------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the Jan. 23, 2003 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
AN INTERVIEW WITH LARRY HOLMES: ON RANGEL'S BILL, THE DRAFT AND ORGANIZING GI'S By Leslie Feinberg President Richard Nixon abolished the compulsory military draft in the United States in 1973. Tumultuous anti-war struggles inside the ranks of the military and within the society as a whole--inspired and bolstered by the resistance of the Vietnamese people themselves--made a drafted army untenable for the brass. Rep. Charles Rangel, an African Amer ican Democrat representing New York's 15th Congressional District, announced in a Jan.8 opinion editorial that he had introduced legislation to reinstate the draft. Rangel noted the disproportionately high representation of poor and oppressed nationalities in the enlisted ranks. He said people of color make up 35 percent of the military--Black GIs 20 percent--which is well above their proportion of the general population. They, along with poor and rural whites, Rangel said, make up more than their share of ground forces. Workers World newspaper talked with Larry Holmes about the idea of reinstating the draft. When the Pentagon gun turrets were aimed at the Vietnamese, Holmes was a GI resister. After a brief stint in a military prison, he was kicked out of the army in 1972 for anti-war organizing. In 1972-73 he became a leader of the American Servicemen's Union, which tried to form a labor union inside the ranks, and he has continued to be an activist--leading many struggles against war and racism over the last three decades. BIG FIRMS GET RICH, GIS DIE "There's no question that Rep. Charles Rangel's legislative initiative to reinstate the draft has touched off a raw nerve in the White House and in the ruling circles and the media," Holmes begins. "It is clear that Rangel meant to draw attention to the fact that today's ranks are from the working class, and more and more they are largely Black and Latino," he continues. "They are sent off to fight wars decided in the chambers of the all-white and wealthy Senate and in the corporate boardrooms. The sons and daughters of the rich and powerful are spared from war." Holmes explained that the composition of the troops spells trouble for the ruling summits of war makers. "One of the reasons why Bush and Co. are very nervous about this reality, as they send tens of thousands of troops to the Gulf, is that it has the potential of fracturing this false and thin sense of 'national patriotic unity' that they work overtime to inculcate society with. "Why should these youths be sent off to fight wars for Wall Street?" Holmes asks rhetorically. "And what happens to them when and if they come home?" Holmes adds. "Too many of those who survived the Vietnam War and the 1991 Gulf War had been killed but didn't know it yet--from Agent Orange or Gulf War Syndrome. Too many came back sick, their lives destroyed by post-war trauma, addiction, domestic violence, inability to work or function, devastating social side effects that linger for decades, if not generations, in working-class communities and ghettos across the country." Discharged soldiers return to the war on the "home front"--racism, police violence, inprisonment, cutbacks in social services, poverty and low-paying jobs, too. "Malcolm X raised this contradiction," Holmes recalls, "Martin Luther King did, too, along with every other progressive leader who thought seriously about the relationship of Black and Latino young people to wars. They're sent to fight the wars, but when they come home they face racist discrimination in every aspect of their life." 'HELL, NO! WE WON'T GO!' "I don't think anyone really believes that Rangel, or Rep. John Conyers of Detroit who co-sponsored the bill, is really for reinstating the draft," Holmes says. "No progressive person would vote to force more people to go to war," he explains. "What Rangel, or other legislators who may really be opposed to this war, could do as an alternative way of opening up this question is to explain that many young people join the military because they can't find any jobs--creating what's often been called the 'economic draft.' "Therefore, because of the widespread opposition to the war, these political figures could introduce legislation giving enlisted personnel-- including reservists--the right to refuse to participate. "That would really shake up the establishment," Holmes says emphatically. "And it would energize the anti-war movement and give it a way to be in solidarity with GIs." Holmes took note of how narrowly the U.S. government defines Conscientious Objector status. "They wouldn't give Muhammad Ali that status when he spoke out against the war. CO status should be broadened to include everyone who for whatever reason doesn't want to fight in this war." The struggle against the draft during the Vietnam War was a dynamic component of anti-Pentagon activism, Holmes stresses. He described massive, angry protests in the late 1960s that shut down the Whitehall induction center in the southern tip of Manhattan as fighting spilled into the heart of Wall Street. "The occupation of draft offices, the activist disposal of draft files, burning of draft cards--it was a serious, compelling demand to stop the war," Holmes recalls. "However, Rangel has at least reminded the movement that opposing the draft isn't enough." WINNING OVER WORKERS IN UNIFORM "We have to win the hearts and minds of those from the working class who happen to presently be in uniform. We have to have a thoughtful approach to engage them and organize the one to two million enlisted personnel in the military, including the hundreds of thousands of reservists." Holmes leans forward to stress the importance of this point. "When you really think about it, as serious anti-war activists, a small, highly-paid, elite mercenary force that is socially divorced from the mass of the population--like the CIA and FBI, or the SWAT teams of the NYPD or the LAPD--couldn't be appealed to." But watch the footage of tearful families and reservists saying their goodbyes on the news programs, wondering if they'll ever be reunited, Holmes suggests. "There is tremendous apprehension among enlisted personnel. Anti-war activists and organizations like the International ANSWER coalition--Act Now to Stop War & End Racism--are being contacted by GIs and reservists wanting to know what can be done to help them take an anti-war stand." When full-scale war breaks out, Holmes cautions, a media blitzkrieg marches alongside it. "They'll say we have to stop all the debating and criticizing, all the marching and rallying against the war because now we have to support our troops. "It's a phony appeal meant to touch a chord in the hearts of working- class people whose loved ones are in harm's way. But it's cynical propaganda from those who are diverting attention from the body bags being sent home and the Iraqi people being slaughtered." The burgeoning anti-war movement can express its genuine solidarity with the soldiers. Holmes voice rises: "We have an alternative way to support the troops: Bring them home! Why should they fight and die for oil profits?" Holmes offers a few cogent lessons from the anti-military struggle he cut his teeth on 30 years ago. "I was drafted during the Vietnam War and got involved with a group called the American Servicemen's Union. The ASU was founded by GIs, with the support of anti-war activists, in 1967. At the height of the Vietnam War we had 30,000 card-carrying members who exchanged information and views with each other through a terrific monthly newspaper called 'The Bond.'" Holmes brings to mind that soldiers have no rights. "We had a splendid approach to organizing the women and men in the military ranks that I think could be applied today. The ASU demanded that GIs have the right to a labor union. "This includes the right to vote against participation in wars, to engage in free speech and political activism, decent pay and benefits for GIs and their dependents, and an end to racist, sexist and anti-gay discrimination." Holmes adds that soldiers, specifically, "should be able to talk openly about the war in their barracks without the presence of officers or any fear of punishment. They should be able to participate in anti-war activities both on military bases and off." He draws a breath and concludes with conviction: "In the coming days and weeks, our anti-war movement will have to take up the challenge of helping to organize GIs against the war much more seriously." - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe wwnews- [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe [EMAIL PROTECTED] Support the voice of resistance http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php) ------------------ This message is sent to you by Workers World News Service. To subscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Send administrative queries to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
