A Marxist-Leninist Critique of Roy Innis on ... - Freedom Archives
A Marxist-Leninist Critique of Roy Innis on ... - Freedom Archives A Marxist-Leninist Critique of Roy Innis on ... - Freedom Archives
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- Page 2 and 3: ABOUT THE AUTHOR HENRY WINSTON, Nat
- Page 4 and 5: CONTENTS °`Community Self-Determin
- Page 6 and 7: plications of econ
- Page 8 and 9: They are, in fact, local . They are
- Page 10 and 11: slave area of the
- Page 12 and 13: economy upon which the white masses
- Page 14 and 15: and other minorities. It is from th
- Page 16 and 17: control by a white majority-<strong
- Page 18 and 19: "Mutually Satisfactory to Both Side
- Page 20 and 21: Because "we black people are oppres
- Page 22 and 23: fore tries to put his idea across b
- Page 24 and 25: and in defiance of
- Page 26 and 27: now in the hands of</strong
- Page 28 and 29: But Innis' "Commun
- Page 30 and 31: or control everything upon which th
- Page 32 and 33: lationships and practices . "I Am N
- Page 34 and 35: communications systems and even wat
- Page 36 and 37: trot of the employ
- Page 38 and 39: EDUCATION : NOT BACKWARD TO BOOKER
- Page 40 and 41: members)-but because there are too
- Page 42 and 43: in science, business administration
- Page 44 and 45: admirable in a generation o
- Page 46 and 47: acist stereotypes : "militant" stud
- Page 48 and 49: merge with Nixon's Watergate tactic
- Page 50 and 51: are almost universally ignored and
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR<br />
HENRY WINSTON, Nati<strong>on</strong>al Chairman <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the Communist Party,<br />
U.S.A . since 1966, was born in Mississippi in 1911 . His grandfather<br />
was a slave . At the age <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> 19 he joined the Young Communist<br />
League and entered the struggles <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the unemployed in New York<br />
City . In the 1930s he was a leader <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the YCL . He participated in<br />
the Nati<strong>on</strong>al Hunger March to Washingt<strong>on</strong> in 1932, aided the<br />
defense <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the Scottsboro Boys, and took part in other major<br />
struggles . During World War II he served in the Army engineers<br />
and received an h<strong>on</strong>orable discharge . Over the years he has held<br />
a variety <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> leading posts in the Communist Party . In 1956 he<br />
began an 8-year pris<strong>on</strong> sentence under a Smith Act frameup .<br />
While in pris<strong>on</strong> he became blind as a result <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> deliberate neglect<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> his health by the pris<strong>on</strong> authorities . World-wide protests brought<br />
about his release in 1961 . Henry Winst<strong>on</strong> is the author <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> numerous<br />
articles and pamphlets . During the attempted frameup <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Angela<br />
Davis he gave special attenti<strong>on</strong> to organizing the movement which<br />
led to her acquittal . His first book, Strategy for a Black Agenda:<br />
A <str<strong>on</strong>g>Critique</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> New Theories <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Liberati<strong>on</strong> in the United States and<br />
Africa, was published this year by Internati<strong>on</strong>al Publishers.<br />
ISBN 0-87898-104-7<br />
Published by<br />
NE~V OUTLOOK PUBLISHERS<br />
205 West 19 Street . 9th Floor . New York, N.Y. 10011<br />
-'°' November 1973 '~'~'~'
A MARXIST-LENINIST CRITIQUE OF ROY INNIS<br />
ON COMMUNITY SELF-DETERMINATION AND<br />
MARTIN KILSON ON EDUCATION<br />
BY HENRY WINSTON<br />
NEW OUTLOOK PUBLISHERS<br />
New York<br />
November 1973
CONTENTS<br />
°`Community Self-Determinati<strong>on</strong>" : An Ideology<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Surrender to Racism<br />
A <str<strong>on</strong>g>Critique</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>Roy</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3<br />
Educati<strong>on</strong> : Not Backward to Booker T . Washingt<strong>on</strong>-<br />
But Forward to Black Liberati<strong>on</strong><br />
A <str<strong>on</strong>g>Critique</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Martin Kils<strong>on</strong> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .- .~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 36
"COMMUNITY SELF-DETERMINATION" : AN IDEOLOGY<br />
OF SURRENDER TO RACISM<br />
A CRITIQUE OF ROY IIVNIS<br />
Solidarity with our African brothers and sisters and their solidarity<br />
with us are interchangeable, but the strategy for Black<br />
liberati<strong>on</strong> in the United States and for Africa is not. In fact, the<br />
strategy for liberati<strong>on</strong> is not even interchangeable between <strong>on</strong>e<br />
African country and another. Ir<strong>on</strong>ically, <str<strong>on</strong>g>Roy</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>, director <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
CARE, reverses these realities : he advocates an African strategy<br />
for this country, while simultaneously undermining the basis for<br />
anti-imperialist solidarity with Africa .<br />
According to <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>, the future <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black people in the U.S. demands<br />
a political strategy whose goals-like those for African and<br />
other nati<strong>on</strong>s forced into a c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> underdevelopment by<br />
col<strong>on</strong>ial dominati<strong>on</strong>-would be "selfdeterminati<strong>on</strong>" and "ec<strong>on</strong>omic<br />
development." The basis for "self-determinati<strong>on</strong>" and "ec<strong>on</strong>omic<br />
development," asserts <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>, is the Black ghettos scattered across<br />
the U.S .<br />
In order to advance this strategy-which would divert the Black<br />
liberati<strong>on</strong> movement from its historic struggle to break out <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the<br />
racist-imposed ghetto pris<strong>on</strong>s <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> inequality and poverty-<str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> is<br />
now making an effort to revive support for CORE's "Community<br />
Self-Determinati<strong>on</strong> Bill" <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> 1968. This is the subject <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> a full-page<br />
article by <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> in The AfraAmerican, August 14-18, 1973, in<br />
which he writes :<br />
"A serious problem exists when c<strong>on</strong>sidering ec<strong>on</strong>omic development<br />
in the black communities <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the United States ." This problem,<br />
according to <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>, is that "the <strong>on</strong>ly time politics and political im-<br />
3
plicati<strong>on</strong>s <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> ec<strong>on</strong>omic development are c<strong>on</strong>sidered is when the<br />
experiences <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> newly developing countries are discussed."<br />
If there is a real foundati<strong>on</strong> for <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>' complaint, it is indeed an<br />
encouraging sign . It would suggest that the views <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> those who<br />
see "ec<strong>on</strong>omic development" in its proper perspective-i.e., in<br />
relati<strong>on</strong> to "newly developing countries"-are in ascendancy in the<br />
Black liberati<strong>on</strong> movement, as opposed to the narrow self-defeating<br />
nati<strong>on</strong>alism <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> ( in its c<strong>on</strong>servative form ) and Carmichael or<br />
Baraka ( in pseudo-radical guise ) .<br />
The "importance <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> politics and the political unit-the c<strong>on</strong>cept<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> sovereignty," c<strong>on</strong>tinues <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>, "is fully understood" <strong>on</strong>ly in the<br />
emerging nati<strong>on</strong>s . "Surprisingly enough," <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> complains, "that<br />
awareness is not transplanted to the United States ." Although "we<br />
sometimes try to apply the same kind <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> ec<strong>on</strong>omics" to the ghettos<br />
termed "so-called ghettos" by <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>-"as is applied to the developing<br />
nati<strong>on</strong>s <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the world, it is impossible to make a proper comparis<strong>on</strong>.<br />
While it should be apparent that it is impossible to "apply the<br />
same kind <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> ec<strong>on</strong>omics" to the ghettos as to the developing nati<strong>on</strong>s<br />
because they are such vastly different formati<strong>on</strong>s, <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> sees<br />
it otherwise . It is impossible "to make a proper comparis<strong>on</strong>," he<br />
asserts, "because these American internal col<strong>on</strong>ies lack sovereignty."<br />
Thus, according to <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>, <strong>on</strong>ce "sovereignty" is attained,<br />
we can properly "apply" the ec<strong>on</strong>omics <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the developing nati<strong>on</strong>s<br />
to the ghettos . In other words, the ghettos have the same potential<br />
for "sovereignty"-for independent existence and development-as<br />
a col<strong>on</strong>y, despite the fact that, unlike a col<strong>on</strong>y, they possess no<br />
comm<strong>on</strong> territory nor any <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the other prerequisites for separate<br />
ec<strong>on</strong>omic development .<br />
It is hardly surprising that <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>' idea <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> transplanting the c<strong>on</strong>cept<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> "sovereignty'-applicable as fine starting point for liberati<strong>on</strong><br />
and social progress for imperialist dominated col<strong>on</strong>ies outside the<br />
United States, but not to the Black c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong> in the U.S.-is being<br />
met with increasing skepticism and outright rejecti<strong>on</strong> in the Black<br />
4
liberati<strong>on</strong> movement in the U.S. By c<strong>on</strong>trast, it is the c<strong>on</strong>cept <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
the interchangeability <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> solidarity-not <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> strategy-that motivates<br />
the Black liberati<strong>on</strong> movement . This, for example, is what inspired<br />
the representatives <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> all segments <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black Americans who attended<br />
the first Nati<strong>on</strong>al Anti-Imperialist C<strong>on</strong>ference in Solidarity<br />
with African Liberati<strong>on</strong>, a great c<strong>on</strong>ference <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> solidarity with the<br />
peoples <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Africa struggling against the comm<strong>on</strong> enemy, world<br />
imperialism, headed by the U.S .<br />
"Natural Sociological Units"<br />
Certainly the questi<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> sovereignty and ec<strong>on</strong>omic development<br />
is central to liberati<strong>on</strong> and social advance for the African countries .<br />
Independence and the ending <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> imperialist c<strong>on</strong>trol would mean<br />
that in Guinea-Bissau, Angola, Mozambique, etc ., the country's<br />
total ec<strong>on</strong>omy and resources would come within a single sovereign<br />
political unit and viable ec<strong>on</strong>omy.<br />
Although most African countries have w<strong>on</strong> formal independence<br />
-sovereignty--they still remain under varying degrees <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> neo-col<strong>on</strong>ial<br />
dominati<strong>on</strong>. Ec<strong>on</strong>omic development, even in such large areas<br />
as the former African col<strong>on</strong>ies where it is possible to build a viable<br />
ec<strong>on</strong>omy, remains out <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> reach as l<strong>on</strong>g as the ec<strong>on</strong>omies <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the<br />
emerging countries are dependent <strong>on</strong> world imperialism-as l<strong>on</strong>g<br />
as their political and ec<strong>on</strong>omic policies are primarily linked to the<br />
capitalist instead <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the n<strong>on</strong>-capitalist path, as l<strong>on</strong>g as they pursue<br />
the politics <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> anti-communism instead <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> anti-imperialism, as l<strong>on</strong>g<br />
as they fail to establish expanding ties with the Soviet Uni<strong>on</strong> and<br />
the other countries <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the socialist camp and all the world antiimperialist<br />
forces.<br />
In his c<strong>on</strong>cept <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> sovereignty, <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>-who rejects anti-imperialist<br />
struggle as the comm<strong>on</strong> b<strong>on</strong>d between the U.S . Black liberati<strong>on</strong><br />
movement and the African countries-equates the scattered ghettos<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the U.S . with the nati<strong>on</strong>s <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Africa. In developing this thesis,<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> asserts that Black people "live in natural sociological units.<br />
5
They are, in fact, local . They are the smallest political unit operating<br />
. But black people have not been c<strong>on</strong>sidered a natural sociological<br />
unit ." Instead, c<strong>on</strong>tinues <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>, "They are c<strong>on</strong>sidered a kind<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> col<strong>on</strong>ial appendage <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> both the urban centers and rural areas<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> America . Blacks do not now exist as a political unit "<br />
It should be unnecessary to remind <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> that the first "natural<br />
sociological units" in which Blacks lived in this country were the<br />
slave quarters-and they were kept there by the lash, gun and<br />
state power <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the slavocracy . The c<strong>on</strong>temporary "natural sociological<br />
units" in which most Black people live are the ghettosand<br />
they are kept there by power descended from the slave owners<br />
to state m<strong>on</strong>opoly capital .<br />
Just as the inhabitants <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the slave quarters could exist <strong>on</strong>ly<br />
through their labor in the plantati<strong>on</strong> ec<strong>on</strong>omy c<strong>on</strong>trolled by the<br />
slave owners, their descendants-who inhabit the grim reality <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>' "natural sociological units"-can exist <strong>on</strong>ly through labor<br />
within the country's total ec<strong>on</strong>omy. And just as freedom from<br />
chattel slavery could not be w<strong>on</strong> within the slave quarters, but<br />
demanded a nati<strong>on</strong>al struggle to break the power <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the slavocracy,<br />
liberati<strong>on</strong> from racist oppressi<strong>on</strong>-the survival <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> slavery-can be<br />
w<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong>ly through a broad people's struggle to break the power<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the m<strong>on</strong>opolists.<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> attempts to make his fantasy <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> "self-determinati<strong>on</strong>" within<br />
the ghettos appear plausible by claiming that Black people c<strong>on</strong>stitute<br />
"a kind <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> col<strong>on</strong>ial appendage" <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the U.S . Although there<br />
is <strong>on</strong>ly too much similarity between the genocidal treatment <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
Black Americans and <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Africans, it is n<strong>on</strong>e the less absolutely false<br />
to describe the objective relati<strong>on</strong>ship <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black people to the U.S.<br />
ec<strong>on</strong>omy as that <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> a "col<strong>on</strong>ial appendage." It is another example<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> how the "internal col<strong>on</strong>y" theory, which would sidetrack the<br />
Black liberati<strong>on</strong> movement, has been taken up by c<strong>on</strong>servatives<br />
like <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> as well as by pseudo-radicals .<br />
Describing the status <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black people as a "col<strong>on</strong>ial appendage"<br />
implies the existence <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> that which is n<strong>on</strong>existent . It implies that<br />
6
within the so-called "natural sociological units" scattered from<br />
Harlem to Watts exist the resources and territory needed for a<br />
unified, viable ec<strong>on</strong>omic development-<strong>on</strong>ce these "units" become<br />
sovereign .<br />
Transplanting c<strong>on</strong>cepts that apply to African countries can lead<br />
<strong>on</strong>ly to aband<strong>on</strong>ing the struggle for Black liberati<strong>on</strong> in the U.S .<br />
When One Speaks <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> a Col<strong>on</strong>y . . .<br />
When <strong>on</strong>e speaks <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> a col<strong>on</strong>y, <strong>on</strong>e is speaking <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> a separate society,<br />
a separate ec<strong>on</strong>omy within a comm<strong>on</strong> territory. When a col<strong>on</strong>y<br />
succeeds in freeing itself from the status <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> an appendage to the<br />
separate ec<strong>on</strong>omy <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> an imperialist power, it opens the way to<br />
taking possessi<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> its own resources, ec<strong>on</strong>omy and future.<br />
It is true that during and since slavery Black people have been<br />
treated by the racist ruling class as a super-exploited "appendage,"<br />
a reservoir first for unpaid and then for underpaid labor . But the<br />
fundamental difference between a col<strong>on</strong>y and the Black c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong><br />
in the U.S . is revealed in the fact that this super-exploitati<strong>on</strong> has<br />
never taken place within two completely separated societies .<br />
The Black c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong> in the U.S . has evolved as a relati<strong>on</strong>ship<br />
basically different from that <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> a col<strong>on</strong>y and a "mother" country.<br />
The col<strong>on</strong>y analogy-with the ghettos seen as a "col<strong>on</strong>ial appendage"-is<br />
simplistic, totally misleading. If the Black c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong> c<strong>on</strong>formed<br />
to that <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> a mere "appendage" to the ec<strong>on</strong>omy, then the<br />
history and development <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> this country, logic and reality instead<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> fantasy and demagogy, would be with <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> in his call for "selfdeterminati<strong>on</strong>"<br />
in the ghettos <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the U.S.<br />
Even during the period when the ec<strong>on</strong>omy and political power<br />
in the U.S . were divided and shared by the slave owners and the<br />
rising capitalist class, two independent societies did not exist. It<br />
was never possible for the slavocracy to survive as a separate society<br />
: it could exist <strong>on</strong>ly so l<strong>on</strong>g as the blood and toil <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the slaves<br />
nourished the accumulati<strong>on</strong> and expansi<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> capital in the n<strong>on</strong>-<br />
7
slave area <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the ec<strong>on</strong>omy . In that period, the ec<strong>on</strong>omy <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> chattel<br />
slavery and <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> wage labor was interc<strong>on</strong>nected, interdependent,<br />
each involved in the interrelated process <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> capital accumulati<strong>on</strong><br />
from the unpaid labor <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black slaves and the cheap labor <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
white workers .<br />
Today, with the U.S . ec<strong>on</strong>omy fully unified under the c<strong>on</strong>trol <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
m<strong>on</strong>opoly capital, the central, all-pervasive fact <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the Black c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong><br />
is triple oppressi<strong>on</strong> : racial oppressi<strong>on</strong>, opressi<strong>on</strong> as workers,<br />
and oppressi<strong>on</strong> as a people . This is the reality, a reality that did<br />
not evolve within a separate or even potentially detachable "col<strong>on</strong>ial<br />
appendage"-but within a historic process which has locked<br />
Black people, al<strong>on</strong>g with the white masses, into the single society<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> U.S. state m<strong>on</strong>opoly capitalism .<br />
But <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> does not recognize this reality. Instead he argues that :<br />
Black people live in different areas from whites-geographically<br />
and spatially. In the urban areas especially, most black<br />
people live in the Harem <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> New York City, the Roxburys <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
Bost<strong>on</strong>, the Wattses <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Los Angeles and the South Chica.gos<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Chicago .<br />
Whites live in other areas <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the same cities. Black people<br />
number more than 30 milli<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> this country's citizens . That<br />
represents more people than most <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the populati<strong>on</strong>s <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the<br />
independent countries <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Europe.<br />
Yet the people <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> each <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> these nati<strong>on</strong>s are recognized as a<br />
people.<br />
It is ir<strong>on</strong>ic that <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> demands Black people be "recognized" <strong>on</strong><br />
the basis <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s m<strong>on</strong>opoly capital has imposed up<strong>on</strong> them :<br />
the m<strong>on</strong>opolists "recognize" them as a people to be racially oppressed<br />
and super-exploited, and as an integral part <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> this they<br />
are forced to exist in the ghettos <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Harlem, Watts, Roxbury, etc.<br />
Now Innic would have Black people accept a hopeless fate within<br />
these enclaves <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> segregati<strong>on</strong> . By urging that these barren areas,<br />
8
devoid <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> material resources and without the possibility <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> developing<br />
an independent ec<strong>on</strong>omy, be "recognized" as "sovereign,"<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> assists corporate m<strong>on</strong>opoly in c<strong>on</strong>demning Black people to<br />
