Nazism Alive and Well in Baltimore Racist Capitalism Knows No Bounds

A ‘‘study’’ rivaling Nazi experiments on World War II prisoners were carried out in Baltimore’s poor neighborhoods by the Kennedy Krieger Institute, affiliated with Johns Hopkins University, which for six years ‘‘knowingly expos[ed] black children as young as a year old to lead poisoning...exploring the hazards of lead paint’’ (NY Times, 9/16).

Lawyers in a class action suit said ‘‘more than 100 children were endangered by high levels of lead dust in their homes despite assurances from the...Institute that the houses were ‘lead safe.’’’ The Institute provided no medical treatment to the children, who ranged in age from 12 months to five years old.

The ‘‘children were enticed into living in lead-tainted housing...and intentionally subjected to lead poisoning,’’ said the suit, presumably to ‘‘assess the success of lead paint...abatement measures.’’ The suit stated that, ‘‘Nothing about the research was designed to treat the...children for lead poisoning.’’ Baltimore has the highest lead poisoning rates in the U.S.

One court compared the experiment ‘‘to the Tuskegee syphilis experiment which withheld medical treatment for African-American men with syphilis’’ (NYT).

One lawyer declared that when parents signed consent forms, the contracts failed to provide a complete and clear explanation about the research. David Armstrong, father of the lead plaintiff, said he was not told that his son, aged 3, was being introduced to elevated levels of lead paint dust. During the two-year experiment, the child received no medical treatment for lead. Later when he took his son to a pediatrician, he discovered the boy had blood lead levels 2½ to 3 times higher than before the experiment began.

‘‘I thought they had cleaned everything [in the apartment] and it would be a safe place,’’ Mr. Armstrong said. ‘‘They said it was ‘lead safe.’’’

The Institute’s CEO said, ‘‘The research was conducted in the best interests of all the children enrolled.’’

Such are the depths to which capitalist racism sinks. Only by exterminating this stinking system will the working class ever be free of such racist attacks on our children.

Bosses Rob Students, Teachers in Chicago School Scam

CHICAGO, September 3 — J.C. Brizard, the new Chicago schools CEO by way of the Broad Superintendents Academy, is pushing a racist attack on this city’s predominantly black and Latino student body as well as an assault on teachers’ wages. He wants to add 90 minutes to the school day and two weeks to the school year in “exchange” for a 2% raise. That’s 29% more work for 2% more money.

More time in school may or may not be a good thing for students, depending on how the time is used. But contrary to the lies of Brizard and his boss, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, this move has nothing to do with improving conditions for students and everything to do with lowering costs to educate working-class children. This cost-cutting means that fewer students will learn to read and develop basic skills. They will be primed to fall victim to minimum-wage jobs — if any at all, given today’s massive unemployment. Many will be driven to join the military out of economic desperation. 

Capitalism uses public education primarily to justify the profit system and to exploit the working class. It “educates” students to believe in the system while setting them up to accept mass racist unemployment as “natural” and to “do their patriotic duty” to fight in the bosses’ oil wars.

Brizard is doing the work he was trained to do by the Broad Academy. Its website’s home page reveals its purpose: “Wanted: the nation’s most talented executives to run the business of education.” It goes on to say, “Without dramatic changes, the U.S. economy will continue to suffer…. Our standard of living will decline, our democracy will be at risk and we will continue to fall behind as other countries far surpass us.”

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While Workers Lack Leadership and 50,000 Die: Battle for Libya’s Oil Heats Up Inter-Imperialist Rivalry

The Libyan civil war has heated up the rivalry among the world’s imperialists, as U.S., British, French, Italian, Russian, and Chinese rulers jockey for access to the country’s oil and gas riches. What Obama hails as Libya’s “liberation” from dictator Muammar Qaddafi is in fact a bid to recolonize it into a Western protectorate. And if Libya unravels, U.S. rulers are preparing for an invasion.

