Win Magazine Volume 6 Number 16

radiccrl history: whqt hcppened?
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october 15r 1Yr0

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32

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HOME FOLKS

ta

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page

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Jen Elodie
Leah Fritz
Neil Harvorth
Hendrick Hertzberg

Marty Jezer
Peter Kiger
Dorothy Lane
Marty Lauritsen

Burton LeVitsky
Jackson Maclow
Mary Mayo
David McReynolds
Peter Merlin
Don Mochon
Jim Peck
Lana Reeves (?hotos)
Paul Rilling

Igal Roodenk Wendy Schwartz
Connie Sohodski
Bonnie Stretch
Mayer Vishner

Linda Wood
Mike Wood

Changes

Oh No, Not History!

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Storming the Ivory Tower
GM Strike Settled (1937)

An Experiment in History

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Desertion 1847
Let Them Eat Rock
Poetry

In the RAW
More on the Mideast

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Constitutional Convention ih philly
Reviews

Letters

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Front cover: Howard Fritz
Back cover: Burt Levitsky

IN THE PROVINCES
Denis Adelsberger (Box 7477, Atlantg Ga.)
Ruth Dear (5429 S. Dorchester, Chicago, Ill.)
Paul Encimer (c/o Venice Draft Resistance.

73 Markct St. No. ll, Venice, Calif.)
Seth troldy (2232 Elandon Dr., Cleveland fleights. Oh.)
Erika Gottfried (481I NE l07th, Seattle, Wash. 98125)
Paul & Becky Johnson (Somewhere in Ncrv Merico)
Wayne llayashi (1035 University Ave.. Rm. 203.
Honolulu. Hi. 96822)
Rose LaBelle (713 NE Adams, Minneapolis, NIn.)
Timothy Lange ( 1045 l4rh St.. Boulder, (.o.)
Mark Morris (3808 tlamilbn St., philadelphia, pa.)
Paul Obluda (544 Natoma, San l,'rancisco, Ca, 94i03)

Volume VI. Number

l5 October.

1970

l6

(L'W,

cal

dir

peace and freedom

Iit

through nonviolent action
339 Lafayette Street
New York, New York 10012
Telephone (2121 228-027 0

cr(
bo

WIN is published twice-monthly (except July, August, and January
when it is published monthly) by the War Resisters League in

cooperation with the New york Workshop in Nonviolence.

Subscriptions are $5.0O per year, Second class postage paid at New
York, N.Y. 1OOO1. lndividual writers are responsible for opinions
expressed and accuracy of facts given. Sorry manuscripts cannot be
returned unless accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope,
Printed in U.S.A., WIN is a member of the Unclerground press
Syndicate and Liberation News Service,

ca1

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GAY MARCH !N PHOVTNCETOWN
About 200 people participated in a

Labor Day Gay Liberation

CITY TO CHALLENGE
WAR'S LEGALITY
The City Council of New York voted
32-4 on September 10 a resolution

which "directs the Corporation Counsel, upon request of any citizen of the
city of New York serving in the military forces of the U.S., who has been
ordered to duty to combat zones in
Southeast Asia, to commence on behalf of such citizens an appropriate
action in an appropriate court of the
U.S. to determine a constitutional ques-

tion. Since Congress has not declared
war, it should be determined wheth,er
the President has exceeded his constitutional powers."
The following day, the Committee
to Save Our Constitution which had
conducted the successful petition campaign leading to the City Council vote,
submitted the names of two Gls ready
to bring suit: one stationed in Vietnam,
the other under orders to go. After the
Committee had submitted the required
number os signed petitions, the City
Council had the option of either acting
within 30 days or giving the Committee
another 30 days to get 15,000 more
signatures and thus force a city-wide

referendum. A committee spokesman
said it already has the 15,000 additional
signatures and is ready

to proceed to-

ward a city-wide referendum

if

neces-

sary.

1 1 they returned a four count indictment against Dave and me. Together,
the four counts (destruction of govern'

ton's gay organizations, An

ment property valued at over $100, in-

granted) on the Fourth of July, had

terfering with Selective Service by
forceof violence, theft and destruction

of government records filed in a Public Office, and conspiracy to commit
the above) carry a maximum penalty
of twenty three years. At the same

time as the indictments were

issued,

arrest warrants were issued.for both of
us.

I notified the press that I would be
holding a press conference on the
steps of the Federal Building in Providence, at noon on the 1Sth. (Dave,
who was then and still is on vacation,
had notyet learned of the indictment.)
I wanted to explain what the indictment meant, and re-explain why we
had felt moved to take the action.
Also, I wanted to make sure that the
arrest would be public.
Sure enough, FBI agents served me
with an arrest warrant in the middle of
the press conference. I was held in the
US Marshal's office for a few hours
before being arraigned that afternoon.
(l was let out on $2000 bail.) No trial
date has been set, although, we expect
that it should be some time during the

winter.
We will be needing help before the

trial. People who can help with money

'IHOilE ISLAND DRAFT BOAHD
BAIDEBS INDICTED
The August issue of WIN magazine
carried an article which described the

diaft board action in

vened on September 10. On September

Providence,

iihode lsland of last June: 'l-A files and
cross reference systems of four local
boards rvere destroyed, and the duplicate records of the state headquarters
were eliminated. Dave Chawes and I
held a press conference in downtown
Providence nearly a week after the

Action, to claim responsibility for it,
and explain why we had acted. We
"surfaced" without evidence in an ef-

fort to make indictment and prosecution difficuh. or hopefully, impossible.
The Providence Grand Jury con-

march

through Provincetown, Mass. A popular
lromosexual resort, Provincetown was
a logical place to hold the demonstration, which was sponsored by the Homophile Coordinating Committee of Bos-

or organizing,should contact me.
-Jerry Elmer

Box 187

Jewett City, Conn. 06351

earlier

march, held illegally (permits weren't

been a mixed success, a peaceful stand-

off between demonstrators and police.
But this time we had no trouble obtaining permits. We formed at noon at
the main pier. We eventually started,
marching the length of Commercial
Street, the town's main thoroughfare.
We chanted, among other things, "Out
of the closets and into the streets; of+
of the sidewalks and into the streets!"
to the thousand or so onlooking tourists. Most of them were quite friendly;
some joined us. The march ended with
a brief rally at the town athletic field.

-John Kyper
NEED INFO ON WOMEN?
A research, lending, corresponding,
and selling library of women's litera-

ture: books, periodicals,

pamphlets,
bibl iographies, articles, cl ippings, tapes,
and pictures. Topics include women in
countries, in women's groups, specific
\,^/omen, roles, subjects, women in history, action projects, specif ic men's
statements on women. Work done by
women using it. A running catalogue
including addresses to order materiais
is available at cost to other groups to
avoid having to start from scratch. (For
$1, a bibliography of items in our files,
with addresses (as of July 1969) for
ordering the material; for $5. a packet
of action project ideas, and periodical,

paper, book and book review bibliographies (asof Sept. 1, 1969) of WL inte-

rest; for $2, addenda to bibliography
271 "ANT!DRAFT
to Jan. 1970; tor $4, addenda ro Aug.
OCCURENCES" TH!S YEAR
1970). A synopsis of women in world
This was the figure given to news- history is available for $1 including

papers by Selective Service on Sept. 7,

poster and postage. A paper on the
suffrage movement in Western Europe
Rochester, N.Y.
is 15d plus stamp, Bedstockings ManiOff icials explained however, that festos East and West likewise. A
the figure is not limited to draft board SPAZM newsletter of women's news,
raids, but includes all varieties of anti.- April to December 1969 (personal

the day after the draft board raid

in

draft protest-major and minor, non- statements, news events, reviews, etc.)
violent as well as violent.
is available, 30 issues for $15 to indiviThe figure itself-compiled by Selec- duals, $20 to institutions. (Tax deductive Service, is clear evidence of the tible).
growing protest against ,n" Or"rr.
Women's History Research Center, lnc.
_r.r.
2325 Oak, Berkeley
continued on pagego

cIH^NtrIrIUCIT

weI

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the wake of the failure of American historians to record
the social history of the masses of ordinary people, creating
instead a history of elitist theory and practice, we might ask
ourselves why history should be read at all. One answer lies
in the problems of American radical movements' failure to
see in contemporary currents the seeds of future social developments-a failure which undercut their efforts and demolished any claim they had to prescience and prediction. The
radicals from the Utopians of the 1830's through the Socialists, Comn.runists, pacifists, and neeUtopian freaks of todaybegan almost invariably with a mental picture of the society
they wanted to exist, asking themselves how to get there
lionl here (i.e. the current state of the society), with little
eye to the past. Usually they had a few historical ideas, really
arguments used in their speeches and newspapers, that in
some sense their vision was the logical culmination of the
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American experience. But their sense of history was rarely
derived from their own study, and was not at ill basic; the
purpose it served was at all times secondary.
It would be too much to say that these movements failed

because of their inability to grasp history. Actually they
failed because American capitalism has been too strong, too
resilient to break, even in the worst of economic crises, and
because American society has been too heterogeneous to

produce a coherent spirit of solidarity among rebellious farmers, blacks, workers, women and others. Still, the radicals,
ignorance of world and American history has been at least
painful and ultimately costly: they were perpetually caught
with their historical pants down (or skirts up), bare-assed to
objective changes in the larger society which rendered their
activities obsolete and merely ideological (ideology=frozen
ideas).

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The Utcpians' secular colonies of the 1830's and 1840's
were not the beginning of the Kingdom on Earth, as they
had expe,cted, but only an interlude before the mass indus-

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trialization which virtually liquidated non-industrial (or arrtiindustrial) solutions which radicals proposed. A1l but a few
abolitionists failed to see that their successes would bring
about a transformation of social relations throughout society
only if the implications of Emancipation were carried to an
economic level, providing a material basis for blacks and
whites to live together. The agrarian radicals of the late nineteenth century strove to save the ethos of rural life which,
however, was already being destroyed by the economic system
itself. The Socialists at their height as a movement, arourid

Similarly with youth: the radicals show every sign of being as
surprised by youth culture as been the rest of society. This
blindness, traditional to Sociaiist and Communist pigheadedness toward all phenomena not immediately "economic"
was in many respects unnecessary.
Rather than responding creatively, the New Left has met
and (insofar as it exists) continues to meet history with its

eyes closed. Older prophets (Paul Goodman, Herbert Marcuse,
Andre Gorz, or l.enin depending upon taste) are succeeded
by others (R.D. Liang, Mao, Bob Dylan), none of whom can
tell us concretely and in plain phrases just where American
society is going. Those of us without the ready answers of
the sectarians will wonder who the workers are, since we
World War I, built a force which depended on skilled, organized have only personal experience (necessarily limited in value
in such a heterogeneous society) and abstract hopes and
laborers, while the immigrants who would make the basic
fears to go by. We have only the slightest intellectual underor
were
too
often
ignored
the
C.I.O.
all
labor movement of
standing of what will happen to drugs and drug-cultures,
relegated to lesser significance. The Communists, after prosince they jumped out at us without our comprehending
tracted attempts to build a movement entirely along lines
background and historical sources of dope-taking. We
the
(including phraseology) taken directly from Russid, construc-

hail the black community abstractly, having no perspective
in which to place the Panthers' successes and limitations;
the truth is that we know almost nothing about the history of
black America except for what a t'ew novels, autobiographies
and sloganeering newspaper messages tell us. And most of all
we continue to wonder about ourselves: how are we situated in history, how are our sensitivities different from those
o{ the people of the seventeenth century and those which
shall be in a century; more precisely, how are we different
from our parents, how will we live our lives in this mess, and
earnest
an
position;
was
its
radical-liberalism
existential
what will our children be like?
attempt to come to grips with the apparent eclipse of the
The study of history has no magical solutions for these
labor movement and the twin delusions that Official America
problems.
Its practitioners have been constricted by the
and Official Russia offered the world's people. This isolation
that
confuse us all, and in addition caught up with
ihings
Victory
Ahead.
portrayals
of
led
confident
scarcely
to any
lot of
But by the high point of SDS, the weakest aspects of the early Making lt the way all professionals are' But there is a
views
our
out
work
order
to
need
in
we
information which
New Left came home to haunt the growing movement: the
exceptional
some
And,
in
future.
past
and
the
American
about
working
insulation of the campuses from the lives of ordinary
historical literature, there is a lot more than that: a metho'
people in Am-erica was succeeded by abstract perspectives
dology which is central to Western thought at its best, to
which rendered the labor movement a struggle to be followed
in Peace Corps fashion (by Progressive Labor's young followers the Marxism of Marx and a very few of his followers.
Yet the hassle of understanding American and world
and summer gigs in tactories) or to revile as hopelessly priin no way relieves us of the necessity for our own
history
win
over
peoples
or
to
World
Third
relation
to
in
vilcged
practice. And although not many of us would c{re to keep
through traditional Stalinist demogogy and Vanguard Jeadup with historical journals or new books, or even with articrship (RYM II). Attitudes toward minorities in America.
cles in various magazines from Liberation to Radical Ameica
World
Third
in
the
and toward revolutionary movements
and Socialist Revolution, we must work at all costs toward
were, similarly, discussed in an ahistorical vein: Panther
a common historical method in our everyday thoughts' By
mannerisms were aped by SDS leaders, Cuban and Chinese
grappling with the origins of present-day events, we can
revolutionary principles were adulated without the seriousbetter see why and in what ways a New Era-is emerging, and
deand
nature
ness of studying the bases for the peculiar
what may cut it short, as we all sometimes fear.
velopment of doctrines in those particular countries.
ln the long run, radical history is likely !o provide us more
An ahistorical perspective did not wreck the New Left
understanding ofeveryday life, than in our knowledge
in
our
however; rather, its inner weaknesses-above all its middle
century Wars or the fall of Kings and Princes'
nineteenth
of
changes
tremendous
class social base-made adaptation to the
For it is in our everyday lives, and the everyday lives of the
in American society over the last few years nearly impossible'
rest of the people of the world, where the seeds and roots
But its historical lacks did make that adaptation incredibly
for meaningful change exist. Radical history is only a way
more painful and its setbacks more nightmarish than
of knowing, capablelt best of producing what Hegel called
economy
they needed to be. An understanding of the American
"simple insight": the flash of perception which makes the
is
experienthat
plight
working
class
of
a
and the real social
previously inexplicablc totally clear. It remains for us, in tl.re
cing ever-greater levels ofalienation should have led the New
last days ot one form of civilization, to look back at our
I"rftists to an expectation of a future movement which would
collective past with such insight, to seek out the meaning of
reflect itself in tremendous efforts by workers, especially
its origins and development, and only thus to look forward
young workers, to meet the new conditions of the factories
to what lies ahead.
-Paul Buhle
and society by new, self-conscious efforts at self-liberation.

a Popular Front whose very existence depended upon the
contihuation of the New Deal. And the varieties of other
radicals had their own illusions, fed by overzealous hopes
and temporary successes they had had with pragmatic or
"common sense" responses to immediate events.
Among the wrecked illusions of the past century, perhaps
the fate of the white New Left is close enough to use to
offer a few negative lessons about the uses ofhistory. In the
early 1960's, the miniscule Left scarcely had more than an

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Within virtually every profession there are voices challenging academic neutrality and calling for change both
within the professions and within our society. Vocal (some-

that belongs to the people." The Historians'Caucus has regional groups and a national coordinating committee in Boston. The committee now publishes a Newsletter and are preparing for the convention which will meet December 28,
29, and 30th in Boston. (Anyone wishing to receive a copy
of the caucus Newsletter can write Marcia Scott, Apt. No.
21, 5l Park Drive, Boston, Massachusetts 02215.)

times obstreperous)groups are openly questioning and often
rejecting both the form and content of professionalism. professional groups and the professions (except perhaps law,
the ministry, medicine, and prostitution) were formed within nineteenth century industrialism. Scholarly research, academic neutrality-indeed, the very ideas of "art", ..culture",
"scholarship", "intellectuals", and "history" itself-all emerged functionally out of the nineteenth century. In our
time, this cultural complex has lost its meaning; the old

Our confrontation with the profession has been both

values and norms have collapsed.

Old institutions and ideas now appear hopelessly degenerate and the watchword of our day is "liberation.', No one
can confuse this freedom movement with nineteenth-century liberalism, but neither is it quite the same as nineteenth
century Marxism. The liberation movement has been particularly concerned with ending dominance-the dominance of
white over others, of men over women, of heterosexual over
homosexual, ofrich over poor, of old over young, of teacher
over pupil, of the educated over the uneducated, and of ruler over ruled. In place of slave-master relationships there
must be some form of cooperation among equals.
standing and documenting historical change-the historical
changes ol our own time have been poorly understood.
Since the December 1968 meeting of the American Historical Association.there has been a more or less organized caucus trying to bring historians to face the twentieth century.
(Most of them are unaware-at least intellectually-of the
demise of the nineteenth century.)
About a thousand strong, the caucus has had many voices and divergent concerns, but a central aim has been to
arouse and invigorate the historical consciousness of historians. Since the 1969 convention, the caucus has been affiliated with the New University Conference, "a national organization of radicals who work in, around, and in spite of
institutions of higher education.We are committed to struggling politically to create a new, American form of socialism
and to replace an educational and social system that is an
instrument of class, sexual, and racial oppression with one
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social, intellectual, agricultural, Russian, American, English,
Scandanavian, economic, political, architectural, and other

"histories" (some think we only want to add another specialty-"radical history"!). In this economy, you teach and
write in exasperating competition with other workers. The
annual convention is the stock exchange where everyone is
either selling himself or a book (which will increase his market value). The market is vastly overstocked-there were about 200 jobs for 2000 applicants at last year's convention.
The result is that the "profession" has become increasingly proletarianized, and within our own group we have a
model of what's happening within our whole economy. The
caucus thus has some pretentions to being an industrial workers' union. We face the grievances of our job situations and

,attempt
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practical and ideological. On a piactical level we have had
to contend with their mythical ideal of the "historian" mandarin-intellectual. The belief dies hard that there exists an
abstract scholar, surrounded with his tools, and turning out
products of Historical Truth, which fellow priests gather to
In fact, historians are teachers (usually very poor ones).
They are working in an increasingly specialized economy-

Among historians-who make a profession of under.

