Workers viewpoint [1980-09-28]

              WORKERS VIEWPOINT,     Sept. 22-28, 1980
Page 3
CARTER'S advisors on "blacks] the
poor and other dissidents," cued him in
on one of the hottest issues this election
(rejection) year. They told him that if he
expected to be re-elected in November,
and especially if he sought the "black
vote," he'd better get the Communist
Workers Party off his back by reminding
his speechwriters to mention a word or
two about the Klan.
People's hatred for the KJari and
resistance to its terror are as old as the
Klan itself. Yet, it hasn't been until re?
cently, under the guidance of the CWP,
that the struggle against the Klan has escalated and served to educate the broader
public on its role as surrogates of the
entire U.S. government and the bank and
corporate interests.
Unlike any other period in American
history, the presence of the CWP in exposing the politicians, in leading struggles,
coupled with its growing respect among
the workers and oppressed, has forced
even secret Klan-lovers to utter words of
contempt for the KKK in order to be
relevant at all.
For the first time ever, U.S. presidents
and government officials have been forced
to address this critical issue. Poli-trickcians
from Ron Dellums (who tried to add a
militant thrust to the decaying Democratic
Party), to President Carter himself, have
used their platforms to condemn the Klan;
in Carter's words, "put the Klan back in
its grave." (See article in WV, Sept. 8-14,
1980).
Carter/Reagan Forced to
"Condemn" Klan
Carter was sweating in the heat of a
^abor Day rally, held in Spring Park, Tus-
:umbta, Alabama. In the middle of the
irst speech of his presidential re-election
Carter/Reagan
'Condemn'
Klan to Get CWP
Off Their Backs
drive, 60 robed members of the KKK
marched toward him, bearing placards
praising white supremacy.
As if Carter didn't have enough problems trying to convince his audience that
rising inflation could be controlled, he
now had to respond quickly to the presence of the sheeted on-lookers. As Jimmy
thought quickly, all he could hear in his
mind, over and over again, was "MIAMI,
GREENSBORO, PAYBACK TIME!"
Carter gathered his composure and
made a reference to the Klan upholding
the Confederate flag, which without a
doubt embarassed him. He then stuttered,
"I say that these people in white sheets
do not understand our region or what it's
been through. They do not understand
what our country stands for; they do not
understand the South and all of America
must move forward. . .The KKK lives in
the past and the past is not a place to
live."
Reagan, reactionary as hell and boastful about it, is himself afraid to be labeled
a Klan supporter on his campaign trail by
the CWP. At a Michigan State Fair last
week, he attacked Carter for having
opened his campaign "down in the city
Daniel  Berrigan (above) along with Philip Berrigan and six others smashed two
n missile to protest preparations for World War III.
Statement by Jonah House
"We commit civil disobedience at General Electric because this genocidal
entity is the fifth leading producer of weaponry in the United States. To
maintain this position, General Electric drains $3 million a day from public
treasuries in an enormous larceny against the poor. We wish also to
challenge the lethal lies done by General Electric through its motto, "We
bring good things to life." As the manufacturers of the Mark 12-A re-entry
vehicle, General Electric actually prepares to bring good things to death."
Note: the Mark 12-A is the re-entry system for the Minuteman 3 Missile that
is part of the U.S.'s first strike capabilities.
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that gave birth to and is the parent body
of the Ku Klux Klan." '
What is significant about his statement
is not that the Klan was born elsewhere,
but that it was born and is nurtured in
the capitalist system that both Reagan
and Carter seek to protect as president. In
fact the Klan does represent what the
American government stands for.
Both Democrats and Republicans
Support Klan Candidate
Although Carter and Reagan have
been forced to criticize the Klan, neither
one of them can hide behind their actual
roles in aiding and abetting the Klan. As
Carter spoke his words of hypocrisy on
Labor Day, he sat by George Wallace,
who became a celebrity among Klan elements for his blockade of black youth
from entering an all-white school in Alabama in the early 60's.
