a trust fund was set up whichpurchased and turned over 4,000 acresnear Miner Lake in the town of AJlonato the Indian people. But the authorities have never stopped trying todestroy Ganienkeh. In 1979 a clanmother and .spokeswoman was placedunder indictment for a takeover of apolice station on Akwasasnc Re.scrvation. Government plans for a radioactive waste dump in the area weredefeated by the people of Ganienkehand local residents. In 1988 the peopleof Ganienkeh opened a bingo hall onthe territory. They were sued by the Attorney General of the State of NewYork, Robert Abrams. He declared thebingo hall was illegal because it was nutregistered and did not pay taxes andsued to prevent it from opening. Thehypocrisy of this is incredible! NewYork State sponsors Off "Rack Bettingand many lotteries. And this system isproud of its Donald Tfumps, whoboasts he's just built the eighth wonder

of the world—the Tkj Mahal, a giantnew casino—which towers over rundown buildings no longer fit for humanhabitation in Atlantic City! How darethey charge the people of Ganicnkchfor running a bingo hall! Ganienkehhas ignored restraining orders issued bythe Supreme Court demanding that thebingo hall be closed.

A Tense Truce

On Monday, April 9,1990, elevendays after the government barricadedGanicnkch, an agreement was reached.The authorities ended the blockade. Atask force made up of supporters of

Ganienkeh and state police was set upto work with Ganienkeh representatives supposedly to resolve this andother problems in the future. Thepeople of Ganienkeh agreed to allowthe state police and the FBI to performa limited investigation underGanienkeh supervision. The pressrelease announcing the agreementended, "This is Mohawk Tferritory! Anyforeign law enforcement agency willnever be allowed in the Mohawk Tfer-ritory without the community's consent. We will defend and protect ourterritory and all living creatures whoreside within."

But no sooner was the tense standoff

over than the authorities began moretreachery against the people. Theauthorities refused to agree to grantimmunity to the Indian peoples thatmanned the barricades. And on March12 AP reported that "the FBI has fi ledcharges against several Mohawk Indians for hindering its investigation" atGanicnkch. This recent attack onGanienkeh shows that this system willnever stop trying lo destroy the Indianpeoples. And it raises a serious question about how much longer this"cowboy" system—where genocidebecame a national children's game—can be allowed to exist.

A correspondent from New York City

PLATTSBURGH 15

EUENBURG 9

/

Police photograph all people entering Ganienkeh territory.

Page 16—RevolLrtionaiy Worker—May 13,1990

LastyearOiepoopfewonatatflMvicsory wtjen (he Supreme CourtASS forced to mJe in favor ofJoey

. 'o/Tosor? and declare fhe Texas asno-

flagpurrxng >aw unconstfetfona/. TTifesarng ihe U.S. rulfng dass, who

'esponded with a m8}or campaign K> en-tofce patriotfsm and flag-worship. President Bush sixlec cempftyn^ fora con-stitueonai flag amendment resthc^ngfreedom of speech, and the U.S. Crmgresi.oassed a law cnmineiizlng destruction ofthe American flag. Within days, peof^across the country protested (Ns fascis!Flag Law by pubFcty burning flags. Four'lagbumers were arrested in Sesttfa,Washington, and tour were arrested on ttKsteps of ffte U.S. Capitol in Washirygton,D. C. Joey Johnson was orte of ttrase arrested ar the Capitol, but the governmentrefused to indict turn for this fSagbuming.

On May 14 the cotnbined case of theseven remaining {!agtM.ming defendantswin come before tfte Si^ireme Coist TheEm^gency Commitiee To Stop the FlagAmefHlrrtent ana Laws is calling on peopi'to demonstrate on that day outside theSupreme Coun m Washington, 0. C.

On kMy 3 the E/nargsncjr Commfttee held aprew cordvnce fr> New VoriL Speakentwere:

£d««er(t Heebrouck. Enwre^ncy Comm'Re«Berbeni Hemman, Peoplefar^Anter>can Way.Vies Prosideni ol Volunteer Lewy^^ the Arts

.ton Hendrielw, artist *t<0 bet;>ed organize People'sFlag Show

Mark Cooeman. att-xney who prepared the majcranieua bhel

Joey Johnson, Aevolmionary Communist YouthBhgede, the dsfendant in the oiiginaJ fiagbuming04se heard by the Supreme Court m 1S89

Shawn Elehman, srtst member ot Refuse & ReaistiSuoreme Ceut d«fer<dant for D.C. f.8gburn)r>g

A Mtatement was read from the PEN WritersGuOd

More then three dozen professional,rellgtoue, ardsdc, legal and political or-ganizatioaa, as wall at ffftsen IndMduat artists. have /o/ned together to challeryge theFlag Prota^on Act of 1989 which Is nowpending before ffie U.S. Supreme Court Sixseparate amicus curiae briefs ere being submitted In support ol the seven flagbumlngdefendants. Separate amicus curfae briefswill also be submitted on behatf of:

Amacicafi Bar Association

American CfvU Ubertiee UnionNational Aaaoclation for tha Advancement ofColorad People

F^opJefer tha American Way. who have beenfoirtadby :AiMrlcan Society ot Newspaper EditorsRadio, TV fc News Directors AssociationOfflea of Intaliectual Freedom of the AmericanL^rary Association

