[BRCannounce] Question of November 2004

[BRC Web Administrator]

Question of November 2004- Black Radicals, Activists and the 2004 Elections

>From the International Caucus of the Black Radical Congress

The Black Radical Congress adopted a motion at the National Council Meeting in March 2004 
that all Black Radicals, activists and decent human beings should work to defeat the George 
Bush regime. The International Caucus of the BRC supports this position and call on all decent 
humans, but especially members of the left to intensify the work to defeat the group that is now 
entrenched in power and is fighting against humanity in the wars at home and abroad.

The 2004 election is taking place in the midst of the deepening militarization of the planet. The 
wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine, Colombia, on numerous fronts and the war at home makes 
this an election one component of the war. Hence, the opposition to the Bush forces is a 
component of the work of the peace movement to oppose war, racism and repression. The 
election propaganda of the Bush regime is one component of the psychological warfare to 
intensify the climate of fear and insecurity. Black Radicals have been engaged in opposition to 
this war and it is important that all sections of the movement intensify the efforts to join the 
campaign to defeat George Bush without tying ourselves to the alternative.

The Kerry campaign and the Democratic Party have been in the main unresponsive to the 
increased exploitation and racism of the system. In many respects, the Black Congressional 
Caucus, except for the courageous women such as Barbara lee and (hopefully Cynthia McKinney) 
has been a silent force and these elements must be pushed in their electoral districts to 
centralize the issues of the oppressed. These issues have been simplified in the campaigns of 
"education, not incarceration," "books- not bombs," and the campaign to end the war. The Kerry 
camp has turned its back  on the anti war movement and represents the Democrats as being 
better able to manage the war and win allies for the imperial mission of occupying Iraq. If 
anything, Mrs. Heinz- Kerry has been using her African links to identify with the anti communist 
and racist elements of the Cuban exile community in Florida. 

The Kerry/Edwards team believes that in affirming One America, as though these magic words 
will paper over the deep social, racial and class divisions of the society. It is most significant that 
the Democratic Party has not raised the issue of the military prison industrial complex in any 
serious way. The lawyers of the party are quite willing to work to ensure black and Latino/Latina 
and First Nation peoples votes are counted without taking up the whole issue of the 
disenfranchisement of millions of poor and black people. The BRC has been involved in the 
National Campaign of Fighting for Voter Security. We support Count Every Vote, which has 
trained monitors to help protect Black people's voting rights in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, 
Louisiana and Mississippi.  And in all parts of the country, the BRC has signed on to the Racism 
Watch 2004, especially the vote for racial justice campaign.

In every locality, individuals and local organizing committees have been finding their own 
modest ways to engage the process raising questions that are central to the concerns of the 
oppressed. It is from the ranks of Black Radicals and from the prison reform movement as a 
whole where the links between militarism abroad and the prison industrial complex have been 
made. It is this cross section of the society that continues to raise the question of the fate of 
Mumia and Leonard Peltier. Black Radicals have been involved in opposing the color coded 
climate of fear that had been orchestrated by the regime and have been on the streets opposing 
the war. In many ways, these forces have helped to shift the nature of the discussion and 
reinforced the point the Abu Gharaib was not an aberration but based on practices that have 
been well developed in this country. The isolation of the Bush regime over the question of the 
violation of International Law on all fronts must continue. The Bush forces know full well that 
they are breaking all the laws of decency and it is for this reason that the Bush forces are 
adamantly against the International Criminal Court. The BRC is calling for a full disclosure of the 
crimes carried out as part of the campaign against the prison military system at home and 
abroad.

For these reasons, the opposition to Bush does not mean a blanket endorsement of the 
alternative. The most important task of the moment is to act against the further entrenchment of 
the neo-conservative (some would say neo-fascist) forces. The Black Radical Congress wants to 
make it clear that this is a tactical move in times of war and hence the BRC will call on all to 
support the Democrats so that the neo conservatives can be removed from the control over the 
Presidency. However, this call means that this opposition is not a call for blanket engagement in 
the electoral process, it is a call to build a coherent position so that the radical forces will be in 
touch and will be in conflict if necessary with any new government after November 2, to be able 
to advance the campaign for genuine democracy and rights of all peoples.  

The mobilizing for the elections must be part of the call for the creation of the pre conditions for 
mobilization of the African Americans, oppressed immigrant groups, gays and lesbians, Latino 
and First Nation peoples, oppressed and poor whites, the unemployed, the racially disrespected 
and all peace loving peoples. Black activists must expose the duplicity and immorality of the 
Bush campaign to make inroads into the black community on the basis that this neo 
conservative government is a regime of faith. On questions of same sex marriage and the right 
of women to have control over their lives, this government has sought to mobilize a class of 
conservative blacks who will conveniently forget the millions of ordinary citizens, especially 
peoples of color who do not have access to health care, and the basic rights to a decent 
livelihood. It is a testament to the depth of the moral crisis of the society that the most 
materialistic and capitalistic elements who will kill for the oil wealth of other nations have been 
seeking to invoke a brand of religion (called faith) to further their case for repression and war.

All those who have the opportunity to vote on November 2, must go out to vote to remove Bush. 
The contradictions of the massive debt, unemployment, outsourcing jobs, environmental racism, 
and the tenuous nature of the dollar as the currency of world trade cannot be solved by the 
Democratic Party. The challenge will be to defeat Bush and build a movement that is based on 
reversing the priorities of the militarists so that the society can make a break with the traditions 
of racial genocide.

Horace Campbell, 
October 2004