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Oct. 15, 2009 Vol. 51, No. 41 50¢
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Ws and ppssd ppls f th wld unit! ws.g
MUNDO OBRERO
El G-20 y el desempleo
 
12
longest economic downturn in 70 years
 JB PGAM
 N
NOW
Continued on page 8
U.. UT F AFGHANITAN
 
Film review
 
8
 
Editorial
 
10
 
A
FICA & UTH AMICA
 
Strengthening ties
 
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By Jhn CatalinttNw Y 
Oct. 6—Reports from Honduras alternated today  between a possible opening of negotiations to resolve thecrisis brought about by the June 28 coup and contin-ued repression against the mass resistance movement.Meanwhile, a delegation of human rights activists fromthe United States was preparing to leave Oct. 7 for a fact-nding mission to Tegucigalpa, the Central Americancountry’s capital.President Manuel Zelaya, from his asylum in the besieged Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa, said thatthe coup regime of Roberto Micheletti must restorecivil liberties in Honduras and agree on his return to
By Fd ldstin
The grim numbers are in. In September, 263,000more jobs were lost. Ofcial unemployment edged closerto 10 percent, going from 9.7 to 9.8. This was larger thanpredicted by capitalist economists and is the result of 21consecutive months of economic downturn, the longeststreak in 70 years.In addition, the percentage of jobs lost, compared tothe total work force, is 5.8 percent, the largest since 1946, when military contractors laid off workers en masse after World War II.But there is more. The official unemployment rate would have been higher than 10 percent—except that571,000 workers dropped out of the work force and there-fore were not counted among the unemployed. In fact,so many workers have stopped looking, after repeatedly nding no jobs, that today 615,000 fewer workers arecounted as part of the work force, compared to a year ago.(The statistics cited in this article come from the EconomicPolicy Institute’s Jobs Picture report of Oct. 2, 2009.)The only way the work force can shrink while the pop-ulation grows is if massive numbers of workers give uplooking for work. In fact, more than one-third of the 15.1million ofcially unemployed—some 5.4 million—have been out of work for more than six months. In Septemberalone 450,000 jobless workers reached this category.Since the downturn started in December 2007, 7.2million jobs have been ofcially lost. But the Departmentof Labor will be revising this gure upward, to 8 million,due to a so-called “benchmark revision.” Apparently, themodel used to calculate job losses during the 12 monthsending in March missed 824,000 layoffs!The government estimates that, because of populationgrowth, 127,000 new jobs are needed each month just tokeep up with the growth of the work force. So in reality this downturn, which is now 21 months old, has resultedin a decit of 10.7 million jobs.To get back to pre-recession levels, it would take thecreation of an average of 573,000 jobs every month forthe next two years. That’s the equivalent of opening 200to 250 brand-new auto plants each month for two years, just to absorb the unemployed.These gures do not take into account the 9.2 million workers on forced part-time or the 2.2 million ofcially classied as discouraged workers. Including them would bring the total ofcial unemployment rate to 17 percent—or more than one-sixth of the entire work force.These numbers are grim for the workers. But for the bosses, the numbers are cheery. Prots are up, especial-ly bank prots, and according to testimony by formerFederal Reserve System chair Alan Greenspan, the capi-talist economy is on a path to grow 3 percent this quarter.(Interview on This Week with George Stephanopoulos, ABC-TV, Oct. 5)
Greenspan: ‘This is what a recovery looks like’
Greenspan, architect of the nancial bubble and theensuing housing bubble, declared in the same inter- view, “The job report was pretty awful, no matter how the presidency before the negotiations could continue.“I am ready to sit down face-to-face with the dictator[Micheletti] when he decides to sign the Arias plan,”Zelaya said, referring to a plan proposed by PresidentOscar Arias of Costa Rica that the coup regime has so farrejected. (AFP, Oct. 5)The coup regime, which represents the 13-family Honduran oligarchy and rests its power on the bayonetsof the Pentagon-trained Honduran army, announcedOct. 5 that it would rescind its decree from a week ear-lier suspending the Constitution. However, the two localmedia outlets that broadcast stories reecting the view of the majority of Hondurans who oppose the coup arestill closed down.
With Psidnt Zlaya ncicld by militay
U.S. activists mba n afact-nding tip t Hnduas
Fired Boston hotel workers greet Marchfor Jobs as it arrives at the Hyatt.
WW phOO: liZ GrEEN
lGBTIGHT
Th cas f Lisa Pnd
 
