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For forums, classes and other activities, contact the Socialist Action Michael Rappaport and N'Bushe Wright.

SOCIALIST ACTION NOVEMBER 1992 19 Not shy Dear editors, I can't begin to explain the feelings of gladness I felt at seeing minority viewpoints at the Socialist Action convention being discussed in the party's paper. These were important issues. Thank you for covering them as fully as possible.

That alone would be reason enough for me to keep distributing Socialist Action. But I also admire your coverage of the new left formations coming about. Keep up your real reporting and coverage of the Native American struggles.

J.M., Albuquerque, N.M.

Prisoner Dear editors, I am an inmate at a state hospital. I have been trapped in this so-called Mental Health System for the past 10 years. This bureaucratic quagmire that I find myself trapped in is one of the major industries in the area. And I have come to the sad realization that as a patient, I have been reduced to being nothing more than a commodity. But for all intents and purposes, I am simply a prisoner.

I have been a socialist, and voted as such for many years. I still retain my voter rights while at this hospital. I would like to know what is your recommendation for the upcoming election, for I plan to continue to vote as a socialist.

I would also like to request a subscription to "Socialist Action." Knowledge is of great value to me. Locked up, I have to reach out for knowledge. During these hard times, great changes are happening everywhere. Information is needed so I can make good choices.

C.L., Pueblo, Col.

Zebrahead. A new movie written and directed by Anthony Drazan. Starring Michael Rapaport and N' Bushe Wright.

On the surface, "Zebrahead" is a story about a Jewish boy and an African AmerMOVIE REVIEW ican girl who fall in love. The plot is similar to Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet."

But the social context of the movie is that of a racist society. High school youth are shown trying to survive in a decaying inner-city Detroit.

The writer and director, 37-year-old Anthony Drazan, researched his script inside high schools, where he recorded many hours of conversations. His dialogue picks up on the language of ghetto youth. The music by Taj Mahal sets the mood for their culture.

The interplay between deteriorating Detroit and the relationship of the characters-based upon their economic The editors reply: In our October 1992 issue, we gave critical support to the candidates of the Socialist Workers Party-James Warren for president and Estelle De Bates for vice president.

Real people?

Dear editors, Your "Bush and Clinton should run on the same ticket" article [October 1992] was excellent.

The Socialist Workers Party's dropping of Trotsky's Theory of Permanent Revolution shows that is no longer has faith in the working class. Otherwise, it would not support the class-collaborationist strategy of the South African Communist Party.

However, considering the alternatives, a vote for the SWP candidates-even if we have to write them in is necessary.

But this election is not one in which we should vote for something as much as it is one to vote against something. And that something is the big criminal corporations that are destroying the earth.

Corporations in this country are unique in that under the law they are considered to be a person-such as you or I. This was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1886 in Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad. Chief Justice Waite told counsel that the court would not hear arguments on a certain point because the corporations were persons, and therefore protected by the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

If any of our readers really think that a corporation is a person, I suggest they check page 556 of "Black's Law Dictionary" for the entry: HABITUAL CRIMINAL: "By statute in several states, one is is convicted of any crime (or twice so convicted), or who is convicted of a misdemeanor and has previously (in New York) been five times conbackground and their family relationships-keeps the film interesting both as a drama and as a portrait of real life.

The story focuses on the romance between Zack and Nikki, two high schoolers who must cross the barrier of skin color in order to fall in love.

The two face heckling from the other students right from the beginning. The older folks are also worried. As Nicki's parents exclaim: "He's white, she's Black. This is America-and that's a problem."

At the end, it is the breakdown of society that leaves the viewer hanging. The movie, without proselytizing, is a sensitive reflection of life and the apparent lack of hope for an egalitarian society under the present economic system. This is the real message of the movie.

The Detroit school system becomes the symbol for the institutionalized racism of American society. It is the defender and enforcer of the status quo and it has no relationship to the basic needs and aspirations of the teenagers who are characterized in the movie.

The movie's best attribute is its demonstration of the aspirations of youth for a better society based on human valvicted of a misdemeanor."

