______________________________ ANTIFA INFO-BULLETIN News * Analysis * Research * Action ______________________________ - AFIB No. 258, July 9, 2000 - PART 1 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ FREE MUMIA ABU-JAMAL! FREE LEONARD PELTIER! FREE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS & PRISONERS OF WAR! The case of Brian Nelson, an MI5 agent who eventually became the "Intelligence Officer" of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), and in that guise was in charge of compiling files on targets for assassinations, is still one that hasn't been fully told. It became clear at his trial (for setting up two murders) that a lot has been suppressed, including his relationship to high-ranking British politicians. The intention of sending Nelson into the UDA was not to "help" the UDA carry out their own plans, except when they intersected with those of the secret state, and to further "task" the UDA (unwittingly) with various assassinations the secret state wanted carried out at arms length. This is the real issue: Nelson was used to "teleguide" the UDA to wipe out people (such as the solicitor Pat Finucane) the secret state wanted eliminated. ... A report issued by "Relatives for Justice" in June 1993 gave a list of sixty three murders that had been carried out using...weaponry, which had been imported into Northern Ireland under the auspices of MI5. -- Larry O'Hara, Turning Up the Heat: MI5 After the Cold War [London, Phoenix Press, 1994] pp. 50-51. * * * Contents: Number 258 01. RED ACTION [UK]: BNP Take Second Place in London By-Election; Copeland: 'Face of the Future'. 02. PAN-AFRICAN NEWS WIRE [US]: 10,000 Rally at Dearborn Mall to Protest Black Man's Murder by Security Guards. 03. GARVAGHY ROAD RESIDENTS COALITION [Portadown]: Garvaghy Road Spokesperson Responds to Orange Order's Statements; Nationalist Community's Growing Fears; Attacks on Catholic Residents Continue. 04. BLACK RADICAL CONGRESS [US]: In South Carolina, the Fight's About More than the Flag. 05. REVOLUTIONARY PEOPLE'S LIBERATION FRONT [Turkey]: State Attacks Political Prisoners at Burdur Prison. 06. THE NAZISM EXPOSED PROJECT [Norway]: Swedish Nazi-Crimes Still on the Rise. 07. PEOPLE AGAINST RACIST TERROR [US]: Summer 2000 Issue of 'Turning the Tide' Out Now! 08. THE SUNDAY TIMES [London]: Soldier in Dirty Tricks Unit Arrested. 09. THE OBSERVER [London]: Witch Hunt Punishes Those Who Defy Haider. 10. THE GUARDIAN [London]: Church Helped Nazis in Italy. 11. REUTERS: 10 Held in Protest Against White Supremacist. 12. MUMIA ABU-JAMAL: Snatch and Grab in Central Park. * * * RED ACTION BM Box 37 London WC1N 3XX E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.redaction.org/ - Saturday, 8 July 2000 - ----- ____________________________________________________________________ BNP TAKE SECOND PLACE IN LONDON BY-ELECTION ____________________________________________________________________ http://www.redaction.org/news/july_2000.html#08_07_00 Following the GLA election on May 4 Socialist Worker reassured us: "The Nazis are SMALL. They have only managed to get around 60 to 100 votes in many areas". "They are" we were told "trying to claw back from their all-time low after they were smashed in the mid-1990's by the Anti-Nazi League mobilisations." On the other hand, the June editorial of Searchlight insists that "the vilification of Searchlight by almost the entire extreme right in this country is continuing testament to the success of OUR work". Just prior to the May elections it bridled at any hint of an equivalence between support for the NF in local elections in 1977, and the BNP's [British National Party, ed.] potential now. Any such suggestion was both "alarmist and inaccurate". "Comparisons" it went on "with the NF at its peak in the 1970's are "quite absurd". In 1977, it pointed out the NF polled 119,000 in London alone. While in the European elections in 1999 the BNP could only manage 102,000 nationally. A mere 18,000 in London for the BNP in 1999 would seem to have vindicated the Searchlight/ANL triumphalism. Yet only 11 months later in May, on a 33% turnout almost 80,000 Londoners were happy to identify with the BNP. Given the same 43% turnout, as in the NF's hey day in 1977, the BNP vote in London alone, would have effortlessly crashed the 100,000 barrier. In 1977 the NF took 5.3% of the total, while 5.2% voted for the BNP's Mike Newland. The 0.1% differential looks just a little less 'alarmist, inaccurate and absurd' this side of the election doesn't it? Having trumpeted the 'continuing success of our work' in his editorial, Nick Lowles is by page six wondering ruefully: "If the BNP can