None of these politrickcians are
against the Klan; otherwise they'd take a
stand on the biggest, most significant trial
of the century involving the Klan, for their,
calculated murder of five members of the
Communist Workers Party. But even if
they wanted to they couldn't, for the
Greensboro Trials expose not only the
Klan, but the government as well, that
planned the assassination and now
is openly covering up the massacre of
the CWP 5 on November 3, 1979. |
Quite in keeping with the tradition
of the Democratic and Republican parties,
both have at least one person running on
their respective tickets, who are openly
members and supporters of the Klan and
the American Nazi Party. Gerald Carlson,
former member of the KKK, John Birch
Society and the American Nazi Party is
running as a Republican nominee, and
Tom Metzger, Grand Dragon of a Klan
chapter in San Diego, is running on the
Democratic ticket.
Why Klan Mention Spells Victory
The mention of the Klan spells a victory for us. It is an affirmation that the
Serve Notice to the Politicians campaign
has them all scared to death. It is an
affirmation that we have succeeded in
raising the anti-Klan motion to a principle that every leader and misleader must
speak to. It is a victory indeed that our
political offensive in exposing the Klan
and politicians is working.
Afraid of further action from the
CWP which might cost their elections,
they both fought to address the question
early on (on the first day of their campaigns), hoping to shut us up. But the
spectre of the CWP and Miami haunted
the monopoly capitalists and their politicians all the way to the Democratic
Convention. We will leave them no peace
until all the Klan, and their masters the
monopoly capitalists, are all, as in the
words of Carter, "put back in their
graves."! □
NO WORLD WAR III!
Berrigans and 6
Smash 2
Minuteman Missiles
SEPT. 9, 1980-Daniel and Piiilip
Berrigan and six other anti-war activists
smashed two deadly Minuteman missile
nose cones and splashed blood over tools
and documents after they slipped past the
security guards in the classified section of
the General Electric Space Division at
King of Prussia, Pa.
The capitalists are scared to death by
the militant action of these activists belonging to a group called Jonah House.
Along with Miami, Chattanooga, and the
Communist Workers Party, the eight
activists expose the criminal and fragile
rule of monopoly capital. They call
attention to the capitalists' feverish
preparations for World War III through
so-called space research. They show how
the government is the capitalists' tool to
extract taxes from the people to finance
their schemes for world war through
space and defense contracts. The eight
also put to shame the government's
security.
The Berrigans are respected anti-war
activists since the 60's, when they were
part of the Catonsville 9, who poured
blood over piles of draft*cards during the
anti-Viet Nam War movement. They also
served time in Danbury prison. Philip
Berrigan, and his wife, Elizabeth McAllister, are both members of the Greensboro
Justice Fund Board of Directors.
For these reasons, they are now being
charged with criminal coercion, criminal
conspiracy, criminal trespass, criminal
mischief, unlawful restraint, disorderly
conduct, simple assault, and harassment.
Philip Berrigan is being held without
bail. Dean Hammer, Elmer Maas, John
Schuchardt, Karl Kabat, a priest, Ann
Montgomery, a nun, and Mollie Rush are
all being held on $125,000 bail each. It
appears they intend to make a stronger
political statement staying in jail since
they have not organized to be bailed out
or moved to lower their bail. Daniel Berrigan, who is in very bad health, is being
released on $50,000 bail.
Though a preliminary hearing is
scheduled for Monday Sept. 15, it is
probable that the FBI, which has been
called in, and the Federal government,
may call for a grand jury indictment. The
Federal government may prosecute the
eight for espionage or sabotage on the
grounds that copies of classified documents were ruined when blood was
splashed over them. But the CWP and
many justice-loving people fully endorse
their militant action and are rallying support to make sure justice is done for
them. C
You can write letters of support to
Philip Berrigan , Dean Hammer,
Elmer Maas, John Schuchurdt,
Karl Kabat
Montgomery County Jail j
35 E. Airy St.
Norristown, Pa. 19401
Ann Montgomery and Mollie Rush
Berks County Jail for Women
P.O. Box 797 i
Reading, Pa. 19603