3
PEEKSKILL
 
A acistutag
 
2
CrYSTAL LeeSUTToN
‘Norma Rae’fought forworkers
5
Continued on page 8
PoLANSkISCANDAL
Th alissus
10
 
pge 2 Oct. 15
, 2009
www.woke.og
 JIN U.
Workers World Party(WWP) ghts on allissues that face theworking class andoppressed peoples— Black and white,Latin@, Asian, Araband Native peoples,women and men, youngand old, lesbian, gay, bi,straight, trans, disabled,working, unemployedand students.If you would like toknow more about WWP,or to join us in thesestruggles, contact the branch nearest you.
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 Workers World55 West 17 StreetNew York, N.Y. 10011Phone: (212) 627-2994Fax: (212) 675-7869E-mail: ww@workers.org Web: www.workers.org Vol. 51, No. 41 • Oct. 15, 2009Closing date: Oct. 6, 2009Editor: Deirdre GriswoldTechnical Editor: Lal Roohk Managing Editors: John Catalinotto, LeiLani Dowell,Leslie Feinberg, Kris Hamel, Monica Moorehead,Gary Wilson West Coast Editor: John ParkerContributing Editors: Abayomi Azikiwe,Greg Buttereld, Jaimeson Champion, G. Dunkel,Fred Goldstein, Teresa Gutierrez, Larry Hales,David Hoskins, Berta Joubert-Ceci, Cheryl LaBash,Milt Neidenberg, Bryan G. Pfeifer, Betsey Piette,Minnie Bruce Pratt, Gloria RubacTechnical Staff: Sue Davis, Shelley Ettinger,Bob McCubbin, Maggie VascassennoMundo Obrero: Carl Glenn, Teresa Gutierrez,Berta Joubert-Ceci, Donna Lazarus, Michael Martínez,Carlos VargasSupporter Program: Sue Davis, coordinatorCopyright © 2009 Workers World. Verbatim copyingand distribution of articles is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved. Workers World (ISSN-1070-4205) is published weekly except the rst week of January by WW Publishers,55 W. 17 St., N.Y., N.Y. 10011. Phone: (212) 627-2994.Subscriptions: One year: $25; institutions: $35. Lettersto the editor may be condensed and edited. Articles can be freely reprinted, with credit to Workers World, 55 W.17 St., New York, NY 10011. Back issues and individualarticles are available on microlm and/or photocopy from University Microlms International, 300 ZeebRoad, Ann Arbor, Mich. 48106. A searchable archive isavailable on the Web at www.workers.org. A headline digest is available via e-mail subscription.Subscription information is at www.workers.org/email.php.Periodicals postage paid at New York, N.Y.POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., 5th Floor,New York, N.Y. 10011.
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In the U.S.
Jobs program needed now 1Remembering Paul Robeson 2Swim club outrage 2Texas guv covers up execution of innocent man 3The lonely death of Lisa Pond 3Tent City dwellers inspire activists 4Feeding the Tent City 4Guest review: ‘Capitalism: A Love Story’ 4Crystal Lee Sutton fought for union rights 5Solidarity with Michigan labor struggles 5 Venezuelan president meets with unionists 6Locked out Steelworkers need support 6Jobs march highlights red Hyatt workers 7Struggle forces bank to negotiate mortgage 7 AFL-CIO passes progressive resolutions 7Polanski, rape and justice 10
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 Around the world
Honduran President Zelaya encircled by military 1Conferences strengthen int’l workers’ solidarity 6Film Review: ‘Rethink Afghanistan’ 8Nkrumah and Ghana’s independence struggle 8Western New York denounces Honduras coup 9Labor solidarity with people of Honduras 9Solidarity with Honduran women in struggle 9Chávez hosts Africa-South America Summit 11
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Editorials
 Afghanistan? Out now! 10
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Noticias En Español
El G-20 y el desempleo 12
On the anniversary of Peekskill Concert
emembering Pau obeson
 