Pre

to

show how they grow out of our degenerate

American capitalism.
Our practical situation is obviously closely tied to our ideological differences with those who now rule the profession.
They claim their right to rule by commanctrng more facts
than anyone else. (Leaders in the profession are theoretically those 'who have accumulated-or perhaps "discovered"-the most facts.)
We have two quarrels with their facts and their "objectivity." First of all, they are not at all objective by their
own standards. They are hopelessly biased in favor of the
status quo; change is repugnant to them, and their method

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and ideology teaches a philosophy of - c'est la vie''
We are to ui""pt the given wrth obedience' lnstances of this
fake objectivity abound. For example, in the American Histoical Review, John Badgeley, a pro-government reviewer
of John McAlister's Vietnam: The Oigins of Revolution'
attacks the suggestion that there is any revolution in lndo'
tell'
china. He sayslhat even if there is one, it is too early to
;i pi.f.r," Badgeley concludes, "to wait another few decades before I pass my own judgment'" The time Badgeley
Army
asks us to wait is just about the time it took the U'S'
to defeat Philipino guerrillas after 1898'
Besides despisin[ their hypocrisy at not living up to their
own standards of oUiectivity, many of us obiect to those
standards themselves. Training in the "science" or "art"
of history is a cultural training in middle class values' Once

the basic ideological premises of that training
then lusiification of all things middle class follows auto-

*. u"".it

matically.
Gunnar Myrdal in his Asian Druma is unusually explicit
about these underlying values in his chapter on "The Value

iremises Chosen." In "improved attitudes" suggested for
:'111
tffi.itnty, (2) diligence' (3)
Xiu, n. lists the following:
(6) scrupulous ho(5)
frugalitv,
(4)
punctuality,
orderliness,
nesty (which piys in the long run and is a condition for raising .fiiciency in all social and economic relations), (7) ratiJndity in decisions on actlon (hberation trom superstiiious b.U.ft and prejudices, approaching the rationally calculating 'economlc man' of Wistern liberal ideology' (8)
(10)
pr.pui."On.tt for change, (9) alertness to. opportunities
(12)
self-reliance,
(tl)
and
integrlty
eneigetic enterprise,
(t:) wiliingness to take the longview (and
"oop'"*tiu.n.tr,
to iorego short-term profiteering, subordination of specu-

lation to investment and of commerce and finance to prq
duction, etc.)."

The themes studied by those accepting this value system
are familiar: the rise of western "civilization"' of freedom'

oi A.-o"iu.y, of capitalism, of nation states-and best of

all, the rise oi the UNITED STATES OF AMERTCA.
The middle-class-capitalist value system also teaches us
to approach history (like our bodies) as an alienated object'
W" iitf that an aulhintlc history is more than an external
catalogue of facts-it is something in which one has com*it-t-# putt of one's own self and passion-' M^oreover' out of
deathis committment should grow a renewal of life' not a
dening of one's self.

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"partlcular,

we believe such authentic history can only
teuJ to rebellion and revoluiibn within the present system'
History in itself must be an understanding, a consciousness
of our position in history. And the present situation can not
in an authentic historical study lead to acceptance of what

in

is.

up
Some historical changes are clear' We have grown
have
we
wars'
capitalist
degenerate
but
knowing nothing
imlived u;der threat of annihilation-not only by military
"crimissle
Cuban
becil.s but also by the Kennedys of the
end'
sis." We have seen the Western hegemony of this world
challenged
collapse,
supremacy
racial
of
white
and its ideals
by revolution in Africa, Asia, and America'
In face of these changes, we will not lie down and wait
two decades to see howlt's all going to end' Our study of
iti" pust must lead not to acceptance but to rejection and
of
revoiution. Our historical study must become a means

overcoming-not glorifying-the past and a spur toward
fighting for another' better world'
cott and charles shivery

The divisions among radical historians have been confusing
to many people because they have not occurted- around "political lines,"-Both r4dical scholars like Eugene Genovese and
the activists wouid say they are revolutionary socialists who
support the NLF, women's liberation and Third World
mov.mentt in Amerika. The key point at issue is not theory
(though the differences can be explained intellectualiy) but
nfe-stlte-trow one proposes to respond on a day to day level
to the social crisis in this country. What is at stake is not so
much a vision of social reorganization-though that is impliedbut the image of the GOOD LIFE that people see thgmselves

fighting for.
-

The older generation of radical scholars (with some excep
tions) sees thJ Revolution as the extension of the values of
the 'ilntellectual Community" into society at large' They
would like to humanize Amerikan society-create a rough
equality of income and opportunity, dismantle the war ma.hin., .li*inate the waste tension inherent in a market economy-but not at the expense of their own hard-earned,
priveleged position as SCHOLARS. After years of struggling
in a troitite atmosphere to achieve recognition for their intellectual work, they are terrified of any movement which would
denigrate "highei learning" or force them to abandon their
schiarship for a closer relationship to the mass of people'
They have developed a tremendous stake in the current ordertheir "star" positlons at historical conventions, their lucrative contracti with publishers, their professorships, tl-reir apartments and summer houses, their attractive wives and
*irtr.rt.t-urd they are not about to put these things on
the line for causes which have only an outside chance of succeeding. As the struggles of blacks, wonle.n and draftage stidents have moved into the university' the

niajority of them have sided with the institutions'
pessirnlitlc about the Left's prospects of success'
tnef nave raliied around liberalism as the only viable
position in a chaotic and dangerous time' Mark ltlaison

Dellinger and Bob
Historian Staughton Lynd, center, with ofDave
UnrePresented PeoPle,
Moiet, o"monitrating at the Assemblv
Neil Haworth
r 965.

r.S

w

I have a particular interest in a kind of history which I
think tokes its starting point in Jesse Lemisch's papers on
"History From the Bottom Up," his poper by that name

repinted by

SDS some years ogo. Jesse's arguement is

that most history is written frctm the top down, that most
written sources which survive the erosion of time tend to
be elite sources-goventment documents, the conespondence
of those letter writers whct had leiwre to write letters while
their slaves, like Thomas Jefferson's, macle a living for themand that therefore a naive approoch to historical sources was
likely to be misled into an elitist view of what really hap-

pened. Most of the surviving documentary evidence is evidence in one way or another connected with the upper
class and an uncritical use of those sources wilt tend to. gwe
aview ofhistory from an upper class standpoint.
So Jesse asked us self-consciously to attempt to write

history from the bonom up, from the stanrJpoint of the rank
and file, and to criticize such characteistic ossumptions of
those upper class letter writers whose observations survived
in such obundance, as that mass behavior in the streets is always phnned by a few scheming agitators, that the mass of
pegple lack the intelligence and political sawy to put together
effective political action for themselves.
lilhat has interested me in the last few years is to carry
on that approach into the following application;,that if it's
important to write history from the viewpoint of the rank
and jlle, perhaps the most important, if one is an activist in
the present moment, is that kind of history in which living
rank and llle leaders participate, making their own qsses$nent
ofevents and passing on that ossessment to the younger
people who come after them qs rank and file activists and
radical leaders in their tum. Gonora Dollinger was the leoder
of the lilomen's Emergency Brigade during the General
Motors strike of 1937 in Flint, Michigan. She was also at the
time the wife of Kermit Johnson, who was one of the pin_
cipal rank and file leaders of the strike within the shops" He
worked in Chevrolet Plant Number Four.
Sidney Fine's history of the Flint strike ,ieems to be an
excellent book os scholarly books go. Nevertheless, in conversation with Mr. ond Mrs. Dollinger about some of the
events that Fine recounts, one is again reminded of the inadequacy of, of the difficulties encountered by, the scholar
who approaches on event in which he did not take part and
attempts to reconstruct it on the basis of documentary evi_
dence or very selective interviews. Here is on examplei:
The key event in the Flint sit-down would seem to haye
been the occupation of Chevrolet Plant Number Four. The
sit-down began the last day of 1936 in two Fisher body
plants in Flint, Fisher Body One and Fisher Body Two.
Some time after that, when the outcome of the stike was
very much hanging in the balance, the stiking workers occupied a third plant, Chevrolet Number Four. (I keep wanting
to ask Tom Hayden whether he bnew about this when the
people occupying buildings at Columbia University widened
their front by moving into certoin additional buildings in the

I

IKE

course of the sit-in. ) I understand that now General Motrtrs
duplicate plants for euery one of its items of protluction
so that this situation never would occur again, Lut ot that
time they had only one plont in the entire United States, Chevrolel
Number Four, thqt made engines for Chevys, And therefore,
when the strikers in Flint were able to occupy that plant as
well, they had General Motors over o barrel and that led on
to a settlement not long after,
The question is, where did that tactic come from? perfect
illustration of Jesse's concern about elitist historiographyl
The tendency of most scholars recounting these events is to
a:suJne that it came from the two or three nationally-visible
leaders that ran the stike, such as Roy Reuther or Robert
Travis, chairmon of the stike committee. Sidnev Fine cre-

(

L
the

has

dits them with development of the tactic. (Thi

essence

of

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her r

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the tactic was to give the company the impression thot the
strikers were planning to seize Chevrolet Number Nine, and
in fact to create o temporary occupation of Plant Nine which
attracted all the police to that plant, and then actually to
seize Plont Four. )
The question of which individual wqs involved may not be
of particular histoical moment but the way the process
worked ic And whether you decide to agree with Mrs. Dollinger as to the role played by her husband, I think in reading
her desciption of the elaborate procedure of caucusing
within the Socialist Party that preceded the formal decisioni
to move to take Plant Number Four, a process of which Fine
seems totally unowore, you'll agree that o participant has
something to contibute to history which a scholar often
finds it very diflicult to establish.
Staughton Lynd

ils

N

The Flint strike of 1937 took on the world's largest industrial corporation, General Motors. It had never been organized, nor had any other automobile manufacturing corporation ever been organized. The people who had the primary responsibility for bringing this giant octopus to its
knees were in a little company town that didn't have access
to a great deal of information, like larger metropolitan centers or centers of learning to which you are accustomed. In
this company town we had no university, we had no college,
we had very little cultural development. We were a town of
auto workers.
Perhaps 80% of the population had just come up from the
South to get jobs-"lucrative jobs," relative to the conditions
they came from in the South in the automobile plants. The.
automobile plants were pretty new, the wages were good.
Many people came up with litfle or no education, with no
sophistication.
When these events happened in Flint, Michigan, in 1936
and 1937, they not only shook our way of living and our life
in our little town but it shook the whole nation, because
General Motors set a pattern for many many organizational
endeavors, and successful ones, that followed. Only on the
strength of bringing the biggest industrial corporation in the
world to its knees were other factories and other groups of
workers in other corporations able to have the courage to
confront their situations. The political climate was favorable
for this development.
At the time of this development, I was married and I had
two young children. And I was interested in what was happening in the city. I was a Young People's Socialist League
member. The League for Industrial Democracy sent many

many speakers on circuit to speak. We had a very high recruitment, we wanted learning, we were thirsty, we wanted
to absorb all we could. So I was prepared intellectually for the
beginnings.
There were efforts to organize the automobile workers
in the AFL but that could not be done because of the craft
nature of that type of organization. When the CIO came along
I was prepared to understand and to participate and I wanted

to participate.

!Br;*
:1.

But nevertheless, I was just a housewife. I didn't work in
the shop. I was married to a shop worker who was getting
45 cents an hour and we were having a whale of a time making ends meet. We were actually suffering as far as food and
the necessities of life were concerned. But goirig down there
and becoming involved, it didn't take long before I was
swept up in the activity.
I was always aware, as I am sure many of the,women are
today, that in the organization of the union they felt, "This
is a man's job" and the women weren't supposed to play any
role except to back up their men, not to break strikes and
so on. The women in the house did not understand what the
problem was. They had been reading the house organ, the
Flint Daily Joumal, and had read all kinds of horrendous
Iails about the strikers. They came down to Fisher Body

therr

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The Women's Emergency Brigade. Author Mary Heaton Vorse wrote: ,There's nothing radical about them, lt,s just a case of
Ma and the girls helping out their husbands and sons,"

Number Two and regaled up at their husbands in the plant, each side of the street, the barricades were thrown up and
"If you don't come down out of there, we're going to start the police started shooting, and I don't mean only firebombs
divorce proceedings in the court!" and "You're supposed to
and tear gas but when they started shooting buckshot and
be working and not penalizing the children and us."
shells into us, naturally the men said, "Women and children
We saw some of the men, some of the wonderful menget out of here, get out of here !" and they shoved all of the
and we had so few, if anybody ever knew how few people we women out. They tried to shove me out. And I said, "What
hadin those plants at any one point-ah!People in the plants in the heck! You haven't got any guns. What do you think
were intimidated and they started sneaking out of that plant. you're going to do that I can't do?" I was a very nasty woman
I was on the picket line and I said, "Oh my gosh, something's and I insisted upon staying. I think we could have given a lot
got to be done! We've got to start an educational program of lessons to the men that night if we had more women. But
with the women."
anyway, the men were running the strike.
So I started talking to the men and saying, "Look, I know
All night long, all the men had were car hinges to fire
you think you guys can handle everything but bring your
back with at the police, paving blocks and bricks. And they
wives down to the Pengelly Building, bring them down and
would pick up the tire bombs and the tear gas bombs before
let me talk to some of them so that we can save your situthey eiploded and hurl them back. This was all they had. So
ation."
I was doing just as well as they were in that battle.
After addressing their mass meetings and advising them to
At the end, toward the close of the night, I don't know
have their wives come ilown to this meeting we had set for
exactly what hour it was that dawn began to arrive, the bata certain date, I foui'rd myself in a roomful of women who
teries on the sound car were going down. Our speakers knew
wanted to know what the answers were, who felt that they
that we had no way of getting a message across to the people
had something to contribute if somebody would tell them
of Flint now beginning to come on the other side of this barwhat to do. So that's when we organized the Women's Auxi- ricade. And we knew that we were doomed if we didn't
liary of the Local 156. lt was an amalgamated local then,
have something over there and get some action coming in.
Buick, Chevrolet, Fisher Body, all together. There were some Victor Reuther had said, "Well, we've made a wonderful
people who warited to call it Ladies Auxiliary but we insisted battle. Now we've got to be prepared for the worst! The batupon Women's Auxiliary because we vg:ren't going to serve teries are going down."
tea! That was the name of our first olganization. We signed
So I, who had never made a speech in my life, said, "Let
500 wornen up.
me talk." And he said, "There's nothing that can be done now.
We began to hold meetings and tried to get to other women Don't get your hopes up. There's absolutely nothing." I
and tell them, "Look, that rnan is in there fighting for you
said, "But I don't think they know that there's a woman
and for your kids and for your kids'future and education" down here." He said, "OK, go ahead" "We have nothing to
and so on. "We can't continue the way it is now. We've got
lose, let a woman talk."
to back them up." We hadjust gotten this plan under way when I took over the loud speaker and I said to the people on
the Battle of Bul1s Run broke, before we had our meeting both sides of the barricades, "There are women down here
convened of women.
getting shot. The blood is flowing. And these cops, if they
At the Battle of Bulls Run, we didn't have any women's are cowards enough to fire into the beliies of unarmed men
organization. Women were down there attempting to organize are cowards enough to fire into women too. We want you to
and get this thing started. When the cars were overturned on know that we too are in this fight, we wonten." (l told them
to

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there were "women", plural, not just one.) I said, "And now
intense,
a special plea to the women on both sides of the
One day, Kermit Johnson, to whom I was married, came
barricades to come down here and stand beside your husbands home and he had a little dirty scrap of paper. And he said,
and brothers and fathers." And do you know, at that point
"l've got it. I've walked around that plant" (and it was very
we saw the most wonderful miracle in the world happening.
hard to get off your job, beiieve me, on that motor line) "and
We saw women coming down and fighting with the police . . .
walked around that plant-I told them I had to go to First
We were discussing how next to proceed in the strike.
Aid- and I've got every exit and every entrance marked
Everybody knew, it was general information, that the Cadown, here." "Now," he said, "I've talked to Ed Cronk over
diliac workers in Detrciit could be out, the Auto Lite wclrin Chevrolet Piant Eight,
in Piant Six . . ."
kers in Toledo could be out, we could l.rave Fisher Body One
He said, "And I know that we got enough forces over here
down (which was down for a total of forty-four days) but
in Six. I know that Ed Cronk would bring over (so many)
Fisher Body One was producing bodies for Buick. At the
guys behind him. I know that (so and so) over in this plant",
Buick plant in Fllnt the conditions were a little better and
he brought this plan home with the names of individuals that
the people weren't ready to strike, it would take too much
would be able to mobilize (when I say forces I mean maybe
time to organize them. We had Fisher Body Two which proa dozen men out of hundreds of thousands workers,) a
duced the bodies fbr Chevrolet, we had that down, and in
dozen men anned with hinges and crowbars and things like
that. So this was actually the plan that was put down on paper.
Detroit they had the other par.ts of General Motors down.
But we had to hit them in their best-selling item. ChevBut we knew that in order to do this, nobody, oh my gosh,
rolet was the low-priced car and this was the big item in comthe walls had ears and eyes, and if those spies should even
petition with Ford. This competition was very keen. We knew get an inclination of what was being discussedl
that of all the plants that Chevrolet (had) scattered around
So all of these discussions were very tightly held inside the
the country, they only had one motor plant and that was
general strike committee and, of course, those innermost

I'm making

.qalilfl
.r5,-{"{3ft

,tt

rlEd$

right there in Flint, Michigan. A very huge col'rplex of Chevrolet manufacturing produced ail parts, the crank shaft cases
and fenders anld everything else, but the rnotor plant right in

the center ofit was Plant Four. The doggone thing had so
many exits and so many entrances you know what an auto
mobile factory looks like, how long it is, how huge it isl It
was generally conceded, "Oh, if only we could take this plant,
could shut this motor division down!"
But by this time we had so many Pinkerton agents in there,
we had so many professional gunmen, and so many people
had been hired on the plant protection crew in this Chevrolet division! The police of the City of Flint were owned
body and spirit by General Motors. They had such hostility
brewing. A daily paper was charging even native people like
me of being brought over from Moscow and things like this.
A former mayor organized a vigilante group. The name of it
was the Citizens Alliance of Flint. They were holding meetings in the big auditoriums and the wl'role feeling was so

people in the Communist Party and the Socialist Party. We
had some Proletarian Party members. They were primarily in
Fisher Body One though. The Communist Party was opposed
to the plan. And the Socialist Party said we couldn't do this.
The Socialist Party, in its great tactical approach, had said on
the state lev'el, "Don't get any more people in the Socialist
Party, don't even havo anything to say about socialisrn because

it might taint our efforts in unionism."