an even more sharply defined and oppressive neo-apartheid status .<br />
In effect, what <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> proposes is that Black people-after spending<br />
over 350 years, in and out <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> slavery, building up the most<br />
industrially developed ec<strong>on</strong>omy in the world-should voluntarily<br />
cut themselves <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>f from an equal share now and in the future in<br />
this ec<strong>on</strong>omy's immense potential for ending poverty, unemployment<br />
and ghetto slums, <strong>on</strong>ce the power <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the m<strong>on</strong>opolists is<br />
broken . He would have 30 milli<strong>on</strong> Black Americans aband<strong>on</strong> their<br />
fight for a rightful place in this industrially developed ec<strong>on</strong>omybuilt<br />
with their plundered labor-in exchange for "underdevelopment"<br />
without a chance for development) CORE's fantasy <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> "Community<br />
Self-Determinati<strong>on</strong>" in the ghetto simply amounts to a call<br />
for unc<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>al surrender <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the Black liberati<strong>on</strong> movement to<br />
the racist corporate m<strong>on</strong>opolists .<br />
No Socially Redeeming Features<br />
In asking that Black people exchange their right to an equal<br />
future in a highly developed country and instead turn their attenti<strong>on</strong><br />
to "ec<strong>on</strong>omic development in the black communities,'° <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
is projecting an indecent fantasy without a single socially redeeming<br />
feature. Nor is there a single redeeming feature to any other<br />
aspect <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the "internal col<strong>on</strong>y" c<strong>on</strong>cept, which simultaneously<br />
forms the basis for <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>' ideology <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> "Black capitalism" and for<br />
the various versi<strong>on</strong>s <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> pseudo-radical "theory" advanced by Baraka,<br />
Carmichael, Forman, etc .<br />
The scattered ghettos in which most Black Americans live cannot<br />
be compared either to African col<strong>on</strong>ies or former col<strong>on</strong>ies . The<br />
<strong>on</strong>ly possible perspective for jobs for most Black people lies outside<br />
the dispersed Harlems and Roxburys . The present and future <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
30 milli<strong>on</strong> Black people is inseparably linked to the same nati<strong>on</strong>al<br />
9
ec<strong>on</strong>omy up<strong>on</strong> which the white masses depend for their existence.<br />
Through their c<strong>on</strong>trol <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> this nati<strong>on</strong>al ec<strong>on</strong>omy, a few hundred<br />
magnates <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> corporate m<strong>on</strong>opoly exploit the white majority and<br />
triply oppress the Black minority who live and work within the<br />
same society, the same ec<strong>on</strong>omic system .<br />
While there is no prospect for jobs <strong>on</strong> a mass scale or for ec<strong>on</strong>omic<br />
development within the ghettos, an opposite situati<strong>on</strong> exists<br />
in the African countries. When the people <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> each <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> these countries<br />
take the resources and the ec<strong>on</strong>omy out <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> alien, imperialist c<strong>on</strong>trol,<br />
their future can be internally assured . But no such c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s<br />
or resources for separate ec<strong>on</strong>omic development exist within the<br />
ghetto areas that <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> views as the territorial and ec<strong>on</strong>omic c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s<br />
for Black liberati<strong>on</strong> . He writes :<br />
The productivity <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black Americans can be measured by<br />
using <strong>on</strong>e parameter-their $40 billi<strong>on</strong> c<strong>on</strong>tributi<strong>on</strong> to the nat<br />
b<strong>on</strong>'s gross nati<strong>on</strong>al product. That's a great many dollars.<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> then goes <strong>on</strong> to say :<br />
The fact is that the $40 billi<strong>on</strong> in GNP represent more goods<br />
and services than those realized by many independent nati<strong>on</strong>s<br />
in the world.<br />
Closer to home, that $40 billi<strong>on</strong> is the same dollar sum as the<br />
combined assets <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> America's three largest corporati<strong>on</strong>s--General<br />
Motors, Standard Oil (N.J . ) and the Ford Motor Company.<br />
Or measured another way, the black GNP is the equivalent<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the combined annual sales <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> GM and Jersey Standard-and<br />
we know what power these industrial giants wield in both nati<strong>on</strong>al<br />
and internati<strong>on</strong>al politics and in the domestic and global<br />
ec<strong>on</strong>omy.<br />
In the first place, we must point out that the $40 billi<strong>on</strong> described<br />
by <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> as the Black c<strong>on</strong>tributi<strong>on</strong> to the Gross Nati<strong>on</strong>al<br />
Product represents the income <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black people-and that income<br />
10
is, in fact, <strong>on</strong>ly a small porti<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the value <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> what they c<strong>on</strong>tribute<br />
through their labor to the Gross Nati<strong>on</strong>al Product-and the<br />
pr<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>its <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> m<strong>on</strong>opoly . The m<strong>on</strong>opolists' accounting methods embodied<br />
in the Gross Nati<strong>on</strong>al Product-which <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> does not questi<strong>on</strong><br />
-c<strong>on</strong>ceal the billi<strong>on</strong>s in super-pr<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>its extracted by m<strong>on</strong>opoly from<br />
the triple oppressi<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black Americans. This $40 billi<strong>on</strong> figure<br />
would be massively greater if Black people were in a positi<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
equality in this ec<strong>on</strong>omy. But <strong>on</strong>ly when m<strong>on</strong>opoly's power is<br />
broken .by an anti-m<strong>on</strong>opoly coaliti<strong>on</strong> will the c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s exist for<br />
unlimited material and social advance for Black people and the<br />
entire society .<br />
Further, <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>' acceptance <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the Gross Nati<strong>on</strong>al Product as the<br />
"parameter" <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> "productivity" for Black Americans obscures the<br />
fact that even less <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> .the income <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black people than <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> white<br />
working people originates from the productivity <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> m<strong>on</strong>opoly-c<strong>on</strong>trolled<br />
technology and automati<strong>on</strong> . The increased productivity <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
technology under state-m<strong>on</strong>opoly capitalism increases m<strong>on</strong>opoly<br />
pr<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>its, but intensifies worker exploitati<strong>on</strong> and creates greater unemployment-with<br />
the c<strong>on</strong>sequences felt by Black and other minority<br />
workers first and most severely .<br />
Instead <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> revealing the reality <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the lack <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black ec<strong>on</strong>omic<br />
power, <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> tries to make it appear that this power is very great<br />
-by making an analogy between the total income <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> 30 milli<strong>on</strong><br />
Black people and the total sales <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> two <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the corporate giants<br />
who c<strong>on</strong>trol the total U.S . ec<strong>on</strong>omy, exploiting the majority <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
whites while oppressing and exploiting Blacks and other minorities .<br />
The $40 billi<strong>on</strong> income <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> 30 milli<strong>on</strong> Black people-<str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> would<br />
have us overlook the fact that almost three times $40 billi<strong>on</strong> goes<br />
each year for armaments and war!-cannot be stretched far enough<br />
to give even the appearance <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> papering over the Black masses'<br />
increasing poverty.<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> treats this $40 billi<strong>on</strong> figure as something positive instead<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> revealing what it is : a reflecti<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> m<strong>on</strong>opoly's robbery <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the<br />
entire working class, and especially the super-exploitati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black
and other minorities. It is from the pr<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>its <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> this super-exploitati<strong>on</strong><br />
that U.S . imperialism c<strong>on</strong>ducts its military, ec<strong>on</strong>omic and political<br />
drive to suppress nati<strong>on</strong>al liberati<strong>on</strong> movements not <strong>on</strong>ly in the<br />
Middle East but in all <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Africa, as well as Asia, and Chile and<br />
other parts <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Latin America.<br />
But no matter how <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> manipulates these facts and figures,<br />
they nevertheless dem<strong>on</strong>strate that the soluti<strong>on</strong> to Black poverty<br />
and oppressi<strong>on</strong> is directly opposite to what he proposes. <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
claims that Black people's lack <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> c<strong>on</strong>trol <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the ec<strong>on</strong>omic, social<br />
and political instituti<strong>on</strong>s in the ghetto accounts for the Black c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>.<br />
However, it is what Blacks do not c<strong>on</strong>trol outside <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the<br />
ghettos that forces them into ghettos in the first place, and determines<br />
their poverty and inequality within them.<br />
The mines, the mills, the total industrial and agricultural ec<strong>on</strong>omy<br />
is c<strong>on</strong>trolled by a handful <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> racist m<strong>on</strong>opolists . The lack <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
c<strong>on</strong>trol <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the ec<strong>on</strong>omy by the Black, brown, yellow, red and white<br />
masses <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> this country is what accounts for the c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black<br />
people, as well as the other minorities and the white masses.<br />
In analyzing <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>' "Community Self-Determinati<strong>on</strong>" c<strong>on</strong>cept, it<br />
becomes apparent that it would help perpetuate, rather than help<br />
to end, m<strong>on</strong>opoly's triple oppressi<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black and other minorities .<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>' advice notwithstanding, at this very moment fr<strong>on</strong>t-rank fighters<br />
for the entire working class and all the oppressed are emerging<br />
from the ghettos and barrios . They will be am<strong>on</strong>g those <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> all<br />
colors who forge and lead a great anti-m<strong>on</strong>opoly movement to end<br />
race and class oppressi<strong>on</strong> in the U.S .<br />
But <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> rejects the c<strong>on</strong>cept that joint struggle against the comm<strong>on</strong><br />
m<strong>on</strong>opolist enemy is decisive for Black people and other minorities<br />
and the great majority <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> whites . Instead, he advances<br />
policies that would help m<strong>on</strong>opoly capital to perpetuate its c<strong>on</strong>trol.<br />
Reviving the Myth <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> "Majority Rule" in the U.S.<br />
To bolster his thesis that Black people and the white masses<br />
12
have no comm<strong>on</strong> interests-and, instead, that the white masses<br />
and the white m<strong>on</strong>opolists are <strong>on</strong>e-<str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> goes to great lengths to<br />
instill new life into the bourgeois myth <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> "majority rule" in the<br />
capitalist U.S.A. He states, for example :<br />
Clearly no other people in the history <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> mankind have been<br />
so distributed within the widespread boundaries <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> such a vast<br />
country as America, or under such extreme c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> oppressi<strong>on</strong><br />
wielded by a majority at the height <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> its military<br />
power.<br />
No manipulati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> reality can erase the fact that the military<br />
power "wielded" by the m<strong>on</strong>opolist minority in their genocidal<br />
aggressi<strong>on</strong> in Vietnam was opposed by the majority <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the people<br />
in this country, Black and white . And it was <strong>on</strong>ly the heroic resistance<br />
~<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the Vietnamese, with the support <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the socialist countries<br />
headed by the Soviet Uni<strong>on</strong>, together with the massive protest <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
$lack and white in the U.S . and anti-imperialist forces throughout<br />
the world, that forced these m<strong>on</strong>opolists-who also "wield" military<br />
as well as ec<strong>on</strong>omic and political power over the majority in the<br />
U.S.-to withdraw their military machine after more than a decade<br />
in Vietnam .<br />
Clearly, there is a precise objective in <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>' effort to revive the<br />
old "majority rule" fable : if, as <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> claims, the white majorityinstead<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the white m<strong>on</strong>opolist minority-wields power, then Blacks<br />
would have to reject the possibility <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> building a broad antim<strong>on</strong>opoly<br />
coaliti<strong>on</strong>, based <strong>on</strong> the comm<strong>on</strong> interests <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the n<strong>on</strong>-white<br />
minority and the white majority, to defeat the power-wielding<br />
white minority, and instead accept <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>' illusory goal <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> "selfdeterminati<strong>on</strong>"<br />
within the ghetto "natural sociological units ."<br />
Inrris, in other words, would have Black people give up their<br />
right .to wield power jointly and equally with the white majority<br />
within the widespread boundaries <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> such a vast country." By<br />
claiming there is already majority c<strong>on</strong>trol in the U.S.-that is,<br />
13
c<strong>on</strong>trol by a white majority-<str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> obscures the brutal reality <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
white minority m<strong>on</strong>opolist c<strong>on</strong>trol . In attempting to camouflage<br />
the enemy m<strong>on</strong>opolists by their color, <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> assists them in their<br />
aim <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> c<strong>on</strong>tinuing to wield power over the majority, the Black<br />
and n<strong>on</strong>-Black masses . By opting for "self-determinati<strong>on</strong>" in the<br />
ghetto, <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> is telling Black people they can gain c<strong>on</strong>trol over<br />
their future separate from and outside the framework <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> a struggle<br />
against the m<strong>on</strong>opolists.<br />
As more and more white workers understand the ABC <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> oppressi<strong>on</strong><br />
and exploitati<strong>on</strong>-i .e., the white minority exploiting them<br />
is the same white minority oppressing and exploiting Black workers-the<br />
unity <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black and white workers will bring about an<br />
anti-m<strong>on</strong>opoly coaliti<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> labor and its allies. Black liberati<strong>on</strong> cannot<br />
come about outside this process, nor can the needs <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> white<br />
workers be realized . Racism-al<strong>on</strong>g with anti-communism-is the<br />
major block to this process, and it is the resp<strong>on</strong>sibility <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> white<br />
workers to recognize racism for the divisive pois<strong>on</strong> it is and struggle<br />
against it. There is no alternative to this process-for either<br />
Blacks or whites . By mislabeling the majority <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> whites the enemy,<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> denies the possibility <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> change in white workers. Therefore,<br />
he denies the possibility <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> breaking m<strong>on</strong>opoly's power, and instead<br />
retreats before it in the name <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> "Community Self-Determinati<strong>on</strong> ."<br />
Yet at <strong>on</strong>e point in his article, in c<strong>on</strong>tradicti<strong>on</strong> to his central<br />
thesis <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> white majority rule, <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> lets slip who the real enemy is .<br />
He admits that "we know what power these industrial giants wield<br />
in both nati<strong>on</strong>al and internati<strong>on</strong>al politics and in the domestic and<br />
global ec<strong>on</strong>omy." Once this admissi<strong>on</strong> is made-unless <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> cares<br />
to maintain that the m<strong>on</strong>opolists wield political and ec<strong>on</strong>omic<br />
power over every<strong>on</strong>e in the U.S . except the most oppressed secti<strong>on</strong>,<br />
Black people-<strong>on</strong>e must ask : can Blacks al<strong>on</strong>e c<strong>on</strong>trol the giants <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
m<strong>on</strong>opoly? Can Blacks al<strong>on</strong>e-without a policy <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> alliance with all<br />
those whose interests c<strong>on</strong>flict with the m<strong>on</strong>opoly class-take <strong>on</strong><br />
even <strong>on</strong>e <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> "America's three largest corporati<strong>on</strong>s," let al<strong>on</strong>e the<br />
power <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> that class as a whole, the class that owns the decisive<br />
14
sectors <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the ec<strong>on</strong>omy, and through this ownership c<strong>on</strong>trols the<br />
total ec<strong>on</strong>omy in and out <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the ghetto?<br />
It is impossible for any segment <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the oppressed and exploited<br />
-including the exploited majority <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> white workers-to effectively<br />
take <strong>on</strong> even a single corporati<strong>on</strong> in their fight for better c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s,<br />
as the struggles <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the workers at GM, Chrysler, Ford, etc.<br />
will attest. When workers take <strong>on</strong> even a single corporati<strong>on</strong>, they<br />
encounter the collective power <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the m<strong>on</strong>opolists, brought to bear<br />
-with the assistance <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> government-against their just demands .<br />
This is the meaning <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> state m<strong>on</strong>opoly capitalism, whose collective<br />
power is decisive in the daily lives <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the masses <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> working people,<br />
whatever their color or origin. If no segment <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the workers-not<br />
even the white majority-can by itself effectively challenge even<br />
<strong>on</strong>e corporate m<strong>on</strong>opoly, how can the Black minority, separate<br />
from the rest <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the oppressed and exploited, effectively take <strong>on</strong><br />
all the m<strong>on</strong>opolists, the power <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> state m<strong>on</strong>opoly capitalism? In<br />
the real world in which we live it is impossible to challenge<br />
m<strong>on</strong>opoly without an alliance with those whose interests also demand<br />
an anti-m<strong>on</strong>opoly struggle .<br />
Yet, in the face <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> this, <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> advances a separatist theory that<br />
would have all segments <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the working class, as well as the<br />
Black and brown people as a whole, reject a strategy to counter<br />
the collective power <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> state m<strong>on</strong>opoly capitalism with the collective<br />
power <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> all the oppressed and exploited. <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> asserts,<br />
"it is in the interest <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> all black people and white people to support<br />
the program <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> black nati<strong>on</strong>alism"-i.e ., separatism . If the<br />
masses, Black, brown, red, yellow and white, were to accept his<br />
advice, all segments <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the oppressed and exploited would remain<br />
divided, without the means <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> resisting m<strong>on</strong>opoly's twin weap<strong>on</strong>s<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> racism and anti-communism-without a unified strategy to oppose<br />
the unified strategy <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the m<strong>on</strong>opoly oppressor.<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>' ideology presents no challenge to those who c<strong>on</strong>trol the<br />
nati<strong>on</strong>al ec<strong>on</strong>omy. On the c<strong>on</strong>trary, by c<strong>on</strong>cealing the identity <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
the oppressors, it would undermine the struggle against them .<br />
15
"Mutually Satisfactory to Both Sides"2<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>' approach would divert the struggle <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the Black liberati<strong>on</strong><br />
movement from the goal <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> sharing and c<strong>on</strong>trolling this total<br />
ec<strong>on</strong>omy together with the other segments <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the populati<strong>on</strong> now<br />
excluded from power-the masses <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> all colors . C<strong>on</strong>trol <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the<br />
