10,000 march through Bensonhurst, protest racist murder of Black youth

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Outside the church where services for Yusuf Hawkins were held. The Black community wants all participants in the attack arrested and prosecuted. Three have been indicted for second-degree murder and six others on lesser charges. 6 SOCIALIST ACTION OCTQBER 1989 NEW YORK—In the largest local civil rights demonstration in 17 years, 10,000 people marched on Aug. 31 in a "Day of Outrage" against the lynching of Yusuf Hawkins by a gang of white youths. Hawkins, 16, died of gunshot wounds in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn on Aug. 23.

Hawkins and three friends were attacked by about 30 whites, who reportedly mistook Hawkins for another Black man who had been dating a neighborhood woman. The mob chased them with baseball bats, golf clubs, and boards. "What the hell," one attacker reportedly yelled as he pulled out a gun, "let's kill the nigger!"

The New York area has seen a sharp rise in racist vigilante and police violence against minorities in recent years. Hawkins joins Derick Tyrus, Michael Griffith, and Willie GLOVER MEMORIAL BAPTIST CHURCH E Turks-to name but a few of the most well-known victims.

Chanting, "No justice—no peace!" and "Whose streets? Our streets!" the demonstrators, 90 percent Black, marched through downtown Brooklyn. Black youths proudly carrying Malcolm X posters and wearing "Fight the Power" T-shirts were prominent.

The action was called by the December 12th Coalition, a coalition of over 25 African-American organizations, established at the time of the Howard Beach protests. Reproductive rights, gay rights, tenants, and Central American solidarity organizations also participated.

The mobilization was the largest in a series of protests that had been held since the death of Hawkins. "This is not South Africa," said the Rev. Timothy Mitchell at a demonstration attended by 300 on Aug. 27. "We're not going to get passes to go to Howard Beach or npact Visuals Bensonhurst."

That the lynching of Hawkins did not happen in a vacuum was testified to by Bensonhurst residents who lined the streets screaming, "Niggers, go home!" In a scene reminiscent of Montgomery, Ala., in the early "60s, demonstrators were pelted with watermelons and spit on.

Of the reported 30 who participated in the attack on Hawkins, three have been indicted so far on charges of second degree murder. Six others have been indicted on lesser charges.

Impact on mayoral campaign Some 2000 people attended the funeral of Yusuf Hawkins in East New York on Sept. 1. Speeches inside Glover Memorial Baptist Church connected the murder of Hawkins to a nationwide pattern of racist and economic violence against minorities. Meanwhile, people outside were treated to the spectacle of flee angry mourners.

Koch, instead of taking the occasion to urge Bensonhurst residents to condemn the racist murder, charged that marches by antiracist protesters were "inflaming passions." In a deliberate appeal to a white backlash vote in Bensonshurst, Koch denied that the killing was racist—since it was a case of mistaken identity.

Koch's attack on the anti-racist demonstrators stirred up some enthusiasm by Blacks for the Dinkins campaign. Dinkins, who did not march in Bensonhurst and was nowhere to be seen during the Howard Beach protests, defended the recent demonstrations at a press conference.

But Dinkins, in his efforts to show the banks and corporations he is tough with "special interests" (read minorities and unions), has already called for a doubling of the police force. He has proclaimed a "war against urban terrorism."

Needed now are the biggest possible mobilizations to show that racism will not be tolerated. All working people have a stake in this fight.

At the same time, the anti-racist movement must be absolutely clear about the role of Black Democrats like David Dinkins. Today, Dinkins may lean on the anti-racist demonstrators to win the election. Tomorrow, he will turn on them under the pressure of his real base, the banks and corporations.

Black people need candidates for whom anti-racist demonstrations and picket lines of striking hospital workers are a political base, not just another whistle stop.

Socialist Action pamphlet By Kwame M.A. Somburu et al.

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