So we had to

close down. We couldn't even bring people to our Socialist
meetings. The Communist Party was numerically fa1 far
greater than we were. They had more forces in the plants and
they had shipped in great numbers of people. They had the
writers and the historians and they had the editorship of The
Flint Auto Worker, our union paper. We had to take into
consideration what they wanted and what they proposed.
But on this thing they were against it. They thought if we
lost we had too much to lose, we could be set back a hundred
years. So some of the Socialist Party members said, "Well,

that's it. We tried."
On this occasion and several others, Walter Reuther lined
up against the Socialist Party faction who were with us and
our idea that it could be done, and he lined up with the more
powerful faction inside the union.
At that time they decided "Now we must retreat, now we
must settle perhaps just for recognition of the union." But the
workers had this strong feeling that something had gone
wrong in the strike. And they were ready to fight. They were
still determined that they would put their lives on the line.

were going to take the beating. We told them that everything
depended on Plant Nlne being shut down. I've forgotten what
phoney story was that was devised, but there was some particular screw or some particular something, some part that
was very essential to the production ofChevrolet. And this
was believed and they thought that they had to make a battle for their lives over there. But the spies were bright enough
to know that anything announced in a mass meeting probably wasn't the real plan. So we called a very secret meeting
and we informed people that we thought were informers,
This was an actuality with us.
enough of them. We had some kind of a password that was
I didn't know of any way. Really, who could you appeal
given to get into the secret meeting and they announced it
to? Your top leaders had reached an agreement, you were
very secretly that they had just discovered that this part was
outvoted, and you believed in the righteousness ofyour
essential. Plant Nine was the plant. And the leaders over at
cause, you laid down and died for it. So we thought of only
Plant Nine really thought that this was i/ and that they were
one God and I wrote a letter to Norman Thomas. It was a
willing to make the sacrifice. They were very dedicated
two or three page single spaced typewritten letter, trying to
people. They were willing to sacrifice and the men around
take in the feel and the whole of everything that was hap
them in Plant Nine were too.
pening right at that particular moment in the strike and why
We took the Women's Auxiliary and out of that we orI thought that this (retreat) was an insane idea. The letter I
ganized a women's military organization and we called it the
sent off to Norman Thomas. As you all know from reading
Women's Emergency Brigade. I remember the meeting that I
about this great man, he was not a factionalist, he was not an
told them it was necessary to organize on a military basis.
organizational man. And when he got this hot potato he turned When I got up and explained the necessity of having a miliit over to a newly elected Secretary of Labor of the Socialist tary organization and the women coming to the rescue of the
Party in Chicago, Illinois. His name was Professor Frank
men, I said, "But we don't want anybody who has any preTrager who I think you know is a pretty far over to
disposition to fainting, we want nobody who is going to be
the right now. Frank Trager came in, this university man who
sympathetic and stop and sigh and put their club down . . ."
had never been a strike situation, never been near a strike
So I asked for volunteers. I was terribly shocked because all
situation, he didn't know anything about factories, workers,
these women got up and said, "l'm willing to be in this. I
grease and grime and so on. He came in and I thought, .,Lord,
have a grandson in that plant, I know what he's going through."
God...thisisit! ..."
And I kept making it sound more horrible, more bloody, and
First he talked with Walter Reuther and the forces that
they didn't stop volunte6ring. These sixteen year old girls:
were lined up with Walter Reuther on this occasion, and then
"My father's in there. He's fighting for us.,, And .,My father,s
he came to us. We took him to the Pengelly Building. We
leg is broken and I'm here to be part of it." And do you know,
introduced him to people; we let those people talk to him.
out of that huge huge meeting, I think we had probably a
We drove him around, we showed him the location of the
thousand women there, we had five hundred volunteers,
plant, we showed him the plan and let him talk to a couple_
women who came up and signed and insisted on belonging to
of the guys who we had tagged for leadership in Plant Four.
that organization.
And he felt the only thing he could feel if he had a mind and
So when the strategy was to put down Plant Nine, we had
brain and was open. He felt the drama in the tenseness and
a call go into the headquarters that the Women's Emergency
the great historical contributions that the workers were maBrigade was needed because they were shutting down Plant
king there in fighting against this open shop oppression. The
Nine and the police were headed toward Plant Nine. We took
whole thing took on a very drqnatic aspect to him. And he
the Women's Emergency Brigade (I knowing what was happerendered a decision, as Secretary of Labor of the Socialist
ning over in Plant Four and praying in my heart at this mo
Party, "You've got to give them a chance. They're the worment), we paraded down the avenue, took the Women's
kers and they're in the plant."
Emergency Brigade down to Plant Nine. We stood outside
Walter Reuther was furious but he was still ostensibly and
those windows and heard moans and groans and clubbings
on paper a member of the Socialist Party and he was supposed going on. And the police came. There's a photograph someto abide by that decision. I remember his meeting Kermit
where where the police were lined up on one side of the
Johnson in the hall, saying, "A1l right, folks, I say ifit goes
street with their guns drawn and we were right in front of
wrong it's upon your head. Not on ours, not on mine. If this
the plant with our hands inside of our coats. We were thinkplan goes wrong and it fails, it's on your head, buddy."
ing we were preventing from coming across. Inside the comSo the actual plan was then taken back into the strike
pany police were doing the battling.
strategy committee and was accepted and was put into effect.
Suddenly a window opened and Tom _'s
face, I'll
If it hadn't been for this professor who had just become
never forget it, streaming blood, said, "They're teargassing
newly elected Secretary of Labor of the Socialist Party,,if it
them and clubbing the hell out of us. They'Il kill us all!" Well
hadn't been for his decision, the whole story of the auto
we didn't need any signal. The women went around with
union and of union organization in America would have been
those clubs and busted every window in that plant to let air
different. I don't know to what extent, but I know it would
in. And then we caused such a melee out there that we dishave been delayed. And at that point it was very very importracted the police from taking any action and going in to the
tant to American labor and to unionism in general.
assistance of the company police. Our men were carried out
We couldn't actually give out the information except to a
and placed in ambulances.
very very elite few. The men over in Plant Nine, we knew,
But at the same time, the strategy of pulling down Plant

l2

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Four was going on. So, not to tip anybody,s hands off, I
sent the Brigade back to headquirters, the pengelly Building,
after there. was nothing more to do at plant Nine. ivly lieu_
tenant and I just ambled over to plant Four. I had four lieu_

that plant and it was so much bigger.
So until the Emergency Brigadi could get there,
there
were only five of us. The five of u, *orr.i, we had
made
this pledge, we strung ourselves out over the gate with
our
with rne just to check on it. We couldn,t act as though hands clenched
l-:la-nts
and we decided that ,.We,ve g"ot to hold until
we were in a hurry or we knew
something might be going ori
the other women arrive,,,-our Brigade. The pliic.e
came down
at that point. The company police were a]t inltant Nlneand.the head of tire police .u*. t[ and said, ,,AI1 right,
let
doing the mop up opeiation, the city police were out here
us through." We stood there and we said, ..No, we
at
can,t let
Plant Nine, and when we dischargedthe Emergency Brigade
you go through. Our husbands are in there, and we
know what
we tried to give them the idea, well there,s no *o., trouble,
you'll do if you go in there, you,ll kiii them I And you,ve
got
we don't expect any more trouble.
to kill us first." The officer went and he shoved and we hing
When we got over there, we found that plant Four wasn,t
onto those bars. (The police then weren,t so developed
as
yet barricaded and it was in a very dangerous state. There
they are now . . .like the brutality of the police today.)
They
were a lot of scabs and they were fighting with the union guys were not
used to women coming into the scene at all and
and wouldn't give them rn'opportuiity ti barricade.
At th'is
they were turned off guard -yo, kno*, honor your brother
point we knew that we had to stick around. The great big
and your sister and all this business_and we utilized
it, we
main gate was not yet barricaded and it would have been'the
had to for the men. They were just held there long enough,
entry for any police for any action. The side entrances were
just that few minutes of argumintation and
confrontatiJn
the ones they were having the trouble with. We were waiting
with.the.police. And just at the critical moment we saw,
a_t the front gate for word and getting
a few indications that
coming d-own Chevrolet Avenue, the Women,s Emergency
were-coming out. We [aO se-nt a telephone call for
Brigade, flags flying high, singing ..Solidarity
11.. g-yYr
Forever!,,
the Women's Emergency Brigade again when'we got there
and
So, you see, the women played u u.ry ,.ry vital role
in
knew what the situation was. Then we looked up and saw
that that strike and we were very happy thai we had
those exper_
the word had gone out to the Flint police Department and,
iences and those opportunities even though I wound
up_1
my God, there they wdre, coming down the street. The black
had tuberculosis at the time and I had onI lung collapsed,
foots came in full force, and we f,new what that meant.
and the tear gas didn't do me any good_L"or?ld
If
up wittr one
they ever went in there in that plant tfr.i. *oJA have
been
lung after that. It was worth it.
blood running out the front gate, there would have been
a
real bad situation because there was so much going on
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The Jbllowing report was written after our first year of
teaching at Boston State College-a working class commuter's
school in the heart of Boston. The College provides Boston
with the majority of its teachers. I,le wrote our report to
help clarify our own impressions of our teaching experience
and are glad to share it with WIN readers, and hope you will
comment.
But first some tentotiue conclusions about'our attempt to
be radical teachers in a hostile environment: 1) Students
with parochial school or working class backgrounds are ambivolent with regard to authority figures-either total unquestioning obedience or equally strong rejection. 2) A teucher
should not act in any way to strengthen this ambivalence,
but should help a student resolve it. 3) A teacher should not
lug into the classroom any ideology. Rather he or she should
provide an atmosphere which makes the student question
his or her assumptions, beliefs, attitudes. 4) That the student
is constantly either conning the teacher into believing he occepts everything the teacher says, or puts everything to blind
memorization, has forced us to realize that we must help the
student teoch himself. The following experiment developed
out of these assumptions. It created days of discussion which
included historical, political, and psychological questions,
and had a lasting effect on many students. The experiment
was originally prepared for a world history course, und later

used in an Ameicon government course.

Richard Kagan and Roberta Johnson

What would be the classroom reaction to a magazine photo of a dead chiid killed by an "enemy" butlet? A human
reaction of sympathy, pain and moral indignation, perhaps
condemning the "murderer"? Not true. In our experiment at
Boston State College, racial, cultural, and political biases and
not a "human" reaction determined what the students felt
about a picture of a dead child.
We each instructed three sections of about 20 freshmen in
political science and history. We were both interested in confronting the students with their biases. To do this effectively,
we showed our students a picture of a dead child. To one
section, it was described as a missionary child killed by a Congolese bullet; to another section, it was an Indian child killed
by a Chinese bullet and to a third section, it was a Vietnamese
child killed by an. American bullet. Each section was instructed not to say anything to the others.
The majority of their reactions can be naturally divided
into two groups: the non-Vietnamese (Indian and missionary)

incidents and the Vietnamese death. The groupings were determined by the perception of the murder. In the case of the
murders committed by the Chinese and African, these acts
were seen by the students as a reflection of the culture of the
murderer. The lndian child was not shot just by soldiers,
but by the Chinese.
Roberta's section expressed this idea with phrases such as
"The Chinese who kill care little about anyone else,, or ..Why
did the Chinese shoot the child?" For one of Richard,s students,
14

del

even showed that the Chinese are ..maniacs,,
and "desperate", and that the child's death was the conse-

hum

Chinese people

used

tfr. pt otogruph

quence of "power and glory". The incident proved what ..the
will do if they gain power. It is nearly the
end of their great civilization."
A generous use of imagination and story-telling justified
a belief that the Chinese were not quite human; some students attempted to explain how the events happened. ..From
the position of the body, the Chinese used the child as a
shield against the Indians." Again, the child was killed ,.as
a symbol of their (Chinese) anti-Indian position.', Similarly,
in Roberta's section, a student concluded that the child was
shot in the back. This suggested that the wound was a ..symbolic act of what the Chinese intend". By far, the most macabre imaginings occured in Richard's section where one

student related that "the child was brought to the battlefield". While the parents left to fight, the Chinese heard the
cries of the lonely child. As they approached the sounds of
death "came closer and closer".
The Congolese murder of the missionary child also reflected the "nature of the Congolese". In general, the mur-

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der was seen as wrong and the Congolese were labelled ..inhuman" and "savages". For Roberta, it was only in this section that the concepts of "civilized" and "uncivilized,' were
used. And even when a few students tried to justify the murder of the missionary child, a defense was made in terms,
here too, of the "nature of the Congolese", (their cause and
their race). "The Congolese were getting their freedom,',
wrote one student and the blarne was shifted from the Black
to the White man with phlases such as, "He got what he deserved-he would have grown up to be a white colonizer" and
"the whites are basically to blame" for the Congo problem.
Thus, regardless of whether or not the murder ir^'j"riifi.a,
like the Chinese murder, no distinction was made between
the Congolese soldier and the society he represented. This
was not so in the Vietnamese case.
In no way did the murdering of a Vietnamese child reflect an American trait. In fact, the reactions of Roberta,s
section engaged themselves with the problem of disassociating American cultural values from military-political acts. The
political-military acts were not conceived in terms of moralitythe death of the child was merely a rnistake in political judg-

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ment which could be reasonably rectified. In general, her
students did not doubt that an American had killed the child.
But, rather than argue the child's death was justified, the
child's death was not. "It's awful to kill little children",
"They (children) have no choice in what's going on,.. ,,It's
all right for older people to get killed, but a child?,,, ..Americans should stop attacking little children". One student co
gently stated this view: "We can fight, but not innocent children." In other words, they had found a way to argue that
the child should not have been killed, without arguing that
the war should not be fought.
So certain were some of Richard,s students that the killing of a child did not reflect an American trait, that many
actually doubted that the child was killed by an American
bullet at all;and were angered at the suggestion, saying, ..How
do you know it is shot by Americans?". In discussion, some
of Richard's students laid the blame for the child,s death on
the Vietcong. Since the Vietcong "don't give a damn about
anyone" and have "no value of human life", the child's death
was seen as 'Just another sacrifice by the North Vietnamese,,
because the "Vietnamese are only interested in victory,'.
Since the inhuman ones were the Vietcong (inhuman in ways
not unsimilar to the Chinese traits) sympathy was even expressed for the "poor Americans who fight there".
Whether the American soldiers' shooting of a child was a
mistake or lie, one thing was certain, the soldiers' act in no
way reflected an American trait, unlike the Congolese and
Chinese murders which did reflect Congolese and Chinese
societies. Since the war in Vietnam did not reflect American
culture, it was purely military. Therefore, it was almost impossible to believe that American soldiers actually wanted to
kill children because the war was purely military and the
child was too young to be a military enemy. But it was not
at all impossible to believe that the Chinese and Congolese
would want to kill children because their wars reflect their
societies which were "uncivilized" or "non-human,'.
The very perception of the child depended entirely
on who the murderer was. When the murder reflected a whole
culture, as it did for the Chinese and Congolese, the dead
child was indistinguishable from the adult world. When in
the case of the American murder, it did not reflect an American trait, the child was carefully separated from the adult
world. This, as we have pointed out, allowed the students to
contend that it is all right to kill adults in Vietnam, but not
children.
Not separating the child from the adult world in the Chinese and Congolese incidents allowed the students to express
their surface and generalized feelings about the evils of war.
Since it was not a special case, the students could talk about
war deaths in general. Phrases such as "sinful event in humanity" and "tragic . . .stupidity of war" as well as "disgust
with the nature of man" were used. In their reaction to the
missionary death, with a sense that war was an inherent part
of the human conditior{, seven of Roberta's studeirts asked
"why" and the term "pity" was generously employed.
Therefore, the very perception of the child as well as its
murderer depends directly on the political or cultural context,
not on the neutrality of facts. A picture was not worth a
thousand words in this experiment for the few words of de_
scription, not the universality ofa dead child triggered dif_
ferences in reactions.

