The "USA Patriot Act:" Good ol' down home Amerikan State terrorism

The "USA Patriot Act" endangers immigrants, oppressed nationalities and activists. That was the message at two recent California forums attended by MIM, one organized by the Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist League (RAIL) in Santa Barbara and the other by the African People's Education and Defense Fund in Oakland.

What "freedom?"

The Amerikan government launched the biggest round up of so-called aliens since World War II after September 11. As a National Lawyers Guild (NLG) speaker pointed out in Oakland, the immediate target of the new laws is immigrants, but they are really after all people engaged in dissent. She noted that the bulk of the calls the NLG has received asking for help are from Middle Eastern immigrants. But she also told about a 60-year-old white man who was working out in a health club talking about the war and Bush's connection to oil with others in the gym. A little while later the FBI knocked on his door at home and said they knew he what he had been talking at the health club. This should serve as a warning to all activists who think it is perfectly safe to organize completely above ground in this country, without regard for who is listening. While we do need to be accessible to the people, there is no need to make the job of the pigs easier by giving out information not needed by the people. There is no way to entirely avoid repression, but we can make it harder for the government. And we should not fool ourselves into believing that our friends and relatives will be sympathetic to our politics. Particularly whites, who do not have a history of facing regular repression by the police, are likely to buy into the patriotism and consider it their duty to report their friends and neighbors to the FBI. It is well worth being careful who we talk to. A MIM comrade addressed this point further at the RAIL forum, which included a screening of the movie ITAL The FBI's War on Black America. END The comrade argued that it was incorrect to talk of a "rollback" of civil liberties or "freedoms" since September 11, since these only existed on paper. These "freedoms" did not protect Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton from being assassinated by Chicago cops while he slept, for example. Despite legislation protecting the privacy of international students' records, dozens of universities turned over records to federal authorities without student consent to prove their patriotism.(1) MIM does not believe we have the conditions for freedom in the united $tates, because such conditions include more economic and social harmony not possible under capitalism and imperialism. There has been inadequate attention to the conditions necessary for freedom that Marx and Engels understood so well. As long as people can make big profits transporting oil through Afghanistan or selling heroin and weapons, there will be those seeking to sell the peace and freedom of other people. This political perspective separates MIM from those who rely on civil rights legislation to struggle against the "Patriot Act." However, we do have partial unity with the ACLU and NLG in the struggle to build public opinion against "Patriot's" repressive measures. Knowing the enemy's laws can also help us tactically. As casual watchers of ITAL NYPD Blue END well know, the pigs will trick and intimidate people into giving them information -- but people have a "right" not to talk to the FBI or police (a "right" we strongly encourage people to use). The NLG speaker noted the FBI usually drops their investigation when a lawyer calls them to say he or she will be there during any interview. MIM recommends that all activists get a copy of the new NLG pamphlet "Know Your Rights" (a copy can be downloaded at www.nlg.org).

Attacks on immigrants, non-citizens increase

A speaker in Oakland told several stories of the routine harassment now facing Arabs, Muslims and other immigrants in airports. In one case four men from Yemen who did not know each other, on the same flight, were pulled aside and asked about Osama Bin Laden and the Koran. They were kept off the flight. A South Asian man was kicked off an airplane, cleared by the FBI, tried to get on a flight again and the pilot kicked him off. In another case a Black Muslim was kept from flying. On a weekly basis 15-30 Arabs or Muslims are picked up in the Bay Area under accusations based on the Patriot Act. These people are taken to North County Jail in Oakland for processing and then to somewhere unknown to be held. One speaker pointed out the irony that many Arabs and Muslims came to the united states to escape repressive regimes, but now they face that same repression from the U.$. government. MIM doesn't find this particularly surprising, considering that the repressive regimes in the mid-east are often created and supported by the U.$. government. The United $tates has also used the "war on terrorism" as an excuse to put troops on the U.$.-Mexico border. According to the keynote speaker at the Santa Barbara event -- a member of Studies for the Liberation of Aztlan and Latin America (SLALA) -- U.$. Marines have returned to the border. These Marines are from the same unit that shot a teenaged goatherd in Texas. If they want to combat "terrorism" on the U.$.-Mexico border, perhaps they should arrest themselves and the vigilante Arizona ranchers who harass and kill Mexican immigrants.

"Terrorism" definition enlarged

The Patriot Act allows the CIA to spy domestically and provides for the sharing of information across all agencies. One of the more dangerous provisions is the creation of the federal crime of domestic terrorism. Several speakers underscored how broadly this crime is defined. It includes any acts that are dangerous to human life and that appear intended to influence the policies of the government by coercion. The protesters in Vieques could be charged with domestic terrorism. Any civil disobedience could fit the definition. In addition, housing someone who later goes and commits an act of domestic terrorism is a crime. Another provision in the patriot act allows deportation of immigrants giving money to "terrorist" organizations. The proof that the organization in question is not terrorist rests on the immigrant.

Oppressed nationality support for the "war on terrorism"

Several speakers commented on the strong patriotism being seen among Blacks and Latinos in spite of the fact that they face national oppression just like Arabs. A speaker from Al-Awda (the Palestinian Right to Return Coalition) cited a statistic that 60% of Blacks were in favor of the Patriot Bill. All citizens in the United $tates benefit from the exploitation and oppression of the majority of the worlds people. The benefits are not shared equally, but the benefits of citizenship cannot be ignored. Threats to these benefits rally even oppressed nations behind Amerika. National oppression (e.g. in the form of disproportional imprisonment) creates a revolutionary potential within U.$. borders, but this potential can only be realized when those within Amerikan borders ally themselves with the Third World proletariat and take a stand against all forms of Amerikan parasitism.

Notes:
1. See MIM Notes 246 (1 Nov 2001), 246 (15 Nov 2001), and 249 (1 Jan 2002).