Vclumasr Lawyers (or the Arts

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Articls IB-MernalioruU Cacrtra on CettsorshlpAuthors Lsague of AnterfcaBay Area Coalition Against Operation RescueCaafomia Altorrveys for Criminal JusticeChicago Artisis CoalitionChristie tnstmite

dargy and Lafty Cohcernadt^ommtttea for Artists' RightsCommittee of irrterns and ResidentsCommunity for Creative NomViotancsEmergancy Commitiee lb Slop tivs FlagAmandment and Laws

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Refuse A Reaiail

Tha Nation InmiertaTheater Corranunteatiene Group

United Elaetiieal, Radio and Uachirta Workers ofAmerica

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War Reeiefeee LeagueWrttsrs QaAdofArrtarlca. East

Come to Washington, D.C.on May 14

<41 A#

A Call

to ActionAgainstMandatoryPatriotism

from

Joey Johnson

On May 14 the mummies of the U.S. Supreme Court are going into special session to hear new oral arguments aboutflagburning. This is the latest chapter in the government's attempt to make people bow before their flag. TheEmergency Committee To Slop the Flag Amendment and Laws has called on people to come to Washington, D.C.on the 14ih to demonstrate outside the Supreme Court. I want to second this call. People have to understand thatwe're faced with a serious situation.

In the year since the victory for the people came down in my flagburning case, the rulers have feverishly anddesperately tried to snatch back that victory. Pig-in-Chief Bush has assumed leadership of the campaign to enact aconstitutional amendment that would compel respect for the flag. Not to be outdone or upstaged when it comes todictating allegiance to the flag, the Democrats in Congress passed a law making flag "desecration" a crime. And nowthe Supreme Court is going to take up the question of flagburning again.

This is strange behavior for people who are always proclaiming how healthy and secure their democracy is, how theAmerican people are so totally with them, how acts of flagburning involve only a tiny, i.solatcd handful of "punks"and "hotheads." If it were true, why the handcuffs and jail, why all the demagoguery and legal contortions? The factis the people that run this country can't live with flagburning. It's like the sight of a wooden stake to Dracula—itspells the doom of their system. You hear it across the bourgeois political spectrum, from Judge Bork to GovernorCuomo: "America is such a diverse and pluralist society that we need the flag to bind the country together." Decodethis mumbo jumbo and what they're saying is that in Amerikkka there are deep divisions and antagonisms based onclass, race, sex, and nationality that can explode uncontrollably, and the flag is one way of keeping people bound andgagged. Making people worship the flag is part of the program of intimidation and control to deal with the turbulentand dangerous times ahead. The rulers of this country face trouble in every corner of the vyorld. They need the flagto drown people in a sea of chauvinism as they perpetrate their international crimes. This is the flag decorating theplanes and jeeps of occupation in Panama. This is the flag flying over the fire bases the U.S. has set up in Peru.But the new law hasn't stopped people. It's been opposed broadly.. .and defiantly. Talk about a thousand points oflight. At pro-choice demonstrations, at marches against U.S. intervention in Central America and against Bush, inart galleries and museums, on college campuses—the flag has been righteously dissed and torched. A thousandthreads connect these moves towards mandatory patriotism with the downpressing reality that is confronting peopleon all sides. And more and more people are making the connections between the flag and the pain this system rainsdown on people here and throughout the world. This is something the powers-ihat-bc can't tolerate. You even gotpeople from what they call the "heartland" getting alienated over this enforced patriotism. I've said it before and I'llsay it again: "This is a sick and dying empire desperately clutching at its symbols."It would be a big mistake to think that because the Supreme Court ruled in my favor last year they wouldn't revereethemselves. Check it out. This is the same court that's been reversing itself left and right, handing down oppressiverulings against Black people, women, and the political rights of prisoners. They ruled the way they did in my case lastyear because it came at a time when America was trying to preserve the appearance of free speech for the rest ofthe world. But they've got to tighten up and clamp down. I mean these arc the same people that put up barricadesand an INS concentration camp in the "la ccntroamericana" district of Los Angeles. These are the same people thatare imprisoning almost 400 Haitian immigrants in the Krome INS detention center in Miami. No, the issue ofmandatory patriotism won't go away. There is no easy way out. This thing must be fought. The powers-that-bc havea vicious game plan: to criminalize antipatriotic protest and dissent and to use this as a way to open the door evenwider to new acts of political suppression and thought control. Will we allow them to get away with this.There must be a powerful political statement made in Washington, D.C. on May 14. This political repression will notgo down. This must be a festival of internationalism. Immigrants who have experienced first hand the dominationand brutality of U.S. imperialism must be there or send statcmcnLs of support. Veterans who have seen the deathand destruction delivered in the name of the "red, white and blue" must be there. The youth who are offered deathat an early age by this system must be there. I know the RCYB will be there to take a bold stand with revolutionarypolitics in command, raising the red flag. Black people, Native Americans and Puerto Ricans, who know thai the flagstands for genocide, land theft, terror, racism must be there. Women fresh from the trenches of the abortion battlemust be there. Artists taking on the reactionary flag-waving thought police must be there. Civil libertarians whooppose restrictions on the first amendment and people who believe what's happening is a betrayal of the ideals theysee the flag as symbolizing must be there. And those who live the American nightmare and who dream of the daywhen they can rise up and decisively defeat this dog-eat-dog system must be there. Our hearts must beat to one pulseon this day.

FIGHT THE FASCIST FLAG LAW!

DOWN WITH ENFORCED PATRIOTISM!