GANG Poor united in LA uprising US Rebellion THE QUOTATION in the headline above is taken from a special report in the 11 May edition of Newsweck.
This one-sided judgement by urban sociologist Joel Kotkin, that class not race propelled the protests, never heless helps explain the depth of the uprising in South central Los Angeles The intolerable conditions being suffered by Latinos and even white worker in this community spurred it to take action in solidarity with their black sisters and brothers when the outrageous Rodney King verdict was announced This is what triggered and gave force to the powertu response throughout that city and across the United States.
Detonator
It was the fundamental issue of racial oppression whici etonated thi • rebellious outbreak of mass protest. At the same time, was the generalised misery suffered by all sections of the working class in the central cities which extion of the protestors and the exceptional force of their com bined action.
This event reveals for the first time how deeply broad sectors of the working class have been affected by the relentless decades-lon ruling class assault on workers' living stand. ards.
It also marks the latest and most convincing proof that the coming American revolution will combine a workers' struggle for class liberation with a lack struggle asainst super ex ploitation and national oppres When four white cops where caught on videotape in the act of beating black motorist Rodney G King within an inch of his life while being arrested for a traffic violation, the US ruling class was put on trial in the eyes LAPD - keeping the city safe for the rich of America and the world.
The repeatedly televised video, showing 81 seconds of one of the most brutal beatings ever captured on film or tape the whole world to eye-witness a day in the life of black America.
Naked
The only surprise in this racist jury's decision was the sneer nakeaness or us upside down verdict: the jury that tis prostrate and neupics.
victim was the criminal and that the tour can-couns club-wielding cops were his inA reaction from the black community was only to be expected. But the fury of theupris ing in South central Los Angeles - which spread to cities - exceeded all expectations.
The economic situation for African Americans has grown worse since the urban uprisings of the 1960s. Average black unemployment for the 1980s was times the rate for whites (4.1 per cent).
Among black teenagers unemployment stands at a constant 50 per cent and over 40 per cent of all black children are growing up in poverty. Over the last decade funding for social programs in the inner cities has dropped by 60 per cent.
One of the most telling statis tics, which clearly reveals the pent up rage in the black community shows that there are more black males in prison than there are in college - one out of four blacks is either in prison or on pa let the spot television newscasts clearly showed that the fury of protestors was shut them out and condemned them to lives of poverty. tually everyone interviewed cried out for jole which could provide a decent living and decent housing.
Outbreak
This forced the capitalist media to take note of the underlying economic and social cause of the outbreak of mass protest. It couldn't bedented or ignored.
The capitalist media worked another white backlash like the one they created and nurtured after theghetto explosions of the 1960%.
At that time one of their poison-pen journalists went so The tectence stor allian existence of a broternood A puremendon, never substantiated, in which unnamed blacks were alleged to planning murder and mayhem against whites.
Today, virtually every news account of the Los Angeles uprising includes the word 'violence' in its title, the daily death toll was reported like scores in a World Series. And the raise impression was anten home that it was black and latino 'rioters and looters' killing innocent whites.
But the fact is that cohe g to the latest figures, of the reported killed all but 14 of the dead were black and latino (26 blacks, 18 latinos, 2 asian, and 10 hates as strong t killing.
Crisis of leadership The first conclusion which can be drawn from the Los Angeles-centred rebellion is that the great force expressed in the uprising, there is evidence that a much broader revolt of working people is gestating beneath the surface of American society.
But the most important lesson is that without effective No. 21 leadership and without a program around which the power of the exploited and oppressed masses can be effectively focused, spontaneous rebellions are not enough.
Up to this moment, unfortunately, such a leadership with the courage to lead and an effective program for action has yet and 1960s found its Martin The eneration of the 1950g Luther Kings and Malcolm Xs, and the generation of the 1990s will also find leaders.
Furthermore, the crisis revealed by the fallout from the Rodney King verdict affects the working class as a whole, which also has not yet solved the prod lem of leadership. Nor is it a coincidence that this challenge to working people in the central cities comes on the heels of the defeat of the United Auto Workers, the most powerful industrial union in the country, in their strike against Caterpillar Mass arrests On top of all other causes of discontent, 13,500 people have been arrested in connection with the rebellion in Los Angeles.
On May 6, it was reported that 6,600 protestors were still being held without charge. Ordinarily, they must be released if charges have not been made before the legal limit of two days has expired. But the California legislature took emergency ac tion on the same day that the wo-day limit expired - exending the holding period without charges to an unprece The vote upholding this fundamental violation of human rights was passed by a shocking majonty or be-vin the cantona Assembly and 33-0 in the Senate.
This gives them time to concoct phoney felony charges against those who dared protest against police brutality. juridical injustice, and political Jeff Mackler co-National Secretary of the US Fourth Internationalist organisation Socialist May 16, 1992
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