[Peace-discuss] Anti-racism pamphlet draft

[Al Kagan]

Here is our draft pamphlet.  Please send comments back to Al, Mike or 
Linda. Many thanks

The Connections Between War and Discrimination

I. War and Discrimination Connections
Wars intensify racism in the US. Japanese-Americans were interned 
during WWII, Viet-namese were derided as "gooks," and now Arabs and 
Arab-Americans are investigated as if their ethnicity alone makes 
them terrorist suspects.  Dehumanization makes it much easier to 
fight and kill.  On a deeper level, the relationship between race and 
class means that all minorities suffer during wartime.  The US 
military is disproportionally black and Latino. Those at the bottom 
of the socio-economic ladder are most likely to be unemployed, and 
therefore more likely to "volunteer" to be put in harm's way.  As 
more funds are shifted from critical social needs to military 
adventures, unemployment rises, education suffers, and our quality of 
life degrades. Sexism is also fueled by militarism. War means rape of 
innocent civilians and more violence against women at home. Murders 
of military wives by their  recently returned husbands are just the 
most obvious brutal evidence of what war does to human beings. And 
women's status in falling in Iraq as the previously secular society 
becomes more dominated by reactionary forces.  Only peace can provide 
the opportunity to build a better society. 
II.  The Military Needs Poverty and Racism
Reasons for enlisting are varied and multifac-eted, but according to 
the Rand Corporation, "[People usually] join because the military 
of-fers employment prospects superior to what they could obtain in 
civilian life." While blacks comprise only 12% of the population, 
they rep-resented 32% of the Army in Gulf War I,  and not 
surprisingly only two members of Congress had children on active 
duty. 

What else does the military offer?  A 90% like-lihood of sexual 
harassment and 30% likelihood of rape for women soldiers, a 
homosexual-free sanctuary for bigots, 50% of the front lines and a 
glass ceiling for blacks, and a sub-minimum wage for all entry level 
soldiers. Veterans comprise 1/3 of the male homeless population, and 
working veterans receive pay significantly lower than non-veterans. 
Over 70% of college-aged soldiers never see a dime of financial aid 
from the military.

III. The US Economy and Social Welfare
Unemployment, living wage, and affordable housing are all related to 
racism and war.  Peo-ple of color are hardest hit when the economy is 
bad.  They suffer the highest rates of poverty, and need the social 
services that are often cut when funds are shifted to the military.

The total US unemployment rate was 5.8% for the year 2002.  But 
notice the disparity in the rates of 5.1% for whites, 10.2% for 
blacks, and 7.5% for Hispanics. (See http://stats.bls. gov/cps/). 
Working people of color get paid less than whites. The per capita 
income for whites living in the US in 2001 was $24,127.  Compare this 
to  $14,953 for blacks and $13,003 for those of "Hispanic Origin." 
34% of white children  are low-income compared to 57% of African 
American children and 64% of Latino children.  

The federal minimum wage is insufficient for the survival of many 
families. Many cities in-cluding Urbana have established their own 
"living wage" laws. We need to pass similar laws in Champaign and the 
surrounding com-munities. (See http://www.census.gov/hhes/ 
income/histinc/incperdet.html, http://www.chn. org/, and http:// www. 
prairienet.org/helpbook/)

IV. Discrimination Against Arabs & Muslims
The "War on Terrorism" has relegitimized racial profiling.  The 
grassroots movement against racial profiling had made significant 
progress before 9/11, but repressive forces have used fear to 
overturn these victories.  Several thousand Arabs and Muslims have 
been detained and hundreds have been deported for minor visa 
infractions.  People from a list of 21 mainly Muslim countries have 
been forced to report for "Special Registration," and many have been 
detained on the spot including many Christian and secular Arabs. 
Some have fled across the border to Canada to escape the possibility 
of indefinite detention without access to lawyers and contact with 
family and friends.  Names of those detained have not been made 
public. We do not know the real totals of those detained, but we do 
know that Special Registration is not protecting us from further 
terrorist attacks.  Even US citizens have been detained without 
access to basic legal procedures.   Local Muslims report increased 
discrimination of all kinds, especially against women wearing head 
scarves. Locally, an undergraduate UIUC student was picked up and 
detained for weeks because of his Palestine solidarity work.  AWARE 
has established a Mutual Aid Pact to help those targeted because of 
their ethnicity, religion, or political views under the War on 
Terrorism legislation. (See http://www.anti-war.net/MAP/.)

V.  Racist Crime Policies
American crime policies and law enforcement bear a striking 
resemblance to the current "War on Terrorism."  These policies are 
similar in that they wrest control from a politically and 
economically weaker people under the guise of humanitarianism, bleed 
the respective commu-nities of their resources and vitality, and 
prevent future empowerment. The domestic prison system 
disproportionately affects low-income people of color, while the most 
noted victims of current US wars are Arabs and Muslims.

While the US population is 12% black, the prison inmate population is 
46% black. And an overwhelming number of those blacks are non-violent 
drug offenders.  Note that 74% of those incarcerated for drug 
offenses are black, but that 72%  of all illicit drug users are 
white.  The mass media falsely characterizes drugs as a black 
problem. "Tough-on-crime" politicians point to black incarceration 
rates  to show the effectiveness of their policies. This perpetuates 
the misconception that blacks are more inclined to criminality. 
Current crime policies effec-tively silence the communities needing 
gov-ernment aid and social change.  Felony convic-tions have 
politically disenfranchised 13% of the entire adult black population 
who are unable to vote. Finally, we note that the US prison system is 
a $32 billion-a-year industry and it is becoming increasingly 
privatized. Corporations now profit through incarceration and can 
lease in-mates out for extremely low wages.

VI. What You Can Do
Stop the Wars.  Elect candidates who support peace and racial 
equality.  Talk to your local and national candidates about these 
issues. Write to your current elected officials.  Remember, that they 
are supposed to work for you. Ask them to introduce or support 
legislation to make our society more peaceful and equitable.

Support the creation of local police review boards.  An Urbana board 
is currently under consideration.  It would be comprised of 
com-munity members who would provide input to the City Council and 
investigate complaints lodged against the police. Work with your 
local school boards and city councils to ensure peaceful and 
equitable practices.

Form coalitions with other like-minded groups.  Get involved in your 
community or increase your current involvement by forming coalitions 
to make your voices stronger. Work for passage of a living wages laws 
in the City of Cham-paign and surrounding communities See 
http://www.ilchamber.org/kc/hr/hr020914A.asp


AWARE
Anti-War Anti-Racism Ef-fort
http://www.anti-war.net

Weekly meetings on Sundays at 5 PM at the Independent Media Center, 
218 W. Main St. in downtown Urbana

-- 


Al Kagan
African Studies Bibliographer and Professor of Library Administration
Africana Unit, Room 328
University of Illinois Library
1408 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801, USA

tel. 217-333-6519
fax. 217-333-2214
e-mail. akagan at uiuc.edu
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.cu.groogroo.com/mailman/archive/peace-discuss/attachments/20030824/e10d3501/attachment.html