achieve these results on its current organisational level, what will it achieve if it finally gets its act together?" Who knows? Not Searchlight certainly. But if all else fails we can at least rely on ANL mobilisations to smash them as they did in the mid-1990's. Can't we? (A reminder of what specific ANL mobilisations 'smashed the BNP to an all-time low' would of course be comforting.) Rather than admit to the Searchlight/ANL omnipotence, BNP supremo Nick Griffin, has previously suggested, quite absurdly, that if "AFA" (who Searchlight maintain 'broke up in 1989', and whose existence the ANL have never even acknowledged) "can be stopped, that is all we [BNP] need to win. In the May/June edition of the BNP mag Identity, Griffin is at it again. Ruminating, on the possibility of, at some stage in the future, the voluntary re-incorporation of 'Southern Ireland' into the 'British Family'. He proposes that the adoption of such a policy now, just might "make it easier for us to win support among working class whites of Irish extraction on the mainland, who remain simultaneously," he insists "the most 'racist' section of the population, and the backbone of what extreme-left opposition to us remains." Backbone of anti-fascist opposition - 'white'? Searchlight - 'of Irish extraction'? ANL - 'working class'? Whoever is he talking about? I think, we should be told. London Borough of Bexley, North End Ward by-Election, July 6 Labour 772, 44.4% BNP 456, 26.2% Conservative 413, 23.7% Lib Dem 99, 5.7% * * * ____________________________________________________________________ COPELAND: 'FACE OF THE FUTURE' ____________________________________________________________________ - Tuesday, 4 July 2000 - http://www.redaction.org/news/july_2000.html#04_07_00 In June the BBC ran a Panorama 'special' on the Copeland bombings and the background to the case. Gerry Gable introduced himself and his organisation as someone with their "fingers of the pulse of the far-right". This 'special' was produced by another Searchlight asset, while the current editor of Searchlight magazine was pencilled in as 'associate producer'. With such a line up it was inevitable that Panorama stuck rigidly to a Searchlight agenda. This was compounded on the same evening by the current affairs programme Newsnight, which too devoted it's entire programme to getting to the bottom of the Copeland riddle. Again it largely relied on Gable as expert witness to help unravel the sequence of events. Despite, or more accurately, because of Searchlight's political dominance of both programmes all the key questions, as yet, remain unanswered. 1. Was Copeland under surveillance, and if so from when, why, and by whom? 2. Was rivalry between sections of the security services responsible for the delay in identifying the suspect earlier? 3. Did Searchlight, who have boasted of having Copeland on file, discover his identity sometime prior to the police appealing for help from the public? 4. If all of the above is conjecture how were police in the position to warn the Admiral Duncan in Compton St of the danger of it being targeted just days before the attack? 5. If Copeland's motives are in any way representative of feelings that are 'quite widely held', are the wider multicultural strategies working and if not, is there 'in one form or another' more to come? In an number of briefings to different sections of the media, including the producers of both Panorama and ITV's Tonight programme, all these questions and more were raised by representatives of Anti-Fascist Action months prior to the trial. As is evidenced by the following press comments all are yet to be satisfactorily answered. And even more have arisen since. "There have been persistent rumours the police had Copeland under surveillance before the Soho blast and lost him. Scotland Yard last night dismissed this as "absolutely untrue". Other speculation has suggested there was friction between M15 and Scotland Yard and that the two clashed over risk assessment. This too has been strongly denied. Scotland Yard did know about Copeland before the call from Mr Mifsud [a work mate]. Searchlight the anti-fascist magazine faxed Special Branch, through an intermediary, a list of 260 known rightwing extremists at 2pm on the day of the Soho blast. Copeland's name was among them but the address for him was old." -- Guardian, July 1, 2000 "At midday that day however what is described as "a civilian organisation" contacted the Yard to offer two lists containing 260 names it should consider. The faxes named people who had been in Combat 18 in the 1992-93 period and might have moved on to other groups including the British