By Bnda Sandbug
Sixty years ago Paul Robeson—fearless civil rightsadvocate, renowned actor and magnicent singer—cameto Peekskill, N.Y., to give a concert. The event becamehistoric in the struggle against racism and fascism whenconcertgoers were attacked by a racist mob.On Sept. 4, 1949, about 20,000 people came toPeekskill to hear Robeson sing. People’s Artists, a folk group led by Pete Seeger, organized the event. They had rst tried to hold the concert two weeks earlier atthe Lakeland Picnic Grounds. But as a small group wassetting up the event, they were attacked by hundreds of  vigilantes armed with clubs, brass knuckles and rocks. When people began showing up for the concert, thepolice turned them away.The organizers rescheduled the event. This time they had protection from unions, who organized defense.During the concert, hundreds of volunteers stood in acircle around the concert grounds, blocking the racistsfrom getting in. But when people left, the police forcedeveryone to take a narrow road where a mob was waiting.Seeger gave an account of what happened in a video clip posted on YouTube (www.youtube.com/ watch?v=1pgyACdT1rM). He said 900 police, deputiesand state troopers allowed a mob to line up along a four-mile road, the only exit for concertgoers. The mob threw rocks, overturned cars, dragged people out and beat themup. About 140 people were injured, including one tradeunionist who lost an eye.“The police stood by and laughed,” said Seeger, whose windshield was smashed in the melee. “Hoodlumgangs went on a night-long reign of terror all through Westchester County to 210th Street and Broadway. Thenpolice moved in to the picnic grounds to beat up tradeunion guards.”Rod Lugo was among those at the concert. He was16 at the time and volunteered as a messenger, running between the stage and the outside perimeter. He said he was impressed by the defense the labor unions organized.“Nobody got on that property,” he told Workers World.But after the concert, the police enabled the racists toattack. “It was one of the ugliest things I’ve ever seen,”Lugo said. “People picked up rocks and threw them” andthe police started beating the concertgoers.His brother, Ed Lugo, then 17, was among those guard-ing the outer perimeter: “Our job was to keep the circleconnected all around” the audience. “We went there toassure the concert went on and it did.”He and the other guards were among the last to leave.From his post he could hear the assault begin: “Youcould smell [and] taste the absolute danger in the air. You could hear screaming and glass breaking as rockshit the cars and buses.”He recalled that a Black veteran was among those attack-ed. People threw rocks at him “and drew a lot of blood.”The violence was a racist, anti-communist assault direct-ed at Robeson, who was beloved by progressives for hiserce commitment to civil rights and support of socialism.Robeson was one of the most extraordinary people inthe 20th century. He rst gained recognition as a star foot- ball player at Rutgers University (he was posthumously inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame) and was the valedictorian of his graduating class. Robesonobtained a law degree from Columbia Law School in 1932and then became a renowned actor and famed baritone.He starred in 13 lms and was in numerous Broadway productions, including Othello, which holds the record asthe longest-running Shakespearean play on Broadway.Robeson, who spoke 13 languages, was also one of the most prominent voices for social justice. He foughtagainst racism and in support of colonized people in Africa, Latin America and Asia. In 1951 he and fellow  African-American activist William Patterson, head of theCivil Rights Congress, presented a petition to the UnitedNations entitled “We Charge Genocide: The Crime of Government Against the Negro People.” The petitionstated that in the 85 years since the end of slavery morethan 10,000 Blacks had been lynched and documentedhundreds of executions.Robeson became a target of the McCarthyite anti-communist witch-hunt and was viciously persecuted by the FBI and State Department, which revoked hispassport in the 1950s. But his commitment to justicefor oppressed people was unshakeable. And Peekskill issynonymous with Robeson and the battle against racismand oppression.Seeger paid tribute to this spirit in a song he wroteshortly after the event: “As we held the line at Peekskill/ We will hold it everywhere… / We will hold the line for-ever/ Till there’s freedom ev’rywhere.”
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Concert goerstaunted by racists.
Swim club outrage
Commission nds ‘acial animus’
By Btsy PittPhiladlphia
Charges of racial discrimination by parents of 56 African-American and Latino/a children against an all- white swim club in a Philadelphia suburb were backedup in a report by the Pennsylvania Human RelationsCommission.On June 29 several children from Creative Stepsday camp reported hearing racist comments after they arrived at the club for a scheduled swim. When the pre-paid contract that allowed the northeast Philadelphia day camp to use the pool was revoked after the children’s rst visit, the camp director made the story public, eliciting anational outcry.
Continued on page 3
 