t5

redemption lay in a united demand of press, pulpit, and pub-

lic for the (unilateral) "instant recafl of our forces from Mexico."
It has been suggested that our involvement in Vietnam
began when CIA agents, under orders to undermine the 1954
Geneva Agreements for Metnam,s unification secrefly re-

turned an emigre named Diem from New york to Saigon. ,A
similar device brought Santa Anna, butcher of the Alinr.o,
back to Mexico from his Cuban exile" On the very day that
Polk sent his war message to Congress, our naval blockaders
received orders to permit the emigre soldier_politician to
pass through. "How came it into Mr. polk,s head that Mr.
Santa Anna was likely to come that way?,, asked Sen. Web_
ster,*and in answering his own question revealed that secret U.S. agents invited the exile,s return. This attempt at a
coup to install a puppet pro-U.S. regime was a fiasco, for
Santa Anna double crossed us.
Among the troops under Santa Anna,s command was one
battalion whose spectre may be haunting the men of the
Pentagon as reports arrive on every hand of disaffection
whether,n.
war w,r cease
among our G.I.'s. The name ..Los patricios,, (for Battalion
to be considered "Lyndon Johnson's War,,, and come to be
of St. Patrick) is not mentioned in popular U.S. military
known as Mr. Nixon's. There was no such problem with Am_
histories. Books about the American Irish dating from ihe
erica's war against Mexico, which was called Mr. polk's
War" by its opponents during and after his presidency. In
1840's, when they were commonly victims of native Ame_
many ways the invasion of 1846:7, undoubtedly America,s
rican bigotry, omit mention of the battalion. The unit's
most detested military action before 1965, ri:sembles the
origins must be understood in the light of a period when to
present Southeast Asian conflict.
them, as to the blacks today, the Army was a place of refuge
Sen. Daniel Webster, in some ways the Everett Dirksen of
from the economic hardships of civilian discrimination.
ofhis day, eloquent and influentiat if not popular, denounced
Many Catholics (not just the lrish) in the iirvading
our attack on Mexico as'.a war of piretext, a war in which
army tended to sympathize and identify with the MJxican
the true motive is not distinctly avowed, but.in which prepeasantry. They were appalled at the conduct of their
tenses, afterthoughts, evasions and other methods ur, ,*_
cornrad_e_s in occupied areas, especially by the Texans
who,
ployed to put a case before the community which is not a
as Lt. Ulysses S. Grant reported, ..seem to think it per_
true case."
fectly all right to impose upon the people and even to
Men such as Webster, who questioned the war but voted
murder
Jhem." Bigotry among nonco.n, and junior officers
for appropriations to wage it, were in tum (enounced by
helped develop the climate for defection. The last straw
Henry David Thoreau, our great naturalist-philosopher, iho
was the desecration of Mexican churches.
That was too
complained: "There are thousands who are lz opiiion opposed much for men who had seen churches in
Boston and phi_
to slavery and to the war, who yet, in effect, do nothing to
ladelphia
-burned by mobg unmolested by the official guar_
put an end to them."
dians of "law and order."
There was a credibility gap that developed soon after
First over the hill, to switch to the side he thought
Congress was rushed into voting a declaraiion of war in 1g46. was right, was Sgt. John Riley, Company
K, 5th U.S. tn_
Men like Sen. William Fulbright (D. Ark.), who regret having
fantry. Commissioned as a lieutenuni in the Mexican Army,
been stampeded into passing the Tonkin-Gulf resolution of
Riley gather others around him who had resented their
1964-the sole "legal"basis for the outpouring of U.S. blood
own army's mission and conduct. Their ranks were augand treasure by our commanders in chiif_reniind one of Sen. mented by Americans who responded to
the appeals o1
John C. Calhoun, who ruefully remarked that less than l0
Mexican priests to "abandon your unholy cause.,,
per cent of the 1846 Congress would have agreed to war on
Los Patricios fought gallantiy, most n6tably ut Ch,_,.,r_
..
our southern neighbor had they been given time to examine
biusco, where their cannon almost stopped the invaders
the case. Later a freshman
and they were overcome only after their ammunition was
from Illinois pressed
for an inquiry as to whether"ongr.rr-*
gone. Many died in action, some escaped, and about 60
the ,.spot,' on which U.S. and
Mexican forces first clashed was noi in fact Mexican territory, were captured. All but a handful were hanged
by their
defined as such by an l8l9 treaty. His name was Abraham
captors, in spite of pleas of the archbishop of Mexico and
Lincoln.
the British ambassador.
Just as the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke out
They are not forgotten by a proud people whose ter_
often and vigorously against the Vietnam war until his assas_
ritories were taken from them in a war that they still
ination, America's greatest black civil rights leader of lg46
remember as one of aggression. Annual tributes are still
took an uncompromising stand against the Mexican war. Ten
paid at the plaque at Mexico City,s San Jacinto Church,
years out ofslavery at the age of3l, Frederick Douglass
bearing such names as Hogan, O,Connor, Sheean and Fla_
de_
nounced the "disgraceful, cruel, and iniquitous war; that
herty, inscribed IN MEMORY OF THE HEROIC
SAN
doomed Mexico to be "victim to Anglosaxon cupidity and
PATRICIO BATTALION/MARTYRS WHO GAVE THEIR
love of dominion." He argued that our only hope of natlonal
LIVES FOR MEXICO DURING THE UNJUST AMERICAN

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_Howard Meyer
Reprinted from Nickel Review

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vernor Tom McCall assumed dictatorial control.
. T!9 -uI9, and governor set up special command posts in
the Hilton Hotel, sites of the Legion's convention heidquar_
ters. Over 8000 Nationa Guard troops were activated and
brought into the city. Federai troops were brought down fiom
Fort Lewis, Wash., and held in reserve outside the city.
Scores of police officers were borrowed fronr neighboring
cities. The National Guard guarded police headquir.ters. the
city water reservoirs and other facilities.
Portland was very uptight and had been since plans

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co-op-ta-tion

co-o?to-tion

assossinate the gov'nor
assassinate the gov'nor

how'bout you
and Vortex too
hcnv'bout you
and Vortex too
to
tune
of
"Brother
John,, at
-lyrics
People's Army Jamboree
Oregon has become the first state to use dope and rock
instruments of social control. The state-sponsored Vortex
I Rock Festival successfully lured hip youth out of portland
during the American Legion's nation.al convention held here
this week.
At its peak Sunday, Vortex I drew an estimated 50,000
to the festival grounds located at a state-provided park 20
miles east ofhere. The 14,000 Legionaires attending the convention barely got a chance to see what a hippie looked like.
as

The People's Army Jamboree was able to mrite. only 1500
its march Sunday through downtown portland in support
of the Vietnamesg people.
Officials were gleeful over just how effective their ploy
was. Bragged Robert Hazen, president of the Legion'Jttiti*
nal Convention Corp.: "I saw fewer hippie types around
town than I normally do. Vortex has been a huge success.,'
Both Sunday's march in support of the Vietnamese people
and Tuesday's against racism diew about fifteen hundred
participants. The police, as always, were cooperative to the
point of ridiculousness. Tuesday one segmerl of the march
broke away from the prescribed route. Rather than trying
to stop it, the police merely provided an escort. However, a
fo^r

battalion of National Guard troops were brought into the
area in case anyone attempted to do any trashing.
The trgionaires looked on both marches passively, demon_
strating no emotion either pro or con.
Penny Jackson, sister of slain Jonathan Jackson, spoke at
the rally Tuesday prior to the march. She asked foi support
of the Soledad Brothers and urged everyone to follow tire
exantple of her brother.
Portland showed America how effective a liberal police
state can be. During the convention portland was an occupied
city under what was in effect martial law. Nornral city government was suspended. Mayor Terry Schrunk and a four man
comntittee which included a personal representative of Go.

for tle People's Jamboree was announced in June. City Offi_
cials had visions of their town being turned into Chicago
1970 and were willing to do anything to keep portiand,s
name fiom being tarnished.
The straight newspapers, radio and teievision laid down a
thick blanket of paranoia. The Jamboree was conceived as a
way to publicly discuss the issues of the war, racism and po.
verty during the convention. Instead the issue in the straight
media was whether the counter-l,egion activity would be
violent or nonviolent. All the New Mobe p.u.L typ., and the
flower children were mobilized by the city against the Jam_
boree. Cooptation.was the order of the day. The liberal Ore_
gon establishment showed Mayor Daley that it is nor neccssary to bust heads to keep order. portland,s velvet-covcred
hand worked tnuch better than Chicago,s iron fist. The success of Vortex I makesit certain that rock and dope will be
used elsewhere to keep restless natives peaceiul
at potential

tuture hot spots.
As rock festivals go Vortex couldn't have had a more
idyllic location than Mblver State park, courtesy ol the go_
vernor. The state spent thousands of dollars to provide fiee
food, plenty of toilets and water. No one was busted at the
festival for dope, fucking or not wearing clothes. It was groo_
vy. The state even provided National Guardsmen to serve as

parking lot atten dants.
As I entere! the festival grounds Saturday, seeing all the
police and National Guardsmen at the entrance, I felt likc I
was entering a concentration camp. A groovy one but a con_
ce_ntration camp none the less. But that thought was perhaps
a bit too grim. Vortex was really a cornbination of thl old'
Roman bread-and-circus idea and rnodern concentration
camp techniques. But the Oregon authorities were too cool
to lock the gates. They let the people lock themselves in.
Hitchhikers leaving Portland for Vortex were not hassled
by the law. But hitchhikers coming from Vortex into port_
landwere arrested. While the anti-dope laws were in effect
suspended at Vortex elsewhere in the state there were well_
publicized dope busts, including one at a rural commune at
Dallas. Oreson.

F'ear wai used to get people to Vortex and keep them
there. The straight media kept talking about all the nrilitary
preparations.underway in Portland whi16 telling eve ryone
how peaceful Vortex was. The impression given" was ihat ony
long-hair coming into portland would get liis head bloodicd.
Longhairs working for Vortex came into portland Sun_
day, the day of the first People's Army Jamboree nrarch, to
recruit_every longhair they saw on the street, offering them
free rides to the festival.
None of them would discuss just who they were working
for. "Peace, brother, peace, brother," they would say when
questioned about the morality of what they were doing.
"Vortex is groovy. It's so high. Don't bring me down with
this heavy shit."

I don't believc that any of them were conscious agents
of the CIA or thc Oregon establishment. I believe they
mcant well. They werc afraid portland would be bloodv and
didn't want to see any heads busted. But unknowinglyihey
did allow the governor to nranipulate their good intcntions

near the C-'olumbia River on the outskirts of Portland.
In every case the Jamboree found itself forced to accept
the city's compromise offers. When the Legion started arriving Jamboree organizers were told by city hall that for all
futule negotiation sessions would be escorted by police
from their lreadquarters to the city command post in order
to protect them from irate Legionaires.

and good peacc vibcs.
.The organizers of the People's Anny Jamboree were not
exactly forrnidable opponents for the authorities to deai
.with either. The idea to hold some type of anti-war activity
during the Legion convention was first proposed last winter.
This plan was called for the holding of a Revolutionary Festival of Life. That idea was kicked around for a while, then
changed. Penny Sabin, a Portland potato chip heiress, contributcd $ 10,000 for the holding of some type of counterLcgion activity. The ntoney cnded up causing more hassles.
But no scgment of Portland's movement really got behind
the idea until aftcr police attacked peaceful demonstrators
at Portland State Collcgc May I I in the turmoil that followed
Nixon's invasion of Cambodia. Over 40 people were seriously

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During sanctioned Jamboree activities the police avoided
confrontations at all costs. At the start of Sunday's march in
Duniway Park an American flag was burned but police rnade
no attempt lo interfere. An undercover narcotics agent was
physically driven fronr the park. Again the police did nothing.
But the personal representative of the governor. Ed Westerdahl, marched with the demonstrators "to keep things cool"
and was unnoticed by the radicarls.
Aside from the marches none of the Jamboree activities
attracted more than a handful of participants.
The police, while showing their velvet gloves during the
marches, came down hard on radicals and longhairs when
there was no danger of a large-scale confrontation. People
were arrested forjay-walking and taken to police headquarters for booking. The hitchhiking law was strictly enforced.
Narcotics busts were up 70% in Portland, according to the
People's Legal Defense Office. Bail for all was set as high as
the legal limits permitted.
"Sad to say," said a Yippie from Seattle, "it isn't a horde
of longhair pinko commie anarchists who are threatening
this city. Portland is under a police dictatorship and most of
the good citizens are cheering it."
Portland was an example of what liberal repression is all
about. Tom McCall will probably be re+lected governor in
November chiefly because he kept Portland cool during thc
Legion convention.
The revolutionaries, just by issueing a few press releases,
have shown just how uptight America is. The American Legion was forbed to hold its national convention under the
muzzle of the National Guard. Downtown Portland merchants complained because fear of violence kept shoppers
from buying during the convention. Many cities will now
think twice before inviting the Legion to their city.
The city fathcrs put ouia pu,rp-hl.t prior to the convention
entitled "Peace has its Price in Portland". lt listed all the repressive measures the city intended to take during the convention.
The price was high.
-Dick Goik
S.F. Good TimeslUPS

injured.
Thc rnovement in Portland is not large, with only about
100 who devote their full time to some type of radical activity. And likc thc movement elsewhere it is highly fragmented, containing representatives of every ideologicai
stripc.
Planning for tlre People's Army Jamboree reflected the
factions. The Portland movement didn't get completely
behind it untii three weeks prior to the convention. And then
the various factions agreed to work together only through a
loose coordinating committee which attempted to pull the
strings togetl.rer.
, Aside lrom press releases issued to the underground media
around tlre country, no attelllpt was made to contact radical
groups elsewhere. The Sky River Rock Fcstival sponsored
by the Seattle Liberation Front drained off Northwest radicals just as Vortex drew the local hips. Vague attempts
were rnade to coordinatc with Sky ll.iver but they never
panned out.
In addition to Vortex. the Portland establishment showed
itself very adept at dealing with the Jamborce itself. The
Jamboree organizers had planned a counter n.rarch to be
held Monday, the same day as the big Legion parade . The
city said no but instead of banning all nrarches gave perrnits
for two-one for Sunday and another for Tuesday. What
could bc more reasonable. The Jalnborce wanted campgounds in Washington Park at the centcr of town. The city
said no because all downtown parks were to be closed for
the convention. Instead the city offercd Delta Park, located
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Brad Lytfle

Saturday, Sept. 5, I spent with the Vietnam veterans who
were marching from Morristown N.J. to Valley Forge to
dramatize their opposition to the war. Called Operation
RAW (Rapid American Withdrawal), the project was organized by Vietnam Veterans Against the War, a New York
based group. Sponsors included George McGovern, Jane
Fonda and Mark Lane (Mark was with the march).
About 75 began the march Friday morning. By late afternoon, they had covered )f miles to their campsite on a
farm. When I arrived at the clmpsite, early Saturday morning, there were only a sn'rall Hertz van and about six people, a cleanup and food team, filling some cans with water.
The rest of the marchers had left some 20 minutes earlier.
The campsite was immaculate. Every scrap of trash had
been gathered and put in plastic bags.
I hadn't driven more than a mile in pursuit of the marchers when their position was suggested by a small helicopter. Going further, I came upon a line of men in uniform, marching along the left side of the road. Most carried
plastic M-16 rifles, sorne with flowers sprouting from their
barrels. One girl with a canteen trudged with them. I drove,
to the head of the column and said hello to Al Hubbard, a
tail, black vet, one of the Coordinators. Al had a walkietalkie and a shorthaired, grey police dog. He welcomed me
and said the project was going well. Driving further, I
stopped and took pictures as the marchers passed. Many
smiled and gavc the V sign.
20

Brad Lyttle

At a small village along the march, the lead platoon
peeled off and rushed a railroad station. Ii was guerrilla theater.
They pounced on two "civilians", accused them of being
"Gooks", threw them up against a truck and frisked them,
then bound one with rope, all the time threatening to kill
them if they didn't talk. Riflemen guarded the staiion during
the action. Townspeople looked on astonished.
Shortly after leaving the town, the vets almost had a real
battle. An angry or frightened farmer lowered a shotgun on
them. Police took the farmer into custody.
The next guerrilla theatre incident was scheduled for
Flemington, N.J. Using cars and trucks, we shuttled the marchers to a point about a mile shy of the town;it happened
to be near a river. Several of the vets and one nurse lost little time in stripping and plunging into the river, where they
paddled about in delight. Everyone watched and learned. The
action seemed most sensible.
The march resumed and passed a fair on the outskirts of
Flemington. People waiting to enter the fairgrounds-and
many passing motorists-took leaflets.
In Flemington, one platoon rushed the post office and took
two girls, who happened to be with the Friends peace Committee, into custody. Another platoon surprised two ..VC
sympathizers" on the court house steps, shot one and left
him bleeding. The other they kicked and,beat, and threatened
to kill unless he confessed. They tied his hands and ran him
along the sidewalk, stopping from time to time to resume

the threats and beatings. ..Kill the Gook! Give me his ears!,,
Townspeopie watched silently. About eight youngsters
in
sports uniforms fell in with the group wiitr tire prisoner
and
watched the brutality wide eyed. Boih guerrilla theatre
hap_
penings were so heavily infiltrated by photographers
that
they seemed a little unreal
Beyond the torvn, the vets stoppeil in a field for lunch.
__
Their.vehicles were parked and the food was being
distri
buted when the owner of the field, crew cut, short sleeved
shirt and all, came out and ordered thenr off. He stood glo*"

ering beside his car until everyone had left.
The march proceeded on foot and by shuttle to the
out_
..
skirts of Stockton, on the Delaware River. All together,
they
walked into the center of the town and met a contingent
from MAN (Making a Nation), iim Bevel,s Baltirnore_based
group, that was on its own walk to the U.N. to protest
gene
cide. Together, the two groups crossed the River on the
Cen_
ter Bridge and held a rally in pennsylvania, where Jirn,
Al Hubbard and others spoke.
Three miles further on, the day,s rnarch ended in huge
a
field. Knowing what the marchers would want at the end of
their trek, I asked the owner of tlte field if there was a swim_
ming pool nearby. He directed me to a property just across
the road, owned by a Mr. Malcolm Croots.'Ur.
Crooks turned
out to be a Quaker, a World War II conscientious objector,
and a conservationist. He took me to see the pond nearby.
on the b-ack ofhis parents, property. The pond, nestled
in a
secluded valley, was incredible,about 20Ofeet wide, with
grassy banks, a raft, a boat and a dressing pavilion.

The 150 or so marchers dragged themselves to the field,
learned about the pond and beiook themselves
to it, aimost
en masse. There, men and women, blacks and whites,
stripped and plunged in. The water was cool and clean.
A
perfect ending for a h Afterwards, there was supper of beans, tomatoes, bread,
beer fbr those who walte{ i:t, and other things. Then,
sing_
ing led by one of the MAN people. l,f ost of tte
rnen and wo.
men had paired ofT. Tents sprouted around the field
and
people gathered to talk.
I
after say.ing goodbye to Al and Scott and thanking
. , left
Mr. Crooks for the use of his pond. I{e was under ro*, prJr_
sure from his neighbors because of the natural scene bui
seemed completely ready to defend it.
I don't know what the impact of the proiect was. Satur_
day, the Times gave it a friendly, page : irticle. The
article

Sunday,_page 6, reported many of the vets were discouraged.

Within the march, the spirit and camaraderie were high.
dne
thoughtful Quaker who was helping with the food and
other
practical matters, said he thought it might be good
for men
lvho so recently had been killing otheri"to wolk out their
feelings on such a project. Although I was with the
march
for about l4 hours, I never could get used to the notion that
these young men, indistinguishable from college
students,

had been killing*but that is another absurditliof war.
All
they were interested in was life. The government had made
their business death'
Brod

Lyttle

Brad Lytile

2l

r1

injustices suffered

by

Palestinians,

and-

incredibly-for the Arab governments' devotion of a substantial part of their re-

ul
Il|[
wIN scems to havc approachcd the
Middle East with biases of its.own..lts.
June 15th issue prcsentcd a distortcd picture of thc situation which is not conducive to thc dcvelopment by pacitists of a

hclpful role in the conflict.

In rebuking Bayard

sources to destroying Israel rather than to
improving the well-being, economic and
social conditions, etc. of their peoples.
What is most malicious about Russell's

statement is that he seems-particularly in
the concluding sentence-to exclude the
Jews of Israel ln toto; in effect to deny
their humanity. My sense of the value of
a pacifist approach is that it seeks to restore a much-needed attitude of humanity
towards all peoples. (Amos Kenan's "A

satirical plays by Hanokh Levine, the
playwright in question. More important is
that the Israeli governrnent deliberately
chose no, to apply pressure or economic
sanctions on the theatre. Indeed, Abba
Eban said of this incident:
I am for the right of all citizens to
show and express in words ideas which
repel me. I do not have to go and see
the show, but I am worried over the
efforts to silence a show by force, in
place

of

vigorous

criticism

.There

us into a Sparta, he will have achieved

community.)
When it comes

pushed us one inch back.