ec<strong>on</strong>omy by those now exploited and oppressed can come about<br />
<strong>on</strong>ly through the joint acti<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the white working majority and<br />
the Black people and other minorities . This kind <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> c<strong>on</strong>trol-the<br />
sole source <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> power for the masses-is the basis for solving the<br />
problems <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the people impris<strong>on</strong>ed in the ghetto. <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>, however,<br />
argues to the c<strong>on</strong>trary :<br />
But we black people are oppressed in the land <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the oppressor,<br />
with the oppressor being the premier military power<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the world. That is a different problem; it requires very special<br />
soluti<strong>on</strong>s, because the normal soluti<strong>on</strong> to oppressi<strong>on</strong> is to boot<br />
out the oppressor.<br />
Unless we have plans to ship the Europeans home, the alternative<br />
and unique soluti<strong>on</strong>-and the <strong>on</strong>e black people hope to<br />
achieve-must be mutually satisfactory to both sides-black and<br />
white .<br />
It requires that both sides understand that Black people cannot<br />
have political power without an ec<strong>on</strong>omic basis .<br />
Although <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> repeatedly asserts that the white majority have<br />
power and are therefore the oppressor, he cannot hide the fact<br />
that real power lies with the m<strong>on</strong>opolist minority. Therefore, when<br />
he talks <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> coming to a "mutual agreement," he is referring to an<br />
agreement with the white minority-the m<strong>on</strong>opolists . Thus he proposes<br />
that Black people determine their future not in a united<br />
struggle with all the oppressed and exploited against m<strong>on</strong>opoly,<br />
but by arriving at a `mutually satisfactory" agreement with the<br />
white racist m<strong>on</strong>opolists who wield, as even <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> is forced to<br />
admit, global power-ec<strong>on</strong>omically, politically, militarily .<br />
16
But Black people do not share <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>' social and historical amnesia.<br />
They know that since the betrayal <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Rec<strong>on</strong>structi<strong>on</strong>, the<br />
magnates <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> capital-following in the footsteps <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the slavocracyhave<br />
through a "mutually satisfactory" agreement d<strong>on</strong>e everything<br />
in their power to deny every single right and every single opportunity<br />
to the oppressed and exploited. When he proposes that Black<br />
people come to a "mutually satisfactory" agreement with their<br />
oppressors, can <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> have forgotten how the oppressors welcomed<br />
Booker T. Washingt<strong>on</strong>'s apeal for a "mutually satisfactory" agreement-the<br />
notorious "Atlanta Compromise" <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> 1895? Has he forgotten<br />
that this "mutually satisfactory" arrangement ushered in a<br />
new era <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> segregati<strong>on</strong>, lynch law, and ec<strong>on</strong>omic and social genocide?<br />
Of course, the m<strong>on</strong>opolists find <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>' proposal <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> "self-deternunati<strong>on</strong>"<br />
in the ghetto as the ec<strong>on</strong>omic base for Black liberati<strong>on</strong> as<br />
welcome a "soluti<strong>on</strong>" as their predecessors found Washingt<strong>on</strong>'s<br />
"Atlanta Compromise." But despite the m<strong>on</strong>opolists' hopes, not<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> but the Black people will have the final word <strong>on</strong> what c<strong>on</strong>stitutes<br />
an acceptable soluti<strong>on</strong> to their problems .<br />
Unlike <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>, the Black masses will not overlook the fact that<br />
these same corporate giants and their representatives in government<br />
are doing everything in their power to bring about recol<strong>on</strong>izati<strong>on</strong><br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the newly independent nati<strong>on</strong>s. Unlike <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>, they will not<br />
overlook the ec<strong>on</strong>omic and military assistance these m<strong>on</strong>opolists<br />
provide to racist imperialism in all <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Southern Africa, and to<br />
Israeli aggressi<strong>on</strong> against the peoples <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the Middle East and in<br />
the northern part <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the African c<strong>on</strong>tinent.<br />
It is literally astounding for <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> to propose that 30 milli<strong>on</strong><br />
Black people should seek a "mutually satisfactory" agreement for<br />
an "ec<strong>on</strong>omic basis" from the U.S . imperialists who are bringing<br />
massive ec<strong>on</strong>omic, political and military power to bear <strong>on</strong> the<br />
African c<strong>on</strong>tinent to prevent more than 50 African nati<strong>on</strong>s from<br />
c<strong>on</strong>trolling their own material resources as the "ec<strong>on</strong>omic basis"<br />
for independence and development.<br />
17
Because "we black people are oppressed in the land <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the<br />
oppressor," <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> would have us believe it is impossible to get rid<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the oppressor. It is true that no single segment <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the oppressed<br />
and exploited-not even the white masses who are the<br />
majority-can through separate acti<strong>on</strong> "boot out the oppressor."<br />
This can come about <strong>on</strong>ly through joint acti<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> all the oppressed<br />
and exploited.<br />
By refusing to acknowledge the enemy as a tiny white m<strong>on</strong>opolist<br />
minority-oppressing and exploiting a Black and n<strong>on</strong>-Black majority-<str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
is able to claim that it impossible to "boot out the<br />
oppressor," and then proceed to his own "alternative" : "Unless we<br />
have plans to ship the Europeans home, the alternative and unique<br />
soluti<strong>on</strong> must be mutually satisfactory"-that is, the m<strong>on</strong>opolists<br />
must grant Black people an "ec<strong>on</strong>omic basis" for "sovereignty" in<br />
the ghetto.<br />
In order to make his "alternative" seem valid, <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> has presented<br />
us with a false issue-i.e ., booting out the oppressor is<br />
syn<strong>on</strong>ymous with booting the oppressor out <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the country. But in<br />
the U.S ., booting out the oppressor means booting the m<strong>on</strong>opolist<br />
enemy out <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> power. And when the oppressors are correctly identified<br />
as a tiny minority <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> m<strong>on</strong>opolists, booting them out can be<br />
seen as the <strong>on</strong>ly realistic soluti<strong>on</strong>.<br />
Of course, in the U.S . we are not yet at the point where the<br />
issue is booting out the m<strong>on</strong>opolist aggressor from ownership <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
the dominant sectors <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the ec<strong>on</strong>omy . We can arrive at that goal<br />
<strong>on</strong>ly through a great popular struggle to break m<strong>on</strong>opoly c<strong>on</strong>trol<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> government at all levels . This is the strategy-requiring the joint<br />
struggle <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> labor and the majority <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the working masses <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> all<br />
colors, together with the Black, Chicano, Puerto Rican and Native<br />
American liberati<strong>on</strong> movements-that will open the way to basic<br />
change, the strategy for a winning struggle to boot the m<strong>on</strong>opolists<br />
out <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> c<strong>on</strong>trol and ultimately establish socialism.<br />
But <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>, advising us that it is impossible "to boot out the<br />
oppressor," proposes instead a goal <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> °Community Self-Deter-<br />
18
urinati<strong>on</strong>"-that is, perpetuati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the ghettos, with a few crumbs<br />
for the small Black bourgeoisie and acceptance <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> a system <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
c<strong>on</strong>tinued racial oppressi<strong>on</strong> for 30 milli<strong>on</strong> Black people.<br />
What George Padmore's policies sought to accomplish for imperialism<br />
in Africa, <str<strong>on</strong>g>Roy</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>' policies seek to accomplish for imperialism<br />
in the U.S . and Africa.<br />
"Separate But Better"<br />
To understand the full implicati<strong>on</strong>s <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>' c<strong>on</strong>cept <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> separate<br />
development within the ghetto "natural sociological units," <strong>on</strong>e<br />
must keep in mind not <strong>on</strong>ly their direct relati<strong>on</strong>ship to such other<br />
"natural sociological units" as the Black slave quarters and South<br />
Africa's apartheid areas. One must also c<strong>on</strong>sider the ideology aocompanying<br />
establishment <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> these "natural sociological units."<br />
One must recall, for instance, that according to the slave owners<br />
and their apologists the Civil War did a disservice to the slaves "<br />
the destructi<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> chattel slavery meant the end <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> "security" for<br />
the slaves . Therefore, c<strong>on</strong>cluded the apologists, the Civil War and<br />
Rec<strong>on</strong>structi<strong>on</strong> were reacti<strong>on</strong>ary, while the special oppressi<strong>on</strong>, the<br />
separate existence <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Blacks within the slave system was progressive:'<br />
This was the core <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the slave owners' "separate but better"<br />
argument, the antecedent <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the "separate but equal" ideology<br />
used to justify the betrayal <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Rec<strong>on</strong>structi<strong>on</strong>-which was written<br />
into law to instituti<strong>on</strong>alize racism in every facet <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> life <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the post-<br />
Rec<strong>on</strong>structi<strong>on</strong> South, and which had such sweeping effects in<br />
establishing de facto segregati<strong>on</strong> in the North .<br />
Within this c<strong>on</strong>text, <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>' aim <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> "separate but equal development"<br />
within the ghetto "natural sociological units" can be seen<br />
for what it is : an attempt to lead Black people backward, to get<br />
them to accept c<strong>on</strong>cepts they have never ceased fighting.<br />
Because <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the Black people's historic rejecti<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> "separate but<br />
equal," it is, <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> course, necessary for <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> to present his c<strong>on</strong>cept<br />
so it appears to be something other than what it is. <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> there-<br />
i9
fore tries to put his idea across by identifying it with the African<br />
struggles for which Black people have such a deep sense <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> solidarity<br />
. He wraps the old racist myth <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> "separate but equal" in<br />
new phrases, suggesting that the ghettos have the same potential<br />
for "self-determinati<strong>on</strong>," "sovereignty" and "ec<strong>on</strong>omic development"<br />
as the emerging African nati<strong>on</strong>s .<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> would have us believe that he imported his "separate but<br />
equal" c<strong>on</strong>cept from the African liberati<strong>on</strong> movements, but actually<br />
it followed quite a different route . Originated by the U.S.<br />
slaveholders, "separate but equal" was taken over by the m<strong>on</strong>opolists<br />
who replaced them, and was later imported into South Africa<br />
by its white imperialist rulers. There it served as the doctrine<br />
establishing "separate but equal" fascist-enforced apartheid in the<br />
so-called Republic <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> South Africa. And now <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> has repatriated<br />
"separate but equal" back to the land <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> its birth-to the land now<br />
the center and global enforcer <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> race, class and nati<strong>on</strong>al oppressi<strong>on</strong><br />
.<br />
Seen in true perspective, this is the meaning <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>' "Community<br />
Self-Determinati<strong>on</strong>" proposals . In the present domestic and<br />
world c<strong>on</strong>text, this c<strong>on</strong>cept-whether <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> realizes it or not-assists<br />
U.S . m<strong>on</strong>opoly in its aim <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> applying to the Black people <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the<br />
United States an Americanized versi<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the "separate but equal"<br />
"self-determinati<strong>on</strong>" in the Bantustan "homelands" ( i.e., reservati<strong>on</strong>s)<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> South Africa .<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>' asserti<strong>on</strong> that Blacks can attain "sovereignty" in the ghettos<br />
scattered across the U.S . clearly jibes with the racist claim that<br />
Africans have w<strong>on</strong> self-determinati<strong>on</strong> within these scattered Bantustan<br />
"homelands :' Each <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> these several separate "homelands," surrounded<br />
,by white areas, is larger than the combined area <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> all<br />
the U.S . urban ghettos . Yet not <strong>on</strong>e <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> these reservati<strong>on</strong>s by itself<br />
or all <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> them together could develop a viable ec<strong>on</strong>omy. ( And even<br />
if separate ec<strong>on</strong>omic development were possible in these "homelands,"<br />
acceptance <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> such a perspective would mean surrender<br />
by the Africans <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> most <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> their land, their immense material re-<br />
20
sources and nati<strong>on</strong>al ec<strong>on</strong>omy to the racist minority. )<br />
All the best land as well as the resources lie outside the "homelands:'<br />
And the white ruling class c<strong>on</strong>trols South Africa's ec<strong>on</strong>omy<br />
-built with the labor and blood <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Africans-that surrounds and<br />
locks in these "homelands ." And that is not all that surrounds<br />
them . The armed forces <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the fascist apartheid state encircle each<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> these "homelands ." They enforce the apartheid laws determining<br />
who goes into and who goes out <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> these rural ghettos . No man,<br />
woman or child can move into or out <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the "homelands" without<br />
a pass. These passes are issued by the apartheid-enforcers <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the<br />
racist South African government. The supreme task <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> all agencies<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> government-the army, the police, the courts-is enforcement <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
the separati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the races and total c<strong>on</strong>trol <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> populati<strong>on</strong> movements<br />
down to the last man, woman and child. And these same<br />
agencies also c<strong>on</strong>trol what products go into or out <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the "homelands."<br />
Here in the U.S. aboliti<strong>on</strong> took the fugitive slave law <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>f the<br />
books, and the Civil Rights struggles brought an end to legal<br />
segregati<strong>on</strong>, making legal movement for Black people possible in<br />
certain previously forbidden areas . Nevertheless, c<strong>on</strong>trol <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the<br />
Black populati<strong>on</strong>'s movements still c<strong>on</strong>tinues, with the job primarily<br />
d<strong>on</strong>e by the laws <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> capitalist ec<strong>on</strong>omics buttressed by the allpervasive<br />
racist practices <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> this country. In South Africa police<br />
violence is carried out against Africans in the name <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> enforcing<br />
legal apartheid. In the U.S . police violence is carried out illegally<br />
-but in "the name <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the law," with the sancti<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the racist<br />
government and judicial agencies-against the inhabitants <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the<br />
ghettos and barrios .<br />
Of course, the similarities between the ec<strong>on</strong>omic and social features<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> racist oppressi<strong>on</strong> in the U.S . and South Africa must not<br />
blind <strong>on</strong>e to the basic distincti<strong>on</strong>s in the struggle against racist<br />
and class oppressi<strong>on</strong> in these two countries . Tens <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> thousands<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black workers in all parts <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> South Africa c<strong>on</strong>tinue the struggle<br />
for the right to form uni<strong>on</strong>s, to advance bey<strong>on</strong>d starvati<strong>on</strong> wages<br />
21
and in defiance <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the pass laws-the foundati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> apartheid<br />
fascism-in the face <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the police power which recently murdered<br />
striking miners.<br />
In the U.S ., m<strong>on</strong>opoly capitalism ceaselessly resorts to repressive<br />
measures to turn back the struggles <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black people and labor as<br />
a whole . And Nix<strong>on</strong>'s Watergate clearly reveals the danger <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the<br />
impositi<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> fascism in the U.S . But extreme reacti<strong>on</strong> has not<br />
succeeded in bringing this about . On the other hand, in South<br />
Africa, where m<strong>on</strong>opoly capital rules with the support <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> U.S.<br />
imperialism, the form <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> rule is open fascist violence. This difference<br />
outweights the similarities between Black oppressi<strong>on</strong> in<br />
the U.S. and in South Africa, and is basic to the strategy for South<br />
Africa-where the African workers and masses fight to smash apartheid<br />
fascism as an indivisible part <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the struggle for liberati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
Self"Determinati<strong>on</strong> and State Power<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>' projecti<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> "sovereignty" and "self-determinati<strong>on</strong>" within<br />
the ghetto has, as I have shown, no more substance than the<br />
fraudulent claim <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> South Africa's rulers that the African majority<br />
have achieved "self-determinati<strong>on</strong>" in the racist dominated and encircled<br />
"homelands :' In reality, <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>' call for "sovereignty within<br />
the "natural sociological units" <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the ghetto is a strategy for<br />
formalizing the racist c<strong>on</strong>cept <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> "separate but equal," camouflaged<br />
as "Gbmmunity Self-Determinati<strong>on</strong>" for 30 milli<strong>on</strong> Black people.<br />
What, <strong>on</strong>e must ask, is the scientific basis for <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>' use <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> "selfdeterminati<strong>on</strong>"?<br />
Do Black people possess a comm<strong>on</strong> territory with<br />
mineral and agricultural resources? In other words, do the c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s<br />
exist in the ghettos for developing a viable ec<strong>on</strong>omy within<br />
a comm<strong>on</strong> territory up<strong>on</strong> which state power could be established<br />
and maintained by Black people? Even to ask these questi<strong>on</strong>s is<br />
to expose the fantasy <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> "self-determinati<strong>on</strong>" in the ghettos .<br />
The issue <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> self-determinati<strong>on</strong> cannot be separated from state<br />
power. In Guinea-Bissau, for example, the people-under the leader-<br />
22
ship <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the African Party for Independence <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Guinea and the Cape<br />
Verde Islands (PAIGC)-have, after l<strong>on</strong>g struggles, been able to<br />
`boot out" the Portuguese oppressor from more than 80 <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> their<br />
country's territories . They have established state power <strong>on</strong> their<br />
own comm<strong>on</strong> territory . Their own lands and resources are now<br />
in the hands <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the people and they can, with the solidarity <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
the Socialist countries and all the world anti-imperialist forces,<br />
begin to develop their own viable ec<strong>on</strong>omy as the basis for independence<br />
and social progress. Now they are in a positi<strong>on</strong> to<br />
strengthen the people's military forces, an arm <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> state power inseparable<br />
from the struggle to maintain the sovereignty <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the<br />
former col<strong>on</strong>ies. As <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> this writing, the Soviet Uni<strong>on</strong> and more<br />
than 40 other countries have recognized the new Republic <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
Guinea-Bissau, headed by Premier Luis Cabral, brother <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Amilcar<br />
Cabral who was murdered by the Portuguese allies <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> U.S . imperialism.<br />
Although <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> writes about "self-determinati<strong>on</strong>" and "sovereignty,"<br />
he says nothing about state power-nothing about the fact that<br />
there can be no sovereignty without state power . The questi<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
state power can be resolved within the territory <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> a former col<strong>on</strong>y<br />
