We have reports that the White racist govt. of America, much against the wishes of its people and particularly the Afro-American Black people, is using the Blacks to fight the Iraqis in the current Gulf War. The Blacks had no quarrel with the Iraqis. In fact, the Muslim world is closer to Blacks. Militant Blacks in America like Malcolm X and Louis Farrakhan have become Muslims. When that is the case, we are not able to understand why the Blacks have gone to the Gulf to fight the Whiteman’s war against Muslims and save the whiteman. The following report in the American Time Magazine, (Feb. 4) a journal of the whites, indicates the feeling inside America. The Editor of DV is an important member of the premier American human rights organization of Blacks (IHRAAM). The very American representative of Dalit Voice is a noted Black historian, Runoko Rashidi, who inaugurated the first All-India Dalit writers conference at Hyderabad. Our editor’s famous book, Dalit – The Black Untouchables of India, was published in the US by a prominent Black publishing house. DV has a large readership among the American Blacks. In US, the Blacks and Dalits have set up a joint Foundation to support the Dalit struggle in India. Both Blacks and Dalits have a common origin. That is why the Indian Dalits are very much against this racist, zionist-sponsored war against Iraq. (DV edit Feb.16). Therefore, we call upon our Black brothers and sisters in the American army to revolt against this slaughter in the Gulf. The Time Magazine report will help us understand the feeling even among many sympathetic American Whites: –
Simple arithmetic if nothing else, gives African Americans a special stake in Operation Desert Storm: they make up 12% of the U.S. population, but represent nearly 25% of the American fighting forces in the Persian Gulf. When the air war finally shifts to a grinding ground confrontation, therefore, they are likely to spill a disproportionate amount of blood onto the desert sands. That has only fueled uneasiness among those blacks who feel that their friends and loved ones are being asked to do more than their fair share of dying for a nation that gives them less than their share of economic and social opportunities. According to last weeks’ Time/CNN poll taken by Yankelovich Clancy Shulman, 49% of all blacks supported involvement in the war, compared with 77% of whites. While they take pride in the accomplishments of soldiers like Powell, many black activists are openly voicing their opposition to Desert Storm. “It is not anybody’s war to fight, but most definitely it’s not African America’s war to fight,” says Representative Maxine Waters of California, who warns black soldiers that they may return to a country where the President is unwilling to “take some affirmative steps to make sure you have job or an education.” Waters joined the majority of black Democrats in Congress in voting against the Jan. 12 resolution authorizing the use of force against Iraq.