www.workers.org Oct. 15, 2009 page 3
TexAs
.
vn tis t cv upxcutin f inncnt man
By lia rubacHustn
Texas Gov. Rick Perry not only executedan innocent Cameron Todd Willingham in2004, Perry is now scrambling to cover itup until after his bid for reelection.This scenario is now being put forthin the media, on blogs, in editorials and by lawyers, politicians and death penalty activists. The case has drawn nationalattention since the release of expert testi-mony solicited by the Texas ForensicScience Commission, followed by theSeptember publication of a widely citedNew Yorker article. The author of theTFSC report found no arson and thereforeno murder.“There can no longer be any doubt thatan innocent person has been executed,”stated Barry Scheck, co-director of theInnocence Project, on Aug. 31.But two days before the report by not-ed arson expert Dr. Craig Beyler was to be discussed at a meeting of the TexasForensic Science Commission, Perry replaced the commission’s chair and twoof its members.The chair was replaced with WilliamsonCounty District Attorney John Bradley, who the Oct 1. Dallas Morning News calls“one of the most conservative, hard-lineprosecutors in Texas.” The Sept. 30 Austin American Statesman called Bradley “atough-on-crime, politically connectedconservative.”The new chair’s rst action was to can-cel the hearing scheduled for Oct. 2. Thereis no indication if the hearing will ever beheld, after it commissioned Beyler andspent tens of thousands of dollars on thereport.The timing, according to the Oct. 1 DallasMorning News, disturbed the replacedchair, Austin lawyer Sam Bassett. “In my  view, we should not fail to investigate impor-tant forensic issues in cases simply becausethere might be political ramications.” Willingham’s case was detailed in theSept. 7 New Yorker article “Trial by Fire.”Reporter David Grann leads readersthrough the case to the conclusion that aninnocent man was executed for a crime hedid not commit. Willingham’s execution took place underPerry’s watch. It is now likely that this will be the rst posthumous exoneration of aperson put to death in the United States.Todd Willingham was sent to death row for the murder of his 2-year-old daughter Amber and his 1-year-old twin daugh-ters Kameron and Karmon, who died ina house re two days before Christmasin 1991 in Corsicana, Texas. He and hisdaughters were asleep that morning whenhis wife left to pick up holiday presents forthe girls from the Salvation Army.Before Willingham went to trial, he wasoffered a plea deal, which he refused. Hislawyer, who thought he was guilty, wasshocked and pleaded with family mem- bers to persuade him to change his mind. Willingham refused: “I ain’t gonna pleadto something I didn’t do, especially killingmy own kids.” He went on trial in August1992 and was sent to death row.For 12 years Willingham tried to gureout how to prove his innocence and ndout who had set the re.Months before his execution, Willing-ham’s case came to the attention of acclaimed scientist and fire investiga-tor Dr. Gerald Hurst. Dr. Hurst, who is widely credited with setting the scienticstandard in forensic arson investigations,reviewed the evidence and determinedthat the conclusions reached by prosecu-tion experts about the re’s origin werenot supported by science.This renowned scientist shredded theso-called scientific evidence and madeit clear that Willingham was innocent.Hurst’s report was on Gov. Perry’s desk  when Perry refused to stop the executionin 2004.From CNN to the New York Times to theHouston Chronicle, Perry is being roundly criticized. But when his ofce was contact-ed about the removal of three people fromthe science commission, his spokespersonsaid it was “business as usual.”“Executions in Texas are also busi-ness as usual, but that doesn’t makethem acceptable,” said Njeri Shakur, anorganizer with the Texas Death Penalty  Abolition Movement. “Perry’s cover-up of the truth in Todd’s case is chilling.“But the cover-up is also bringing moreattention to the wrongs of the death pen-alty so the governor is inadvertently aidingthe ght to abolish the death penalty. Wehave a slogan that says the death penalty system is broken and should be shut down.He is proving our slogan to be so true!”Todd Willingham’s step-mother,Eugenia, and other family members willattend the 10th Annual March to StopExecutions on Oct. 24 at the state capitolin Austin, Texas.For further information on Willingham’scase and the ght against the death pen-alty, visit www.camerontoddwillingham.com and www.marchforabolition.org.
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Why we need LGBT equality
The lonely death of Lisa Pond
By Calb T. Maupin
Like much of the media, the govern-ment and other voices of the wealthy ruling class at the top of U.S. society, theJackson Health System says it does notdiscriminate against or oppress gay, les- bian, bisexual or transgender people. Thisproteering enterprise that treats ill peo-ple who can afford to pay for it, says thatthey have “taken great pride in servingeveryone who enters … regardless of race,creed, religious beliefs or sexual orienta-tion.” (Miami Herald, Sept. 29)Like the capitalist-controlled govern-ment, the capitalist-owned media, andevery other voice that claims that theoppression of the LGBT commu-nity does not exist, the JacksonHealth System was lying and dis-torting the truth.They made this statementafter being sued by Janice Langbehn. When Langbehn’s partner of 18 years,Lisa Pond, was dying of a brain aneurysm,Langbehn and the couple’s three children were not allowed to visit her. Pond diedin her hospital bed at Jackson MemorialHospital in Miami, alone. Jackson HealthSystems was protected by the capitalistcourts when they recently dismissed thelawsuit brought against the hospital.