such as Guinea-Bissau . That is why the slogan <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> self-determinati<strong>on</strong><br />
is applicable to Guinea-Bissau. But state power cannot be<br />
attained within the U.S. ghettos . Nor can a change in c<strong>on</strong>trol <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
state power in the U.S . be brought about by Black people al<strong>on</strong>e.<br />
The power <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> state m<strong>on</strong>opoly capitalism prevails over this entire<br />
country. The m<strong>on</strong>opolists' rule can be broken <strong>on</strong>ly by the power<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
a united fr<strong>on</strong>t <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> all who are oppressed by m<strong>on</strong>opoly-<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> a nati<strong>on</strong>al<br />
anti-m<strong>on</strong>opoly coaliti<strong>on</strong>, with the working class, Black, Puerto<br />
Rican, Chicano, Native American, Asian-American and white as<br />
its foundati<strong>on</strong> and leadership .<br />
Since "self-determinati<strong>on</strong>" is a fantasy when the c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s for<br />
separate ec<strong>on</strong>omic development do not exist, the issue for Black<br />
people in the U.S . is not the "Community Self-Determinati<strong>on</strong>"<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> calls for . The issue is how to break the state power which is<br />
23
now in the hands <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> m<strong>on</strong>opoly. The main weap<strong>on</strong>s with which<br />
m<strong>on</strong>opoly maintains state power are racism and anti-communism.<br />
Within this c<strong>on</strong>text, it is necessary to recognize "Community Self-<br />
Determinati<strong>on</strong>" for what it is-a false issue leading away from the<br />
fundamental questi<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> forging a great anti-m<strong>on</strong>opoly coaliti<strong>on</strong><br />
in the United States .<br />
What kind <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> "self-determinati<strong>on</strong>" can there be in the ghettos<br />
when the ec<strong>on</strong>omy, territory and resources for industry and agriculture<br />
are all outside the ghetto? Even water, the most elementary<br />
necessity for life, cannot be found in the ghettool<br />
How closely <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>' idea <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> "self-determinati<strong>on</strong>" for the ghetto<br />
"natural sociological units" parallels the c<strong>on</strong>cept used by the fascist<br />
government <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> South Africa to rati<strong>on</strong>alize the "homelands" they<br />
have set up is revealed in an interview with Dr. Nicholas Diederichs,<br />
South Africa's Finance Minister. In the interview, given to<br />
The Sunday Nati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Kenya while Diederichs was in Nairobi for<br />
meetings <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the Internati<strong>on</strong>al M<strong>on</strong>etary Fund, and reported by the<br />
New York Times (October 10, 1973), Diederichs stated :<br />
We do all we can to build up the nati<strong>on</strong>s in South Africa be<br />
they white or colored or black. To build them up sociologically,<br />
socially, educati<strong>on</strong>ally and ec<strong>on</strong>omically, each in their own way.<br />
( My emphasis-H.W. )<br />
Diederichs then went an to say :<br />
When these African states we are now creating come into being,<br />
the Africans will be bossing those countries . . . . It is their country,<br />
in South Africa. . . . It is separate development . (My emphasis-H.W<br />
. )<br />
Even the New York Times corresp<strong>on</strong>dent, writing from Johannesburg,<br />
could not avoid admitting the impossibility <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> "separate<br />
development" in the apartheid reservati<strong>on</strong>s, which he described<br />
as follows :
. . . the so-called "homelands," or separate provinces, which<br />
critics here regard largely as eroded, broken up tracts, incapable<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> supporting their large designated populati<strong>on</strong>s.<br />
This descripti<strong>on</strong> is another c<strong>on</strong>firmati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the comparis<strong>on</strong> I<br />
have made between the South African racists' plans for "separate<br />
but equal" development in the "homelands" and <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>' proposals<br />
for "separate but equal" "development" and "sovereignty" within<br />
the "eroded, broken up tracts" comprising U.S . ghettos .<br />
The Times corresp<strong>on</strong>dent also comments <strong>on</strong> the c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
South African workers :<br />
The very low wage figures <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> black workers do not tell the whole<br />
story <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> their misery. For the migratory system requires milli<strong>on</strong>s<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> workers to leave their families in the "homelands," and they<br />
cannot send home enough m<strong>on</strong>ey to prevent widespread malnutriti<strong>on</strong><br />
.<br />
The racist minority in South Africa has a vested interest in perpetuating<br />
these c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s resp<strong>on</strong>sible for the inequality, the misery<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the African majority. U.S . m<strong>on</strong>opolists-who play a decisive role<br />
in maintaining this system in South Africa-also have a vested interest<br />
in perpetuating the c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s resp<strong>on</strong>sible for the misery and<br />
inequality <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Blacks in this country. CORE's "Community Self-<br />
Determinati<strong>on</strong>" c<strong>on</strong>cept fits into the aim <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the m<strong>on</strong>opolist <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>fensive<br />
against the Black liberati<strong>on</strong> movement : to prevent Blacks and other<br />
oppressed minorities from gaining equality and joint c<strong>on</strong>trol-al<strong>on</strong>g<br />
with the exploited white working majority-<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the total ec<strong>on</strong>omy.<br />
"Clear Advantage" To Whom?<br />
Black people have an investment <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> over three centuries <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> life<br />
and blood in this total ec<strong>on</strong>omy, now totally c<strong>on</strong>trolled by m<strong>on</strong>opoly<br />
capital . The path to Black liberati<strong>on</strong> lies in the struggles for<br />
joint c<strong>on</strong>trol <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> this ec<strong>on</strong>omy by all the oppressed and exploited .<br />
25
But <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>' "Community Self-Determinati<strong>on</strong>" c<strong>on</strong>cept would divert<br />
Black people away from an anti-m<strong>on</strong>opoly fight . Presumably designed<br />
to serve the interests <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black people, the "Community Self-<br />
Determinati<strong>on</strong> Bill" clearly serves an entirely different purpose :<br />
. . . gaining managerial c<strong>on</strong>trol [writes <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>] <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the instituti<strong>on</strong>s<br />
functi<strong>on</strong>ing in black areas provides an immediate way <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> creating<br />
guaranteed markets . It will give black people the chance and the<br />
ability to satisfy a demand and <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>fer them a clear advantage.<br />
If <strong>on</strong>e is to determine to whom <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>' proposals <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>fer "a clear<br />
advantage," it is necessary to analyze the meaning <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> "gaining<br />
managerial c<strong>on</strong>trol <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the instituti<strong>on</strong>s functi<strong>on</strong>ing in black areas ."<br />
Which instituti<strong>on</strong>s? The m<strong>on</strong>opoly-c<strong>on</strong>trolled chain stores, banks<br />
and utilities? The governmental instituti<strong>on</strong>s-schools, hospitals,<br />
police?<br />
Let's look first at the questi<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> "managerial c<strong>on</strong>trol" <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> m<strong>on</strong>opoly-owned<br />
instituti<strong>on</strong>s . There is a matter <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> jobs involved here,<br />
and certainly an end must be put to job discriminati<strong>on</strong> in every<br />
category, in and out <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the ghetto, for Blacks. But any manager,<br />
Black or white, who thinks management <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> a branch <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> a m<strong>on</strong>opoly-owned<br />
supermarket, bank or public utility will lead to ownership<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> that instituti<strong>on</strong> is in a sadly deluded state indeed . As for<br />
the jobs themselves, <strong>on</strong>e must distinguish between what is involved<br />
in managing a supermarket as compared to a bank, since the prime<br />
duty <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> a ghetto bank manager is to encourage Black people to<br />
believe they "have a friend at Chase Manhattan," or the Bank <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
America, etc.-the same "friends" who c<strong>on</strong>trol most ghetto real<br />
estate and who also have a vast "friendly" stake in fascist apartheid<br />
in South Africa .<br />
As for governmental instituti<strong>on</strong>s, certainly Black people must<br />
be represented in them at all levels, in elected, appointed and job<br />
capacities . This means that Black people must be in a positi<strong>on</strong> to<br />
exert maximum influence <strong>on</strong> governmental instituti<strong>on</strong>s not <strong>on</strong>ly in<br />
26
the ghetto but city-wide, state-wide, nati<strong>on</strong>ally . To win decent<br />
health and educati<strong>on</strong>al facilities ( for example, Harlem, unlike any<br />
white community <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> its size, does not have even <strong>on</strong>e high schooll ),<br />
maximum power must be exerted within and far bey<strong>on</strong>d the ghetto .<br />
And to put an end to police brutality and the other outrageous<br />
violati<strong>on</strong>s <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> police power in the ghetto requires pressure going<br />
far bey<strong>on</strong>d the local precinctl<br />
Obviously, "c<strong>on</strong>trol" is related to much more than "markets ."<br />
Nevertheless, <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>' c<strong>on</strong>cepti<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> markets is a misleading <strong>on</strong>e.<br />
When he states that "gaining managerial c<strong>on</strong>trol" will provide "an<br />
immediate way <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> creating guaranteed markets," he speaks as<br />
though ghetto `markets" are separate from the total ec<strong>on</strong>omy. He<br />
talks as if the market for Blacks is determined by who manages<br />
a particular branch <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> m<strong>on</strong>opoly in the ghetto . And, by ignoring<br />
the fact that all but a tiny fracti<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black people's total income<br />
results from jobs outside the ghetto, he makes it appear that there<br />
is no relati<strong>on</strong>ship between market and incomel<br />
In asserting that "gaining managerial c<strong>on</strong>trol" would be an "immediate<br />
way <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> creating guaranteed markets," <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> also obscures<br />
the fact that in every society the nature and size <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the market,<br />
c<strong>on</strong>sumpti<strong>on</strong> and distributi<strong>on</strong>, are determined by the class character<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> producti<strong>on</strong>-that is, by the class c<strong>on</strong>trolling the means <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
producti<strong>on</strong> . In obscuring this fact, <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> compounds his ficti<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
"community c<strong>on</strong>trol"; he makes it appear that "managerial c<strong>on</strong>trol"<br />
over m<strong>on</strong>opoly's ghetto instituti<strong>on</strong>s would serve the people instead<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the corporate giants c<strong>on</strong>trolling producti<strong>on</strong>, distributi<strong>on</strong> and c<strong>on</strong>sumpti<strong>on</strong><br />
in all parts <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the country, including the ghettos. <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>'<br />
proposals would, at best, provide jobs for a few select Blacks in<br />
what he calls "managerial" positi<strong>on</strong>s, leaving unsolved the fundamental<br />
questi<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> jobs and ec<strong>on</strong>omic equality for the Black<br />
masses.<br />
fihere¬ore, <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>' proposals would provide a "clear advantage"<br />
<strong>on</strong>ly to , the m<strong>on</strong>opolists who own the principal instruments <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
producti<strong>on</strong> in auto, steel, transportati<strong>on</strong>, etc.-who, in fact, own<br />
~7
or c<strong>on</strong>trol everything up<strong>on</strong> which the jobs and incomes <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the<br />
overwhelming majority <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black people and all other segments <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
the working people depend . And <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>' proposal would in reality<br />
not <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>fer an "advantage" even to that small minority <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Blacks for<br />
whom he presumes to speak. It would instead be a "clear advantage"<br />
to this minority to support a course <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> struggle against<br />
m<strong>on</strong>opoly, rather than <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>fer themselves <strong>on</strong>ly as its "managerial"<br />
servants in the Black communities .<br />
As another facet <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> an approach that serves m<strong>on</strong>opoly instead<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the people, <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> fails to distinguish between m<strong>on</strong>opoly's instituti<strong>on</strong>s<br />
and the people's instituti<strong>on</strong>s inside the ghetto. But it<br />
is these people's instituti<strong>on</strong>s-as part <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> a wider movement combining<br />
struggles within and outside the ghetto-that are essential<br />
to liberati<strong>on</strong> .<br />
The destiny <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black people will not be determined by a<br />
minority with the goal <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> ,becoming "managerial" servants <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> m<strong>on</strong>opoly<br />
capital in the ghetto, but by the milli<strong>on</strong>s <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black workers<br />
in auto, steel, transportati<strong>on</strong> and other industries fighting against<br />
job and pay inequality, and the milli<strong>on</strong>s <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Blacks <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> all ages<br />
who can meet their crucial needs <strong>on</strong>ly by a strategic struggle<br />
relating to the m<strong>on</strong>opoly-c<strong>on</strong>trolled industries and the government<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> state m<strong>on</strong>opoly capitalism outside the ghettos . This is the <strong>on</strong>ly<br />
alternative that will give "black people the chance and the ability<br />
to satisfy a demand and <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>fer them a clear advantage:'<br />
"Managerial" Service to M<strong>on</strong>opoly<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>' approach would perform a "managerial" service to m<strong>on</strong>opoly<br />
by separating Black workers and the entire Black people<br />
from the anti-m<strong>on</strong>opoly struggles . When <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> asks the Black people<br />
to put their support behind his "Community Self-Determinati<strong>on</strong>"<br />
goal, he is telling Black workers to give up the struggle against<br />
the m<strong>on</strong>opolists who rob them at the point <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> producti<strong>on</strong>, and<br />
instead fall in behind those Blacks who aim to manage the affairs<br />
28
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> these same m<strong>on</strong>opolists within the Black communities. He is,<br />
in other words, telling Black people to accept the leadership <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
the Black bourgeoisie, which is primarily c<strong>on</strong>cerned <strong>on</strong>ly with its<br />
own narrow interests .<br />
That <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>' proposals <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>fer a perspective <strong>on</strong>ly for a small<br />
minority <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Blacks willing to serve m<strong>on</strong>opoly's interests in the<br />
Black community is additi<strong>on</strong>ally c<strong>on</strong>firmed when he writes :<br />
It is obvious that nobody can compete with black people in<br />
the area <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> supplying services to their own communities .<br />
The primary reas<strong>on</strong> that this will work is because it provides<br />
a pragmatic means <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> diffusing the catastrophic c<strong>on</strong>fr<strong>on</strong>tati<strong>on</strong><br />
course up<strong>on</strong> which the U.S . is currently embarked .<br />
This statement can <strong>on</strong>ly be described as a "pragmatic means"<br />
for informing the m<strong>on</strong>opolists that it is to their "clear advantage"<br />
to assign a small minority <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Blacks the exclusive "managerial"<br />
franchise for "supplying services" to the Black community<br />
-that this will, in fact, provide the "means for diffusing" the<br />
Black liberati<strong>on</strong> movement, by leading it away from an alliance<br />
with n<strong>on</strong>-Black masses to win c<strong>on</strong>trol <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> m<strong>on</strong>opoly instituti<strong>on</strong>s<br />
that dominate life in and out <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the ghetto.<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> describes his proposal as :<br />
. a solid, well-planned step toward the reorganizati<strong>on</strong> and<br />
redefiniti<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the relati<strong>on</strong>ship <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> black people with white America<br />
. It provides the means through which coexistence and tranquility<br />
can be guaranteed .<br />
Certainly the struggle against oppressi<strong>on</strong> requires "reorganizati<strong>on</strong>"<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the oppressed and exploited <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> all colors-into a multiracial<br />
anti-m<strong>on</strong>opoly coaliti<strong>on</strong>. But this is not the "redefiniti<strong>on</strong>"<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> calls for. Instead he asks for "coexistence" with racism, for<br />
"tranquility"-instead <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> struggle against racist instituti<strong>on</strong>s, re-<br />
29
lati<strong>on</strong>ships and practices .<br />
"I Am Not Saying-As Are the Revoluti<strong>on</strong>aries . , ,"<br />
There appears no end to the lengths to which <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> will go<br />
to assure the m<strong>on</strong>opolists that he will not join in a movement to<br />
challenge their c<strong>on</strong>trol . He writes :<br />
I am not saying-as are the revoluti<strong>on</strong>aries-that black people<br />
will change white instituti<strong>on</strong>s . I am not saying that black people<br />
want to reform the entire ec<strong>on</strong>omic system under which the<br />
majority has flourished .<br />
I am saying, however, that we want to be able to c<strong>on</strong>trol<br />
our own destiny. . . We want to do this by creating our own<br />
instituti<strong>on</strong>s, quite apart from white instituti<strong>on</strong>s .<br />
This does not really c<strong>on</strong>flict with the vital interest <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> whites.<br />
Isn't it strange that a Black man, pr<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>essing to speak for the interests<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> his people, would assure the m<strong>on</strong>opolists he has absolutely<br />
no intenti<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> calling for any "change" in the instituti<strong>on</strong>s<br />
they c<strong>on</strong>trol? It is not "the majority" that "has flourished" through<br />
these racist instituti<strong>on</strong>s, but a small minority. It is through these instituti<strong>on</strong>s-which,<br />
according to <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>, should be allowed to c<strong>on</strong>duct<br />
business as usual-that the white majority is exploited, while the<br />
Black, .brown, Native American and Asian-American minorities are<br />
oppressed and exploited.<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> asserts that his proposals do not "c<strong>on</strong>flict with the vital<br />
interest <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> whites." But <strong>on</strong>e must ask, which whites? Certainly they<br />
do not "c<strong>on</strong>flict with the vital interest" <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the white m<strong>on</strong>opolists<br />
( and by placing the questi<strong>on</strong> as he does, <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> again attempts to<br />
camouflage them by their color) . And if these proposals do not<br />
"c<strong>on</strong>flict with the vital interest" <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the m<strong>on</strong>opolists, they most<br />
assuredly do "c<strong>on</strong>flict with the vital interest" <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the Black working<br />
class whose interests, in turn, corresp<strong>on</strong>d most fully and c<strong>on</strong>sistently<br />
with those <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the entire Black people.<br />
39
<str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> asserts that he does not want to change or even reform<br />
"the entire ec<strong>on</strong>omic system," claiming that Black people can<br />
"c<strong>on</strong>trol our own destiny" through "self-determinati<strong>on</strong>" in the<br />
ghettos, "quite apart from" the "entire ec<strong>on</strong>omic system ." But<br />
he fails to show how his proposals for "self-determinati<strong>on</strong>" in the<br />
ghettos would enable Black people to "c<strong>on</strong>trol our own destiny"any<br />
more than fascist-imposed "self-determinati<strong>on</strong>" in South Africa's<br />
Bantu "homelands" has enabled the African majority to determine<br />
their "own destiny" "quite apart from" the "entire ec<strong>on</strong>omic system"<br />
and "instituti<strong>on</strong>s" <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> South Africa .<br />
Keeping Black people "quite apart from" the "entire ec<strong>on</strong>omic<br />
system"-except as a source <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> super-pr<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>its-is central to the policies<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the white minority c<strong>on</strong>trolling this country. In describing<br />
his aim <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> separating Black people from their just claim <strong>on</strong> the<br />
entire "ec<strong>on</strong>omic system," <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> gives the dominant forces <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
racism and reacti<strong>on</strong> additi<strong>on</strong>al assurance that his proposals do<br />
not "c<strong>on</strong>flict with" their "vital interest" :<br />
When the black populati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> America ceases to relate to the<br />