Is-

ions in our society by the defense of
tolerance, even under conditions of war.

If our

enemy

a military

will

success

succeed

in

turning

without having

WIN's reproduction of the item withrael today, WIN is even less helpful. In
Allan Solomonow's otherwise thoughtful out comment, as if to say 'it speaks for
article, he suinmarily asserts that "Israelis itself", seems to be nothing more than
are subject to ridicule and blacklisting for taking a cheap pot-shot at Israel. It is hard
. .expressions of hope for a Palestinian to perceive any redeeming value in doing
state." On the contrary, Simha Flapan,
this, other than it expresses WIN's editors'
editor of the Tel Aviv monthly New Out- apparent readiness to bolieve the worst
look, writes that "One of the hopeful
about Israel.
signs in an increasingly hopeless situation
Instcad, we should be appealing "to
is the fact that Israelis are still able to
the positive and creative elements of both
debate their problems freely and passion- sides," as Igal exhorts Rustin et al. I,ve
ately." An important minority in Isracl- intimated some positive aspects of the lsperhaps the majority of the country's in- raeli scene here; more basically, there is
tellectuals, according to lsraeli journalist the constant concern and effort on the
Yochanan Peres on a cBS "Lamp Unto
part of rcsponsible Israelis to keep their
My [:eet" program-recogirizes the existence young people from becoming dehumanized
of a Palestinian people and their right to and militaristic (that is, glorifying war),
self-determination. Golda Meir's rejection and to prevent hatred and encourage unof their claims does not make them moot derstanding towards thc Arabs. Non-hatin Israel, any more than issues here are red of the Arabs, reports Amnon Rubinbecause Nixon puts them down.
stein, is "the established social norm, the
Among those giving support to Pales- result of a conscious effort." He describes
tinian national aspirations are Arieh Eliav, a recent television program in which six
Moshe Dayan, und Ministe,

of Education

Yigal Allon. iliav, secretary General of
Is;cl's largest party, Mapai has said: ,.Let
the Arab pcople know that we shall never
suppress ttre iigtrt of the Palestinians for

Israel children, ag*s 91o ll, were asked
whether they hated Arabs. They all replied in the negative and said ihey

wouldn't mind befriending an Arat child
their age. "Their replies," comments Ruself-determination and that we are ready binsteii i.may not necessarily attest their
to hclp them establish a state in which trucr foelings, but they do piove that althey will find fulfillment for thcir naready at this early age the children felt
tional aspirations." Dayan, according to an that this was the sort of answer expected
article in the June, li'70 Commentary, has of them by the adult world and that
matle ssveral abortive attempts to esiablish hating the Arabs is 'not the thing to do' ".

other
black spokesmen
urging, U'S'.support
of Israel, Igal Roodenko asks: "ls thcre
nothing elsc you can say about the Mideast except to urge support of onc side
against thc other?" (wRL News' Julyliaison with Palestinian leaders on the
af,pearing betbre a student audience in
August) The question is equally addrcs- west Bank.
tet eviv, Mlshe Dayan recited an outsable to wIN' to the cxtent that wlN's
wlN's reproduction of the news item spokenly nationalistit palestinian poem,
editors consider Bcrtrand Russell's. state- reporting thi closing of an Israeli play is tiren went on to say:
ment (p' 10). an important contribution misleading and dece-ptive. For one thing,
We have to makc an utmost effort to
to understanding the Middle East. Here is the closing *u, u uniqu. exception to an
establish contacts with the million Aa one-sided picture of the conflict which atmosphere of passionite and extensive
rabs with whom we livc and next to
prosents uncritically that expressed by
cxpression of ideas and dissent in all Iy
whom we are destined to live. We have
Palestinian commando groups: the source raeli media-including, as reported by
to come and understand their backof the conflict is seen entirely in Israel's Amnon Rubinstoin ln the New Yori
ground, their emotional climate, whether
"expansionism" and "militarism", and Is- Times Magazine (Sl3ll7}), the production
we like it or not. I know only too well
rael is considered solely responsible for the,of several anti-war plays as weli as other
that at this stage, at first, thii will be
lbr

22

Rustin and

oti
abol

is nothing more important than prcserving freedom and a variety of opin-

Letter to All Good People", which is
available from the Jewish Peace Fellowship,
very effectively presents a radical Israeli's
reaction to being excluded from the human

to the temper of

genr

phe;

T

I

T

I

A

Rub,
abou

prog
Chie
usua

unifi

R

guidr
studt

byc

"No,
gun.'

gunnot?
gun-l

tenti
becar

anh

Iwo
shoo'

T
make

that
pathl

the
the

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surel;
recoS

bring
peac€

Yet

r

cryf

the I

remai
In

was

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sectir

the

c

nites,

Kurd

a one-way road: even if we understand
part of Jerusalem-and
them, they will not understand us. But 'from the Eastern
concluded with Debka Rafiach, a dance
even so. we have to go and listen to
of defiance, performed by soldiers in unithem in the hope that one day they
form. The dance ended with two lines of
will listen ro us.
soldiers facing each other, and

The. songs and poetry of the young
generation of Israelis reflect this itmoiphere; they ate anti-war, not chauvinistic

or anti-Arab. One
about peace goes:

of the popular

songs

at

this

point tractors pulling cars of childr.':r
drove up to the stage. The chdrlrc;i lln

between the soldiers, putting flowers at
their feet. Then they opened little baskets
and white doves flew towards the sky.
-Madeline and Robert Cxbet

Let the sun nse
Let the morning light in
Sing only a song for peace
Don't whisper prayers
tsetter sing a song for peace
From the top of your voice

r
\

Sing a song for love, not war
Don't say some day it'll come
Bring us now this day
lecause it's not a dream
And in every street. hail only peace

Not that it gets you very far, though it
does get you beyond the naive and essentially
ahti-semitic (it's just

Chief Education Officer, and that it is
usually performed in the. frontlines by
uniformed soldiers."
Recently, an Israeli madricha (counselor/
guide) to summer school English-speaking
students at Hebrew University was asked
by one student to pose for a picture.
"No," she said firmly, "not with the
gun," (She is carrying her zzi-machine
.

gun-in accordance with Regulations.) Why
not? "I do not want to perpetuate the
gun-toting Israeli girl image. I have no intention of using the gun,

it

I

carry

it

only

is required. I don't consider it
an honor to be a soldier, but a necessity,

I

would rather shoot myself than have to
shoot anyone else."
The point is not that therefore it
makes sense for her to carry a gun, but
that in this and other expressions of empathy and amtimilitarism are elements of
the lsraeli national consciousness which
the reconciliation in the Middle'East would
surely want to capitalize on. Of course,
recognizing this

will not, of

course,

bring us closer to the achievement of
peace with justice in the Middle East.
Yet one encounters in Israel an insistent
cry for peace; if this is not an asset to
the peacemaker, what hope for peace
remains?

In June, 1968, a folk-dance festival

was held at Kubbutz Dalia in Israel. One
section consisted of danc':s presentcd by
the different ethnic living jn lsrael-Yemenites, Kurdistanti, MorocCans, Cochin,

Kurds, Druze, and a new group

of

This tilne-and I wrote it by the way-I don't.
In particular I don't reckon the suggestion
that my approach is poles apart from the spirit of the AIrSC's "Search for Peace in the
Middle East", "To ignore or to deny the essential rights of one group will lead to the ultimate destruction of the other," they said: I
wrote "At the heart of the confusion is a
question of injustice and . . .no solution can
come without righting that injustice." I suppose I should have said "no just solution",
but with that amendment, anyone want to
disagrce?

Rubenstein remarks: ':The remarkable fact
about this song is that it comes from a
program of an army entertainment troupe
. . .that its lyrics are approved by the

because

So Allan Solomonow and the editors (letters September 1) think that the Peace News
intro to Bertrand Russell's last public statement "ieft much sensitivity to be desired."
Half the time when someone flays me for
something I've written I find myseli agreeing.

1.

2.

SUGGESTED ARTICLES
Shlomo Avineri, "The Palestinians and lsrue|". Commentary, lune 197 0, pp. 3l-44.
Burton Bernstein, "Letter from Israel".
The New Yorker, Nov. 29, 1969, pp. 133-

157.

3.

4.

Yeshoshaphat Harkabi, "The Palestinians
in the Israel-Arab Confricl." Midstream,
March, 1970, pp. 3-13.
"Israel and the Palestinians; A Discussion"'

Midstream, April, 1970, pp,42-58.
Mendel Kohansky, "The Case of the Dispossessed Queen", Mids#eam, Atg-Sept,,
1970, pp. 75-78.
6. Ammon Rubinstein, "Israel Asks, 'Ma
Ihieh Hassof? What will be the end?".
New York Times Magazine , May 31, l9'10,
pp. 5-45.
The articles by Avineri and Harkabi are
especially recommended as thoughful, informative, and unhysterical analyses of the nature of the Middle East conflict, with the
authors' strggestions of an appropriate Israeli
viewpoint and response to Palestinian aspirations "Israel and the Palestinians" is an interview with Harkabi and two other Israel re
serve Army generals, originally printed in the
lsraeli newspaper Ha'aretz, in which each in
his own way relates to the latter question.
The article by Kohansky discusses the
furor created in Israel by the play which was
the subject of the Irrnes article reproduced in
WIN, and the reaction to it by lsraeli govemment officials'

5.

-

I,l

. & R. c.

as

much antisemitism to

be anti-Arab) Zionism of Sammy Schwartz in
the same issuc in which connection I'd point

out that the piuallel lsn'f with Americans being in Vietnam, it's with Americans being in
America. Simple solutions like getting the
hell out just don't apply. But I digress.
Is the criticism that I didn't in a brief
introduction spell out precisely how far I
went with Russell's reasoning and rhetoric?
"It doesn't say anything new, it doesn't deal
with important aspects of the conflict (such
as the cynical role of outside powers in manipulating and exploiting the situation)." Did I
really have to elaborate more? To criticise the
lack of any attack on the way many Pales
tinians have chosen to carry out their struggle?
Did I have to say that by "outside states" I
included Arab governments as well as the
USSR and the US? Readers can surely be
expected to do that kind of stuff themselves.
Right, Russell's style is craggy and angrythe style of a nonagenarian radical rvho's re'
acting to the news of an air raid in which
scores of civilians have been massacred. I
wouldn't write his way, I couldn't write his
way, and I disagree with what he said some of
the way.
But on the central issue I agree with him,
and I don't see how any genuine radical or
pacifist can disagree: "It is abundantly clear
that the refugees have every right to the home.
land from which they have been driven" (NB
that doesn't imply an exclusive right), "and
the denial of that right is at the heart of the
continuing conflict . . .A permanent just settlement'of the refugees in their homelands is
an essential ingredient of any genuine settlement in the Middle East."
Kevin McGrath
Peoce News

,."r:r"?';f:;fk#'

Arabs

23

Constitrrtiona,l Conrrention
held inPhilly

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LNS

which ordered the police to respect people's constitutional

Qn lun"

9 the Black Panther Party held a press conference
in Washington. D.C. to announce that there would be a
Revolutionary People's Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia over Labor Day weekend. All "revolutionary
peoples," meaning all colonized people and other progressive forces in the country were invited to participate in the
drafting of a new Constitution; a Constitution which would
insure the rights of a// oppressed people in the society-the
black, the brown, the red, the poor and women.
About 5,000 people arrived in Philadelphia on the weekend of September 5-7. Philadelphia at that time was on the
edge of crisis. The weekend before one policeman had been
killed and two more wounded. Police Commissioner Rizzo,
by now famous across the country, had conducted a campaign of terror in the black community over the weekendharassing and arresting suspects and black leaders. This campaign culminated in raids on three Black Panther Party off ices. Fifteen people (not all of them Panthers) were held
on a combined bail of 1.4 million dollars and two of the
off ices were ransacked and furniture, plumbing and personal items were removed. Photographs appeared in the newspapers of the men stripped naked in the middle of the

street in order to be searched for "concealed weapons."
The charges were not related to the shooting of policemen,
although the raid took place because one of the suspects
had allegedly attended a meeting at the Panther office. They
were charged with assault of police which took place during
a shoot out when they were raided. with f irearms violations
and with conspiracy.

By the time of the convention some small victories had
been won. The Panthers were released on bail ranging from
$1,000 to $5,000 per person. A liberal judge, Judge Fulham
granted a restraining order on the police for the weekend
24

rights.

All day Friday people arrived in the city from all over
the country and registered at the Church of the Advocate
in North Philadelphia. lt wasn't until that afternoon the
McGonigal Hall at Temple University was finally granted
for plenary sessions on Saturday and Sunday. Pressure from
legislators, as well as from Police Commissioner Bizzo, had
been put on Temple's administration for weeks to try and
keep the convention from taking place there. But on Saturday people crowded into McGonigle Hall, after the monitors had been briefed on security. All people entering the
hall were frisked. That morning planned workshops were
discarded because the convention was at least two hours
behind schedule and people heard Michael Tabor, of the
New York 21 speak for 2/z hours before breaking for dinner.
Tabor outlined a radical history of the U.S. Constitution,
to expose its racist and class nature and to relate the ways
in which certain groups of people in the society have still
not gained their rights as defined by the present Constitution.
Saturday evening even more people arrived at the hall to
hear Huey Newton, the Black Panther Party's Minister of
Defense, recently released from prison on $50,000 bail,
speak. Thousands more people from Philadelphia arrivednot just radicals but black people off the street, freaks and
middle class housewives piled into the auditorium and stood
outside with transistor radios to hear Huey. Huey arrived
on the platform amidst great cheers and "right-ons" from

the crowd, surrounded by security guards from the Panther Party. A sister from the Party, Audria Jones from
Boston, and Charles Garry also spoke. But next to Huey
the other speeches were pale. Huey read the preamble to
the new Constitution, already drafted by the Party. He
spoke in a clear, simple manner, devoid of rhetoric or slo-

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gans. The first part of that preamble
is the present Declaration of lndependence. The rest
of it outtines the need for
a new Constitution.which will grant
oppressed peoples in
this country the right to life, liberty and
the pursuit of
happiness as well as the right to seti_Oetermination.
He des_
cribed a new society based on a socialist
economy which
wou ld be non -rac ist, n on_ m per ialirt rn-O' i
Huey expressed a desire for peace, and said"n_oppresstve.
that the real
forces of violence do nbt come from
black people or white
radicals, but rather from the forces of
the state, as exem_
plified by its actions in Vietnam and in
the black community at home. lf the liberation of oppressed peoples
comes
in a violent manner, it is because the state
will not allow that
liberation any other way. he said. He also
said that power
must truly be given to the poeple,
and not to the party or
any other small group of peopie.
During this time therewere hardly any police
in sight.
But later, people returned to the Churcfrloi
ttre Advocate
in the hope of seeing Huey again. people
were crammed
into the street, not able to fit in the Church
and began to
get pissed off when Huey did not
appear_ police cari began
.\ to appear on the street. But members of the panther
Party cooled down the crowd, reminding-,h.,
that they
were in the middle of the black
which would
"o.rrnity,
suffer for any action that took place
there.
The next day was devoted to workshops.
About fifteen
workshops were held, on self-determination
for national
minorities, for women. for street people and
for gay people,
on the control and use of production, and
of the military
and police, on the family and rights of
children and on
health, among others. Each workshop produced
a short
paper which was read to the plenary
session that evening.
ln some ways this wa.s the most exciting moment,
as people
began to see the outlines of a new socieiy
appear. ln this
new society workers control the means
of production, and
women and blacks are not discriminated
against. The
police lre elected for shor periods
of timeiiom the com_
munity and are not armed. There is no standing
army and
an army cannot be sent to another area
of the world with_
out the approval of the entire population. Education
is
liberating and children are treated as real
human beings.
Child care is guaranteed. people are granted
the right to
free sexual expression. These reportr-t.o.
ii," workshops
were given to a continuations committee
which will draft
the document which is to be ratif ied at another
convention
in November, probably in Washingtor,
D.C.
By Sunday night many people had left
the city and by
Monday afternoon philadelphia was empty again.
Huey,s
speech and some of the workshops
were undoubtedly the
most fulfilling of the weekend. Many people
were questioning whether it was truly
a revolutiona.y;,p"opt"r,, conven.
tion, however, since the control of the Ejlack p;"il";F;;ty'
was so clear. The document which
comes out of this will
probably be a good one and wi[ incrude
the reports from
the workshops which everyone had participated
in. But no
one can deny that the Convention was
also a propaganda
tool for the Black panther party. lt was good'propaganda_
i

it showed a peaceful, constructive.tt"r[t to.serve people,s
needs. There is no doubt that it is the
kind of propaganda

which-the Party needs. to begin to combat
the view of the
Black Panther party as seen in the establishment press
and
in the actions of police departments around
the

LNS

country.
_Dina portnoy

25

to

be written off as hopeless to these
tasks; instead he saw that when and in-

Black Beconstruction
The Black Jacohins
The lLlaking of the English
Working Class

if

American society could be reconstructed fully, in preparation for
the final socialist struggle, depended
precisely upon the degraded white
deed

of the

There are three works which, without doubt, will survive the mass of me-

counterpart

diocre historical and political documents of the twentieth century written in our language. They are worth
more than most of American historio-

racy that has not been surpassed, lay
the key to the American promise and

graphy combined, and a few comments
about them should indicate what Hi-

story at its best is, and what we can
learn from it. Not surprisingly, two of
the books are by black men and relate
the significance of the whole of Western hemispheric history to the struggles of blacks for self-liberation'. Black
Reconstruction by W.E.B. DuBois, and

The Black Jacobin by C.L.R. James.
The other may surprise American radicals, but should be more natural to
those familiar with the Marxist tradi-

tion: The Making of the English

Wor-

king Class, by Edward P. Thompson.
Black Reconstruction comes closer
to the saga of American civilization
than any other single work; as C.L.R.
James has said, it is one of the greatest
history books ever written. DuBois'

life's work of studying American
blacks and their efforts at self-liberation led to the book, which masterfully lays open the turning point of American history in the vast revolution
unloosed by the Civil War and the tragic success of America's rulers in holding back the introduction of demo-

cracy and solidarity into white
black workers' relations.

and

ln

1938, DuBois grasped what few American histo-

rians (and only a few more radicals)
understand three decades since: that
the degradation of Blacks and their alienated labor was of central importance
to the unfolding of American civilization; and that their struggles of self-liberation were a determining element,
especially when aided by a democracy-

minded minority of white Americans.
He did not, however, draw the conclusion that white people were rn general
25

black freedman.
Here, DuBoisunderstood with an accu-

American dilemma. ln the stirrings and
agonies of the mass of the population.
in the changes of the daily lives of ordinary folk, was the central historical evidence which was more difficult to study than the election of presidents or
changes in the GNP but also infinitely

had perpetrated upon the slaves. Most
of all, Black Jacobins shows that the
revolt of the slaves was both a national
experience and an international experience. affecting the development of a
peculiar culture and distinctiveness in
the West lndies and altering the course
of world history in the slaves'defeat of
the British armies. ln his postscript,
"From Toussaint to Fidel Castro,"
James shows that the genius of the
West lndian people has been suppressed
and degraded by whites, and later by
black bourgeois leadership, but that it
lives on-and, one day, under the black
masses' initiative

will triumph.