Thus, our corporate citizens are the leading outlaws. They may regularly violate the law without surrendering their political rights.

Let us look at a good example-"Citizen GE" (General Electric Corp.)—which started the second-rate "B" movie actor, Ronald Reagan, on a lecture circuit that led to the White House. A look at GE's recent rap sheet shows that after a 14-week trial in 1990, a jury in Philadelphia convicted GE of criminal fraud for cheating the Army on a $254 million contract for battlefield computers.

Rather than appeal to a higher court, GE paid $16.1 million in criminal and civil fines, including $11.7 million to satisfy government complaints that it had padded its bids on 200 other military and space contracts. Then, in Cincinnati, GE agreed to pay the government $3.5 million to settle five civil lawsuits on contractor fraud at the Evendale, Ohio, jetengine plant.

During the same period, GE paid $900,000 to settle claims that it overcharged the Army for electronic adaptors used in the M1 tank and the Bradley fighting vehicles. It settled a similar complaint for cheating the Navy on components for guided missile frigates.

These are all criminal activities, but GE's police record goes back almost to its founding in the early part of this century. The current law suit against GE, the principal operator for nearly 20 years of the government's Hanford nuclear reservation in Washington-which completely contaminated the surrounding land and ground water with both radioactive and toxic chemicals is yet to be settled.

Obviously, GE, as a "person," is a habitual criminal. However, the system in the United States provides forgiveness for its worst criminals-when they are rich enough. Look at the bankrupt banking system.

Refusing to vote make clear what part of the system one opposes. A vote for the Socialist Workers Party candidates shows that we are against the entire capitalist system dominated by big criminal corporations.

Resentment Dear editors, On Sunday, Sept. 27, two interesting articles appeared in the usually dull Cincinnati Enquirer, one on the "successful" breakthrough in the South African negotiations between De Klerk and Mandela and the other on the economic and political changes taking place in China.

At a joint news conference in Johannesburg, De Klerk agreed to a list of concessions—including freedom for political prisoners, banning the carrying and display of weapons in public places, and fencing off certain migrant workers dormitories to cut down on violence. And on Mandela's part, "only" one concession was 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 ues. The teenaged characters, who are mostly African American, come into constant conflict with society because of the few options it offers.

The director has no vision of how to Victor Saxe, Oakland, Calif.

Cloveland P.O. Box 6151 Cleveland, OH 44101 (216) 429-2167 Dotroit P.O. Box 1613 Detroit, Ml 48231 Los Angolos P.O. Box 1953 Montebello, CA 90640 (213) 721-9778 branch in your area!

For information aboul other areas, contact the national office of SocialistAction at (415) 821-0458. made-to reconsider its program of protests, rallies, strikes, and sit-ins "that has caused turmoil in recent months."

In the article titled, "Urge to make money eats away at Chinese socialism," the Communist Party in 1949 is credited with having "stamped out conspicuous consumption" while providing a basic living for all.

Currently, however, less productive workers are fired, 12 to 15 hour workshifts are being implemented, and there is no minimum wage for private businesses.

The article concludes, "The main beneficiaries of economic reform are those who have political power and can use it to amass great wealth. ... It's going to create a lot of resentment and antagonism."

Resentment and antagonism continue to grow in South Africa as well, aimed now at the brutal South African government. But these same feelings will also be directed at the leadership of the African National Congress if this promised muzzling on all forms of public protest is enforced.

Margaret O'Kain, Cincinnati, Ohio Minnoapolis P.O. Box 14087 Dinkeytown Station Minneapolis, MN 55414 (612) 430-1476 Now York P.O. Box 20209 Ca. Fin 693 Columbus Ave.

New York, N.Y. 10025 (212) 281-2084 San Franciaco 3425 Army St., San Francisco, CA 94110 (415) 821-0511 FAX: (415) 821-0166 Sociallst Forum P.O. Box 1547 New Brunswick, NJ 08903 change society, but the reality of the characters' situation helps to identify the insoluble problems of American capitalist society. It also makes it easier for socialists to explain the solutions.

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SOCiAList Action

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«Zebrahead"-Two young lovers in a decaying world