National Party. The cover note added that one name not on the list was David Copeland, in his early twenties who last know address was in Barking. For the first time Copeland's name had entered the system." -- Daily Telegraph, July 1, 2000 "It is understood that Searchlight, an anti-fascist publication sent the Metropolitan Police's Special Branch. via an intermediary, a list of 260 names, some just nicknames, and addresses of BNP and Combat 18 supporters, which included Copeland's at about 2 pm on the day of the Soho bomb. Police said the address given for Copeland was in Barking east London and Copeland had moved four time since then. Gerry Gable the publisher of Searchlight and an adviser to the Met's Racial and Violent Crime Task Force said: "When Copeland was identified neither M15, Special Branch or the Anti-Terrorism Branch, knew who he was. Yet we knew who he was. It shows a huge gap in their knowledge." -- The Independent, July [?] "...questions continue to be asked about how much police knew of Copeland's plans to plant a bomb in Soho. It was this third device, in the mainly gay Admiral Duncan pub in Old Compton Street, that was the most devastating of all, leaving three dead and 76 injured...It subsequently emerged that police had visited a number of gay pubs in Old Compton Street the night before the blast, including the Admiral Duncan, warning them to be vigilant about unattended bags. Gay groups say police did not warn pubs in other gay areas such as Vauxhall or Earl's Court. Sources within M15 were said to have warned members of the gay community that they believed the bomber was targeting a gay venue three days before the Admiral Duncan explosion but that this was not considered to be the most likely target by the Met's anti-terrorist squad. M15 was known to have infiltrated groups such as Combat 18, and the National Socialist Movement of which Copeland was a member and chief organiser for the Hampshire area." -- The Observer, July 2, 2000 "There is nothing in David Copeland's past that millions of other young men haven't also experienced. This makes me more concerned than less. I take even less comfort from the fact that Copeland did not know much about his victims. He was surprised at how many whites lived in Brixton. He never expected a heterosexual couple to be drinking in gay pub with their gay friends. The fact that the three people he killed belonged to just such a group is not, as some commentators have suggested, proof that we live in a far more mixed tolerant and harmonious society than Copeland believed. If Copeland is a product of that same society, how could this possibly be? We all had part in the making of this man, and when we made him, unlike Frankenstein, we did not stop at one. Which is why I go cold when I come face to face with his picture. He's the face of the future and in one form or another he'll be back." -- Maureen Freely, The Independent July 3, 2000 FURTHER COMMENTS 1. Police have dismissed as "absolutely untrue" 'rumours' that they had Copeland under surveillance prior to the Soho Bomb. This is not dissimilar to the police comments made after Copeland's arrest to the effect that Copeland 'was not involved with any of the groups that had claimed responsibility for the bombings and was working alone for his own motives'. While true it did tend to suggest that Copeland was not, nor had ever been involved in any far-right organisation, and that therefore his motives must be considered personal and thus apolitical.This statement was made at a time when the police knew Copeland had formerly been involved with the BNP, and was currently the regional organiser for the NSM. Therefore while hand on heart police can again deny they had Copeland under surveillance it does not rebut the possibility that he was under surveillance by agencies other than the 'police'. 2. Furthermore, despite the police denial of any 'friction' or rivalry between various sections of the security services, the evidence is widespread. Gerry Gable a lay adviser and unofficial spokesman for John Grieve's Racial and Violent Crime Task Force has constantly and publicly, both during and after the bombings, attacked the police handling of the investigation. Gable's principle argument was that this and any subsequent investigations needed to be "intelligence led". In other words operational control ought to be taken away from the Anti-Terrorist Squad and handed over to the 'Task Force' of which he is a member. Interestingly despite the Anti-Terrorist squad being in official charge of the investigation, it was to Special Branch that Searchlight faxed, 'via an intermediary', the 259 names plus...on the day of the bombing. 