Socialist Action (US)

The monthly paper of Socialist Action, San Francisco, 1983–2010

Our readers speak out

Socialist Action, Vol. 9, No. 11, November 1991 · scan pp. 19–20 · about 622 words

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Scan page 19

We have you Dear editors, Please start my sub with October. If the two series started in September's issue stand up to expectations, yor I will have me.

D.J., Princeton, Minn.

Dear editors, Chris Bieler's "Crisis in Crown Heights: How oppressed people are turned against each other is generally correct. But there were some later developments that he was not aware of.

He complained that "Black leaders missed an important opportunity to initiate an antiracist coalition of a new kind in Crown Heights."

In fact, Samori Marksman of the African Caribbean Resource Center, an ongoing Crown Heights forum, organized a meeting featuring Black and Jewish progressives. As one of the three Jewish speakers, I can say we were well received by the 420 Blacks in the audience.

Subsequently, I spoke at the Patrice Lumumba Coalition in Harlem on Black-Jewish relations, and on several Black talk shows. Every time, I was cordially received by the audiences.

On several of those occasions, Elombe Brath of the PLC explained to those Black audiences that all shouts of "Heil Hitler," etc., aimed at the Lubavitchers, was totally unacceptable, given Hitler's open hostility to Blacks.

The gist of what I told those audiences was:

a) The struggle in Crown Heights had to be focused on the clear favoritism shown the Lubavitchers, shown most graphically in the immediate case by the fact that the police have been providing an escort to the Lubavitcher rabbi on his weekly visits to his wife's grave, and have been doing so for 11 years, something we may be sure they do for no Black.

b) Professor Leonard Jeffries must be defended against all attempts to fire him as head of the African studies department at CCNY. The charges against him are false, and are nothing but a mask for attacks on multicultural educational reform.

c) Progressive Jews sharply distinguish themselves from the Jewish Establishment's hostility to affirmative action.

d) Every poll shows that the main point of contention between that Establishment and the Black community is Israel's arming of South Africa.

This criminal policy must be fought, not merely by Blacks and progressive Jews, but by the entire left. To that effect, a committee to stop the Israeli arms traffic to South Africa is in the process of being organized. Given the unending attacks by the Establishment on even the most moderate leaders of the Black community over Crown Heights and Jeffries, we are confident that our new committee will find an immediate favorable response in the community Lenni Brenner New York, N.Y USSR Dear editors, Bravo to the article on the USSR in the August issue! I am xeroxing it and giving it away.

D.B.

Sacramento, Calif.

Dear editors, I attended the Save Our Cities March in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, Oct. 12. The march was designed to initiate a series of events culminating in a large march on Washington on April 11, 1992, which is sponsored by the National Conference of Mayors.

Organizers had predicted that PsOl at least 10,000 people would take part in the march. But only about 3000 attended. Most of the marchers came from Baltimore.

The speakers were mainly local (Baltimore) Democratic Party politicians, and the focus of their speeches was "George Bush, give us our money." Baltimore has suffered a 75 percent cut in federal funds during the last 10 years.

Dear editors, Keep up the good work. We need to change the motto of Baltimore P.O. Box 16005 Baltimore, MD 21218 Boston P.O. Box 1046 GMF Boston, MA 02205 (617) 497-0230 Chicago P.O. Box 578428 Chicago, IL 60657 (312) 327-5752 Cincinnati P.O. Box 20109 Cincinnati, OH 452 (513) 751-1597

Scan page 20

SociAlist Action

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Crown Heights

Save Our Cities

Protect the rich..

← Contents of Vol. 9, No. 11, November 1991

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