Rebel Racism Rampant

Obama called Libya’s NATO-backed rebels “courageous.” For our class, however, there are no heroes in this civil war. Nobody is fighting for workers. All sides represent oil-thirsty capitalists and stand guilty of atrocities.

Both Qaddafi’s forces and the rebels have executed handcuffed prisoners. Racist rebels massacred scores of black migrant workers and recently jailed hundreds more as alleged Qaddafi mercenaries from sub-Saharan Africa. NATO bombers under overall U.S. command wiped out 85 civilians in one August raid. “An estimated 50,000 people have been killed in Libya since the start of the uprising, according to the rebels’ military leadership” (Independent, London, 8/31).

Libya’s Den-of-Thieves ‘Saviors’ Include Anti-U.S. al Qaeda Allies

But while the triumphant U.S., British, and French imperialists vie for Libya’s energy riches, they’re having trouble patching together a viable local government. Tribes and regions within Libya are also competing for their own shares of the oil profits, thus weakening the new, supposedly ruling National Transitional Council (NTC). “Already council members have fallen into dispute over the $65 billion Libyan Investment Authority sovereign wealth fund” (Bloomberg News, 9/1).

In addition, Obama & Co.’s opportunistic reliance on radical Islamists to do their dirty work poses still worse threats to the U.S. ruling class. The London Independent noted (8/28): “The rebel military commander behind the successful assault on Tripoli had fought in Afghanistan alongside the Taliban and was an Islamist terror suspect interrogated by the CIA. Abdelhakim Belhadj, the newly appointed commander of the Tripoli Military Council, is a former emir of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) — banned by Britain and the U.S. as a terrorist organisation after the 9/11 attacks.” In power, radical Islamists could steer Libya closer to an anti-U.S. Iran or help destabilize Saudi Arabia (the cornerstone of oil-based U.S. imperialism), a long-time goal of Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda.

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Fight Over Hospital Closing Signals Need for City-wide Strike

AVERNE, NEW YORK, August 13 — Over 350 Peninsula General Hospital workers and community residents of this predominantly black and Latino area rallied today to fight the closing of their hospital. Workers had enthusiastically organized door-to-door to bring their fight-back message to the Rockaway and Broad Channel neighborhoods. Their hospital had been slated to close due to Medicaid/Medicare cuts and through theft by the MEDSYS management. MEDSYS, which also runs Brooklyn’s Brookdale Hospital (and others), uses hospital revenues like its own piggy bank (see CHALLENGE, 8/3).

A Brooklyn PL hospital worker spoke at this rally, exposing the fact that this is not an isolated event. Hospital bosses, along with city, state and federal politicians, are planning to close many more healthcare facilities. This is part of the strategic plan to cut workers’ livings standards in order to maintain profits as well as pay for imperialist oil conflicts worldwide. He called for uniting all our brothers and sisters in a citywide strike of all the hospitals to stop all the layoffs and closings. He also urged an occupation of Governor Cuomo’s NYC offices to publicize this struggle.

Union Misleaders Play the Bosses’ Game

In sharp contrast to the rank-and-file’s actions, the leadership of SEIU-1199 tried to mute the workers’ anger with their worn-out message of “call your local politicians,” the very same politicians who have voted for these cuts. The union misleaders did nothing to mobilize 1199’s 300,000 members, many of whom face similar layoff threats.

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Angry Strikers Storm Hearing on City’s $100 Million Verizon Rip-off

NEW YORK, August 17 — Thousands of striking Verizon workers, wearing red shirts and full of working-class rage, descended on Murray Bergtraum High School to protest a new $120 million contract for phone and Internet services between Verizon and New York City’s Department of Education. The deal was up for approval by the Panel for Education Policy (PEP), the rubber stamp for Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s anti-student policies.