“The hospital took the position that wethought was pretty extreme—that it hasno duty, no legal obligation, to allow visi-tors [of any sort] in the hospital. The courtagreed,” said Beth Littrell, a staff attorney for Lambda Legal, a national gay-rightsgroup representing Langbehn.Lisa Pond and Janice Langbehn cer-tainly loved each other just as much as any legally married couple, but in Florida, likein so many other states, this love is con-sidered second-class. The couple did notfollow the unwritten rules that capitalistsocial relations impose on LGBT peoplein patriarchal society. They did not deny their sexual feelings in order to satisfy thedictates of this prot-based society.Pond and Langbehn loved each other,and even though they could not legally marry, or even make love in some statesuntil 2003, they did not deny this love.They lived together and were the par-ents of three children. When Pond wasstruck with the fatal aneurysm, they werepreparing to leave on a vaca-tion cruise exclusively for les- bian and gay couples and theirfamilies.For their rebellion against theestablished patriarchal family structure,mandated by the system of private prop-erty, Pond and Langbehn were punishedseverely. Pond died alone in her bed.Langbehn lived on, having been unableto spend the last few hours with her lovedone before she died.This case should raise several ques-tions in people’s minds. What exactly didLangbehn do to deserve to lose the loveof her life in this horric way? What didPond do to deserve to die alone in thehospital, away from her partner? Whatkind of system do we live under that basichuman rights and dignity are denied toLGBT people? How many others mustdie alone?
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The state’s investigation found that“racial animus … and the racially codedcomments” by club members at the Valley Club in Huntingdon Valley, Montgomery County, were the reasons the club revokedCreative Steps’ contract. The 33-pagereport was released Sept. 22 by an attor-ney representing four of the campers. After initially allowing the childrento swim, the club refunded their money  with the following explanation: “Havingso many unskilled swimmers at one timerepresented a safety hazard.” The HRCreport says that was a lie, noting that largegroups had used the club before.The report examined Valley Club lead-ers’ actions, including members’ e-mails, both before and after Creative Steps’ tripto the pool. According to the report, afterthe campers left, one club member threat-ened to rethink his membership ande-mails circulated about the issue.In one e-mail board member George Whitehill wrote, “Race is an issue sinceevery e-mail of complaint mentioned race,although stating that race had nothing todo with the complaint. It only takes oneout of the 120 parents to make this anissue, and at no cost to them.” Whitehill and Bill Dymowski, another board member, argued against cancel-ing Creative Steps’ contract and resignedfrom the board when club director JohnDuesler announced he was “pulling theplug on the camp.”One club member, Walt Slowinski, wrote to other members under the racial-ly charged subject line of “bussing” that“when we joined we assumed that this wasa private club not a club for hire or somesort of social program.”The report also cited the actions of clubmember Michelle Flynn, an elementary school teacher, who was heard by one of the campers as saying: “What are all theseBlack kids doing here?” Commissioninvestigators noted that Flynn and anoth-er teacher, Deborah Mindel, who work at
WW
Commentary
Cameron Todd Willingham anddaughter Amber.
the school where Creative Steps is housed,allegedly told other club members that oneof the boys was “a known thief” who hadstolen a teacher’s cell phone. The state’sreport noted that none of the campers hadever been “charged, disciplined, suspend-ed, or expelled” for theft at school.Flynn and Mindel were among several white parents who removed their childrenfrom the pool after the Creative Stepscampers entered. Flynn wrote in an e-mailsent to another member: “This is not thecommunity where these kids live. ... I don’tfeel comfortable with my children evengoing to the bathroom during this time.” After the report was made public, par-ents demonstrated outside the CarnellElementary School to demand that thePhiladelphia School District fire Flynnand Mindel for their roles in the Valley Club incident. Christine Pembleton,mother of the youth Flynn accused of stealing, expressed her outrage over how her son was treated by his former teacher.“My son is not a thief,” Pembleton said,“and I am going to go after them. ... Shedoesn’t deserve to teach.” (PhiladelphiaInquirer, Sept. 23)The Human Relations Commissionstudy said that none of the club’s paidmembers in 2008 or 2009 was African American. It also noted that Valley Clubefforts to expand its membership by recruiting through direct mail were “main-ly directed at areas with overwhelmingly Caucasian populations.” It made no effortsto market to adjacent areas with signi-cant African-American populations.The Commission ordered Valley Clubto pay a $50,000 civil penalty for theirdiscrimination against one child whoseparents led the complaint with the com-mission. The club was also ordered to pay other damages, including legal expenses.Other parents may le cases, so dam-ages against Valley Club could total mil-lions of dollars. The Civil Rights Divisionof the U.S. Department of Justice is alsoinvestigating the complaints.
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wim cub outrage
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