Three prominent Black women speak out against U.S.
policies
By Monica Moorehead
Three prominent Black women--two of them African American
and the other African Canadian--have been outspoken against
U.S. foreign policy as the Pentagon continues to bomb
Afghanistan with impunity.
They have gone against the tide in the middle of an
unprecedented pro-war, anti-dissent campaign on the part of the
big business media.
Two of the women, Cynthia McKinney and Barbara Lee, are
members of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Barbara Lee, a California Democrat, was the only
member of Congress to oppose a resolution giving President
George W. Bush unlimited authority to use military force after
the attacks on Sept. 11.
Although Lee received thousands of letters and phone calls
of support, she also received numerous death threats for
express ing a position that was politically mild.
On Oct. 21, 3,000 people rallied in downtown Oakland to
support her. Actor Danny Glover and writer Alice Walker were
among those who came to speak of her courage.
Cynthia McKinney, a Georgia Democrat, wrote an open
letter to Prince Alwaleed bin Talal from Saudi Arabia on Oct.
12. McKinney thanked him for offering a $10 million check to
those who were direct ly affected by the Sept. 11 attacks. New
York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani had rejected the check because
the prince made political statements about U.S. policies
abroad, especially regarding the situation of the
Palestinians.
Much of McKinney's letter focused on linking the state of
Black America with U.S. international policy. McKinney compared
the infant mortality rate in Harlem with that of Bangladesh in
South Asia. She spoke out against the racist use of the death
penalty along with the attacks on the Voting Rights Act and
affirmative action.
McKinney also raised the genocidal war on the Palestinians
at the hand of Zionist Israelis and the horrendous situation
facing the Iraqi people after 10 years of U.S.-led economic
sanctions.
Sunera Thobani is a Tanzanian-born professor of
women's studies at the University of British Columbia in
Vancouver. She is an anti-imperialist feminist and former head
of the National Action Committee on the Status of Women. On
Oct. 1, she addressed the "Women's Resistance: From
Victimization to Criminalization" conference in Ottawa.
She lambasted U.S. and Canadian international policies in
her speech. Her major theme was "U.S. foreign policy is soaked
in blood." She asked the audience to think about the fact that
millions of people are being asked to identify with the victims
of Sept. 11. But who, she asked, is feeling the pain of those
in Iraq and Palestine, Chile, El Salvador and Nicaragua, who
have suffered and died at the hand of U.S. imperialism?
Thobani also spoke about how people of color have
historically and traditionally been characterized as
"uncivilized, forces of darkness, evil doers ... this language
is rooted in the colonial legacy. It was used to justify our
colonization by Europe." Thobani also spoke about the hypocrisy
on the part of the West--especially the U.S.--in claiming this
war will "save Afghani women." She countered that U.S. foreign
policy was greatly responsible for maintaining the Taliban
government's power in Afghanistan.
As a result of her very militant speech, which received
several standing ovations, Thobani has come under severe
political attack by various sectors of the Canadian government.
The Royal Canadian Mount ed Police is investigating her for a
potential violation of Section 319 of the Canada Criminal Code:
"inciting hatred against an identifiable group." The RCMP is
also calling for her dismissal from the UBC faculty.
An online petition in support of Tho bani's right to free
speech can be found at www.rabble.ca, along with the entire
text of her speech.
Reprinted from the Nov. 1, 2001, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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