3. Gable claims Searchlight "knew" who Copeland was. Yet the address submitted to police was in Barking. If Searchlight did as is insinuated keep track of Copeland, then they would have known he was in the National Socialist Movement. Of course if they knew he was in the NSM, it follows they would also have known he was living not in Barking but in Shropshire. Considering he was the areas 'unit commander' the organisation and the geography are indubitably linked. So either Searchlight were seriously remiss in not matching the face of the bomber to their own archive footage of September 1997, or they did, but for reasons outlined above were 'economical' in their dealings with what they clearly regarded as rival agencies. 4. Prior to the Soho bombing, the police had been working on the assumption that the next target would be a racial target like the others. But it is now known that Copeland bombed Brixton without any previous reconnoitre. He followed the same modus operandi for bombing number two in Brick Lane. His failure to carry out even a cursory reconnoitre led him to go in error to Brick Lane on a Saturday, rather than as he had attended, when the market was packed on a Sunday. But learning from the error he went straight from Brick Lane to Soho to check out suitable targets for the next bomb. The only time he had ever done so. On May 7 the headline in the Pink confirmed that: "M15 warned gays could be next". Curiously the journalist subsequently denied he had had a 'tip-off'. If not acting on a tip-off from the same source, then on what information other than M15's unique insight were police acting, when contrary to their own analysis, they abruptly visited precisely the same pub that was to be bombed only 24 hours later? If Copeland who was working alone, and was not under some form of surveillance how could M15, The Pink, and the police possibly guess where he was likely to strike next? 5. Rather than being an aberration in an otherwise perfectly functioning multicultural society, Copeland is in reality merely the extreme tip of a steadily rising tide of racially motivated incidents and attacks estimated by the Runnymede Trust to currently run at 290,000 annually; an average of 5,000 a week nationally. Already higher than many countries where the far-right are politically well established, the statistics from police and other independent sources continue on the same steadily upward curve. Despite this wealth of evidence, liberalism continues to take comfort in denial. 'The war [against fascism] is over and we won it' was a typically vainglorious comment from the ANL to an AFA rally only in October 1999. But as the 80,000 votes for the BNP in London in May's election demonstrate, far from 'being over', we are instead entering 'a new phase of struggle' for which, as the quotes illustrate, the conservative left is singularly unprepared. Subscribe to Red Action Do You Get It Regular? Red Action is produced on a bi-monthly basis. To ensure you receive your copy of RA on a regular basis, we recommend taking out a subscription. Subscription rates are as follows: Britain and Ireland: 6 issues will cost �5 inc P&P. The rest of Europe: 6 issues will cost �7.50 inc P&P. USA and elsewhere: 6 issues will cost �10 inc P&P. Make cheques and PO's payable to Red Action in pounds sterling, no foreign currency please. Please enclose a telephone no. if possible. ***** PAN-AFRICAN NEWS WIRE The Pan-African Research and Documentation Center 211 SCB Box 47, Wayne State University Detroit, MI 48202 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] - Weekly Dispatch, Thursday, 6 July 2000 - ----- ____________________________________________________________________ 10,000 RALLY AT DEARBORN MALL TO PROTEST FREDERICK FINLEY'S MURDER Man was choked to death by guards after leaving Lord & Taylor store ____________________________________________________________________ DEARBORN, 6 July (PANW)--Yesterday's rally at the Fairlane Mall in Dearborn, a suburb of Detroit, could represent a turning point in the way the African-American consumer market is viewed by a large retail store, Lord & Taylor. On June 22, Frederick Finley, along with his wife and young daughter, were exiting the store through the parking lot when they were confronted by several private security guards who accused the 11-year-old child of shoplifting a braclet. When the confrontation was over, Finley, a 32-year-old African-American male, lay dead from the actions carried out by four security guards at the scene. One of the private guards, who is African-American also, had criminal charges filed against him today in the aftermath of