larger nati<strong>on</strong> as a dependent and as a col<strong>on</strong>ized people and begins<br />
to assert power through instituti<strong>on</strong>al c<strong>on</strong>trol <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> capital instruments,<br />
the black "internal col<strong>on</strong>ies" will then in fact be a<br />
"nati<strong>on</strong> within a nati<strong>on</strong> :' It will then be necessary to redistribute<br />
power proporti<strong>on</strong>ally and to redefine the social relati<strong>on</strong>ship between<br />
the citizens <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> both nati<strong>on</strong>s-that is, between blacks and<br />
whites .<br />
After rejecting the fact that Black people have a rightful claim<br />
<strong>on</strong> the total ec<strong>on</strong>omy, <strong>on</strong> the "instruments" <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> capital-the resources,<br />
industry and ec<strong>on</strong>omy <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the entire country-<str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> talks<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> beginning "to assert power through instituti<strong>on</strong>al c<strong>on</strong>trol <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
capital instruments." But what "capital instruments" <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> any c<strong>on</strong>sequence<br />
are or would ever be available to Black people within the<br />
ghetto "natural sociological units"-separate and "quite apart" from<br />
the total ec<strong>on</strong>omic system? Who c<strong>on</strong>trols the gas, electricity, the<br />
31
communicati<strong>on</strong>s systems and even water? <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> talks about "c<strong>on</strong>trol"<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the "instruments" <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> ec<strong>on</strong>omic existence in the ghetto when<br />
these "instruments" are all outside the ghetto-and all owned by<br />
the corporate giants who c<strong>on</strong>trol the total ec<strong>on</strong>omy.<br />
It is correct to say that it will "be necessary to redistribute<br />
power proporti<strong>on</strong>ally and to redefine the social relati<strong>on</strong>ship" between<br />
`blacks and whites." But this objective will never be w<strong>on</strong><br />
if it is regarded as having no immediate relati<strong>on</strong>ship to the vital<br />
interests <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black people, but merely as something to be postp<strong>on</strong>ed<br />
to the day when Black people succeed in doing the impossible,<br />
i.e., turning the barren ghetto "natural sociological units" without<br />
the c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s for nati<strong>on</strong>hood into "a nati<strong>on</strong> within a nati<strong>on</strong> ."<br />
To determine their destiny, it is essential for Black people to<br />
c<strong>on</strong>trol every possible instrumentality and instituti<strong>on</strong> for selforganizati<strong>on</strong><br />
in the ghetto, and to fight for change through trade<br />
uni<strong>on</strong>s and every other possible type <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> organizati<strong>on</strong> outside<br />
the ghetto to "redistribute power proporti<strong>on</strong>ally and to redefine<br />
the social relati<strong>on</strong>ship" between Blacks and n<strong>on</strong>-Blacks. This<br />
ghetto-based power <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black people must simultaneously be used<br />
to exert maximum pressure at every level <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> government, industry,<br />
politics, educati<strong>on</strong>, etc. and to engage in joint acti<strong>on</strong> with allies<br />
at every point <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> mutual interest. This approach must be central<br />
to the strategy <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the Black liberati<strong>on</strong> movement now; it must not<br />
be postp<strong>on</strong>ed, as <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> advises, until "self-determinati<strong>on</strong>" and<br />
"sovereignty" are achieved in the ghettos-which would be never.<br />
Moreover, this struggle should have as its goal not the illusi<strong>on</strong><br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> "c<strong>on</strong>trol <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> capital instruments" within the ghetto and "quite<br />
apart from" the "entire ec<strong>on</strong>omic system :' Its goal must be to<br />
break the m<strong>on</strong>opolists' c<strong>on</strong>trol <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the "capital instruments" <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
the entire country.<br />
But <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> aims to keep the Black liberati<strong>on</strong> movement "quite<br />
apart" from the fight to "assert power"-i .e., to "boot out" the oppressor<br />
c<strong>on</strong>trolling the "capital instruments" <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the "entire ec<strong>on</strong>omic<br />
system :' It is <strong>on</strong>ly too evident that <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>' politics <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>fer no chal-<br />
32
lenge to "the catastrophic c<strong>on</strong>fr<strong>on</strong>tati<strong>on</strong> course up<strong>on</strong> which the<br />
U.S . is currenfly embarked ." His approach would c<strong>on</strong>tribute<br />
toward "di$using" the struggle "to redistribute power proporti<strong>on</strong>ally,"<br />
instead <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> helping "to redefine" the relati<strong>on</strong>ships in this<br />
country to bring about racism's end .<br />
In the Most Strategic Sectors <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Nati<strong>on</strong>al Ec<strong>on</strong>omy<br />
Almost 10 percent <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the Black populati<strong>on</strong> now work in the<br />
most strategic sectors <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the nati<strong>on</strong>al ec<strong>on</strong>omy, especially steel,<br />
mining, auto and transportati<strong>on</strong> . ( Milli<strong>on</strong>s <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> others are denied<br />
jobs in the c<strong>on</strong>structi<strong>on</strong> industries. ) In additi<strong>on</strong> to the 10 percent<br />
who form a vital part <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the most strategically placed secti<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
the working class, the overwhelming majority <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black people<br />
work-when they can get work-outside the ghetto, within the<br />
total nati<strong>on</strong>al ec<strong>on</strong>omy.<br />
Therefore, when <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> informs both the m<strong>on</strong>opolists and their<br />
racist labor lieutenants that he is not c<strong>on</strong>cerned with changing<br />
either the "instituti<strong>on</strong>s" or the "entire ec<strong>on</strong>omic system," he is<br />
aband<strong>on</strong>ing the Black working class . Black workers are am<strong>on</strong>g<br />
the most militant in the expanding movement to sweep aside the<br />
Meanys who are blocking the struggle to end racist and antioommunist<br />
practices in the labor movement. Black workers are<br />
playing a leading role in this movement because they recognize<br />
that they cannot defend their interests "quite apart from" the<br />
"entire ec<strong>on</strong>omic system ." Black workers are becoming increasingly<br />
aware that their destiny and that <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black people as a whole<br />
is bound up with a united struggle <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> all workers, Black and n<strong>on</strong>-<br />
Black, to win c<strong>on</strong>trol from the corporate giants who exploit and<br />
oppress the majority <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> all colors.<br />
When <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> disclaims all interest in changing the "instituti<strong>on</strong>s"<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> this country, he is in effect endorsing the status quo in racistdominated<br />
uni<strong>on</strong>s . But Black workers, al<strong>on</strong>g with increasing<br />
numbers <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> workers <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> all colors, are struggling to break the c<strong>on</strong>-<br />
33
trot <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the employers and the Meanys over these uni<strong>on</strong>s, and<br />
transform them into basic instruments <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the working class in the<br />
struggle against m<strong>on</strong>opoly.<br />
Certain Parallel Implicati<strong>on</strong>s<br />
In South Africa, the so-called "Promoti<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Bantu Self-Government<br />
Act" <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> 1959, establishing apartheid reservati<strong>on</strong>s in the<br />
name <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> "self-determinati<strong>on</strong>," was preceded first by the "Suppressi<strong>on</strong><br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Communism Act"-the key to the repressi<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> oppositi<strong>on</strong><br />
to fascist-imposed apartheid-and then by the "Populati<strong>on</strong> Registrati<strong>on</strong><br />
Act," the foundati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> racial separati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black, Colored,<br />
Asian and white .<br />
It is impossible to overlook the fact that CORE first projected<br />
its "Community Self-Determinati<strong>on</strong> Bill" in 1968, at a time when<br />
reacti<strong>on</strong> was beginning to give renewed impetus to the Mo-<br />
Carthyite, racist, anti-communist measures challenged by a decade<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> civil rights struggles . Now, in 1973, when these attacks <strong>on</strong> the<br />
people's struggles have reached a still sharper, Nix<strong>on</strong>-Watergate<br />
level, <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g> is reviving this bill.<br />
There are still other parallel implicati<strong>on</strong>s between the "Bantu<br />
Self-Government Act" and the logic <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>' "Community Self-<br />
Determinati<strong>on</strong> Bill ." Passage <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the "Bantu Self-Government Act"<br />
abolished the "Native Representati<strong>on</strong> Act," eliminating even the<br />
token representati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the Black majority in the Parliament <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
South Africa.. Just when the level <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> mass struggle was reaching<br />
the point where it would have been reflected in their increased<br />
representati<strong>on</strong>-aiming at Black African majority c<strong>on</strong>trol <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> their<br />
own country-every semblance <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> representati<strong>on</strong> was wiped out in<br />
the name <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> "self-determinati<strong>on</strong>" in the apartheid "homelands:'<br />
In the U.S., CORE's "Community Self-Determinati<strong>on</strong> Bill'° is <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
assistance to the racist m<strong>on</strong>opolists and their political servants<br />
who would turn back the advance in Black representati<strong>on</strong> in C<strong>on</strong>gress<br />
and other levels <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> government.<br />
34
<str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>' call for ghetto "self-determinati<strong>on</strong>" <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>fers a "clear advantage"<br />
to the m<strong>on</strong>opolists . While it is a fantasy alternative for<br />
Black people, it is a real asset to the m<strong>on</strong>opolists. The propaganda<br />
campaign behind <str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>' "Community Self-Determinati<strong>on</strong> Bill" is a<br />
most valuable "managerial" service to the corporate giants-because<br />
it creates a diversi<strong>on</strong> from a winning strategy.<br />
In South Africa, behind the fantasy <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> "self-determinati<strong>on</strong>" in<br />
the "homelands," the reality <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> increased separati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the Black<br />
African majority from the Colored, Indian and Asian minorities<br />
was imposed-in order to sidetrack the struggle <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the oppressed<br />
for c<strong>on</strong>trol <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the entire country and its ec<strong>on</strong>omy .<br />
CORE's call for "Community Self-Determinati<strong>on</strong>" in the ghettos<br />
is a U.S . adaptati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the South African strategy which keeps<br />
a white racist minority in power through racial separati<strong>on</strong> . In the<br />
U.S., CORE's approach would intensify and fix-instead <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> helping<br />
to over~me-the divisi<strong>on</strong> between the oppressed and exploited<br />
Black minority and the exploited white majority. It would also increase<br />
divisi<strong>on</strong> between Blacks and the other oppressed minorities.<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>Innis</str<strong>on</strong>g>' proposal would, in sum, divert from the <strong>on</strong>ly liberating<br />
strategy: a united anti-m<strong>on</strong>opoly struggle for c<strong>on</strong>trol <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the nati<strong>on</strong>al<br />
ec<strong>on</strong>omy. Only the joint struggle <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the Black, Puerto Rican,<br />
Chicano, Native American and Asian-American minorities with the<br />
white majority can win the battle against poverty, exploitati<strong>on</strong><br />
and oppressi<strong>on</strong> . This is the <strong>on</strong>ly strategy which can `boot out the<br />
oppressor" and establish people's c<strong>on</strong>trol <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the entire ec<strong>on</strong>omy .
EDUCATION :<br />
NOT BACKWARD TO BOOKER T. WASHINGTON-<br />
BUT FORWARD TO BLACK LIBERATION<br />
A CRITIQUE OF MARTIN HILSON<br />
"The Black Experience at Harvard," an article by Martin Kils<strong>on</strong>,<br />
a Black pr<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>essor <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> government at Harvard (New York Times<br />
Magazine, September 2, 1973, adapted from a two-part series in<br />
The Harvard Bulletin) is clearly ominous in relati<strong>on</strong> to its most<br />
immediate target, Black college students . It serves as a signal to<br />
n<strong>on</strong>-Black colleges throughout the country to open up <strong>on</strong> Black<br />
students : to see that they "stay in their place" <strong>on</strong> campus-while<br />
making it tougher for them to get there at all and tougher in every<br />
way to remain there .<br />
The impact <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> this article goes far bey<strong>on</strong>d the student sector and<br />
is, in fact, directed against Black people as a whole . It followed<br />
a publicati<strong>on</strong> route similar to that <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the notorious Jensen article<br />
-the ruling class' up-to-date versi<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the age-old racist myth<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black "inferiority"-which appeared first in ;the Harvard Educati<strong>on</strong>al<br />
Review and then in the New York Times Magazine. Coming<br />
at a time when the m<strong>on</strong>opolists have made a transiti<strong>on</strong> from "benign<br />
neglect" to malign attack, I{ils<strong>on</strong>'s article, key point by key<br />
point, parallels their strategy against the Black liberati<strong>on</strong> movement<br />
at home and the liberati<strong>on</strong> movements in Africa . For instance :<br />
At a time when the m<strong>on</strong>opolists are trying to make the ghetto<br />
an ever-more impenetrable pris<strong>on</strong> for Black people, Kils<strong>on</strong> demands<br />
an end to the admissi<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> ghetto youth to "elite" universitiesand<br />
advocates limiting Black admissi<strong>on</strong>s to middle-class youth. At<br />
a time when the m<strong>on</strong>opolists have used all available means to<br />
36
destroy the growing solidarity <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black people-from the assassinati<strong>on</strong><br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Martin Luther King and Malcolm X and the impris<strong>on</strong>ment<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Angela Davis ~to ideological diversi<strong>on</strong>s disseminated <strong>on</strong> a mass<br />
scale-Kils<strong>on</strong> applauds what he calls "cracks" in "the black-solidarity<br />
wall" <strong>on</strong> campuses-in an article that will be read by virtually<br />
every college administrator in the country.<br />
At a time when the m<strong>on</strong>opolists intensify their drive against<br />
Black political power as part <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> their <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>fensive against the formati<strong>on</strong><br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> a people's anti-m<strong>on</strong>opoly coaliti<strong>on</strong>, Kils~<strong>on</strong> attacks the<br />
"politizati<strong>on</strong>" <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black students. At a time when the Nix<strong>on</strong> administrati<strong>on</strong>,<br />
in order to facilitate its cut-back <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> funds for antipoverty<br />
programs, has revived <strong>on</strong> a super-scale the ancient stereotype<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> "lazy Blacks" who enjoy being <strong>on</strong> welfare, Kils<strong>on</strong> decries<br />
"the serious waste <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> scarce university resources" <strong>on</strong> "ill-suited<br />
Negro students ." And 'at a time when the mass media have created<br />
an identificati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black militancy with crime and drugs, Kils<strong>on</strong><br />
tells us that "the most zealous militants" <strong>on</strong> campus have established<br />
"bizarre standards <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> `blackness' ( including drug culture<br />
and criminal acts) :' Furthermore, at a time when Black colleges<br />
should be expanded-but instead must fight for their very existence<br />
because the m<strong>on</strong>opolists are trying to undermine them-Kils<strong>on</strong> in<br />
effect dismisses them, stating that "70 percent <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> all blacks now in<br />
college attend white instituti<strong>on</strong>s . . :'<br />
Kils<strong>on</strong>'s article, in short, parallels the master class' master strategy<br />
against the Black liberati<strong>on</strong> movement-and calls for close analysis.<br />
Behind the "Crisis"<br />
At "most major white colleges," writes KiLs<strong>on</strong>, "black students<br />
have reached a crisis, <strong>on</strong>e that has coincided with their rising enrollments<br />
and <strong>on</strong>e that has been created in large measure by black<br />
separatism and militancy :'<br />
In other words, Black students face a "crisis" not because there<br />
are too few <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> them ( and too few Black administrators and faculty<br />
37
members)-but because there are too many <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> them . And the<br />
.problems they ceaselessly encounter stem not from instituti<strong>on</strong>alized<br />
racism-but from their attempts to deal with it. Nor is the crisis<br />
caused by racism . Instead, the students' reacti<strong>on</strong> is designated the<br />
cause, and described as "black militancy and separatism"-terms<br />
which Kils<strong>on</strong> equates (just, as we shall see, as he uses "black<br />
solidarity" and "separatism" interchangeably) .<br />
The "gnawing ambivalence <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> loyalty experienced by Negro<br />
students," c<strong>on</strong>tinues Kils<strong>on</strong>, "forced to choose between their subcommunity<br />
and the university in general and the resulting blackwhite<br />
tensi<strong>on</strong> have all combined to have a nearly disastrous impact<br />
<strong>on</strong> the academic achievement and intellectual growth <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
Negro students . V4'lule the all-black behavioral paradigm may<br />
have its strategic value in the inner city, it is a failure <strong>on</strong> campus ."<br />
Perhaps Kils<strong>on</strong> feels a "gnawing ambivalence <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> loyalty" in<br />
identifying with the interests <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the white m<strong>on</strong>opolists instead <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
the Black masses. But the Black students he attacks have no such<br />
probleml They have clearly dem<strong>on</strong>strated that their choice is not<br />
"the university in general"-which reflects the interests <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the<br />
racist ruling class-but Black solidarity. The Black students' refusal<br />
to give in to university pressures for c<strong>on</strong>formity to patterns<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> "integrati<strong>on</strong>ism"-i .e., tokenism-has, according to Kils<strong>on</strong>, created<br />
a "nearly disastrous impact" <strong>on</strong> their own "achievement and intellectual<br />
growth"-which would apparently flourish if pursued in<br />
harm<strong>on</strong>y with the racist status quol<br />
Kils<strong>on</strong> also tries to keep Black solidarity m its place" when<br />
he states that it `may have its strategic value in the inner city,"<br />
but "is a failure <strong>on</strong> campus ." In asserting that what may be good<br />
for "the inner city" is bad for "the campus," Kils<strong>on</strong> reveals a<br />
disdain for the Black masses .<br />
The Black students, in their attempt to create Black solidarity<br />
-even when this mistakenly assumes a separatist form-are seeking<br />
to maintain their ties with the Black masses . Their aim is to use<br />
their naiversity educati<strong>on</strong> to advance Black liberati<strong>on</strong> instead <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
3t
pursuing the individual "success soluti<strong>on</strong>" that m<strong>on</strong>opoly capital<br />
-trying to c<strong>on</strong>tain the pressure from the Black masses-permits<br />
for token Blacks .<br />
Kils<strong>on</strong>, striving to make Black university students regard themselves<br />
as an elite, does not take a negative view <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> separatism<br />
when it involves separati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black students and intellectuals<br />
from the Black masses . On the c<strong>on</strong>trary, he advocates it. And there<br />
are other forms <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> "separatism" which Kils<strong>on</strong> pursues.<br />
For instance, he separates "black-white tensi<strong>on</strong>" from racism<br />
-and links it instead with Black people's rejecti<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> racism . He<br />
separates the problems Black students face in attaining "academic<br />
achievement" from the inferior elementary and high school educati<strong>on</strong><br />
they received . He separates "academic achievement" from the<br />
racism that c<strong>on</strong>fr<strong>on</strong>ts them in the form <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> administrators, pr<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>essors<br />
and students . He separates it from the difficulties they encounter<br />
in finding housing and establishing a social life <strong>on</strong> campus.<br />
He separates it from the ec<strong>on</strong>omic pressures they face.<br />
For Kils<strong>on</strong>, "academic achievement" is unrelated to the c<strong>on</strong>tradicti<strong>on</strong><br />
that Black students see between the university curriculum<br />
( except for isolated and limited Black studies departments ) and<br />
their deep desire to c<strong>on</strong>tribute to Black liberati<strong>on</strong>. They are determined<br />
not to go the route <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> some Black intellectuals and pr<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>essi<strong>on</strong>als<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the past who returned from universities separated<br />
from their people .<br />
At the same time, Black students are well aware that they can<br />
graduate from Harvard or some other "elite" university and proceed<br />