E.P. Thompson has produced the
work which may be least acceptable to

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American radicals because he takes the
worker as a person for whom one must
have concrete empathy and historical
understanding. His Making of the En-

Be)

glish Working C/ass does not merely
catalogue the rise and fall of unions,

An

parties, leaders and economic conditions. Rather, it looks behind the cur-

more valuable. lndeed, in the conclu- tain of "proper" documentation used
sions from such a study lay the basis by bourgeois and radical historians to
for optimism or pessimism toward the find in the songs. rituals, religion and
future of radicalism, and much of the day-today habits of the workers the
grounds for tactical-strategic assess- meaning of their lives. He attempts to
mentl Decades before American Com- f ind what the workers themselves
meant by "Class," how they saw the
munists and New Leftists mechanically
proposed the lines of independent world and how they tried to overcome
Black struggle, DuBois had explained the problems they faced. ln so doing,
that while the Black fate might ulti- Thompson projects the fundamental
mately depend upon the response of rotion of what a Marxist understanding
the white workers, Blacks could under of any class-but especially the working
no circumstances wait for the white class-must be: an assessment of real
labor movement to push their demands lives, including aspects (like religion)
which radicals have ordinarily degraded
forward.
James' Black Jacobins similarly re- below discussion; a study of the national
flects its greatness in its treatment of nal and international qualities of worordinary people as they are, full of ca- king class culture; and above all an atpacities that ruling classes (and gener- titude of respect and interest which
ally their opponents, the radical par- makes the very existence of the Maties) never fully understand. ln Tous- king of the English Working C/ass an
saint L'Overture, James portrays the exemplary challenge to radicals to unleader as a cbmposite of his people's derstand what they would change.
These three books stand out because
virtues: not a man without fault, as a
the
body of historical writing in the
pictures
Korea's
today
Guardian book
Kim ll Sung; not a person who either United States is so thoroughly medisimply "gloriously led" or "miserably ocre in its narrow-minded formalism.
betrayed" the people as American its self-seeking and pompous "profesCommunist labor histories have read; sionalism," its clinging to old methobut a man who, facing certain obsta- dologies and the whole weight of its
cles and possessing certain talents, set past which reduces even fine cameo
forth to do a job. Neither does James efforts ("monographs") to studies with
hide the slaves' barbaric retributions no implied significance. DuBois has
against their former owners-he only suffered almost complete neglect until
points out that their barbarism was a the most recent years iruhen mainstream
dim reflection of the day-to-day and historians have hailed him as a "black"
hour-to-hour barbarism that the rulers scholar. James' work has been ignored

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becauseof his "bias" and his "Trotskyism". Thompson's study has been accorded a certain dignity, but scarcely

with the present day historian's

reader's boredom; while those in the

him humanity while writing history.

rela-

tionships with the outside world, uncriItically arralyzing the question of obfollowed methodologically or read by jectivity, refusing to consider the hithose "pro-working class" radicals who
storian as a human being. In short,
need his understanding most.
this course, like most graduate courOnly with a far larger number of ses, raised no professionally embarrasinsightful American history texts than sing questions.
we now have, can radicals easily make
Howard Zitn's The Politics ctf Hi.
up their own intellectual deficiencies. s/orJ, raises such issues. Noting that
Efforts made with existing academic historians publish while others perish,
works run into the problem of sheer Zinn wants the historian to remember

"Left"

magazines proper f ind the bull-

shit and self-fulfilling ldeology of

"History" of

PL
Socialism, Young Socia-

l'st "His1ory" of the New Left, etc.
There aie only a very few particular
studies,' such as David Montgomery's

Beyond E qual ity, or Wil I iam Appleman
Williams' Contours of American History
(and most recently, his Origins of the
American Empirel which reveal the extraordinary talents of men who sincerely strive to pose the great questions of
American history and attempt to solve
them.

Such works as those of Thompson,
James, DuBois, lVlontgomery and Williams are extremely useful, in fact essential to read. Yet they do not cover
the totality of American history, especially of social history; rather, they
suggest (to use Williams'word) the "con-

tours" of how good history could

be

written if enough capable and dedicated
radicals (and the few competent academic non-radicals) set out to do the

job.

Paul Buhle

*

James' autobiographical work, Beyond a
Boundary (London, f96l), is in fact a social
history of cricket in the West Indies. His
study of sport has been tragioally ignored by
American radicals interested in our own
sports.

** For a seminal study of DuBois,

see

Radical America, XIV, no. 8 (November,
1970), an entire issue given over to ..Ameri.
can Radical History."

The Politics

of

History
Howard Zinn
Beacon Press $7.50
The first course I, like most histori-

in graduate school was a
historiography. Reading the
masters, tracing the development of the
art from the unsophisticated teleological works of former historians to the
ans, took

course

in

sophisticated academic studies of con-

temporary scholars, we started to become professionals." The course
dulled part of the mind, failing to deal

History, he argues, has one social justification beyond mere entertainment:
improving the human condition. These
are not very radical thoughts, but universities have been brought to the barricades over them, for they go to the
heart of what students mean when
they demand relevance.

Many academics will protest that
they agree with Zinn's goals and that

their work, although not always the
work of other pedants, will ultimately
benefit mankind. All knowledge, they
assert, is socially useful. One need not
challenge this proposition to suggest
that some works may possess a greater

social

utility than others. As

Zinn

notes, the less historians conceive of
all issues as being equally in need of
study, and the less they focus on. discrete events to the exclusion ofgenera-

lized phenomena, the more they will
contribute to the solution of human
problems.

These academicians conceive of
their studies as detached scholarship,
analogous to "pure research" in the
physical sciences. Zinn's proposals,
they will probably argue, will undermine the integrity of their work by
making it "present-minded" and will
make it less meaningful in the long run
by focusing on faddish issues. This accusation rests on two dubious propc
sitions. Although modern history traces some of its roots to the detached
research of Eighteenth and Nineteenth
century patricians,

it

is written and re-

in an entirely different social
context. The imperatives of position
and prestige as well as those of ideo
ceived

log1l and accepted methodology make
all history present-minded.

Equally important, the analogy between "pure research" in history and
in the physical sciences does not hold.

Historical knowledge is not cumulative-the compounding of historical research does not necessarily lead to historical breakthroughs. In fact, unne-

cesSary research

often beclouds pro

of other
scholars. Because they lack common
conceptual schemes and research designs, most historical works can neither
be comparednor built upon each other.
Wthout a common rigorous methodology there can be little advance. More
research and more writings mean more
jobs and prestige, not necessarily more
useful knowledge, either in the short
or long run.
Irrelevancy is bad enough, but what
blems and wastes the time

really angers Zinn is the sociopolitical
functions of trivial work.
History is not inevitably useful. It
can bind us or free us. It can destroy compassion by showing us the
world through the eyes of the comfortable .It can oppress any resolve to act by mountains of trivia,
by diverting us into intellectual
games, by pretentious'interpretations' which spur contemplation rather than action, by limiting our vi-

sion to an endless story of disaster
and thus promoting cynical withdrawal, by befogging us with the
encyclopic eclecticism of the standard textbook.

History either activates or pacifies;
most American history pacifies. Consistently most American historians discuss social mobility without mentio-

ning the Black man, analyze Wilson's
New Freedom without dealing with
his segregation of the government, recount the New Deal and forget the
sharecroppers, write about the peaceful and basically benign nature of American foreign policy while omitting
the experience of the American Indian
and our Latin American neighbors,
speak of the inhumanity of the Axis
power and neglect ot plug into their
equations the A-bombs, fire-bombs,
Japinese Americans, and allied-disarmed resistance fighters. Such history,
whether intended or not, represses.
One can understand readily the etiology of such history. The scholar,

after all, is human, an{ his work

re-

flects his social, economic and cultural
milieu-usually white, middle-class, urban, American. The danger of bias, inherent in a1l the social sciences is aggravatedby the nature ofhistorical evidence. Not only does an open+nded
data pool permit the historian to unconsciously select data which reinfgrce
his attitudes, but the most readily accessible sources-newspapers,. manuscripts, political documents-usually reflect middle and upper-class percep27

tions and sensibilities. Unless he bends
over backwards or unless his methodology controls for his predispositions,
the hiptorian will write elitist history.

Zifn suggests a paradoxical check
for the problem of trivia and bias:

value laden history. Values-not parochial values such as nation and party,
but generalized values which all historians share such as peace and equality-should consciously affect the na-

ture of studies. To those who would
complain that the infringement of such
values would distort scholarship, Zinn
replies that values should only impinge
on works at their beginning and end.

Values should dictate the questions,
not the answers, they should change

historical works from passive works
which have no intended relation to action to engagee works whose ultimate
meaning can only be understood within the context of social action. His method, Zinn might also note, would not
change "objective" history into biased
history, it would transmute biased hi-

story with unanticipated social consequences

into self-consciously value la-

den history with at least some intended
consequences.
Obviously, this fertile suggestion only
.

partially solves the problems raised.

If

the social roots, structural position,
drives and aspirations of historians do
not change, one should not anticipate
a revolution in their work. As long as
the historian remains an autocrat in the
classroom, having or espousing an mandarin relationship with political and
social elites and fearing the loss thereof, his works will not change much in
spite of espoused generalized values.
Perhaps I have raised a red herring,
tor Zinn does not expect all historians
to change. He persuasively argues that
the issue is one of proportion; histori-

ans write too much trivial ivory-towered history and not enough socially
meaningful action-oriente d history. The
book, I think, should be viewed not
only as a call for radical history, but
also as a defense of it and as a'treatise
on its practice.
Here too, however, those same warnings apply. Too often the radical historian remains an elitist, both in the
classroom and in his relationships to
ongoing struggles. As Robert Michels
once warned, the revolutionary intellectual, motivated by the cerebra and
not by the viscera, can be dangerous.
He can call for a general strike and

,8

then sit back and eat his stored food; of deriving answers. The danger ofgethe can precipifate repression and in ting bogged-down in such questions remany cases not only manage to insu- mains, but if we remember the goal, we
late himself from it, but gain prestige won't
Zinn did and he walked the tightby writing about his participation. The
center and right have no monopoly on rope well. The thirteen essays in the
second part of the book demonstrate
Dr. Strangelove.
Nor do they, as Zinn notes, write this. This is relevant history, dealing
the only bad history. Radical history with important issues, analyzing them
should not be party history, not should cleariy, unpretentiously conceptual!
its goal be the creation of revolutionary
myths. Such history is elitist and oppressive, if only because it manipulates.
Radical history should not be traditional history in a radical cloak: nor
should it be an escape from action under a new guise. I fear that we will
soon see an increase in such pseudo-radical history, for the systematic and
social imperatives to adopt such a radical style have increased. When universities commencd hiring token radiwhen publishing houses start seeking
radicals editors, when it pays to adopt
the style of radicalism, watch out.

de-

veloped hypotheses. The social analyst

NC

th

na

na

an

ha

re!

enable them to better deal with reality.
I recommend it.
Dnid Osher

ar(

Bevolutionary

N

dt

th

Ir

de

in
cif

onviolence

Dave Dellinger

in

Bohbs-Merrill $7.50
During the Chicago Conspiracy Tri
al,it was the contention of Prosecuting
Attorney Thomas Foran that although
Dave Dellinger had publicly stated one

ho
hn
vo

has devoted his

whole being to inspired

hypocrisy.

the stakes are higher in

With all the talk about differing
engagee history, I have one major com- life-styles, it becomes a dangerous error
plaint with Zinn's book: his apparent to think in superficial terms: Dellinger
belittlement of methodological pro- has short hair and wears a tie instead
blems. Certainly historians have wasted
of beads, yet he is hipper than most
too much time in trivial and preten- hippies I know.
tious problems while the philosophy of
He was into communal living and
history has become an epistomological
bead game. But this, at least in part,
is because of low stakes; once they are
raised the game changes. Methodolo
gically as well as ethically the state of
professional history is low. Right now,
the best history debunks, the worst,

th
th

profit from reading it, since it would

always walks a tightrope: awareness
To write a regular review would be
and method must balance him. Zinn's
to show off my understanding of his
method does because it reminds the essay. Suffice it to say that Revoluscholar and the consumer that the hi- tionary Nonviolence should be required
storian possesses values and because reading in all high schools and colleges;
the penalties fol "inaccuracy" are grea- it is an entire course in Contemporary
ter in action-oriented history.
Amerikan History for dropouts.
Because

SO

zing, leaclrng one both to understanding
and action, not just providing a cathartic ofgood and bad guys. It is history
for the layman as well as the historian,
for the liberal as well as the radical. In
fact, our friends in Washington could

But radical history need not be,
andin Zinn's case certainly is not, such
history. If action is the means, and the
improvement of the human condition set of attitudes, he had been secretly
the end, one should strive for maximum been secretly thinking another.
objectivity -in answerin_g the questions
Well, this new book ought to prove
one raises. If not, we will mislead both conclusively to Tommy-Poo that Dave
ourselves and others. This, too, is a wasn't being politically twofaced
question of proportion. One cannot merely in preparation for the Demo.
eliminate the perceptual biases. caused cratic Convention, but rather that he
by one's personal experiences and

c0

working before it was fashionable. He
even delivered his wife's babies. And to
have survived prison with increased dedication, humor and compassion indicates a kind of cosmic awareness that
so many of us acid-heads have yet to
achieve.

synthesizes. In order to create socially
Backin the early '40s, he could have
useful historical works we will not only gotten an automatic draft exemption
have to change the nature of the ques- granted to clergy, but he went to jail
tions asked, but also modify the means for refusing to register under the first

ecl

I'N

nat

clo
frie
tec
me

mo
ma

fec

tior

reb
gra

pla

hin
on
ma

Bet
We
gra

din
ma

ful

an(
awi

lati
ear

de;
asu

conscnption law and order. Was it ma-

lieved that the German people had
to honor a corrupt system? failed its great testing by history, that
It would be arrogant to assume every German of heroic quality had
that-particularly in view of his belief already died, and that the country
that a moraf equivalent to war "will should be burnt to ash since there was
not come e{ther by an aloofness from no one left worthy of being called a
the struggle or from a purist condem- German. As with LBJ when he gave
nation of those wl.ro, seeing no alter- up the Presidency, his spine was shaken
native, pick up the rifle or man the to pieces, He surrendered exaltedly to
sochistic

anti-aircraft gun when their country

is

attacked."

his immolation, believing himself immortal, past death of the flesh. lnstead

(Italics courtesy of the Viet Cong, of collapsing, he entered a higher agony
the Black Panthers and your favorite and deliquescence so powerful that he
Indian tribe.)
could no longer even write his name
In Vietnam, he "had seen at first legibly. His belief in divine guidance
hand tirat a people engaged in violent remained unbroken, His last months
resistance to tyranny and aggression were a euphoria of disintegration.
are not automatically corrupted, harThis is quite a contrast to the
dened, and desensitizedby the struggle, upstart politician and failed painter
in the manner outlined in classical pa- with which the book begins. Speer
cifist theory."
draws such wonderfully intimate picDave Dellinger gave up the ministry tures of Hitler, smiling and glad-hanin order 1o becomc an uncompromising ding his way up the ladder, that you
holy man. The Government has accused even get to like him now and then. But
him of being "the architect of the re- by the book's middle there's little
volution." lf thal is true, we can all question that even though the Devil
echo Abbie Hoffman's response: "Then
may be a gentleman at times, he is
I'm proud to live in the basement."
still a frozen soul in torment-Satan
Paul Krassner

INS.IDE THE THIRD REIGH
Memoirs by Albert Speer
MacMillan-$1 2.50-596 pp.

This is the story of the Devil incarnate, told by the only man who was
close enough to have been called his
friend. Albert Speer was Hitler's archi-

tect and later, as minister of armaments, became for awhile the second
most powerful man in wartime Germany. ln these two capacities he perfectly mirrored Hitler's divided ambi-

tions: to conquer the world, and to
rebuild Germany in marble of classic
grandeur. Even during the war, Hitler
placed more 'importance on glorifying
himself in vast, mad architecture than

on winning battles. Priorities for war
materials were placed second to the
Berlin building program even while the
Wermacht was bogged down in Stalingrad. ln the end nearly all the buildings were destroyed and Hitler's permanence in granite turned to vapor.
Speer's rnemoir is swift, long, powerful, written with granite smoothness

and with all superfluous detail sanded

away. The final 150 pages of annihi-

lation, devoted

to H itler's

scorched

earth policy and wild dreams of secret
death rays, as the Third Reich breaks
asunder, are unforgettable. Hitler be-

come with a sword.

ln fact, Hitler's mystical ambitions
bring the reader's imagination to its
highest pitch, as does Speer's relation
to the demon. Speer was Hitler's alter
ego, artist, architect and technician,
having all the abilities Hitler lacked and

for which he thirsted right to

the

marrow. Aspire as he might, Hitler

ld not

TOBA! TORA! TORA!
20th Century Fox
Directed by Bichard Fleischer

& Kinji Fukasaku
The pageant of Pearl Harbor, told
from the American and Japanese viewpoints, is reenacted for 2/z hours in
and Toshio Masuda

this color spectacular and it has an interesting limp until the Japar.rese torpedo planes and fighter-bombers conre

swooping in for the best war-movie
savagery ever filmed. Surely nothing
can equal the convincing and fiery special effects when that quiet Sunday
erupts-there's nothing to compare it
with except the real thing.
Unfortunately too much of the fi1m
has all the high drama ol President

manipulate Speer's spirit

Rossevelt's stamp coilectiori. I've never

and throughout the war Speer's unbreakable integrity remained the keenest thorn in Hitler's ego. Whenever
Hitler wanted to sacrifice the people

seen so many urgent messages, nor
heard as many read aloud. Most of the

for his own grandiosities, Speer stood
up to Der Fuehrer's gibberish with not
always quiet rebuke. Finally, Speer
attempts to assassinate H itler. What
remains is this testament of personal

their paychecks. Nonetheless, I liked
some of them, including George MacReady as Secretary-of-State Cordell

guilt from the Devil's servant.

posed

cou

-Donald Newlove

actors, representing famous personages,

walk through their roles and pick

up

Huli.