A little earlier and a few blocks away, the leadership of the strikers’ unions, the Communication Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, had tried to make this protest as symbolic as possible. They began their rally with the Pledge of Allegiance and a big “thank you” to the New York Police Department for allowing the protest. But the servile union leadership could not contain the workers, who marched to the PEP meeting and filled the chairs. After schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott directed his cronies to pass the massive budget cuts coming to the city’s schools, they approved the Verizon contract by an 8-4 vote. Since Bloomberg appoints a majority of the PEP’s members, this was hardly a surprise.

Still, the striking workers dominated that meeting. They showed no fear for the thugs in blue and in suits that were protecting the stage. The workers’ chanting and shouting down the PEP shook the room with a palpable energy. They were pissed off because the DOE was helping to strengthen Verizon and therefore attacking the striking workers.

The state (the police and the courts) is the organized force by which the ruling class dominates the working class. When fear fully gives way to rage, the working class will rise up and destroy the state. The uprising by youth in England, after the cops killed a young black man, clearly illustrates this. But only communist leadership can lead the workers’ rage into an egalitarian society that will provide for their needs.

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Mexico PLP Project: Turn Workers’ Anger into Red Revolutionary Force

MEXICO CITY, August 23 — In Mexico City the majority of workers live in miserable neighborhoods that surround the city. The PLP’s Summer Project was based in two of these neighborhoods, and included the participation of teachers and comrades from several countries. We distributed flyers, but mostly focused on visiting CHALLENGE readers and their families. Building a base in the working class is essential for a communist revolution.

During the first week we concentrated our efforts in a neighborhood close to the most important industrial zone in the center of the country. We visited some twenty people at work and at home. We had meetings with about half of them.

These conversations made it clear that industrial workers are the key to the revolution. They have the power to stop all production and the knowledge to run the factories for the working class. In time of crisis, fascism crushes their lives and that of their families. But with PLP there to lead them, frustration and anger will become a revolutionary force. We were told that a worker has to try to make it on 600 pesos (about $48) a week, has to put up with abusive bosses, insults and often even physical abuse. Work-related injuries are common and the bosses leave workers unprotected.

One of our friends described the injury of a worker who had his ankle crushed at a bridge construction site. It was difficult for the injured worker to make ends meet on 400 pesos ($32) a week, which is t

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Greet PL’ers’ Red Ideas Park Boathouse Strikers Defy Racist, Sexist Boss-Government Attack

NEW YORK CITY, September 3 — Outside a popular tourist boathouse restaurant at Manhattan’s Central Park, 150 workers have been picketing and beating their drums for three weeks against their racist and sexist working conditions. They are urging all passer-bys to boycott the restaurant.

Dean Poll, the restaurant owner, won a lucrative city contract to operate the restaurant in 2000. He is under federal, state and local investigations for fraud and illegal practices. Fifteen workers were fired for trying to organize a union, while others were spied on, threatened and harassed. Thirty-two workers sued the management in 2008 for stealing their tips. Seven women workers filed sexual harassment complaints in June. For most restaurant workers, these abuses are “part of the job.” Last January, the workers filed for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board (NRLB), but all union supporters were then fired.

Restaurant workers are among the most exploited, as they are neglected under the already-deficient labor regulations. Mostly immigrants and female, young workers are coerced into these low-wage, long-hours jobs without benefits. These conditions are inherently racist and sexist, for they disproportionally attack immigrant and female workers. In an economic crisis, bosses further harass these workers into passivity in order to squeeze out more profits. This is not an isolated situation, but the standard under capitalism.

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Racist Israeli Rulers Freak Out At United Arab-Jewish Protest

AL-WALAJA, EAST JERUSALEM, PALESTINE, August 10 — The racist Israeli rulers showed how much they hate and fear Arab-Jewish unity when they launched a pogrom (a fascist attack) and ordered soldiers to violently attack demonstrators attempting to protest the racist apartheid directed towards villagers in Palestine.

We arrived at the village of al-Walesa, located at the southern entrance to Jerusalem (between the Malha mall, Beit Jallah and the settlement of Har Giloh which are included in the municipal jurisdiction of Jerusalem). The village’s status is “present absentee”; its land belongs to Jerusalem’s municipal jurisdiction while its residents are classified as residents of the West Bank and have no civil rights (they have orange ID cards).