to a future <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> low-paying dead-end jobs-or unemployment.<br />
This is the crisis Black students face-but Kils<strong>on</strong> directs his fire<br />
a~t their attempts to solve these multiple problems, while ignoring<br />
the problems themselves .<br />
That these problems have changed little from those faced by<br />
Black graduates <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> years past is c<strong>on</strong>firmed in a recent article in the<br />
New York Times (September 10, 1973), by Paul Delaney, <strong>on</strong> a<br />
Department <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Labor-sp<strong>on</strong>sored study <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black pr<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>essi<strong>on</strong>als-majors<br />
39
in science, business administrati<strong>on</strong>, engineering and law.<br />
Described as "the first attempt to investigate what happened to<br />
black male college graduates after they joined a white company"<br />
with 100 or more employees, the study first <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> all reveals that a<br />
total <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <strong>on</strong>ly 5,000 Blacks are with such companies in a pr<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>essi<strong>on</strong>al"<br />
capacity.<br />
"The survey," relates Delaney, "found that while blacks were<br />
c<strong>on</strong>fident <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> their ability to perform as well as their white colleagues,<br />
they nevertheless exhibited a marked pessimism about their<br />
opportunities. `They felt [the positi<strong>on</strong>s] they already occupied<br />
were quite poor,' the report stated."<br />
That this feeling is <strong>on</strong>ly too well founded is "c<strong>on</strong>firmed by . . .<br />
the tendency <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> salaries to reach a plateau at about the ninth year<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> service, and the very small number <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> resp<strong>on</strong>dents in supervisory<br />
and managerial positi<strong>on</strong>s." In additi<strong>on</strong>, ". . . there is an<br />
effective ceiling <strong>on</strong> black advancement in business, together with<br />
a limit <strong>on</strong> the kinds <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> jobs for which they are accepted." Using<br />
average salaries as the gauge for advancement, the survey found<br />
they were approximately the same for men with 15 years or more<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> employment as for those with <strong>on</strong>ly nine or ten years .<br />
"Dispersal . . . Throughout the Nooks and Crannies"<br />
Kils<strong>on</strong> looks back with nostalgia to the days when "there were<br />
seldom more than 50 Negroes" at Harvard . While "individual<br />
Negroes participated in all-black relati<strong>on</strong>ships, like Greek-letter<br />
Negro fraternities" ( he doesn't menti<strong>on</strong> all-white fraternities and<br />
what they did to stay that wayl), there was "a dispersal <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the<br />
small number <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Negro students throughout the nooks and crannies<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Harvard College ." ( Emphasis in the original H. W. )<br />
"Dispersal"-this is what I{ils<strong>on</strong> counterposes to Black solidarty<br />
But Black students-like the masses <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black people-are sick and<br />
tired <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> being "dispersed" in the "nooks and crannies" <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> a racist<br />
society . And Black solidarity-as part <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> a broad mufti-racial, anti-<br />
40
m<strong>on</strong>opoly coaliti<strong>on</strong>-is what will bring Black people out <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the<br />
"nooks and crannies" <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the ghettos, the "nooks and crannies" <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
dirty, low-paid jobs, the "nooks and crannies" <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> pris<strong>on</strong>s and<br />
dilapidated housing in which racism has impris<strong>on</strong>ed them .<br />
During the years when there was a "dispersal" <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the few<br />
Black students at Harvard, Kils<strong>on</strong> c<strong>on</strong>tinues, "their academic and<br />
intellectual patterns were not markedly different from their white<br />
peers:' Kils<strong>on</strong>'s evaluati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the Black students <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> yesterday is<br />
no more accurate than his views <strong>on</strong> Black students today . Of<br />
course, there were some in the past who shared his views ( and no<br />
doubt there are still a few today ) . But the majority <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> yesterday's<br />
Black students were also seeking ways to end oppressi<strong>on</strong>-which<br />
made their "intellectual patterns" markedly different from most<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> their "white peers" at Harvard . How, for example, can the<br />
"academic and intellectual patterns" <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> such an outsanding Black<br />
Harvard graduate as Benjamin J . Davis Jr., who was a nati<strong>on</strong>al<br />
leader <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the Communist Party and a New York City Councilman,<br />
be compared with his "white peers at Harvard-the s<strong>on</strong>s <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
m<strong>on</strong>opolists, who c<strong>on</strong>formed to the Status Quo?<br />
Today's militant Black students, whether or not they share his<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>Marxist</str<strong>on</strong>g>-<str<strong>on</strong>g>Leninist</str<strong>on</strong>g> outlook, do share the legacy <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Ben Davis' rejecti<strong>on</strong><br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Harvard's "academic and intellectual patterns-and his<br />
c<strong>on</strong>victi<strong>on</strong> that c<strong>on</strong>formity to such "patterns" leads not to liberati<strong>on</strong><br />
from racist oppressi<strong>on</strong> but its c<strong>on</strong>tinuati<strong>on</strong>)<br />
Kils<strong>on</strong>'s nostalgia for a past Harvard becomes even more questi<strong>on</strong>able<br />
when he admits, for instance, that the Black students<br />
who began to enter that university in the late sixties had to overcome<br />
"nearly a century <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> racial and sociologcal barriers to a<br />
sizable black presence at Harvard :'<br />
Since Harvard was founded in 1638, the barriers have been up<br />
for somewhat l<strong>on</strong>ger than "nearly a century ." Although these barriers<br />
are still up ( according to Kilsbn there are 600 Black students<br />
at Harvard-but he doesn't menti<strong>on</strong> that the total student body is<br />
22,000), <strong>on</strong>e might imagine that Kils<strong>on</strong> would find something<br />
41
admirable in a generati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black students who have made an<br />
impact against them. But such is not the case .<br />
"Militancy and Political Threats"<br />
"Militancy and political threats perpetrated by Negro students,"<br />
declares Kils<strong>on</strong>, speaking about Black people in the language <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
the racist mass media, paved the way for major alterati<strong>on</strong>s in<br />
Harvard's recruiting and admissi<strong>on</strong> policies ."<br />
Certainly the "militancy" <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black students (which Kils<strong>on</strong> equates<br />
with "threats") was a vital factor in winning the admissi<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> larger<br />
-though still token-numbers <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Blacks to "major white colleges ."<br />
Nevertheless, these gains did not come about as a result <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> isolated<br />
student activity. The c<strong>on</strong>text for these advances was the historic<br />
struggles <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the Civil Rights Decade, the mass anti-war movement,<br />
and student protest activity as a whole-particularly, <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> course,<br />
where white students joined in Black-initiated acti<strong>on</strong>s against<br />
racist admissi<strong>on</strong>s policies .<br />
Kils<strong>on</strong>'s distorted c<strong>on</strong>cepti<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the way in which increased<br />
Black student admissi<strong>on</strong>s came about quite logically carries over<br />
to his view <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the present phase <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the campus crisis : although a<br />
"five-fold increase in black enrollment" was attained, "the politizati<strong>on</strong><br />
surrounding this development plagued virtually all aspects <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
black-white relati<strong>on</strong>ships, dividing blacks and whites into mutually<br />
exclusive communities ."<br />
What plagues "black-white relati<strong>on</strong>ships" is, <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> course, racism.<br />
In evading this fact, Kils<strong>on</strong> sounds like the mayor <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> a Southern<br />
town speaking <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> how fine face relati<strong>on</strong>s" were before "those<br />
troublemakers from the North stirred things up ."<br />
Struggles by Black students against Harvard's centuries-old racist<br />
barriers have not by any stretch <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the imaginati<strong>on</strong> divided "blacks<br />
and whites into mutually exclusive communities :' Quite the c<strong>on</strong>trary!<br />
As Kils<strong>on</strong> admits, before the acti<strong>on</strong>s <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> militant," politicized"<br />
Blacks, "there were seldom more than 50 Negroes" at the<br />
42
college. What could be more "mutuaAy exclusive" than a community<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> white students attending Harvard, while the community<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black students was almost totally barred? "Militancy" and<br />
"politizati<strong>on</strong>," in other words, lead in the directi<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> ending <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
"mutually exclusive communities"-that is, lily-white universities<br />
and other all-white instituti<strong>on</strong>s.<br />
Now that Blacks are present at Harvard and other "major white<br />
universities" in larger-but still far from representative-numbers,<br />
Kils~<strong>on</strong> would have them "disperse" as they were forced to do in<br />
the past-and "integrate" into the status quo by <strong>on</strong>es and twos.<br />
The Black student struggles to break down racist barriers are<br />
not a thrust for such "integrati<strong>on</strong>" but for equality . Black students<br />
do not intend to "disperse," to dissolve the solidarity that made it<br />
possible for them to enter these universities in the first place. They<br />
want to strengthen this solidarity, keep up the drive to bring more<br />
Blacks <strong>on</strong>to the campuses-and maintain their ties with the masses<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black people in the "inner city:'<br />
flack solidarity, unlike Kils<strong>on</strong>'s c<strong>on</strong>cepti<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> it, by no means<br />
implies separatism . On the c<strong>on</strong>trary, Black solidarity, properly<br />
based, is indispensable to the struggle to open up every phase <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
this nati<strong>on</strong>'s life, including all activities <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the universities, to the<br />
participati<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong> an equal basis <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black people.<br />
°`Militant Students . . . C<strong>on</strong>stantly Politicizing"<br />
Instances <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> "black-white tensi<strong>on</strong>s" <strong>on</strong> campus, says Kils<strong>on</strong>, "are<br />
legi<strong>on</strong> ." To illustrate his view <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> what causes this "tensi<strong>on</strong>," Kils<strong>on</strong><br />
turns to the sports arena : "Militant Negro students, <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>ten academioally<br />
marginal, supply a cheering entourage for black basketball<br />
players at Harvard, separating themselvs in a secti<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the<br />
stands, denying white students access tv this secti<strong>on</strong> and c<strong>on</strong>stantly<br />
politicizing basketball games-including an occasi<strong>on</strong>al brawl with<br />
white students ."<br />
In this statement Kils<strong>on</strong> most unfortunately parallels the latest<br />
43
acist stereotypes : "militant" students are not <strong>on</strong>ly "academically<br />
marginal," he says, but are also resp<strong>on</strong>sible for the violence marring<br />
the otherwise peaceful (1) sports scene across the nati<strong>on</strong>! In<br />
reading this, the proverbial visitor from Mars would never guess<br />
that a Black baseball player currently <strong>on</strong> the verge <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> beating the<br />
decades-old home-run record <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> a deceased white ball player has<br />
received so many threats to his life that he now requires the protecti<strong>on</strong><br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> a bodyguard!<br />
(In The New York Times Magazine bf September 16, 1973-two<br />
weeks after its publicati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Kils<strong>on</strong>'s article-there is a story about<br />
this white ball player, Babe Ruth, by Times' sports columnist Red<br />
Smith. In it, Smith relates, "All redcaps at railroad stati<strong>on</strong>s were<br />
[called] Stinkweed," by Ruth . Smith does not comment <strong>on</strong> the<br />
meaning <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Ruth's calling Black men "Stinkweed," but instead<br />
treats this racist epithet as if it were a humorous nickname . Such<br />
"humor," Smith's attitude toward it-and the Times' promoti<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
it-are all part <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the heritage and perpetuati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> racism in sports<br />
and throughout this society that produce today's threats against<br />
Hank Aar<strong>on</strong>.)<br />
Although certain acti<strong>on</strong>s taken by Black students influenced by<br />
separatist ideas are self-defeating, <strong>on</strong>e must look bey<strong>on</strong>d the acti<strong>on</strong>s<br />
themselves to their underlying causes . When, for example, Black<br />
students try to establish claim to an area <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> their own, they are<br />
reacting against the pervasive racism that keeps innumerable<br />
places "o$ limits" to them. And while white students must certainly<br />
dem<strong>on</strong>strate their c<strong>on</strong>cern for every<strong>on</strong>e's right to sit-as well as<br />
live, eat, study and work-wherever he or she wishes, they must<br />
carry <strong>on</strong> this fight where racist exclusi<strong>on</strong> exists : in the white areas<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the nati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
One might think that Kils<strong>on</strong> would find something to admire in<br />
the Black students' aim at Harvard which, he admits, is "to translate<br />
their unity into greater leverage with which to influence a<br />
variety <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Harvard operati<strong>on</strong>s such as admissi<strong>on</strong>s, hiring, curriculum,<br />
faculty, and so <strong>on</strong>." But no . "Negro students who assert their<br />
44
individuality within this situati<strong>on</strong> are reprimanded," states Kils<strong>on</strong>.<br />
To "assert <strong>on</strong>e's individuality" in a matter <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> this kind means, <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
course, to stay alo<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> from the comm<strong>on</strong> effort to "influence a variety<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Harvard operati<strong>on</strong>s" and instead leave them to the discreti<strong>on</strong><br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> a Harvard administrati<strong>on</strong> whose old school traditi<strong>on</strong>s include<br />
the exclusi<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Blacks and s<strong>on</strong>s and daughters <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> workers for<br />
over 300 years .<br />
Comment must be made, however, <strong>on</strong> the c<strong>on</strong>cept <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> "leverage"<br />
presented here . Because most white students have not yet lived<br />
up to their resp<strong>on</strong>sibilities in the fight against racism, Black students<br />
are forced to the c<strong>on</strong>clusi<strong>on</strong> that "leverage" in the anti-racist<br />
struggle will come <strong>on</strong>ly from them . But when Black students are<br />
supported by the majority <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> white students, there will be enough<br />
"leverage" to begin to change the entire anti-democratic character<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the universities .<br />
Kils<strong>on</strong>, who expresses such c<strong>on</strong>cern when students who break<br />
the Black solidarity fr<strong>on</strong>t are "reprimanded," is scathing in his<br />
criticism <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> students who support it. Nor does he hesitate when<br />
it comes to sharply "reprimanding" faculty members who back<br />
student aims-and he also resorts to <strong>on</strong>e <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> m<strong>on</strong>opoly's key weap<strong>on</strong>s,<br />
anti-communism, in doing so :<br />
. . white liberals and leftists in the faculty, seeking to expiate<br />
guilt accumulated from a century <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> white-supremacist treatment<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Negro Americans, reinforce this situati<strong>on</strong> in a variety<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> ways . Black studies programs, initiated by militant pressures<br />
from black students, are established with slight c<strong>on</strong>cern for<br />
the academic standards that prevail at Harvard generally.<br />
It is ir<strong>on</strong>ic that Kils<strong>on</strong> slurs the motives <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> whites who support<br />
Black demands, while not questi<strong>on</strong>ing those <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the white m<strong>on</strong>opolists<br />
who will do anything to block them . And in attacking "white<br />
liberals and leftists in the faculty," Kils<strong>on</strong> is helping the m<strong>on</strong>opolists<br />
revive the <strong>on</strong>-and-<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>f campus witch-hunts <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the fifties that now<br />
45
merge with Nix<strong>on</strong>'s Watergate tactics <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the seventies .<br />
It is gratifying to learn that Harvard's Afro-American Studies<br />
Department reflects "slight c<strong>on</strong>cern for the academic standards<br />
that prevail at Harvard generally" and at universities throughout<br />
the country-since these "academic standards" typically include :<br />
history departments that omit and/or distort the role <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black<br />
people ; government departments that downgrade or exclude the<br />
questi<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black representati<strong>on</strong>, sociology departments that slander<br />
$lack people; ec<strong>on</strong>omics departments that serve capitalism at home<br />
and neocol<strong>on</strong>ialism in Africa, Asia and Latin America ; literature<br />
departments that exclude the work <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> almost all Black poets,<br />
novelists and essayists; theater departments that ignore the plays<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black writers; and faculties that, save for an occasi<strong>on</strong>al token<br />
here and there, have Black pr<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>essors <strong>on</strong>ly in the Black studies<br />
department, if they have <strong>on</strong>e .<br />
Each <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> these departments has a role to play in disseminating<br />
bourgeois class and racist ideology . Thus, a major product <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> these<br />
university intellectual assembly lines is a massive outpouring <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
anti-Communism, m<strong>on</strong>opoly's twin weap<strong>on</strong> to racism. With the<br />
emergence <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the socialist countries, headed by the Soviet Uni<strong>on</strong>,<br />
as the most decisive force within the world revoluti<strong>on</strong>ary processalways<br />
in the fr<strong>on</strong>t line <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> support to the liberati<strong>on</strong> struggles in<br />
Africa, Asia and Latin America, imperialist, neo-col<strong>on</strong>ialist strategy<br />
has become increasingly based <strong>on</strong> the c<strong>on</strong>cept that perpetuati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
racist oppressi<strong>on</strong> is more and more bound up with anti-communism<br />
at home and internati<strong>on</strong>ally.<br />
Kils<strong>on</strong> blames the problems Back studies departments face <strong>on</strong><br />
"black militants" and `white liberals and leftists.'° In doing this, he<br />
is c<strong>on</strong>ceding to the heavy pressures <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> anti-communism and racism<br />
focused <strong>on</strong> these departments . The very real problems Black studies<br />
departments face-understa~ng, underflnancing, over-supervisi<strong>on</strong>,<br />
interference in curriculum-can all be traced to anti-communist,<br />
racist-oriented administrati<strong>on</strong>s . Further, so l<strong>on</strong>g as the rest <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the<br />
universities' curricula, faculties and administrati<strong>on</strong>s do not fully<br />
reflect the role and participati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black people, Black studies<br />
46
departments will be segregated departments-and segregati<strong>on</strong> is<br />
<strong>on</strong>e <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the ruling class' oldest methods for walling in Black people<br />
and restricting their achievements .<br />
C<strong>on</strong>tinuing his assault <strong>on</strong> Harvard's "highly politicized" Afro-<br />
American Studies Department as "the main base <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> operati<strong>on</strong>s <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
the black-solidarity forces," ICils<strong>on</strong> returns to a questi<strong>on</strong> which<br />
obsesses him: "To whom do Negro students owe primary loyalty?<br />
The demands <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the black-solidarity forces or the academic and<br />
intellectual processes <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Harvard College?<br />
To all but the tiny fracti<strong>on</strong> who identify with the Black bourgeois<br />
elite, the answer is clear : Black students feel a solidarity and<br />
loyalty to the interests mf the Black masses that is growing even<br />
str<strong>on</strong>ger. What loyalty, should they feel to "academic and intellectual<br />
processes" designed to keep Black masses in the ghetto and a<br />
Black elite in the service <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the U.S . m<strong>on</strong>opolists at home and in<br />
Africa?<br />
These "academic and intellectual processes" have dominated<br />
the universities <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> this country since their founding . Dr . W. E . B.<br />
DuBois wrote his classic study, Black Rec<strong>on</strong>structi<strong>on</strong> in America,<br />
published in 1935, to set history straight, to counter the racist versi<strong>on</strong><br />
taught Black and white university students . (Certainly Kils<strong>on</strong><br />
is aware that to this day no picture <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Harvard graduate DuBois<br />
hangs in Harvard's Widener Memorial Library-kept out by the<br />
