Fwd: Re: POCs

[Doug Henwood]

>X-From_: DavidMcR at aol.com  Fri Feb 28 16:00:05 2003
>X-Original-To: dhenwood at panix.com
>From: DavidMcR at aol.com
>Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 15:59:51 EST
>Subject: Re: POCs
>To: dhenwood at panix.com
>Cc: ethanyoung at earthlink.net
>MIME-Version: 1.0
>
>This is a follow up. There was an earlier letter, also public, attacking WRL
>and me personally - in part for a very stupid comment I'd made.
>
>I was shopping in Key Food one day, trying to get home, tired, hungry, in a
>hurry, when Merle Ratner showed up in my aisle. Normally I don't have
>anything against Merle. (I do now, but I didn't then). But I really was in a
>hurry, hungry, and didn't want to talk and she was going into details about
>how Carmen Trotta had pulled out of their coalition, how this dismayed the
>People of Color, etc.
>
>I said something to the effect that I was tired of hearing about People of
>Color, (a really profoundly stupid comment on my part), and also reacted
>negatively when she suggested the Rev. Paul Mayer as someone who "understood
>People of Color" (or something like that) and could help mediate. Paul is a
>good and faithful servant of the Lord, once a Jew he converted, praise God,
>became a Catholic priest. Married, which sort of cancelled his priesthood.
>Tossed away his wife for another woman and got himself in bad with all the
>women in the Vietnam movement. Paul is OK, is sort of soft and waffly, into
>other worldy things, and has far more good intentions than I do. But I don't
>need Paul's help to deal with POC.
>
>Merle reported all of this in an open letter way back then, at which point I
>said to one of the signers (the faithful Trotskyist, Steve Bloom, for whom
>all answers can be found in the sacred texts) that I'd meet with any of the
>group except Merle, that she had really left me stunned by quoting in public
>my profoundly ill-advised but private remarks, and I didn't plan on talking
>with her at all.
>
>The second letter was a mishmash, badly edited, and had several quotes that I
>think were mine (among them my refusal to see the Afghan war as one "of
>color" or "racist" - I think all wars are lousy, some, such as the Vietnam
>War, are clearly racist, but younger people seem to forget that after Japan
>attacked us we ignored Japan and focused our energy on Germany until that was
>pretty much wrapped up - and as far as I know from my travels to Germany,
>they aren't people of color. I also think it is horrible nonsense to think we
>wouldn't have used the nuclear bomb on Germany. After what that wonderful
>Christian nation, Beethoven, Bach, and Brahms, did to the Jews I am weary of
>the nonsense that whites wouldn't commit such crimes against other whites).
>
>Ethan is certainly right that nothing is more complex than the problem of
>race in this country, that racism is central. But Merle and her companions
>(who I think wrote the letter - I do not think it was drafted by the Black
>Radical Caucus) were settling personal scores with WRL and Carmen Trotta who
>put on the massive vigil on 9.10 which their group couldn't begin to match,
>and some scores with me.
>
>That is more background than you want. Yes, we have to deal with the problem.
>We can benefit by open and pretty fearful discussion - but not all the
>painful points will be aimed at white radicals. It is very easy when race is
>involved to play the race card when it isn't in the deck. The same was (and
>sometimes still is) the case with the women's movement.
>
>In haste, but not, sorry, brevity,
>David
>
><< Subj:     POCs
>  Date:  2/21/03 10:16:32 AM Eastern Standard Time
>  From:  dhenwood at panix.com (Doug Henwood)
>  To:    DavidMcR at aol.com (David McReynolds)
>
>  David -
>
>  I'm sure you've seen the letter that Merle Ratner is sending around
>  about racism in the antiwar movement. What do you make of this?
>
>  >*refusing to participate in broad anti-war activities with strong POC
>  >participation or leadership, e.g., the summer split when War Resisters
>  >League withdrew from Stand Up New York (commemoration of September 11).
>
>  Or any of the rest of it?
>
>  Doug
>
>
>  - >>