[Peace] The Soldiers' Rebellion in Vietnam

[ISO Champaign]

please forward widely...
You are cordially invited to the International Socialist Organization's
upcoming public forum:

What:    Public lecture, "The Soldiers' Rebellion in Vietnam: Race, Class,
and Resistance"
When:   Wednesday, Feb. 21, at 7:00pm
Where:  Greg Hall, Rm. 329
Who:     Lecture by Martin Smith, Iraq Veterans Against the War*
*check out today's Counterpunch newsletter for an article written by Martin
on military training and war crimes here:
http://counterpunch.org/smith02202007.html

Why: The soldiers' rebellion in Vietnam remains one of the hidden histories
of resistance to empire that stopped the war.  During the final years of the
U.S. ground war in Vietnam, the period from 1968 to 1973, the Armed Forces
exploded with broad defiance of orders, widespread dereliction of duty, and
outright rebellion by troops.  In the Armed Forces Journal in 1971, retired
Marine Corps Colonel and military historian sounded a dire warning of how
"our army that now remains in Vietnam is in a state approaching
collapse."  According to Heinl, there were "individual units avoiding or
having refused combat, murdering their officers and noncommissioned
officers, drug-ridden, and dispirited where not near-mutinous."  The legacy
of soldiers' rebellion should be linked to the increasing revolt by active
duty soldiers today, including that by Lt. Ehren Watada, the first officer
to refuse orders to Iraq, and the growing strength of antiwar veterans'
groups, like Iraq Veterans Against the War.  Come to this public lecture to
find out how war was stopped in the past, and how war can be stopped today.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE



*RECENT MASCOT DECISION IS ONLY A FIRST STEP: CAMPUS ISSUES REMAIN
UNRESOLVED*

*PRESS CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT*

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign announced yesterday that
"Chief Illiniwek" will no longer perform at athletic events on the
Urbana-Champaign campus after February 21, 2007 in compliance with the NCAA
ruling. The university's compliance implicitly acknowledges the NCAA's
assessment of the mascot: the "Chief" is "hostile and abusive." Although
this is clearly a first step, S.T.O.P.  (Students Transforming Oppression
and Privilege) maintains that the University must facilitate the clear,
consistent, and unconditional removal of the entire logo, not just the
removal of the athletic performance.

Retiring the chief must mean unconditionally retiring the trademark. It is
unconscionable for the University of Illinois or any other private or public
entity to continue to profit off of the mascot as an "honorable tradition.".
Neither should the trademark be transferred to any other public or private
entity that considers the mascot an "honorable tradition."   The University
must ensure an end to the disrespect, mockery, racial stereotyping, and
hostility perpetuated by the iconography.

In addition, the "Chief Illiniwek" regalia must also be retired.  In the
resolution released by the Oglala Sioux tribe on January 17, 2007, "Chief
Illiniwek" perpetuates a degrading racial stereotype and violates the
integrity of traditional Illinois tribes. To this date, the regalia has not
been returned to the Oglala Sioux tribe as requested.

The educational, moral, and ethical grounds for ending the
"Illiniwek"tradition have been clear for decades. This
first step by the University absolutely cannot be separated from the issues
of racism, privilege and power on this campus and the steps that remain to
be carried out.  Acts of intolerance and hate crimes repeatedly suffered by
communities on this campus evidence the lack of a true climate of human
rights and social justice at UIUC.

As stated in the February 1st  S.T.O.P. demands, S.T.O.P. calls for the
unconditional removal of "Chief Illiniwek" and all American Indian imagery,
the elimination of the term "Fighting Illini", and the end of all "Chief
Illiniwek" iconography including items for sale at the Illini Union
Bookstore. However, this action  is only one of the seven broad areas of
critical change that S.T.O.P. has identified in order to foster a campus
climate in which all UIUC students may thrive.

S.T.O.P. is a broad coalition of students, faculty, and community members
who remain committed to enacting critical changes on this campus that fully
address the range of issues facing our community; this recent decision is a
first but incomplete step.

*WHAT:*     Press Conference to address the administration's due
collective response
to the S.T.O.P. demands presented at *Racism, Power, and Privilege *forum
that took place February 1, 2007

*WHEN:*     12:00 p.m. Thursday February 22, 2007

*WHERE:*   African American Cultural Center 708 S. Mathews Avenue Urbana, IL
61801

*WHO: *      S.T.O.P. (Students Transforming Oppression and Privilege)
Coalition

Source:       Students Transforming Oppression and Privilege (STOP)
                     www.iresist.org

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ISO Resources:
internationalsocialist.org
haymarketbooks.org
socialistworker.org
isreview.org

Weekly ISO Tabling/Socialist Worker Sale
Tuesdays, 11:00am-12:00pm
UIUC Quad or Student Union Basement
stop by and pick up the latest SW!
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