the mass rally held in the parking lot on Wednesday. On Wednesday 10,000 people attended a mass rally to illustrate their outrage at the senseless killing of another Black man. Leaders who spoke at the rally, which included Dick Gregory, Congressman John Conyers and others, discussed the possibility of an economic boycott against Lord & Taylor stores. Art Featherstone, a former aid to Congressman Conyers walked around the audience with a hedge cutter challenging rally participants to "cut up their Lord & Taylor credit cards." Fairlane Mall, where the store is located, enjoys large-scale African-American patronage in the city of Dearborn, which is known for its racist history of banning Blacks from living in the city. The Mall has been the scene of several controversial incidents in the past involving African-American youth and employees of the shopping area. Rally leaders have set July 17 as the date for a follow-up rally to press Lord & Taylor to make amends with the Finley family. Attorney Geofrey Fieger has filed a $600 million wrongful death civil suit on behalf of the Finley family. At yesterday's rally police utilized control tactics by blocking key entrances to the Mall from the expressway coming from Detroit. The law-enforcement presence was heavy although no arrests were reported. Pan-African News Wire articles may be freely distributed for non-profit educational and research purposes. We request that the original source be cited when the dispatches are circulated. Distribution for profit is strictly prohibited without the expressed consent of the Pan-African News Wire. ***** GARVAGHY ROAD RESIDENTS COALITION c/o Drumcree Community Centre Ashgrove Road, Portadown Co. Armagh BT6 2IJS, IRELAND Fax: (011 44) (0) 1762 392 898 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.garvaghyroad.org - Sunday, 9 July 2000 - ----- ____________________________________________________________________ GARVAGHY ROAD SPOKESPERSON RESPONDS TO ORANGE ORDER'S STATEMENTS ____________________________________________________________________ 9 July 2000, 10:00 GMT In response to the statements made by the Portadown District Orange Lodge yesterday to the decision of the Parades Commission to re-route the Drumcree march away from the Garvaghy Road today, Garvaghy Road Residents' spokesperson, Breandan Mac Cionnaith, said he believes loyalist violence will continue. "I think the latest statement from the Orange Order shows that they are still on a course of confrontation over the next number of days. "The fact that they have called again for a six-county wide demonstration on Monday shows that they are upping the anty through Monday all the way to the 12th of July." When asked what he believed the next move should be, Mac Cionnaith responded that the Orange Order should be drawn back and that there should be "a complete moratorium on all protests, marches and rallies associated with Drumcree and elsewhere in order to give people a breathing space." While the Orange Order's march from Drumcree continues, residents on the Garvaghy Road can only watch and wait, with fears building that even worse violence may ensue from the Orange Order's continued confrontational attitude towards the Nationalist Community. * * * ____________________________________________________________________ NATIONALIST COMMUNITY'S GROWING FEARS ____________________________________________________________________ 9 July 2000, 1300 GMT The Nationalist Community of Portadown lives under a veil of fear as ongoing Orange Order protests and violence continue. "The fears are simple," says spokesperson Breandan Mac Cionnaith. "In the past we have seen 10 murders associated with Drumcree and we've seen the violence of the loyalist paramilitaries this week. People fear we could well have deaths on our hands in the next day or two." At the end of last week, a Catholic family in Lisburn narrowly escaped the same fate as the Quinn family, a petrol bomb thrown into their home. "How many more Catholic homes are going to be burned out in the coming days?" asks Mac Cionnaith. When asked whether the GRRC would be calling for similar mobilisations as the Orange Order's calls to its supporters, Mac Cionnaith responded, "everyone can see that we are not calling for any mass mobilisations. We are not adopting the same confrontational attitude as the Orange Order. "We have encouraged people in the Nationalist Community to try and go about their lives as normal. Those who are bent on confrontation are the Orange Order and their supporters and people should ignore them and should avoid any potential conflict. "After all, these people at Drumcree are anti-agreement unionists