"academic and intellectual processes" <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the administrati<strong>on</strong> . ) In<br />
Black Rec<strong>on</strong>structi<strong>on</strong> in America (The World Publishing Co.,<br />
Cleveland), DuBois stated :<br />
The chief witness in Rec<strong>on</strong>structi<strong>on</strong>, the emancipated slave<br />
himself, has been almost barred from the court. His written<br />
Rec<strong>on</strong>structi<strong>on</strong> record has been largely destroyed and nearly<br />
always neglected . Only three or four states have preserved the<br />
debates in the Rec<strong>on</strong>structi<strong>on</strong> c<strong>on</strong>venti<strong>on</strong>s ; there are few biographies<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> black leaders . . . The result is that most unfair<br />
caricatures <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Negroes have been carefully preserved ; but<br />
serious speeches, successful administrati<strong>on</strong> and upright character<br />
47
are almost universally ignored and forgotten. Wherever a black<br />
head rises to historic view, it is promptly slain by an adjective<br />
=`shrewd," "notorious," "cunning"-or pilloried by a sneer; or put<br />
out <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> view by some quite unproven charge <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> bad moral<br />
character. In other words, every effort has been made to treat<br />
the Negro's part in Rec<strong>on</strong>structi<strong>on</strong> with silence and c<strong>on</strong>tempt.<br />
(page 721.)<br />
At the same time, every effort has been made to hide and distort<br />
the role <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> whites who supported Black freedom :<br />
Not a single great leader <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the nati<strong>on</strong> during the Civil War<br />
and Rec<strong>on</strong>structi<strong>on</strong> has escaped attack and libel. The magnificent<br />
figures <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Charles Summer and Thaddeus Stevens have<br />
been besmirched almost bey<strong>on</strong>d recogniti<strong>on</strong>. ( Ibid., page 723. )<br />
The m<strong>on</strong>opolists are fearful <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the potential which Afro-American<br />
studies departments have for helping develop a generati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
Black and white students who, together, could play a major role<br />
in the struggle to make the universities functi<strong>on</strong> as instituti<strong>on</strong>s with<br />
a respect for truth . Instead <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> assisting the struggle to bring this<br />
about, Kils<strong>on</strong> assists the m<strong>on</strong>opolists in promoting divisi<strong>on</strong> between<br />
Black students and the Black masses, between Black and white<br />
students and white allies in general ( i.e ., his attitude toward<br />
"liberals" and "leftists")-in other words, Kils<strong>on</strong>'s role parallels the<br />
racist, anti-communist role played by George Meany and others<br />
in the labor movement. Nevertheless, it must be emphasized that<br />
such divisiveness can make itself felt <strong>on</strong>ly because the great majority<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> white students and the masses <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> white workers have<br />
not yet recognized why they must reject and fight against the<br />
racism pois<strong>on</strong>ing the life <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> this entire nati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
~~Achievement Orientati<strong>on</strong>"<br />
"Black-solidarity forces," states Kils<strong>on</strong>, "are distinctly anti-intel-<br />
48
Iectual and anti-achievement in orientati<strong>on</strong> . . . black students at<br />
Harvard celebrate black peers who display relevance' by participating<br />
in community affairs, adopting lower-class black life-styles<br />
in place <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> middle-class <strong>on</strong>es and posturing Black Power in relati<strong>on</strong><br />
to political issues like Harvard's Gulf Oil investments in<br />
Africa. But, alas, this is sheer fantasy. No ethnic group in American<br />
society has ever advanced its standard <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> living and status without<br />
accepting achievement-orientati<strong>on</strong> as a desirable life-style."<br />
How strange that Kils<strong>on</strong> would c<strong>on</strong>sider student oppositi<strong>on</strong> to<br />
Harvard's neo-col<strong>on</strong>ialist "Gulf Oil investments in Africa as<br />
"anti-intellectual"1 In this oppositi<strong>on</strong>-as Kils<strong>on</strong> should know-<br />
Black students are following in the footsteps <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the intellectual<br />
giant who blazed the path to African/Afro-American solidarity<br />
against imperialism's plunder <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> AfricaHarvard graduate W. E. B.<br />
DuBois .<br />
In their refusal to adopt elitist "life-styles" and "by participating<br />
in community affairs," Black students reveal that their "achievement-orientati<strong>on</strong>"<br />
is very high indeed : fio be deeply identified with<br />
the Black masses in the fight to achieve Black liberati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
So- far as Kils<strong>on</strong> is c<strong>on</strong>cerned, however, Black university students<br />
should have but <strong>on</strong>e goal : to become part <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> a Black elite<br />
functi<strong>on</strong>ing either in Black-owned businesses or in varied situati<strong>on</strong>s<br />
<strong>on</strong> behalf <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the m<strong>on</strong>opolists. "Before the nineteen-sixteen"-a tune<br />
which apparently brings back <strong>on</strong>ly happy memories to Kils<strong>on</strong>the<br />
"relatively small number <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> blacks who attended elite white<br />
colleges" grasped "the significance <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> broad interacti<strong>on</strong> with the<br />
success-oriented influences in these colleges . They also recognized<br />
that these colleges play a disproporti<strong>on</strong>ately large role in training<br />
those Negroes who compete for leading nati<strong>on</strong>al roles in business,<br />
science, scholarship, law . . :'<br />
To make proper use <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> their college careers today, Kils<strong>on</strong> c<strong>on</strong>tinues,<br />
Black students must have "the capacity to shun peer-group<br />
c<strong>on</strong>straints to penetrate the multilayered academic, cultural and<br />
success-oriented life-styles <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> elite colleges like Harvard .." 1vtQSt<br />
49
Black students, however, do not want to "shun" their `peer groupp<br />
in order to emulate the "success-oriented life-styles" <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> white<br />
upper-class students-which, translated into "life-styles" for Blacks,<br />
means acceptance <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the status quo and pursuit <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> tokenism . For<br />
most Black students, success means advancing Black liberati<strong>on</strong> .<br />
And this requires solidarity with their "peer group"-which is in<br />
reality the Black people as a whole.<br />
"The Tree <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Blackness"<br />
To back up his own views toward Black students and Black<br />
studies programs, Kils<strong>on</strong> refers to opini<strong>on</strong>s allegedly expressed by<br />
Jack Daniel, Associate Pr<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>essor <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black Studies and <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Speech,<br />
and Chairman <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the Department <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black Community Educati<strong>on</strong>,<br />
Research and Development, University <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Pittsburgh, in "Black<br />
Academic Activism" (The Black Scholar, January, 1973) .<br />
Through partial quotes and unsubstantiated asserti<strong>on</strong>s, Kils<strong>on</strong><br />
makes it appear that Daniel's views are in harm<strong>on</strong>y with his own.<br />
But <strong>on</strong>e need not agree with everything in Daniel's article ( and<br />
we disagree with him <strong>on</strong> many points ) to recognize that his directi<strong>on</strong><br />
is very different from Kils<strong>on</strong>'s .<br />
Kils<strong>on</strong> states, for instance, that Daniel "deplores" the "politicizing<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black studies . . ." No such attitude is expressed in Daniel's<br />
article either explicitly or by implicati<strong>on</strong> . In fact, Daniel's views<br />
point in an opposite directi<strong>on</strong> . He states, for example, "DuBois<br />
didn't just investigate, create, and write. DuBois took his informati<strong>on</strong><br />
to the people as all true, revoluti<strong>on</strong>ary scholars must ." (page<br />
50 . ) While Kils~<strong>on</strong> deplores "politizati<strong>on</strong>" and the solidarity <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
Black students with the Black masses, it is clear from this statement,<br />
as well as many others, that Daniel welcomes both.<br />
Kils<strong>on</strong> then goes <strong>on</strong> to attribute the following quote to Daniel :<br />
"They [Black students] can see the S<strong>on</strong>ghai and Mali empires, but<br />
are blind to the totality <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> history . They can't see the forest <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
universal knowledge for the tree <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> blackness :' (Ibid., page 46.)<br />
50
Kils<strong>on</strong> does not even supply dots at the end <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the last sentence<br />
to indicate that something followed in the original. But something<br />
did follow. This is the last sentence in its entirety : `Whey can't see<br />
the forest <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> universal knowledge for the tree <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> blackness even.<br />
though the tree <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> blackness is fast priority. (My emphasis-H. W. )<br />
The "tree <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> blackness" does indeed have "first priority" because<br />
for centuries the U.S . ruling class has presented students <strong>on</strong> every<br />
educati<strong>on</strong>al level with a "forest <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> universal knowledge" without a<br />
"tree <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> blackness" and Africa as a c<strong>on</strong>tinent without a history.<br />
At a time when pressure from the Black liberati<strong>on</strong> movement has<br />
forced some universities to finally reveal at least a few ~<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the<br />
branches <strong>on</strong> the vast "tree <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> blackness," it is more than understandable<br />
that Black students would be deeply absorbed in what<br />
has been denied them and the entire country for so l<strong>on</strong>g . Why they<br />
-and Black people generally-have such intense feelings in this<br />
matter is beautifully expressed in a poem called "My S<strong>on</strong>g Is For<br />
All Men,"° by a Barbadian poet, Peter Blackman, who went to<br />
West Africa in 1937 .<br />
Blackman c<strong>on</strong>cludes the first secti<strong>on</strong> bf his poem-in which he<br />
speaks, with bitter ir<strong>on</strong>y, as an African who "accepts" the caricature<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Africans created by the col<strong>on</strong>ialists who came to loot that<br />
c<strong>on</strong>tinent, exploit and oppress its peoples-by stating :<br />
I am the subman<br />
My footprints are nowhere in history.<br />
Then, in the sec<strong>on</strong>d part, Blackman assumes his true identity :<br />
This is your statement, remember, this is your assessment<br />
I merely repeat you<br />
Remember this too, I do not ask you to pity me<br />
Remember this always, you cannot c<strong>on</strong>descend to me<br />
° Appears in You Better Believe It, Black Verse in English, Edited by Paul<br />
Breman, Penguin Books, 1973, Baltimore, Md .<br />
51
There are many other things I remember and would have you<br />
remember as well<br />
I smelted ir<strong>on</strong> in Nubia when your generati<strong>on</strong>s still ploughed<br />
with hardwood<br />
I cast in br<strong>on</strong>ze at Benin when L<strong>on</strong>d<strong>on</strong> was marshland<br />
I built Timbuctoo and made it a refuge for learning<br />
When in the chairs <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Oxford unlettered m<strong>on</strong>ks shivered unwashed<br />
My faith in the living mounts like a flame in my story<br />
I am Khama the Great<br />
I helped Bolivar enfranchise the Americas<br />
I am Omar and his thousands who brought Spain the light <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
the Prophet<br />
I stood with my spear am<strong>on</strong>g the ranks <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the Prempehs<br />
And drove you far from Kumasi for more than a century<br />
I kept you out <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> my coasts, and not the mosquitoes<br />
I have w<strong>on</strong> bitter battles against you and shall win them again<br />
I am Toussaint who taught France there was no limit to liberty<br />
I am Hamet Tubman flouting your torture to assert my faith<br />
in man's freedom<br />
I am Nat Turner whose daring and strength always defied you<br />
I have my yesterdays and shall open the future widely before<br />
me .<br />
Whoee Standards for "Scholarly Attainment"Y<br />
As part <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> his broadside against the Department <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Afro-American<br />
Studies, Kils<strong>on</strong> claims its chairman "had no scholarly attainment<br />
to his credit" But whose standards <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> "scholarly attainment"<br />
does KiLs<strong>on</strong> accept when he is "blind to" the historic role <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the<br />
S<strong>on</strong>ghai and Mali empires, when he cannot see the "tree <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> blackness"<br />
in the "totality <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> history"-even though darker-skinned people<br />
have been and remain the majority?<br />
Kils<strong>on</strong>'s assault <strong>on</strong> this department and its chairman does not,<br />
52
however, end at this point. He goes <strong>on</strong> fio endorse the "removal<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> students from participati<strong>on</strong> in the department's academic<br />
affairs," and their replacement by an "interdepartmental faculty<br />
committee-exclusive <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the Afro-American Studies Departmentto<br />
select several new scholars for permanent appointments jointly<br />
in Afro-American Studies and an established department and to<br />
arrange for a successor to its present chairman :' (My emphasis<br />
H. W. )<br />
At a moment in history when Black people's demand for representati<strong>on</strong><br />
in every area has reached a new peak, Kils<strong>on</strong> views as<br />
progress the fact that policy determinati<strong>on</strong> has been taken away<br />
from a predominantly Black faculty/student group and turned<br />
over to an overwhelmingly white faculty group outside the department-whose<br />
first act, following the racist takeover, was to<br />
"arrange" to get rid <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the Black chairman. Precisely what is the<br />
"scholarly attainment" <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the members <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> this faculty group in the<br />
field <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black studies? Are they familiar, for instance, with the<br />
role <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> white overseers in the history <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black oppressi<strong>on</strong>?<br />
While the great mass <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black Americans seek ways to advance<br />
solidarity and self-organizati<strong>on</strong>, Kils<strong>on</strong> is c<strong>on</strong>stantly <strong>on</strong> the lookout<br />
for what he calls "cracks" in the "black-solidarity wall.'° One<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the "cracks" he welcomes is, according to him, "the fact that<br />
<strong>on</strong>ly a few <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the 600 Negro students are participating in the<br />
ideological and political programs <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the Harvard Afro-American<br />
Cultural Center.'°<br />
Although <strong>on</strong>e must take Kils<strong>on</strong>'s asserti<strong>on</strong>s with several large<br />
grains <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> salt, it is unmistakably clear that the Afro-American<br />
Cultural Center, al<strong>on</strong>g with the Afro-American Studies Department,<br />
faces the most severe racist and anti-communist pressures,<br />
which KiLs<strong>on</strong>'s article reflects and parallels. How can such a center<br />
flourish in an atmosphere aimed at destroying it?<br />
Kils<strong>on</strong> does not stop even at this point in his drive against the<br />
Black students' every effort toward self-organizati<strong>on</strong>. He goes <strong>on</strong><br />
to demand "the cessati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> financing ~<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> black separatist be-<br />
53
havior by white colleges"-meaning, at Harvard, the Afro-American<br />
Cultural Center . Blacks, he c<strong>on</strong>tinues, must be required "to<br />
find the resources from their own community to support this behavior.<br />
. . . For blacks to ask the very group held resp<strong>on</strong>sible for<br />
black degradati<strong>on</strong> to finance black solidarity is a most pr<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>ound<br />
and disorienting c<strong>on</strong>tradicti<strong>on</strong> . It is precisely this situati<strong>on</strong> that<br />
distorts the percepti<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> reality by black students at white colleges<br />
. They extrapolate from this situati<strong>on</strong> to the rest <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> life, believing<br />
that real power will also be forthcoming without costs and<br />
sacrifice:'<br />
It is not the students whose "percepti<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> reality" is distorted.<br />
Only pressure from Black students and the Black people as a<br />
whole has forced such c<strong>on</strong>cessi<strong>on</strong>s as Black studies programs and<br />
Afro-American Cultural Centers from the m<strong>on</strong>opolists' representatives<br />
who administer the universitiesl<br />
The struggle for such centers is <strong>on</strong> the increase . At this writing,<br />
for example, Black and n<strong>on</strong>-Black students at the University <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
Wisc<strong>on</strong>sin are carrying <strong>on</strong> a mass protest against the administrati<strong>on</strong>'s<br />
decisi<strong>on</strong> to close the Afro-American and Native American<br />
Cultural Centers for "budgetary reas<strong>on</strong>s:' The protests began<br />
with sit-ins and a march by almost 2,000 students-over half <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
them white-behind the slogan "They say `cutbacks'-We say `fight<br />
back'1 "<br />
In demanding a subsidy for an Afro-American Cultural Center,<br />
the students are <strong>on</strong>ly laying claim to what is rightfully theirs . In<br />
asserting that Black students must "find the resources from their<br />
own community," Kils<strong>on</strong> seems to have overlooked the glaring<br />
fact that the "resources from their own community" have been<br />
stolen from the Black people for centuries, first by the slaveowners<br />
and then the m<strong>on</strong>opolists . Only <strong>on</strong>e who identifies his interests<br />
with the white m<strong>on</strong>opolists-whether he realizes this or notcould<br />
object to their getting even a miniscule share <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> it back .<br />
And who but the m<strong>on</strong>opolists or some<strong>on</strong>e unfortunately echoing<br />
their views, could demand more "costs and sacrifices" from Black<br />
54
peoplel<br />
The fight for Black studies departments and cultural centers is<br />
part <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the struggle to break down racist exclusi<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black intellectual<br />
and cultural c<strong>on</strong>tributi<strong>on</strong>s from this country's educati<strong>on</strong>al<br />
instituti<strong>on</strong>s . It is a fight that has not yet run its full course,<br />
but has forced c<strong>on</strong>cessi<strong>on</strong>s from the m<strong>on</strong>opolists-which they attempt<br />
to use to blunt further advance. But from the standpoint<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black students, these c<strong>on</strong>cessi<strong>on</strong>s are nevertheless a partial viotory,<br />
to be used to c<strong>on</strong>tinue and enlarge the struggle against<br />
racism . Yes, there are sometimes weaknesses in the way the students<br />
carry <strong>on</strong> the struggle . The problem is how to correct the<br />
weaknesses and advance the struggle .<br />
'°The Value <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Academic and Intellectual Achievement"<br />
Further policy changes at Harvard, declares Kils<strong>on</strong>, must include<br />
"a serious effort . . . to restore a belief am<strong>on</strong>g Negro students<br />
in the value <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> academic and intellectual achievement."<br />
Since his article has already written <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>f "the tree <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> blackness" as<br />
unimportant to the "forest <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> universal knowledge," classified antiimperialist<br />
activity in solidarity with African liberati<strong>on</strong> movements<br />
as "anti-intellectual," and lauded the racist takeover <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the Afro-<br />
American Studies Department, it is <strong>on</strong>ly too clear that his c<strong>on</strong>cept<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> "academic and intellectual achievement" coincides with that<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the university administrati<strong>on</strong> .<br />
However, restoring this "belief' is, according to Kils<strong>on</strong>, a problem<br />
with "two aspects : <strong>on</strong>e relating to bright Negro students"defined<br />
by him as those who score well <strong>on</strong> the Scholastic Aptitude<br />
Test=the other to those who enter white colleges with academic<br />
deficiencies:'<br />
By accepting S.A.T. scores as the criteri<strong>on</strong> for who is and who<br />
is not "bright," Kils<strong>on</strong> falls into the racist trap set years ago by<br />
"educators" who use LQ. tests-which are a test not <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> intelligence<br />
but <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> informati<strong>on</strong> most readily acquired in a white bourgeois<br />
55
envir<strong>on</strong>ment-to sEamp Black children as inferior and therefore<br />
unworthy <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> receiving an equal educati<strong>on</strong> and other equal opportunities.<br />
(The Jensen article, titled "How Much Can We Best<br />
LQ. and Scholastic AchievementP", catapulted the racist myth <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
Black "inferiority" out <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the past right into the center <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> current<br />
educati<strong>on</strong>al "theories.") If some Black students arrive at the college<br />
level with "academic deficien~ies," it is a reflecti<strong>on</strong> not <strong>on</strong><br />
their "intelligence," but <strong>on</strong> the system which deliberately deprived<br />
them <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> a decent preparatory educati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
As another step in the program to make it harder for Black<br />
students to get into universities, Kils<strong>on</strong> states that "admissi<strong>on</strong>s<br />
practices developed for black students over the past five years<br />
need rethinking ." The "admissi<strong>on</strong>s practices" Kils<strong>on</strong> selects for<br />
"rethinking" are those <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the <strong>on</strong>ly period in Harvard's almost<br />
340-year history when its "racial and social barriers" were forced<br />
to give way in at least some degree to anti-racist pressures .<br />
Nevertheless, it is true that these practices do need rethinking :<br />