The Japanese sequences were

sup-

to be directed by Akiro Kurosa-

wa (Rashomon) but he got the smarts
and never showed up. The Japanese
duo who did do the work are, for the
most part, iikable hacks who turn out
only one great scene: when the attacking planes take off from the Japanese
carriers at dawn and rise into the rising
sun. Then some dlalogue is wheeled in
to explain the symbolism. Even so, the
exoticism of the Japanese military far
outshines the dullness of the American
brass.

Recomnrended

for

December 7th

viewing.

-Donold Newlove
29

charge that the Government was twofaced in taking the land without paying

more
SOUATTING_ITAL!AN STYLE
Rome has 20,000 squatters most of
whom left the city's shanty towns
(population 75.000)

to

occupy any-

thing from luxury flats to
tenements. ln one instance the flats
had been empty since they were built
in 1962-the develoPment ComPanY
went broke and a bank took over but
never rented the block. The squatters
offered to pay what they could affordabout a week on average but the
bank refused. lt would rather have
rundown

them out.
Thousands of flats built during a
boom five years ago are still standing
empty, but squatters face the constant
threat of eviction. Recently, 'l 00 fami-

lies were driven out bY Police with
tear gas. Others, however. have had
promises from the city that they can
stay until new homes are btrilt for
them and take 'pride in repairing and
improving their caPture'.

-The Catonsville Roadrunner
PONTIAC, ILLINOIS HIT BY

DRAFT BAIDEBS
Catonwille 9, Milwaukee 14, Chicago 15, Beaver 55, and now Presenting
the Pontiac 4. Pontiac is a town of

8,400 people in rural lllinois corn
country, just an ordinarY town with
ordinary folks, no great university, no
tourist lure, no claim to fame, lust the
things that all towns have-including a
draft board. The four are Ortez Alderson, Phyliss Burke, Kevin Clark. and
Pat Pottinger. The connection between
quiet Pontiac and four Chicagoans?

Kwin, Ortez, Pat and PhYliss are accused by the U.S. of A. of ripping off
the Pontiac Selective Srvice files.
Our four friends were arrested and
taken to iail in Peoria where bail was
set at $10,000 each, 100% of it to be
posted before release. The Defense Attorney tried to get the judge to lower
it to the usual 10%, but his Honor
would hear nothing about it (evidently the price of freedom is high in Peoria). Pat and Kevin-with the sacrificial
help of friends-were able to raise

$20,000 anC were freed. At last, after
endless prodding, the judge changed
his ruling. Bail was raised to $50,000
each but only 5% was required for re'
lease. ',rrlith this rr-rling, Pat and revin
ao

The march on Mt. Rushmore,

were able to get Ortez and Phyliss out.
While in Peoria's local Bastille all four
were held virtually incommunicado,
and treated badly by staff and inmates.
The Pontiac 4 Defense Committee
has been set up to raise money for the
trial which will be held in Peoria (dates
are still unl
word about the case. Several groups in
Chicago area have endorsed the Com-

mittee including Clergy & Laymen
Concerned, Chicago Moratorium, Non-

violent Training & Action Center, Alliance to End Repression, Chicago Gay
Liberation (Ortez is Chairman of Gay
Lib.'s Black Caucus), and the Chicago
Peace Council. The local underground
press has carried articles about the action and will continue their releases.

The four truill be speaking at various
places in the next few months. The
Defense Committee will be hard at
you read this and long after.
The support of WIN readers (finan-

work

as

cial, moral, or whatever) is much

te

them for it.

Continued from page 3

nee-

ded-especially financial. The leqal expenses will be massive ancl every dollar
will help. You can send contributions

led

-Bicharcl Chinn
INDIANS GIVE OFFICIALS
REO FACE AS THEY MARCH
ON MT. RUSHMORE
"When any man makes a purchase
of a car, house, or whatever, and he
fails to meet his agreement, it is repossessed, So maybe the Red man should

take back that which he agreed to ell
to the Government, but was never paid

for."
This notice appeared in the South
Dakota newspaper, The lndian, calling
for all branches of the Sioux tribe and
lndians of all tribes to march on and
repossess

Mount Rushmore.

Located in the Black Hills of South
Dakota, Mt. Rushmore is known to
non-lndians as the mountain with the
four faces of the presidents, but the
Black Hills are considered sacred reli-

gious land by the Sioux. The Sioux

o

by the Black Hills Teton lndian Move'

in

ment, began Aug. 29. Marching in support were representatives from Alcatraz lndians of All Tribes, National

th

te

ov

lndian Youth Council, United Native
Americans, All lndians Coalition, and
the American lndian Movement.
The lndians set up camp on Mt.
Rushmore and began plans for bringing up necessilry food and water for
their occupation. The next day many
older lndian people who could not
make the climb helped with the sup-

plies and set up picket lines in the
parking lot at the base. (This was for
the benefit of tourists who prefer lndian relics to lndian rights.l One old
Sioux lndian woman carried a sign,

"Mt. Rushmore: symbol of democracy,
for the white man, Symbol of tyranny
and oppression to the lndian." lndians
at the top hung out a banner for all
those below to read, renaming the
mountain Chief Crazy Horse.
At the summit, lndians were busy
building a sweat house for religious
ceremonies ls befit the holy site. Tru-

dell, Lehman Brightman (director of
lndian Studies at Berkeley) and Ed
to, and request information from. Benton of the American lndian MovePontiac 4 Defense Committee, c/o Pat ment, fasted for three days, Sept.3-6.
Pottinger, 5455 S. Everett, Chicago,
The Party reposessing Mt. Rushmore
lllinois, 60615. lf you can help, please offered to meet with lnterior Secretary
do. The four, stand trial not only for Walter Hickel, or with Bureau of lnthemselves, they will be on trial for dian Affairs Commissioner Louis Bruce,
all of us. lt's up to us to stand with preferably-but not necessarily-on
them.

r0

th

Crazy Horse Mountain. So far, the government has not responded.

-tlt/S
MEXICO CITY
October 2, 1970 marked the second
anniversary of the massacre at Tlateloco, Mexico. During the.1968 Mexican
Student Movement (immediately preceding the Olympic Games), police and
soldiers descended upon a peaceful
mass meeting in the Plaza of Three
Cultures and shot and bayonetted to
death an estimated 500 students, teachers, workers and bystanders. Bodies
were carried off unidentified, many of
the wounded were killed rather than
taken to a hospital, and doctors in hospitals helplessly watched many bayonetted victims bleed to death while the
authorities refused to admit blood donations from friends.
During the entire 1968 Student
Movement the police consistently ter-

.

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rorized real and suspected leaders of effort to organize acts of protest before Mexican Embassies and Consu-

the movement. They were harassed, arrested, tortrrred and even murdered.
Over 150 ;::,:'litical prisoners are still being kept in tuiexico City jails. Most of
thenr lrave neither been tried nor sentenced. They have been imprisoned for

lates throughout the world.

the release of its political critics.

political prisoners
-Friends of the

The Mexican Government is rather
sensitive to world opinion. Political
repression is not reported in Mexican
newspapers, as almost all the dailies
over two years.
tow the government line. Even in the
As a protest against this form of United States, coverage of the polipolitical repression, a boycott of Mex- tical prisoners in Mexico has been scant.
ico and Mexican products has been This is an attempt to embarrass the
called. There is also an international the Mexican government and demand

DMWS

you're in the rnood for a conference on
nonviolence, write tcl the AFSC, 109
W. Durango St. PO Box I398, San Antonio 78206, for a brochure on their
THE HUMAN THING .Kirby and then do counselling once or twice thing scheduled for the weekend of
Kautz, 11 Berkshire Ct.. Huntington a week at 339. Call 228-0450 and ask November 6. Shit man, sometimes I
pacif ists will be at a
Station. NY, is a ham radio operator for me. Thanks . . .Neil Shea refused have a feeling the
when
the
revolution finally
conference
Hiroshima
irrduction
in
Atlanta
on
Day.
put
rethe families of
who wants to
MOVING ON . . .The pacifist groups comes and we'i! miss the whole
sistersand deserters in Canada in touch
.A bunch of air pollution
with the exiled. Contact him to work in NYC have organized a group called thing
people
Massachusetrs are cailing
in
will
Appleseed
that
operate
a
store,WRL's
Give
it out. He's also using
"Black Monday" and
every
Monday
front
East
on
the
Lower
Side
and
orication
Earth a Chance leaflet as a'verif
for
calling
everyone
to cool it on eleccard to the people he contacts over the ganize courses on nonviolence and try
lt's
tricity
that
day.
a good thing hooto
relate
to the immediate comair .Warren Camp is out of Allenkahs
we'd blow the
aren't
electric
or
munity
.Also
about
schools-Emwood after doing 18 months for inprotest.
I
wrote
whole
something
about
maus
House
in
NYC
has
started
a
He's
roacurrently
duction refusal.
ming around on a motorcycle . . .Dr. school called Bodhisattva (sorry but I not using electricity on Thursdays in a
Howard Levy and David Miller, two don't remember what Jim Forest said pastcolumn so it looks like pretty soon
people who know too much about that word means) and offers courses if the groups don't get it together the
jail are writing about their behind-bars on such subjects as Famous American the candle-industry will top Con Ed . . .
group called Do lt Now in California
experiences for a Grove Press book. lt Radicals You've Never Heard Of and A
pushing
is
drug education. "lt's an ecoEco-Cycling:
A
Non-Polluting
Converwill probably be out around the first
logy
lf there's anythng worse
thing.
for
on
the
Move.
Write
their
sation
of next year .John Sonneborn has
polluted
environment it's gotta
than
a
pinch
which
in
a
can
double
brochure,
position
left his
as executive secretary
of the New York Fellowship of Re- as a poster, to 241 E. 116 St., NYC be polluted people" their press release
got an album together to.
conciliation to attend Union Theolo- 10029 . .Making a Nation is spon- says. They
message, with songs by the
their
spread
demonstrations
at
soring
anti-genocide
gical Seminary. Bob Cohen, who in the
Beatles,
Donovan,
Jefferson Airplane
early
the
United
Nations
in
October.
good
past has done
things like.work on
and a lot of other good rock people.
WIN mailingsand get arrested, is taking For more info call MAN at 2121598you want it, send three dollars to
John's place .Peacemakers reports 3022 or write to them at 514 W. 126 lf
them
at PO Box 3573, Hollywood
St.
NYC
. . .The United Farm Worker's
that 29 more people have signed their
90028.
is
for
a
Committee
calling
Organizing
you're
a re'
I Won't Go statement. lf
Final reminder . . .Keep that inforsister and haven't contacted them. nationwide boycott of Purex products

write to 10208 Sylvan Ave. (Gano),

because the folks who own Purex also

Oh.45241, so they can add your name maintain lettuce fields and refuse to
to their growing list. And I think l'm negotiate with the Union. Their most
going to write to them and suggest that well-known product is Brillo. with
they start a list of tax refusers, because Sweetheart soap running a close seso far Peacemakers is only letting guys cond.'And you know, the UFWOC has
advertise that they're going to iail and an office in the Bronx, right near where
women should have the same right . . . I grew up. I knew we'd make it someThanks to Carol and Barry Johnson time . . .Television almost made it when
for being such nice hosts to the WRL they announced that their new fall
Annual Conference . . .WRL could use lineup would include youth-slanted
some nice people to do volunteer work shows and relevant themes for their
now that the calendar season is here returning fare. But, according to Bob
again and the revolution is picking up Williams' column, CBS nixed permiswith the cooler weather. And there's a sion for the actors on The lnterns to
special offer for peoPle who would wear peace medallions around their

like to take a draft counselling course

mation coming.

me

I am what you send

.Show the high school kid of

your choice what a groovy trip nonviolence is. Hit him/her with a flower. . .Think peace.
-Wendy
P.S. Somebody who I like and don't
want to offend objected to a word I
used in the column last time. He'll probably object again to one I used above,
but I just want him and anyone else
who doesn't like my language to know
that I think nonviolence transcends
words and that's what counts. And if

anyone has a word that's just as descriptive as "asshole" but isn't obscene,
necks . . .lf you dig the Southwest and please let me know.
3l

Everybody wants electric Power
But pollution is also a word of the hour
We need extraturrent, especially at night
That's when folks turn the lights up bright
And I guess
We should be thankful
It prevents population explosions
Now, Daylight Saving Time only saves
olle houf

But in summer, when we're most short
on powel
Whi not turn the clock back three or four
We can have tight the whole damn evening
long
Supplied by PaPa Sun
And at high noon
It can be cool
Even in Washington
How about calling it ENVIRONMENTAL

ln Scptcnrbcr. 1969 WIN published a story
about thc l;ort Dix Stockade riot. Your readers
will be intercstcd in icarning that on September
10, 1970, Terry Klug, onc of the kcy persons
charged, had his desertion conviction reversed
on appeal by Rowland Watts, Presidcnt of the

Workers Defense Lcague, before the Court
of Military Review.
Terry Klug rvas in the stockade, in the
first piace, because he had. boen absent from
Fort Bragg from June, 1967 untii January,
1969 (he was later acquitted of the riot charges). While away ire rvas active in Uurope in
organizing and promoting ITITA (Resistance
In the Armed fiorces). Believing that the
struggle was at home, not abroad, he voluntarily surrendered. While enroute back to Fort
Bragg under military orders, he was taken into
custody at Kennedy Airport during the
course of a press conference. His press statement in opposition to governrnental policies
and military practices was introduced into
evidence at his court martial under the
strong objection of his Workers Defense League
attorneys, Rowland Watts and -Iesse Moxkowitz. The Appeal Court agreed that this
statement was inadmissible tndet Miranda.
Klug's conviction was reduced to
AWOL and his sentence to the maximum of
one year. As he has already sewed l7 months
since trial and been in confinement, most of
which was in segregation, since October 16,
1969, he is being discharged Septembcr 17th.
We hope your readers will join us in wclcoming Terry Klug back to New York, whcrr he
is finally freed.

list could go on and

T

on.

It

is no accident that a movie like
"Ioe is
made. The big businessmen who run the war
because they need all the raw material and
cheap labor in Southeast Asia they can get
are the same folks who finance Hollywood
trash like Joe. They have begun to recognize
thc growing realization among workers that thr:
war is not in their intercst, and are desperately
afraid that workers will shut down all tvar
production. They fear even more the possibility that the workers will rise up against the

power and establish socialism.'Ilrerefore they must use every slimy trick possible
to divide workers from each other and from
their natural allies outside the working class.
They make movies like Joe to get the lovc
leneration to hate workers. By such devices

Pete Seegel

leecot, N,Y.

That ntovic Joe ',Vcndy (Dovetalcs, Sept.

son

pay

con!
worl

bosses

ACTION TIME
And now.I'm nearing the end of my rhyme
The troublc is, tlris just postpones the cruncl and racist and male chauvinist pay differerrWhich you and all the Establishment bunch tials they try to set workers at each others'
Don't want me to talk about
throats so they won't join together to light
Some dirty words
the boss.
long
lctters
Eight and nine
As far as hard hats are concerned, they are
And one thirtcen-lcttcr adiective.
nowhere the beer-gLrzzling, super-patriotic,
I freely admit it's lowclass poetry. Butl'd
student-hating racist bigots the New York
be curious to know what you think of the
Times and the makers of ,Ioe would like you
idea. You see, all the extra electricity supplied
to believe. In Atlanta this summer skilled
by the projected Stormking stored-water
white construction workers supported a strike
power plant would not supply as much extra
by black construction laborers in defiance of
juice during the hours of peak load, as this
racist appeals by contractors. That so-called
scheme. Check your statistics.
"hard hat" attack on students in New York
In case you're wondering about the unlast May was in fact staged by Mayor Lindsay,
mentionable words referred to in the last
the police and union bosses. I know of cops in
few lines, I'm thinking of 'Planning', which
Boston and Peabody, Mass. who were given
IBM's Tom Watson talked about this year,
timc off with pay to go to New York to beand Marx did in 1848. Also'Socialism', etc.
come hard hats for a day. Some real hard
and also 'International'. Until mankind serihats who were there had been threatened with
ously starts working on these, all the rest of
fines if they didn't show.
our problems is like worrying about sweeping
By the way, what was so gfoovy about
the floor when the truth is the house needs
that "genuine bang-up ending"? How sick
to be rebuilt from the foundation, if thcre is
does one have to be to enjoy such a maniacal
to be room for all to share.
slaughter?
Nevertheless, I still believe in swecping
tim lllhitney
floors. A good floorsweeper is liable to be a
Cambidge, Mass
help
on
to
depend
good workcr whom we can
build the new house we nced.

15th) likcd so much is in no way a boautiful
Alfred Russel
picture in spite of its apparcnt sympathy for
Executive Director
the hippie movenlcnt. It is actually a vicious
14 or kers De fe nse L eo gue
lying slandcr of s,orl New York City
large workcrs havc a lot to lcarn about how
society works (don't any of us?) they havc
been rcsponsible for ntorc dfucct action
t have sent the following proposal to the
against thc war than have all the freaks and
Consolidated Edison Company, the editor of
pacifists put togethcr. To list a fcw exarnples:
the New York Times, and to Mr. Russell
the 3 month GI.l strikc last rvintcr in the iace
Train, chairman of the President's new environ- of appcals that "out boys in Victnam nced
rnental council. I thought you might like to
those jct engincs;" scrvice workcrs at Columbia
see a copy.
University who went on strikc along with thc
students last May against Cambodia, Jackson
THE TALKING ELECTRICITY BLUES
State, Kent State, and Columbia's involvement
Dear Con, dear Ed, dear Mister Train
in the war effort; white, black, yellow and
Here's an idea that just trickled thru my
Latin GI's refusirtg riot training and orders to
brain
It's too late to use it now, this year
fight in Victnam, not all of them hippies or
But next spring perhaps, if we're still here
pacifists by any means; the current auto
It could be handy
strike against GM which has shut dorvn rniliSo I'll pass it on
tary production, so that protty soon we can
Hope you can use it
expect to hear how "our boys in Vietnam
32

need those tanks." The

t
wou
tran

regis

worl
the

r

clud,
abou

lbr r
hassl

feelir
feel

1

prese
to yc
.teen

I
who

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ab

am trying to do a research paper on femalc "criminality", and likc WIN I am having
a terrible time getting material. If any of your
readers have ideas, opinions, feelings, data,
and experiences in this area would they please
contact me? I need help.
I

(p

Lyn
P.O. Box 1014
Charleston, W. Va,

I
Dan.