who want to bring down the Good Friday Agreement. Let's not forget that Harold Gracey is on record saying that this protest wasn't about marching, it was about bringing down the Assembly and the Good Friday Agreement." As the Drumcree event got underway and the Nationalist people prepared themselves for further onslaught, Mac Cionnaith again called for a stop to the Orange protests and their accompanying violence. "The Orange Order should actually apologise to people for the amount of trauma they have caused," said Mac Cionnaith. * * * ____________________________________________________________________ ATTACKS ON CATHOLIC RESIDENTS CONTINUE ____________________________________________________________________ 9 July 2000, 1400 GMT In addition to the continued loyalist paramilitary violence at Drumcree and in Belfast, the Garvaghy Road Community has continued to experience attacks, intimidation and violence. In the last day, Catholic homes on Obins St and Obins Ave came under attack from 12:30 to 3am. Petrol bombs and other projectiles were thrown at residents and their homes. At one stage, the loyalists tried set fire to the warehouse at the Denny meat plant, which runs to Obins St. They have tried unsuccessfully on at least 3 occasions this last week to gain access to Dennys so that they can get through it to get access to Obins Street. ***** BLACK RADICAL CONGRESS P.O. Box 490365 Atlanta, GA 30349 (404) 768-2529 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.blackradicalcongress.org - Monday, 3 July 2000 - ----- ____________________________________________________________________ Police Terror and Economic Injustice: IN SOUTH CAROLINA, THE FIGHT'S ABOUT MORE THAN THE FLAG ____________________________________________________________________ By Bill Fletcher, Jr., [EMAIL PROTECTED] June 2000 At the Memorial Day national convention of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, a story emerged about an appalling incident in South Carolina. No, this was not about the Confederate flag, though it did concern efforts to halt progress. And, interestingly enough, as important as is this incident, it has gotten precious little coverage, particularly when compared to coverage which has gone to the struggle around the Confederate battle flag. The Charleston, South Carolina local of the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) -- Local 1422 -- a largely Black local of dockworkers, mounted a protest against an employer who took the position that, in the words of Local 1422 President Kenneth Riley, "...We are done with the ILA, we are going with an alternative workforce." Put more bluntly, the employer -- Nordana -- was going to bring in non-union workers in order to break the back of the worker's organization. The local union initiated meetings about this situation with Nordana and the Port Authority, but it became clear that not only was the company not interested in negotiations, but as the union's president indicated, political enemies in the government of the state of South Carolina were choosing to use this as a moment to move against the workers as well. When the union scheduled a protest, the state mobilized law enforcement officers in full riot gear. In response to a peaceful protest by the dockworkers, the police moved in. Riley's words sum up what happened: "In less than 20 minutes after going down there [to the docks -- my note], the law enforcement officers engaged them. They began their riot march and started to push back. The confrontation began. In less than 20 minutes we received a call that the first guy [dockworker] was laying on the pavement with his head busted open... "...About the time we had fully established that buffer [between the dockworkers and the police -- my note] and got everything under control, one of the officers ran out of formation, clubbed me on the head and ran back into the formation. When that happened everything just went wild." In response to a peaceful protest, the police attacked and, as a result, several dockworkers were charged, first with misdemeanor trespassing, and later with inciting to riot. The story does not end there, however. In addition to this attack on the workers, and -- according to Riley -- directly as a result of this outrageous assault, there is legislation pending in the state to inhibit the right of unions to collect dues from their members, and separately, legislation to prohibit any union member from being appointed to any board, agency or commission in the state of South Carolina!! So, what do we make of this? South Carolina, as a state, has prided itself on the fact that union membership is so low -- about 