WHITE YOUTH ORGANIZING TO OPPOSE RACISM

My name is Heather Martin. I am a 17 year old white female. I am interested in forming a type of organization, involving whites, that would be a step in alleviating the problem of racism in America. It's an idea that has been presented in the autobiography of Malcolm X. Since the first time I read the book one quote stuck in my head that I would like to share with you.

"I tell sincere white people, 'Work in conjunction with us -- each of us working among our own kind.' Let sincere white individuals find all other white people they can who feel as they do -- and let them form their own all-white groups to work trying to convert other white people who are thinking and acting so racist. Let sincere whites go and teach non-violence to white people."

This is what the organization would be based on. However, not only would I like for us to work on our own white identities in and among our own communities and families, but I would additionally like us to participate politically in the fight against racism, forming coalitions with groups with the same goal.

I would like to share some information with you so that you may understand my obligation to ask for your help in forming this organization. None of these following statements are meant to put down any one race or group but meant just to point out a cycle of racist incidents throughout American history.

• 70% of youth arrested are white - but only 35% of those in custody. This means only half of whites arrested are held in custody. [FBI Annual Crime Report]
• 69% of California's prisoners are African and Indigenous peoples (including Latinos).
• There are more crack addicts among the white middle class than in any other segment of the population. [Dr. Arnold Washington, Director of New York Treatment Centers]
• 80% of America's drug abusers are white and only 14% are black.
• White women have the highest percentage of cocaine pregnancies. [Children's Defense fund]
• 2/3rds of America's welfare recipients are white.
• It was merely 45 years ago that President Truman began his Federal Employee Loyalty Oath program (Executive Order 9835) to enforce employee loyalty to the U.S. government, involving anti-communist mania. This, and many other hysterical events, led to the attack on Hollywood and a blacklisting which kept many people from working in the U.S again. This may not seem related to racism but it shows how those who threaten or are presumed to be a threat to the status quo are denied their basic rights.
• The test required for admission to all Universities of California, California State schools, and other universities, the SAT, originated from racist IQ tests directed at unwanted immigrants. The government's intent was to arrange a test that all immigrants would fail, therefore giving the government the power to deny them citizenship. An example of one question showed three women; one White, one Black, and one Latina. The test taker had to say which one was the most beautiful. The white woman was the correct answer.
• Even to this day, historical evolutions in thought are justifications for mistreatment. We assume everyone who works hard will succeed. This idea assumes that everyone is given the same opportunities and is able to achieve the same standards as others. Andrew Carnegie was a man famous for steel and being a "self made man" who was part of the trend towards this popularly accepted idea. However, it is not well known that he was interested in Social Darwinism, which is the belief that Darwin's ideas of survival of the fittest can be applied to human society. With this, it was assumed that if you didn't succeed, it was because you personally failed; it was assumed that everyone had the same opportunities, that everything was equal. Thus you may often hear a comment such as "people on welfare are lazy and should get out there and do something."
• There has been a succession of immigrant laws and acts that have secluded certain racial and ethnic groups and allowed for their mistreatment. In 1882, the government passed the Chinese Exclusion Act which prevented both skilled and unskilled Chinese laborers from migrating to the U.S. for a ten year period. In 1892, this law was extended, and twenty years after the law first went into effect the law was made permanent. If this seems like a past event to you, remember proposition 187.
• All the rights gained through the hard work of civil rights activists in the 1960s had first been granted in the 1860s during the Reconstruction period (the time following the Civil war) but taken away thanks to the KKK. A congressional plan for Reconstruction in 1866 did such things as create the fourteenth amendment which gave blacks protection as citizens and made them whole people dismissing the "3/5 clause" and granting black males the vote. Another amendment was the fifteenth which guaranteed that no one could be denied the right to vote on race, color, or previous servitude; it was ratified in 1870 but was not enforced until 1965 under the Voting Rights Act.
• It was only in 1965, merely 30 years ago that Lyndon B. Johnson helped to pass the Voting Rights Act, which authorized the U.S. Attorney General to appoint federal Examiners to register voters where local officials were obstructing black registration.
• It wasn't until 1954 in the case of Brown vs. Board of Education that schools were forced to desegregate when the clause of separate but equal educational facilities was found to be insufficient.
• There have been countless treaties, too many to name, promising land and rights back to the Native Americans. However when these peoples interfere with the expansion of America, we get incidents such as the "Trail of Tears," the forceful removal of the native Americans from their land in Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama to Oklahoma; only one of many incidents.
• The Japanese were imprisoned and placed in internment camps in the U.S.; very similar to the Nazi prison camps for Jews.
• There have been continuous cycles of racism against Latinos. Mexican Americans, merely 40 years ago, were denied housing in white areas of Los Angeles and could only use public swimming pools on Wednesdays because the pools would be cleaned that day (then everyone else could use them without having to worry about sharing water with the Mexicans). In 1942 some Latino youths attended a party in which a fight later broke out; later Jose Diaz was found beaten to death. The following day the paper said the "murder" was the work of Latino hoodlums, and key streets in Mexican neighborhoods were blocked off; all Latinos were stopped and charged on suspicion of armed robbery as well as other crimes (simply for carrying hammers, bottle openers, etc.). Twenty four of the 600 people rounded up were arrested and charged with murder. During this case, called the Sleepy Lagoon Trial, the defendants were not allowed to change their clothes or take showers (making them appear as dirty "thugs"). And one person from the L.A. Sheriff's department said that Mexicans and those of Mexican descent were biologically inclined to be violent. Twelve were convicted of murder. Eighteen months later, the judge, Charles W. Fricke was reprimanded for displaying prejudice. However, it was too late - The "zoot suit" clothing which had previously been just a style of clothing of the Mexican youth became a target of violence. The Zoot Suit riots occurred on June 3, 4, and 5 that year, when US Navy sailors in L.A. attacked anyone wearing a zoot suit. The LAPD watched the riot without much interference. (Again the cycle continues in the 1990s with the recent L.A. riots where police did not intervene until it was too late ).
• Political prisoner Mumia Abu Jamal is awaiting a legal death by execution on Death Row.

I could continue on for many more pages but now you have a sense of the extent to which racial injustices have occurred over the history of our country. It is very important that white people, as the group which has the power to implement their prejudices dedicate at the very least some energy towards the struggle against racism. Like Malcolm X said, "I've had enough of someone else's propaganda. I'm for truth no matter who tells it. I'm for justice, no matter who it is for or against. I'm a human being first and foremost, and as such I'm for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole."

Remember this organization cannot succeed without everyone's help. Please contact me at 16161 Nordhoff St. #133, North Hills, Ca, 91343 if you have any comments or questions. We are holding an organizing meeting Saturday the 23rd of September at Griffith Park, between Los Feliz and Riverside, at the corner near the fountain, from 11 am to 2 pm. If we need more time we can stay longer; however, for those of us who are busy, you may come when you can during these three hours. If you can't attend and would like to know what was discussed, or you just want to give some input, etc., write to me at the address provided.

Thank you.

With deep sincerity and love for all peoples,

Heather R. Martin
16161 Nordhoff St # 133
North Hills, Ca. 91343
August 16, 1995

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