I am writing from 'Down Under' to get
help in organising a Peace Caravan being
planned for our summer vacation ncxt January. As yet we have only one van and plenty
of enthusiasm, but no expcrionce, so rvc rvouki
be glad to get in touch with anyone who has
organised or participated in this type of propaganda. We hope to keep our messagc fairly
general along nonviolcnce, joy, peace lines,
with plenty of handouts of baloons, ctc,
Copies of suitable pamphlets etc. would be
most gratefully rcceivcd.
Peter Watson
P.O. Box 818

l,lellington
New Zealand

I

persl
pcISr

mor(
wan'
and
weel

I
that

but

I

sexu
gay I

ycar
unifr
cont

chao

I\

Did you__know tr,ta Bell has a spccial person who calls to find out why
p.opf.

a6r,t
pay theirfed. tax? One
tt
conversalion ended with"Ut"a,n",trt
" to
her telling ,r.," ,,ot
worry. (Did I sound rvorried?)
a"V*rv .'1. '"

[;i;#!

Denver,

the bias of a rather well adjusted heteroscx- only energctic persuns
crpecting lard work
ualmarried man (he even implies an arcohor and rong L,,,,rr'n"",r
,iu'niJ"..
problem). In my experience iuch people
are
War on poverty League
incapable of_seeing the incredible ropi,irti"Brx 10233 prichard Branch
ation with which sexual needs have b""n *o_
Mobile, Alabama
orour authoritarian capon.' or the rcu, sroov], things arrout
[:il1::",::;'bric
I think iiis no small adhievemc,nt in thcse Gencral Georgc patton of.World War II
rarrro was.nls ltclict in roincarnation.
films that they have broken free of rhe;i--Hot
.,rn"
terns of earry 0.,""*."0[t'.'T""".1'ffg11;;

lfl.,"iiit,,,,::iflJi,ffi]ltr",,

ilii
;';il,":: i1;:'l'J:"ll::'J,iJ,",1:u''fi,,
ffi:T,:f,;ii?#l"i;;;il,'"l;,ifiI:':,
patton has rcsurlacctl,
"._., ".
incarnatcd

Heilol

the sexual tiU"ratio, *.r;;;;;.,.
These films show us the .iselret,,. this is
the rorbidden strfr
protected against. rtrort
ible physical relationship ur. r"-"."ni"j'""
without prejudice f.o fu, ur por"iui"j. ifri. .
the stuff from which we.ur.Aru* riirt.*.^"
wislt...we can discuss it, propose it. -' "'
-human

little bit of help that
would be deeply appreciated. I
am u *r.nir_
We nebd a

lamily. school. the law, and their
teelifigs aboul prosecution
and prison. We
I-eel that such a book would
be vatuaUlt,in
prescnting nonregrstration
as a real
to young high school men as they altcrnative'
trrn .inf,_
teen and arc faced wirh registratio;:""'""
I
would
apprcciale
it ifany nonregistrant
.
who rcads this would scntl us
tlre loil;*jn;"

information:

date of rcfusal to registcr (eightcr,nth
birthday )
date of indictment

:, subse_quent prosccution (trial,
I.:,.:r,
sentencing, imprisonment)
(reasons

fgr

decision, what the decision means-in
your lit'e)
hasslcs.with family. school,
and other
uv^rng srtuations resulting
from the decision.
aboyt going to rrial (what did you
It:l1lCsyou,plan
ut.rToo
to do at your trial: argu_
rnr.d.. de tend yourscle. app"atlj
I:ll,lr
rcettngs about going to prison
anythng clsc which expresses your
lcclinos
aoout nonregistration as a lilc alternative

(poetry, artwork, songs,
any thingl)
Breod
M in nca

an

d * f;:

t ;i:;:

"t; S.E.
925 lleeki Avenue
polis. Min nesota

5

5ii

4

Acomrncnt on tlrt, August revicw ol.thr,
^
uanlsh
porn films by Donald Newlove.
Newlove fails to take these filns in
any
perspective larger thlln their impact
on his
pcrsonal acsthetic and emotionai
n""as, o.
more precisely, his emotional will (eg. .:I
want my sexual desire focused on m|
wife
and_not on throc other girls I scrcwci
last
weekend").
No onc^will disagree wiilr his judgment

., these lilms
that
are an acslhetic diruit... . .
'
but so what. We are in the lirst decade
of
sexu_al revisionism . . .women's
liberatiorl
gay liberation, the pill. After
hundreds oi
ycars of attempts to achieve
conformity and
ynllorlnilv in.sexualpractice ttrrough wilful

control there is chaos. Aesthetic ju
chaos should be very restrained.

jgnr*i, .f

Newlove's article reflects on every level

in the

or should

I

say

us a military
orPanizrtion. :rlbt'it r nonviolcnt onc.
Ar
the.top is thc Gcncral Staff, They are, thc
brains of tl.rc oullit. tlrt pt'ople with authorIly. tsclutr lltt'ltt:Lrr'tl)(."fi(.ld ot'ficcrs,"
rcject it. Hopefully in time
those fiicndly scrgLrart typcs we all used
beings will embroider and beautifv
to
krou as,lllrrslrals. Aitording lo Brad, they
these bare bont,s of physical relatlonarc a. rrlhL'r uninrprr,ssivr. crcw, typical
ship.
NCO's. unlit to rip r'ocktlils in the of,liccrs
We ltave all been crippled
bv the
.oi
club. To be spr..ifir., rhey ..tcnd to trust
isolation and inhibition
fantasv thar
was imposed on us during crrilatrtoa Lo
and lbllow dircctives...are highly
1'.11'().ilv
adolescence. I think it isiot acciaent_.._ skillcd in tactic:s but lack poiitical,optiirl.r-atton, dclicacY, sensativity and t1exiLility...,'
.that law reform proposals continue to
ln \llort, thc kind of'soldicrs who would
"protect" the young from exposure to
graphic sexual material...such facts should sce In nlore colntbrtablc in.a South American
immediately draw the attention
'lunta tlian in a rnovement for human prod;;;interested in social change..,thesc"ftaboos grcs,s.
are reliable guides to the points r, *r.,^,, ,- hr.sctting up this nrilitary structure,
the sooiety is vulnerable to change. ""'""
.brad.lsnot unawaro ofthe dangers. In
washlngton, thc line of authority broke
There is no group, and few iididown and withoul tlre intclligent and
viduals, to whom I would uo to for
genlecl
of tlreir gencrals. the
advict, on t.e ..correct,, tin"e in truman
-guitlance
licld olliccrs
actcd as an indcpcntlcnt
sexual relationship. The .onr"ntionui"
pol^.r,r btoc in thc Lroorish manncr one
forms havc been discredited and most of
tlle pressure for change comes from thosc would expect. Lcft on their orvn in Washtngton. tltt'y prevcnted divil djsobcdience
who are in early stages of ,;;irrr"r;;;
lrom hrppcning.
thc old lorms...women,s liberation. siv
liberation, I think we must *"t"oln.--At or , And what of the scores of thousands
who participatc in demonstrations? Ap
this variety as expression of vitalitv and
parcntly tsrad has no morc use for them
movcment toward a reinteeration-;f -..thxn gonorals traditionally have for the
sexuality still in the futurel
Finally, I think we must become aware conlnlon fbot-soldier. That is: they arc to
be manipulatctl at whirrr. Almost a rnillion
of the political significance th"';;-'*'
peoplc
part in the Novcmber Mobili"f
tinued iexual repr-ession of children.
Delin- zatron, took
but-according to Bracl its succoss
quencv in girls has for years b"r;;;;;;'
was du(r solcly to the Mobe lcarlcrship...
exclusively defined by sexual fiu"rtv."s;'
ln('sL, sarnc git-lctl people who produced thc
default. we haye allowed those in oowe,
to dr:finc ..moral,, and ..immoral,,,in t".-* mast(,rptcce ol Nov(rnb(.r ll_15.,,Now,
adnrittcdly our singing that day was pretty
of repression and inhibition- i u"fi"*';;-bad' but I am
yct rcady to accept
in the very near future ilr" .ouni"i-*r'tu]l
-' clthcr Brad or not
lrrcd Ilalstead or Dave Delmust develop an adequate Aef"nr" oi its
llnger as colnnos('rs ol'"Givt Peace A
own childrcn and their right to libcrtv
( hancL,... Tltc Mobc lt,uticrship. thlnkfully,
in thesc matters.
not sharc Breti.s delusions ot.grandeur.
_

i"rr,1ng
nasstes
wilh

of nonregistration

_of Brothor Bradford,

Lyttle.
*;;ii';, ;;;il.;;il'*:," General
According to Brad's article the moveorirr"-rlr,nr;il;i- tntnl.tvottld
btrl lirnction

trant from Minneapolis. t.ff U".t.^
ir'r"i-"
reglslrant lrom Berkelev) and
I are beginning
.: a booklet about nonregisrrarion with
I:.1
rnc oratl tn our counlry. The
book would in_
clude. a hislory of nonrcgistration
unO-tt"iig,
aoou^tJurrc n I no nregist ran
ts: their rea sonsrcgisrrarion.
j.t11
rhe conscquenr

_r.tut"T"nJ
your

pL,rson

n

",

*

Aaron C.,f"
" 91",
t
ci." ffi L-;il,
"

ii'

YVc are, trying to form an allianco
.black and white labor (*orn"n-'
and men) and white and black
city ot Prichard which i",V"rifr.
irrii"
- - _9y,
Mobile,.Alabama, has a majority
Uiactpopu.lation of 65% withint
any minoiiiv
political.representation on
any level.
from scratch, our War On
^ Starting
Poverty
League is sol.iciting

.

betwecn

workers

:y:I!:1.*d ar politicar edication, voter
::il'::$.r,.
ir.nd_raising and cam paign
organrztng. Volunlecrs

are encouraged but

to make 5

.

i ?ii,,i i: i' :TTl# TJi,J"[ff ;

stars.

Brad's thinking realll, disturbs me. It
-goes against evcrything I bclieve that
we
stand fbr. Participatory tlcmocracy, bottornto-top lincs ol autl)ority. respcct for thc
individual. Maybc I've become a self_indulgent anarchist but I sec our task as not
taking powcr but cliffusing power. And I
am as unwilling to takc orders fiom Gcneral Lyttle or his field olTioers as I am from
Gcneral Abrarns anii his ficld officcrs. However, if Brad wants to tell me about his
ideas for rcvoiution, I,ll surely listen.
Love,
Marty Jezer

Vennont
33

AMAZING BUT TRUE FACTSI!

HELP WIN
Sell WIN on your campus ot in
Wur community. We'll send
you o bundle (as larye or smoll
as you can usel ud charge
you l5l per copy. You sell
'em for 301. Rerurn unsold@pies for crdit. Wite llIN,
339 Lafoyette St., New York,
N.Y. 10012 for further deuils"

We must all hang together, or assuredly

we

shall

all

a

hang

separately.

The Trumpet
quiet political journal
1 year - $1

P.O. Box 232, Goleta, Californi;i Ljul i,
"The Riqht to be Lazv" by Paul Lrfargue.
Written 6v Marx's son-in-law, this little pamDhlet is an excellent antidote to thb Marxism
ihat olorities the work ethic. 48 pp.. offset,
ivailible from Solidaritv Bookshop, c/o IWW'
2440 N. Lincoln Ave, chi, lll. {.or $1.

F

ass,

You too can get in on the act. Jtrst call
2itB{,27O I ar deails lB eer?? lll
-Eds.

WIN classified ads reach more than 9,000
lgyely. lr1ryred-on people! Adverti* iour
ll,ing!l WlNl Bates pir ad, per inseriion:
first 15 words $2; each l()'words there_
after $1. Make check or money ordJr
payable to WIN MAGAZINE. p-ayment
must accompany order.

FREE LAND to nomads and troglodytes.
Read about "sguat-spots," equipment, contacts, foraqing, Four issues: to nomad/trog in
trade for life-style description; others, $2. Pre-

form, Box 6o7, irants

WIN Magrzine b produced with wrY
littls help from the mon€V cconorny.
For inrtance, inrtead of PaYing a
profusrional mailing house to meil out
tfie magazine, tre dadicatod WIN staff
and friends do it right here at 3il9
Lafayette St. lt's a lot of work, but itl
north it. Besides, there'r always beer.

ore.97526'

1

Help start LIVE-lN COMMUN|T\/ and BA|S
MEDRASH. Hetp devetop ECUMENTCAL
JUDAISM. Open to the Truths of all paths.
Devoted to the worship and Service of THE
HOLY ONE, blessed is HE. Those interested
please contact Harvey Schneider 1571 West
11 St., Brooktyn, N,y. 112O4 (2L2, BE 26.127. lnclude name, address, phone no., and

Pu

fla
bu
Fo

times when you may be reached.

mi
WI

Dependable person seeks opportunity to

work, learn with people who make clothes,
jewelry, etc. in N.\/,C. or any interesting
place. T-ir€d of country tife. Any hetp a6pre
ci-ated- Ivlichael Cunningham, Route l, Box
4O8, Winchester,

Ky.40391

KATALLAGETE Be Reconcited.

3

Speciat

issue on the thought of Jacques Eltui_,.of the
utmost importance for the seventies,,_Julius
Lester (wlN 6/75/7o1. $l.oo or more to com_
mrttee of Southern Churchmen, p.O. Box
12044, Nashviile, Tenn. 37212.
2

INTENTIONAL COMMUN ITY HANDBOOK

$1,OO, The

Community Economy $t.OO. Literature list free. Community Seivice, tnt.
P.O. Box 243, \/ellow Springs, Ohio 45387

Editing revision, rewriting, from somebodv
wno learned the HARD uay_et
tuti.

super-rearcnable..rates;

I,,ff*W

?hil",{r*t*,ffi
tt^q,

Fr,^'( Ah^f ,rb

my nceds ere small,

Dur pressmg, Will consider eny job thai

rgeuirg teaving the S"ru,r".ii.
focsrlt
Io: . paul Johnson, Somewhcre in wli"
New
Mexrco, c/o \[IN.

INVESTMENT CAPITAL NEEDED

for

expansion

of

fifrrrnr*$

operating printing

shop. serving pacifist and other groupsl

6%
.interest, repayment in E- yeais.
!'or information: pEACE pRESS,
lNC.
339 Lafayette.St., N.y., ru.V. iOOfi

Hffth"ii"5*ur*

ffi

Iiterature
IIAVE BEhN INVADLD BY TllE TWENTY-Fll{ST
ENTLlltY. David McReynolds.
Selccted essays frotl Tlrc Village lloice, lllN atld elsewhere,
plus new ntaterial, by our WRL lrield Secretary" Irltroduction by Paul Goodrrian. Hardcove r, 250 pp. $7.95
WE
C

I

REVOLUTIONAI{Y NONVI OLENCE. Dave Deliinger.

His selected essays fronr 1943 to thc present, including
tirst-liand accounts of Cuba. nlainlarrd China. North and

\-

L.v

South Vietnarn.
Hardcover. S7.5(-)
LrP AGAINST THE WAR. Norma Sue Woodstone interviews
anti-war activists n.rany of whom have been to jail, some of
whom- such as Jill Boskey. Peter Kiger, Allan Solornonow
tl5 d
are well known to WIN rcaders..paperback, 170 pp'

or969

Put this decal in your cai wrndow and let the American
flag freaks know where you stand. The best idea since the
bumper sticker, it comes in patriotic red, white and blue'
Foui and a quarter inches in diameter so that it can't be
missed at any speed.75{ each, three for $2. Order from
WIN, 339 Lafayette St.,I'IYC 10012.

NONVI OLENT REVOLUTION. WR L-West.
kit of essays and training guides.

A carefully compilcd study

s

1.50

INDOCHINA WAR PACKET. Prepared by the Committee

Scirolars is this up-to-date coilection of
$1
articles, fact sheets and bibliography.

of Concerned Asian

CAMBODIA. Compiled by Leon Boramy and Michael Caldwell for the Intl. Confederation for Disarmament & Peace.
mimeographe d.

3I

PP. 25 l.

LEAFLETS & LEAFLETING. A brief manual on the writing, preparation and distribution of leaflets. mimeographed.

1l pp. pius

sample

materials.

254

emerge into the light with

ruN

utN nddauo Mievaa {hdt [on6 !&1 ue tun'
iz
Hurrarr b;ttn dre do*h a risl
iv,W,rr,alirlit,0tLd7, {Ww +o +Je
hrrv hliiral tsvilolurr, Vydefulic pc(i:rr,
kfiit lo {le Old tdf, ;nno,btr to {.hC Neu/

BUTTONS

llut

;;i;

rirrt ir dll lhcr thtnrtq ud we W U4tcW
ard Uri tt i art . tu*:,ullpcotqcth4, 5iMiil6.

ud du& in lle ,lreL7'
I pith {o darc. in lte gtdt;

WRL broken rifle button
Nuclear Disarmament button
each l0l; $l/15; 56/100
WRL BROKEN

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TO:

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oe

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{o ak

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NFLE PIN in heavy rnetal. $l

WAR

I

RESISTERS LEAGUE

I
I

339 Lafayette Streel, New York, N.Y. 1fi)12
.

P{y :51tu{ t,
fil,,r.ltr,
tr'al EuW[Lio^,l3
(zl

5r.'ao,rth

[ ] I cnclose $-for
[ ] I enclose $
Name

nd,1e

items checked.

I

to the WRL'

I

-contribution

I
I

Address

dAb
AlGATttk. 33g Lafayette St., NYC 10012.

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