Although you abhor violence Michael do you also feel obligated to give Hitler's rationale for the bombing of Britain (it was to bring "peace"), Stalin's rationale for killing 10 million kulaks (they were defending capitalism), etc. Marcus Foster was implementing the policies of an elected school board. In a democracy you vote the school board out if you don't like it's policies. You don't ambush the school district's hired administrator, a father of three children, with cyanide bullets. You were once an intelligent man, Michael. What happened to you? Michael Rossman wrote: > >D. Horowitz wrote: > >Actually the SLA became famous not with the kidnapping of Patty Hearst but with > >the cold blooded assassination of Marcus Foster, the first black superintendent > >of Oakland's schools. > > Although I abhor such violence as much as the next pacifist, even at targets > less-generally respected, it's instructive to review the rationale given by > the SLA for the assassination of Marcus Foster. As I recall, they saw him as > presiding over the military pacification of the public schools -- the key > points being their fenced enclosure with armed guards, and the drugging of > then-termed "hyperactive" students, particularly with Ritalin. Although the > paths of development since do not coincide with SLA expectations, the irony of > the present situation is apparent. For the degree of protective fortification > and policing has advanced significantly, not only in inner-city schools but > in spreading to those more privileged; and the degree of drugging, across all > social levels, has multiplied remarkably with the popularity of ADD/ADHD > diagnosis and the general trend towards pharmaceutical management of personal > and social problems. Ironically also, perhaps, Foster's assassination was a > significant factor in disrupting the development of analyses and activism > concerned with the conjunction of these two continuing developments. > > Michael Rossman <mrossman@igc.org>
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