He can be defeated
John Ashcroft: A record of racism, woman-hating and
gay-basing
By Monica
Moorehead
President George W. Bush's nomination of John Ashcroft for
attorney general has created an unprecedented firestorm of
protest, including groups representing women's reproductive
rights, civil rights and lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans
rights.
If Ashcroft is confirmed by a majority of the Senate--which
seems likely--he will hold one of the most influential
positions in the capitalist government. The attorney general is
the top prosecutor in the country and heads the U.S. Justice
Department.
All Senate Republicans support Ashcroft. Their Democratic
counterparts aren't mounting any real opposition. This should
come as no surprise to anyone who knows the history of
Democratic leaders caving in to the reactionary wing of the
U.S. ruling class.
It would be hard to argue that Ashcroft is not a
woman-hating, patriarchal, medieval, right-wing monster. His
reactionary record speaks for itself.
It's important to know exactly what Ashcroft's real record
is--especially when he has obscured it in his testimony before
the Senate.
But he isn't riding into office on a strong base of popular
support. He's not invincible. So the most important question
is: What kind of movement will it take to stop Ashcroft's
appointment?
Opponent of women's right to choose
Planned Parenthood, the National Organization for Women and
others report that as Missouri's governor, Ashcroft did
everything he could to amend the state constitution and pass
legislation banning women's right to terminate a pregnancy by
safe, legal abortion. This included cases where a woman became
pregnant through rape or incest.
In 1998, as a U.S. senator, Ashcroft sponsored an amendment
that would have banned common methods of birth control for
women--including contraceptive pills and IUDs.
The same year Ashcroft was one of eight senators who opposed
legislation requiring that health insurance plans for federal
employees cover the cost of prescription contraceptives. He
also voted to ban the use of tax funds for emergency
contraceptives.
Ashcroft has called for overturning the Supreme Court's 1973
Roe vs. Wade decision that legalized abortion.
Ashcroft opposed the surgeon general nominations of Dr.
Henry Foster in 1995 and Dr. David Satcher in 1998. Besides
being African Americans, both nominees supported women's right
to choose.
Ashcroft has also advocated legislation that would justify
murdering doctors who perform abortions as "justifiable
homicide." He wanted to fire publicly employed nurses who
provided contraceptives in Missouri.
As Missouri's attorney general, Ashcroft sued NOW for
calling a boycott of the state after it defeated ratification
of the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
He has also opposed legislation calling for equal pay for
equal work.
A far-right religious fanatic, Ashcroft opposes the
separation of church and state. As governor he opposed
legislation requiring church-run day-care centers to meet state
health and safety regulations.
Missouri was the only state to exempt religious day-care
centers from these stipulations.
Enemy of lesbian, gay,
bi and trans rights
If Ashcroft wants to turn back women's social status by
hundreds of years, his view of lesbian, gay, bi and trans
people runs a close second.
In 1982, while speaking in opposition to the ERA, he said
that "homosexuality is abnormal." He also called same-sex love
"a sin."
In 1995 Ashcroft backed an amendment to the Ryan White bill
to authorize the cut-off of funds to community-health centers
providing services to those living with HIV and AIDS. The
ammendment's sponsor was Jesse Helms.
In 1996, Ashcroft voted against the Employment
Non-Discrimination Act, which called for a ban against
workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation. Last
year, he voted against the Hate Crimes Prevention Act.
He has voted to eliminate federal funding for the National
Endowment for the Arts because of its support for gay-themed
art and gay artists.
Ashcroft, along with Helms, opposed the confirmation of an
openly gay capita list, James Hormel, to be U.S. ambassador to
Luxembourg under Bill Clinton.
Klansman in three-piece suit
Ashcroft would like to see people of color back in chains
and the back of the bus. He's a Ku Klux Klansman in a
three-piece suit.
In the Southern Partisan Quarterly Review--a publication
that glorifies slavery and the old slave-owning class--Ashcroft
publicly defended the views of Confederate leaders Robert E.
Lee, Stonewall Jackson and Jefferson Davis.
In 1999, Ashcroft received an honorary degree from South
Carolina's Bob Jones University and delivered the commencement
address. Until recently this "university" outlawed interracial
dating.
Ashcroft opposes all affirmative-action programs. For
instance, he voted to dilute the effectiveness of the Community
Reinvestment Act, a federal law that prohibits banks from
"redlining" minority areas in the inner cities.
He opposed the nomination of Asian American Bill Lann Lee to
head the civil-rights division of the Justice Department.
As Missouri attorney general and governor, Ashcroft opposed
federal-court-ordered desegregation for schools in St. Louis
and Kansas City. He went so far as to oppose a voluntary
city/suburb desegregation program in St. Louis.
Ashcroft led a virulent campaign against the federal
nomination of Judge Ronnie White, who was to become the first
African American judge on the Missouri State Supreme Court.
Ashcroft can be fought!
A united and militant grassroots movement can defeat the
Ashcroft nomination and win. But the movement cannot view the
Ashcroft development as an isolated matter.
It's true that Bush is hand-picking nominations from the
Republican party that push his administration to the right of
Clinton's. But what is the legacy of eight years of a Democrat
in the White House?
The Clinton years saw a wave of terror assaults on women's
clinics and doctors who provide abortions. Black churches
torched at a rate not seen since the overturning of Black
Reconstruction. Stepped-up demonization of immigrants of color.
Anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic attacks. A rise in violent
assaults against lesbian, gay, bi and trans people.
There were even issues where a Democratic administration
made it easier to introduce reactionary policies. For example,
Clinton eliminated welfare in 1996, something that a Republican
could have never done without a storm of protest.
An "anyone-but-Ashcroft" campaign won't advance the
movement. But an independent mass movement in the streets--a
movement that doesn't look to leadership from either party of
big business--can defeat Ashcroft's nomination and fight for
the interests of poor and working people.
Anti-inaugural protests on Jan. 20 by tens of thousands in
the streets of Washington, Tallahassee, Fla., San Francisco and
San Diego created the basis for just this kind of movement.
The anger over Bush's theft of this election by
disenfranchising millions of Black voters in Florida and
elsewhere--along with his reactionary program--has already
provided a catalyst that can help build this new movement for
revolutionary change.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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