aA racist and class barriers to admissi<strong>on</strong> must be removed . But<br />
this is not the way Kils<strong>on</strong> sees it :<br />
"First <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> all," he c<strong>on</strong>tinues, "these practices must be depoliticized."<br />
Why? "At nearly all elite white colleges new black admissi<strong>on</strong>s<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>ficials, appointed under the pressure <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> militant Negro<br />
students, have been allowed to politicize admissi<strong>on</strong>s criteria as<br />
applied to Negro applicati<strong>on</strong>s ."<br />
Surely admissi<strong>on</strong>s practices were "politicized" when Black students<br />
were barred from universities, North as well as South . They<br />
reflected the racist politics <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the m<strong>on</strong>opolists-and they still do<br />
although pressure has brought about some changes . But KiLs<strong>on</strong>,<br />
who applauds "cracks" in the "black-solidarity wall," seems to<br />
lament "cracks" in the white supremacy wall-through which a<br />
larger, but still very small, number <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Blacks enter college . The<br />
m<strong>on</strong>opolists are trying to seal up these "cracks"-and Kils<strong>on</strong>,<br />
whether or not he realizes it, is assisting them-instead <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> joining<br />
the struggle to batter down the walls .<br />
56
If S.A.T. scores are not used as the sole criteria for admissi<strong>on</strong><br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black students to "white colleges" ( KiLs<strong>on</strong> displays no interest<br />
in admissi<strong>on</strong>s criteria at Black colleges ), he declares that a "rigorous<br />
evaluati<strong>on</strong>" must be made <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> these students : `°They should<br />
display attitudes and habits that are c<strong>on</strong>ducive to high academic<br />
and intellectual achievement . They should be interested in reading,<br />
art, theater, museums, poetry or music."<br />
Although I have already discussed Kils<strong>on</strong>'s c<strong>on</strong>cept <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> "academic<br />
and intellectual achievement," there is yet another dimensi<strong>on</strong> to<br />
this matter : that is, wouldn't it be more to the point to demand<br />
that university administrati<strong>on</strong>s "display attitudes and habits that<br />
are c<strong>on</strong>ducive to high academic and intellectual achievement"in<br />
other words, eliminate every trace <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> racism in their policies<br />
and practicesP<br />
As for Kils<strong>on</strong>'s demand that Black students be required to<br />
dem<strong>on</strong>strate an interest in the arts, <strong>on</strong>e must ask : Can he be unaware<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the vast upsurge in theater, painting, poetry, music,<br />
dance and all the other arts by Black people? What is lacking is<br />
not Black "interest," but schools that will train Black artists, theaters<br />
that will produce their plays, museums that will display their<br />
paintings, publishers for their books, and jobs and all-around<br />
opportunities for all their performing artists . All this is overlooked<br />
by Kils<strong>on</strong>l<br />
"Misplaced Sentimentalism"<br />
As another part <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> his comprehensive program for reinforcing<br />
the admissi<strong>on</strong>s barriers against Black students, Kils<strong>on</strong> asserts,<br />
"Perhaps the most important problem to surmount in admissi<strong>on</strong>s<br />
is the misplaced sentimentalism that is widespread am<strong>on</strong>g liberal<br />
white admissi<strong>on</strong>s <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>ficials (and black <strong>on</strong>es, too) at elite white colleges<br />
:' (Again, the problem is the "liberals," the "leftists," not the<br />
racistsl )<br />
Despite the fact that virtually any cutback in funds hits Black<br />
57
students and faculty first, Kils<strong>on</strong> calls for a special <strong>on</strong>e against<br />
them, stating that "the bad admissi<strong>on</strong>s choices stemming from<br />
this sentimentalism have resulted in a serious waste <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> scarce<br />
university resources :'<br />
To "back up" his claim that scholarship funds are being wasted<br />
<strong>on</strong> Black students, Kils<strong>on</strong> goes even further than most white<br />
university <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>ficials dare g° in public. That is, he echoes what many<br />
administrators say about Black students in private meetings-and<br />
what the media say about them <strong>on</strong> TV, radio, in newspapers and<br />
books : ". . . ill-suited Negro students at elite colleges usually end<br />
up am<strong>on</strong>g the most zealous militants. . . :' Such students, c<strong>on</strong>tinues<br />
Kils<strong>on</strong>, "become the arbiters <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> black separatism at white<br />
colleges, establishing bizarre standards <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> `blackness' ( including<br />
drug culture and criminal acts ) that the more talented Negro students<br />
are expected to follow"-thus completing a media caricature<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> "militant" but not-very-bright Blacks with a gun in <strong>on</strong>e hand<br />
and heroin in the other. Kils<strong>on</strong> seems not to know that the white<br />
m<strong>on</strong>opolists made drugs easily available to Black and white troops<br />
in Vietnam and c<strong>on</strong>tinue to do so in the ghettos in order to drain<br />
o~ militancel<br />
"One tragic instance," writes Kils<strong>on</strong>, "occurred at Cornell University<br />
in 1971 . A highly talented 16-year old Negro student . . .<br />
had been transformed within less than two years from a high<br />
academic achiever to a zealous separatist and criminal . As the<br />
judge observed in his report when handing down a five-year probati<strong>on</strong><br />
sentence : `As so<strong>on</strong> as defendant became involved with the<br />
residents <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the university-owned black men's co-op, he became<br />
easily led by the wr<strong>on</strong>g people : "<br />
Clearly, the danger to Blacks, according to this, comes not from<br />
racism but from other Blacks-who, it would appear, according<br />
to Kils<strong>on</strong>, are also obviously a danger to the entire university.<br />
It also follows, therefore, that there should not be more <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> them<br />
<strong>on</strong> campus, but less. And Kils<strong>on</strong> abets the m<strong>on</strong>opolists' strategy<br />
for decreasing their numbers by proposing a quota .<br />
58
Kils~<strong>on</strong> advocates the use <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> quotas, he says, "in order to overcome<br />
past racist restricti<strong>on</strong>s . . . <strong>on</strong> the growth <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the American<br />
Negro elites ." With this statement, Kils<strong>on</strong> nat <strong>on</strong>ly relegates racism<br />
in these instituti<strong>on</strong>s to the past, he also alleges that the sole purpose<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> racist restricti<strong>on</strong>s was to keep out elite Blacks . But their<br />
purpose was revealed in their accomplishments : they kept out all<br />
Blacks . Now Kils<strong>on</strong> advocates a quota that will, in his opini<strong>on</strong>,<br />
keep out "ghetto types," while allowing admissi<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> members<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the elite .<br />
"Unqualified or ill-suited black applicants have <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>ten been accepted<br />
at top-rank white colleges in order to broaden the representati<strong>on</strong><br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> what some admissi<strong>on</strong>s <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>ficials call `ghetto types.' This<br />
reduces the number <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> middle-class Negroes in the black student<br />
body. . . . The blacks most likely to succeed in the competiti<strong>on</strong><br />
at top-rank colleges must be encouraged, and if most <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> them happen<br />
to be middle-class (which, after all, is the case for whites,<br />
too), then so be it :'<br />
Despite Kils<strong>on</strong>'s allegati<strong>on</strong>s, it is obvious that administrati<strong>on</strong><br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>ficials d<strong>on</strong>'t want "ghetto types"-i .e ., working-class youth-in the<br />
universities . Only mass pressure has forced the admissi<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> some.<br />
And these <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>ficials d<strong>on</strong>'t want too many middle-class Blacks either .<br />
By portraying ghetto youth as "ill-suited," by writing <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>f their<br />
abilities, Kils<strong>on</strong> helps the administrati<strong>on</strong> limit the number <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> middle-class<br />
Blacks to be accepted as well-because the great mass <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
Black youth removed from c<strong>on</strong>siderati<strong>on</strong> would leave the middle<br />
class isolated, without ties or backing.<br />
Behind Kils<strong>on</strong>'s facade <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> words about assisting the "growth <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
the American Negro elites" ( Kils<strong>on</strong>'s language, not mine-H . W. ),<br />
lies the unfortunate fact that the quota system he proposes is<br />
equivalent to the <strong>on</strong>e the racist m<strong>on</strong>opolists have used for so many<br />
decades to restrict admissi<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black and other minority youth.<br />
Kils<strong>on</strong>'s quota would not <strong>on</strong>ly affect working-class Black youth<br />
adversely, but middle-class youth as well, because it would limit<br />
admissi<strong>on</strong>s to those c<strong>on</strong>forming to a policy <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> tokenism, which<br />
59
flows from racism and would be used to blunt struggles for<br />
equality . ( Kils<strong>on</strong>'s quota proposal brings to mind a little-known<br />
fact in the racist history <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> educati<strong>on</strong> : Dartmouth College<br />
was founded to train Indians . Who is aware <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> that now? Instead<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> helping to +open the universities today to Blacks, Native Americans,<br />
Puerto Ricans, Chicanos and other minorities, I{ils<strong>on</strong>'s views<br />
are <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> assistance to the corporate m<strong>on</strong>opolists, who would like to<br />
bring about their forced disappearance from Harvard and all other<br />
universities, just as Native Americans were forced out <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> an instituti<strong>on</strong><br />
supposedly founded for them . )<br />
As fpr those Kils<strong>on</strong> refers to as "ill-suited" Black youths (i.e .,<br />
those who do not score well <strong>on</strong> the S.A.T. ), either they would be<br />
kept out <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> college altogether or, as revealed by Kils<strong>on</strong> in the<br />
following statement, sent to Black colleges : "Some 70 percent <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
all blacks now in college attend white instituti<strong>on</strong>s, and the brightest<br />
black students are in top-rank colleges ." This remark not <strong>on</strong>ly<br />
downgrades Black colleges, but also amounts to an attempt to<br />
return them to the Booker T. Washingt<strong>on</strong> c<strong>on</strong>cept, <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black colleges<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>fering a strictly limited educati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
KiLs<strong>on</strong>'s views toward Black colleges lead in a two-fold direoti<strong>on</strong><br />
: to accommodati<strong>on</strong> to racism within predominantly white<br />
colleges, and surrender to m<strong>on</strong>opoly pressure to undermine Black<br />
colleges . Because <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> his elitist attitude toward the masses, Kils<strong>on</strong><br />
has no c<strong>on</strong>fidence in struggle . This is why he despairs <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> change<br />
and has apparently opted to play the c<strong>on</strong>temporary Booker T.<br />
Washingt<strong>on</strong> role. On the other hand, the c<strong>on</strong>fidence DuBoiswho<br />
opposed Washingt<strong>on</strong>'s ideas-had in the masses c<strong>on</strong>tinued to<br />
deepen, leading him to a <str<strong>on</strong>g>Marxist</str<strong>on</strong>g>-<str<strong>on</strong>g>Leninist</str<strong>on</strong>g> outlook and membership<br />
in the Communist Party.<br />
The fight to transform the "academic and intellectual processes"<br />
calls for joint struggle <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black and white students and faculty<br />
members, and must be pressed <strong>on</strong> two fr<strong>on</strong>ts : as a fight for truth<br />
in educati<strong>on</strong> and for equality for Blacks in the majority colleges,<br />
and a struggle for full and equal support to Black colleges.<br />
60
Every white pers<strong>on</strong> c<strong>on</strong>cerned about the nati<strong>on</strong>'s most dangerous<br />
pollutant-racism-mus .t realize that a real perspective for the<br />
transformati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> educati<strong>on</strong> must advance the struggle for unrestricted<br />
admissi<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Blacks into the majority colleges and for<br />
saving and expanding Black colleges . Black colleges not <strong>on</strong>ly have<br />
a role to play in educating Black people, as they have d<strong>on</strong>e for<br />
generati<strong>on</strong>s . They must also be seen as excepti<strong>on</strong>ally vital instituti<strong>on</strong>s<br />
for educating whites . Since these colleges are not permeated<br />
with racism, the white students' educati<strong>on</strong> would already<br />
be <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>f to a head start over that <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>fered at the majority colleges.<br />
Dr. DuBois vividly illustrated this fact in the following passage<br />
c<strong>on</strong>trasting his educati<strong>on</strong>al experience at Fisk University<br />
with that at Harvard:<br />
At Fisk, the problem <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> race was faced openly and essential<br />
racial equality asserted and natural inferiority strenuously dovied.<br />
In some cases the teachers expressed this theory; in most<br />
cases the student opini<strong>on</strong> naturally forced it . At Harvard, <strong>on</strong><br />
the other hand, I began to face scientific race dogma : first <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
all, evoluti<strong>on</strong> and the "Survival <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the Fittest" It was c<strong>on</strong>tinually<br />
stressed in the community and in classes that there was<br />
a vast difference in the development <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the whites and the<br />
"lower" races ; that this could be seen in the physical development<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the Negro. I remember <strong>on</strong>ce in a museum, coming face<br />
to face with a dem<strong>on</strong>strati<strong>on</strong> : a series <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> skelet<strong>on</strong>s arranged<br />
from a little m<strong>on</strong>key to a tall well-developed white man, with<br />
a Negro barely outranking a chimpanzee . (Dusk <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Dawn, by<br />
W. E. B. DuBois, Schocken Books, New York, First Schocken<br />
Editi<strong>on</strong>, 1968, pages 97-98 . )<br />
In his graduate studies DuBois encountered a variati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
racism in educati<strong>on</strong>-identical at Harvard and in Germany, where<br />
it prepared the ground for Nazi ideology :<br />
61
In the graduate school at Harvard and again in Germany, the<br />
emphasis again was altered, and race became a matter <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> culture<br />
and cultural history . The history <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the world was paraded before<br />
the observati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> students . Which was the superior race?<br />
Manifestly that which had a history, the white race; there was<br />
some menti<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Asiatic culture, but no course in Chinese or<br />
Indian history or culture was <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>fered at Harvard, and quite<br />
unanimously in America and Germany, Africa was left without<br />
culture and without history . ( Ibid., page 98. )<br />
Proud <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> "Maladjustment" to M<strong>on</strong>opoly's Plans<br />
What is needed are not quotas-which are an "effective ceiling"<br />
<strong>on</strong> university admissi<strong>on</strong>s-but a ground floor . There must be a<br />
truly representative minimum enrollment for Blacks, Chicanos,<br />
Puerto Ricans, Asian-Americans and Native Americans-but no<br />
ceiling. The mass united struggle <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black, white, brown, yellow<br />
and red peoples required to bring about this democratizati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
the universities would simultaneously open up new opportunities<br />
for university educati<strong>on</strong> to white working class youth .<br />
In urging that the universities limit Black admissi<strong>on</strong>s to an<br />
elite, Kils<strong>on</strong> objectively assists the m<strong>on</strong>opolists in their aim <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
producing a "crack" in the wall <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> solidarity between Black students<br />
and the Black masses . It is no accident that the New York<br />
Times publishes this article at a time when Black students, Black<br />
workers and Black people generally are reaching a new high in<br />
understanding that solidarity with their African brothers and sisters<br />
against neo-col<strong>on</strong>ialism is bound up with the struggle for Black<br />
liberati<strong>on</strong> in the heartland <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> world imperialism. And despite what<br />
Kils<strong>on</strong>'s own intenti<strong>on</strong>s may have been, it must be recognized that<br />
his article is <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> assistance to the m<strong>on</strong>opolists' strategy <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> dispersing<br />
the Black liberati<strong>on</strong> movement at home, while it aims at pushing<br />
the African peoples back into the "nooks and crannies" <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
col<strong>on</strong>ial oppressi<strong>on</strong> from which they are struggling to emerge.<br />
62
In his final paragraph, Kils<strong>on</strong> states, "it is imperative that the<br />
maladjustment <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Negro students to the achievement and successoriented<br />
life-styles <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> white colleges be corrected :' The Black<br />
students are rightly proud <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> their "maladjustment" to the m<strong>on</strong>opolists'<br />
plans to allow a token number <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> them to "integrate" into<br />
this racist system in order to help perpetuate it .<br />
Black students owe na loyalty to the "university in general"<br />
and what it stands for. Their loyalty bel<strong>on</strong>gs to their people, to<br />
the fight to change the present-day standards <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> "academic and<br />
intellectual achievement" to c<strong>on</strong>form to the needs <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> thirty milli<strong>on</strong><br />
Black people as a vital part <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the struggle for democratic advance<br />
for all the people <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> this country . This struggle for democratic<br />
advance also calls for the loyalty and support <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> all white<br />
students who want to transform the quality bf life-<strong>on</strong> and <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>f the<br />
campuses <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the nati<strong>on</strong> .
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OTHER NEW PAMPHLETS<br />
THE SAKHARO~-SOLZHENITSYN FRAUD<br />
What's Behind the Hue and Cry for "Intellectual <strong>Freedom</strong>"<br />
by Gus Hall<br />
"Intellectual freedom" in terms <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> class struggle and socialism.<br />
Exposes Sakharov and Solzhenitsyn as enemies <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> peace, supporters<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> imperialism, defenders <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> racism, slanderers <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> socialism<br />
. Points out how Albert Shanker's support <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> them is c<strong>on</strong>sistent<br />
with his own class collaborati<strong>on</strong>ism and racism . Class<br />
nature <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> freedom and the reality <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> socialist democracy.<br />
32 pages-40¢<br />
HIGH PRICES AND HIGH PROFITS<br />
How They Affect hour Wages and Living Costs by Victor Perlo<br />
Analyzes and demolishes, in popular language, the false argument<br />
that wage increases cause price increases . Shows that higher<br />
pr<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>its cause higher prices, discusses all the factors causing inflati<strong>on</strong><br />
. Presents the Communist Party's program to fight inflati<strong>on</strong><br />
and win wage increases .<br />
32 pages-55¢<br />
ISRAEL : IMAGE AND REALITY<br />
A Journalist's First-Hand Report by Carl Bloice<br />
Based <strong>on</strong> a visit in June 1972 . Extensive factual material <strong>on</strong><br />
brutal racist oppressi<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Arabs in Israel and the occupied territories,<br />
aggressive col<strong>on</strong>ial policy <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the Meir-Dayan government,<br />
discriminati<strong>on</strong> against Sephardic Jews, use <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> immigrants as<br />
pawns for c<strong>on</strong>quest. Appeals to American friends <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Israel to<br />
fight for a change in policy as the <strong>on</strong>ly way to bring peace .<br />
48 pages-65¢<br />
WOMEN ON THE JOB : THE COMMUNIST VIEW<br />
by Judy Edelman<br />
Problems <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> women's liberati<strong>on</strong> as they affect working women.<br />
Special problems <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Black and other nati<strong>on</strong>ally-oppressed women.<br />
Statement <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Nati<strong>on</strong>al Women's Commissi<strong>on</strong>, Communist Party,<br />
U .S.A. CP'USA's program for struggle around the needs <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> working<br />
and nati<strong>on</strong>ally-oppressed women.<br />
56 pages-?0¢<br />
LIFE WITHOUT LANDLORDS by Mike Davidow<br />
The former Moscow Daily World corresp<strong>on</strong>dent describes how the<br />
Soviet capital city is producing modern low-cost housing for its<br />
populati<strong>on</strong> . He c<strong>on</strong>trasts the socialist soluti<strong>on</strong> to this problem in<br />
the USSR with the capitalist failure to solve the housing crisis<br />
here in the USA . 32 pages~0¢<br />
THE COLONIAL PLUNDER OF PUERTO RICO by Gus Hall<br />
EL PILLAJE COLONIAL DE PUERTO RICO por Gus Hall<br />
Shows why the exploitati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Puerto Rico is highly pr<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>itable<br />
for U . S. corporati<strong>on</strong>s, calls for support for Puerto Rican independence<br />
by the people <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the USA. English or Spanish editi<strong>on</strong> .<br />
English-16 pages-25¢<br />
Espaiiol-16 paginas-25¢<br />
At bookstores or order from<br />
NEW OUTLOOK PUBLISHERS<br />
205 West 19 Street ~ 9th Floor ~ New York, N. Y. 10011<br />
Orders must be prepaid (no stamps) . Add 20¢ postage <strong>on</strong><br />
orders under $2 .00 . New York purchasers include sales tax .<br />
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