3%. Advertisements, over the years, have been created to suggest that the low percentage of unionized workers is a good incentive to investment. So, in one sense what is transpiring is just more of the same. However, there is something new under the sun. The hostile response to these workers -- who happen to be Black -- is an example of the way that generalized repression in the USA often begins. In order to undermine workers, you first pick on Black workers because the assumption that business regularly makes is that the Black workers will be left stranded, i.e., that no one will give a damn. Then, when the business world has achieved its aim, it starts to spread the practice, and everyone else comes under the lash. Sort of like the selective way that the Nazis approached who would go into concentration camps, and when. Global capital has been in an all-out war with workers across the planet, a war which intensified over the last 20 years. The cut-throat competition among these capitalists in their mad dash for profits and supremacy encourages them to erode, if not assault, any victories and achievements which workers have won. This is part of what we see transpiring in Charleston. The battle between Local 1422 and Nordana is, more than anything else, a test case to see how unions and their allies in the community will respond to de-unionization and an elimination of our democratic right to participate in the political process. The terror which the Black workers on Charleston's docks are facing is both similar and different from the indiscriminate acts of violence which people of color regularly face at the hands of law enforcement. It is similar in its random nature. It matters little that Amadou Diallo was a law-abiding small scale entrepreneur to the officers who murdered him. He was a Black man in the wrong place and with few rights that the officers felt bound to respect. They did not check his background. They did not check whether he was a citizen or not. They did not check whether he had committed any crime. As much can be said about the assault on the Charleston dockworkers. The dockworkers were exercising their constitutional right to freedom of assembly and the right to concerted activity. Nevertheless, they were Black and, therefore in the minds of many in law enforcement, a marginal grouping. But what is different here is that there was obviously a well thought-through plan on the part of employers and their political allies. That the attack on the workers would be accompanied by a move to disenfranchise union members is nothing short of incredible. There was no coincidence here. The objective is to weaken workers in South Carolina even more than they currently are, and increase the ability of business to exploit workers unencumbered. A final thought: what is striking and admirable in this struggle is the willingness of the workers to resist, despite the reality of being in an uphill battle. Unionized dockworkers have been able to achieve a decent living standard and are an important force in the Charleston Black community, so the attack on them has additional and very significant implications for Black South Carolinians. So, yes, we should protest the continued presence of the Confederate battle flag in South Carolina's state capitol and in the state's flag. But we should also remind those who believe that the issue of the Confederate flag as being simply symbolic, that the Confederacy stood for racism and repression, which sounds a lot like the stand being taken today by many of South Carolina's corporate and political elite. [For more information on the struggle in Charleston or to offer support to the dockworkers, send inquiries and/or contributions to: Dockworkers' Defense Fund, 910 Morrison Drive, Charleston, SC 29403 -- attention Robert J. Ford] Bill Fletcher, Jr. is Assistant to the President of the AFL-CIO, and the National Organizer of the Black Radical Congress. The words in this article are his own. Copyright (c) 2000 Bill Fletcher, Jr. Articles on BRC-NEWS may be forwarded and posted on other mailing lists, as long as the wording/attribution is not altered in any way. In particular, if there is a reference to a web site where an article was originally located, please do not remove that. BRC-NEWS: Black Radical Congress - General News Articles/Reports Subscribe: Email "subscribe brc-news" to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: Email "unsubscribe brc-news" to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Digest: Email "subscribe brc-news-digest" to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Archive: http://www.egroups.com/messages/brc-news *****