When we arrived we suspected something bad was about to happen. When we took the main road to the village, the IDF (Israeli “Defense” Force) soldiers at the checkpoint stopped us to check our IDs and possibly photograph them. These soldiers gave us the feeling of “what do these Jews have to look for in this Arab area.” This just emphasized the racism of these soldiers. We then continued uninterrupted.

Approximately 20 villagers and 15 activists participated in the demonstration. We walked to where the apartheid wall was being built through the steep mountain terraces. The land was very curved and descended into shallow creeks. In the background we could hear the bulldozer.

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Chinese Military Expansion Ups Ante vs. U.S., Portends Global War

CHINA, August 28 — A report released by the U.S. Defense Department warned that China’s current military build-up is “potentially destabilizing” in the Pacific (NYT, 8/24). The report points to China’s growing naval capabilities as a potential challenge to U.S. dominance in the region. For the last decade U.S. plans to contain Chinese growth and influence have relied on unchallenged access to the vital waterways that serve as China’s link to Middle Eastern oil reserves. In 1999 the Hart-Rudman Report stated that should a conflict arise between the U.S. and China that “the parade of supertankers streaming to Chinese ports would be vulnerable to interdiction” (Phase I, p 73).

China has apparently heeded Washington’s threats and is now making moves to secure these vital waterways. In 2010 China announced its Far Sea Defense strategy causing the New York Times to write in a panic, “The Chinese military is seeking to project naval power well beyond the Chinese coast, from the oil ports of the Middle East to the shipping lanes of the Pacific, where the U.S. has long reigned as the dominant force” (NYT, 4/23/10).

China’s naval build-up is moving forward with astonishing speed. In 2009 China revealed to international observers its new nuclear submarines (NYT, 4/21/09). In January 2011 China held the first test flight of its brand new stealth jet fighter during a visit to Beijing by then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates (Reuters, 8/18). The building of a stealth fighter is particularly interesting because it is not only useless against anybody other than other imperialists like the U.S., but it was also apparently designed with the help of Russian engineers.

In July, China held the first open-seas trial of a refitted Soviet-era aircraft carrier purchased from the Ukraine. It is the first of three Chinese aircraft carriers currently under development (Reuters, 7/28). Now the Pentagon is claiming that China is developing an anti-ship ballistic missile that is capable of striking American aircraft carriers (NYT, 8/24).

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PLP Leads Opposition to Neo-Nazi, Tea Party Racists

WORCESTER, MASS., July 23 — On July 16, the North East White Pride (NEWP), a fascist, pro-Nazi group, tried to use the Worcester Library to spread its racist ideas. Progressive Labor Party organized the community to stand up to these Nazis, who had put out a video on YouTube inviting fascists to come to their meeting and bring weapons. When the Library Board saw the video, it cancelled NEWP’s meeting.

Many people then thought NEWP would not come. We in PLP immediately said that an anti-fascist demonstration would be held regardless of whether NEWP came or not. NEWP called the library and threatened violence. The city then called PLP and asked us to postpone our demonstration. We said we would not allow the fascists to go unopposed.

About 50 people came to the July 16th anti-fascist rally. PLP’s message of multi-racial unity, jobs for everyone and a communist society was made known and we are now recognized in Worcester for our principled stand against racism and fascism. About five fascists came to the library but were refused use of the meeting rooms. Anti-racists kept an eye on them and followed them around the library until they left the city.

One reason these fascists (who live in New Hampshire) came to Worcester is because one or two of the City Councilors are sympathetic to the Tea Party and the Tea Party has connections to NEWP. Its webmaster is also the webmaster for the Tea Party. These City Councilors have proposed a city ordinance enforcing the racist so-called Secure Communities. We’re now organizing people to oppose this fascist Tea Party law.  We make the point that when workers control society racist laws will end and laws to help all working people will be enacted.

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