>August 11, 2000
>
>Today is the 35th anniversary of the beginning of the Watts uprising. I
>thought people might find the following article about Watts to be of
>interest. It was written by a veteran revolutionary who lived in Watts in
>1965 and participated in the rebellion.
>
>Chris Mahin
>
>chris@noc.org
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > People's Tribune/Tribuno del Pueblo (Online Edition)
> > Vol. 27 No. 8/ August, 2000
> >******************************************************************
> >THE HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE WATTS UPRISING
> >
> >by Nelson Peery
> >
> >August 11 marks the 35th anniversary of the Watts rebellion. Why
> >did it happen? Armed, mass uprisings are a specific stage of
> >struggle against an oppressing state power. In the struggle
> >against violent oppression, the masses become conscious of
> >themselves. Rejecting the compromised leadership of the reformist
> >elite, they inevitably turn to defensive violence.
> >
> >Watts was the culmination of this process within the African
> >American freedom movement. The rejection of reformist leadership
> >and the subsequent fighting in Harlem, Detroit, Brooklyn,
> >Philadelphia, Cleveland and numerous other places was not lost on
> >the people of Watts.
> >
> >By 1965, the distrust of the "power structure," be it black or
> >white, was near total in the Ghetto. This was clearly shown at the
> >beginning of the fighting in Watts. The African American newspaper
> >The Sentinel called the uprising the most disgraceful day in
> >African American history. The respected "militant" comedian Dick
> >Gregory mounted a police car with a bull horn and crudely demanded
> >that the people calm down and go home. A young man with a single-
> >action .22 hesitated for a moment, then shot Gregory instead of
> >the cop standing beside him. It is noteworthy that as the fighting
> >began, not one so-called leader left the police side of the
> >barricades to defend the interests of the people.
> >
> >Throughout 1963, 1964 and into 1965, the crisis in the reformist
> >leadership intensified as the tactics and leadership of the
> >Freedom Movement shifted back and forth between the Southern
> >Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) led by Reverend Martin
> >Luther King Jr. and the scattered local, semiorganized movements
> >led by mainly young people who did not have access to city hall.
> >The SCLC was mainly Southern, based in the churches and the black
> >middle class. The local movements were throughout the country and
> >based in the streets. (The excellent video "At the River I Stand"
> >clearly shows this division during the struggle in Memphis that
> >led to King's death.)
> >
> >It was not possible for the SCLC to deal with the thousands of
> >daily acts of humiliation, brutality, unemployment and poverty
> >that were part of the system of American apartheid. As the masses
> >resisting segregation were met by brute force from the police,
> >they turned toward meeting violence with violence. Any impulse
> >toward violent defense forced the SCLC to sharpen it's call for
> >nonviolence, which deepened the division. Nonviolence was the only
> >form of black struggle acceptable to the white liberals. They were
> >indispensable to the reform struggle, hence the inability of the
> >reform leaders to compromise.
> >
> >An example of this was the situation in Birmingham, Alabama where
> >black strikers were attacked by dogs, Bull Conner's police force
> >and mobs of white, civilian fascists. When the workers organized
> >to defend themselves, Reverend King was brought in to calm the
> >situation. "Remember always that the nonviolent movement seeks
> >justice and reconciliation, not victory," he told them. "Let our
> >blood flow, not theirs."
> >
> >On August 15, 1965 after observing the situation in Watts, Dr.
> >King said, "It was necessary that as powerful a police force as
> >possible be brought in to check them." Police informants advised
> >against him entering Watts for fear he might be killed.
> >
> >These quotes are not intended to denigrate Dr. King, who gave his
> >life in the struggle. Our intent is to show the deepening class
> >divisions that brought about the uprising.
> >
> >The police in Watts were an army of occupation. There were daily
> >arrests and beatings over trivial misdemeanors. Black motorists
> >were constantly stopped, harassed and humiliated. Rape of black
> >women by the cops was well known. Just before the uprising, two
> >cops stopped a young black couple and forced the woman into the
> >squad car. Her escort, facing their drawn guns, was given the
> >choice of leaving the area or getting arrested. After the rape,
> >the woman got the license of the squad car. Nothing was done.
> >
> >This incident happened only a few weeks after two cops raped a
> >black woman who worked for the police department. She had the
> >training to get the numbers and identify the rapists. One cop was
> >fired and the other given a reprimand. There were no criminal
> >prosecutions. The rapid development of the fighting was due to a
> >rumor that the cops had raped another woman. Watts was a tinderbox
> >waiting for the spark.
> >
> >Subjectively and objectively, Watts was part of a worldwide,
> >violent struggle of the world's colored masses for freedom.
> >
> >The colonial world was quick to understand that the uprising
> >identified the African American movement with the international
> >struggle against U.S. imperialism. The Ghanaian Times, reflecting
> >colonial opinion, stated: "The brutal suppression against Negroes
> >by the U.S. government should be brought before the bar of world
> >opinion for a clear judgment. The fact that this happened in the
> >West is important. It destroyed attempts by the U.S. government to
> >present the racial issue as a regional, exclusive Southern
> >affair."
> >
> >As the fighting ended, powerful right-wing forces moved to change
> >America. The Reagan group organized the so-called "white backlash"
> >to grasp power first in California and then in the nation. The
> >incorporation of the "Dixiecrats" into the Republican Party and
> >the capture of the Democratic Party by its Southern "liberal"
> >wing, all have roots in the Watts uprising.
> >
> >Watts was a mass uprising against white economic exploitation and
> >police brutality. It was a police riot against the people. It was
> >not directed against white people in general, nor were whites in
> >general opposed to it. This was shown by the people of Lynwood who
> >collected food for the children of Watts.
> >
> >The last word on the Watts rebellion has yet to be written. One
> >thing is finally being accepted. That is that the uprising, far
> >from being an insane orgy of burning and looting, was the heroic
> >sacrifice that reshaped our concept of American democracy.
> >
> >******************************************************************
> >This article originated in the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO
> >(Online Edition), Vol. 27 No. 8/ August, 2000; P.O. Box 3524,
> >Chicago, IL 60654; Email: pt@noc.org; http://www.lrna.org
> >Feel free to reproduce and use unless marked as copyrighted. The
> >PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE/TRIBUNO DEL PUEBLO depends on donations from its
> >readers.
> >******************************************************************
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