Letters from Our Readers

Jahan Choudhry Comments Editor

12 Aug 2020

This week the New Cold War and political prisoners were on your mind. We share your letters “US Whipping Up War Hysteria Against China,” “American Left Silence on China Helps Lay Foundation for the U.S.’ New Cold War,” and “Political Prisoners: ‘Say Their Names’.”

Radio segment “US Whipping Up War Hysteria Against China” shared Margaret Kimberley’s comments on US-China relations at a recent web event entitled “No to a New Cold War.”

Paul Billings writes:

“Terrific Op-Ed/Analysis by Margaret Kimberley. The aggressive anti-China policy being orchestrated by the ruling elite in the US and supported by vassals- Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand are being driven by continuing US economic decline which has been accelerated by the Coronavirus pandemic.

“Trump’s ‘China bashing’ is being used to obfuscate and confuse the American public about: 1) the totally inept/incompetent response to the Coronavirus pandemic by the Trump Administration and Congress and lack of any kind of national public health service, 2) highest unemployment levels since the Great Depression; these people have not only lost their jobs, they are losing their health insurance and many are facing eviction from their apartments, 3) continuing to spend astronomical sums of taxpayer money on the Pentagon and war and 4) the looting of the Treasury by the FED to bailout Wall St.

“One last point. It appears that Trump is going to issue an ‘Executive order’ to suspend payroll taxes which support Social Security and Medicare Trust funds, which will begin the looting/dismantling of SS and Medicare. With no money available to fund these programs, it will be very easy for Congress to greatly reduce or entirely eliminate them. The ruling elite are well aware that they cannot continue their orgy of money printing for ever (this can be seen from increasing price of gold) to support tax cuts for the financial elite, fund the Pentagon and ongoing wars, continue bailing out Wall St with $ trillions of taxpayer-backed funds from the FED and at the same time, continue paying for SS and Medicare.”

In “American Left Silence on China Helps Lay Foundation for the U.S.’ New Cold War” Danny Haiphong challenges pro-imperialist tendencies in the US Left.

Reg Callaway writes:

“Yes, China is the new boogyman to steer our attention away from the American project decline. The American Left can always be counted on to provide anemic resistance to things the State deems a ‘threat.’ Once the establishment casts the dark shadow, the American Left would rather discuss anything else.

“But the American Left is also derelict on the strong anti-foreign sentiment that permeates from Washington. They are silent in the way Washington tosses out international treaties and imposes draconian extraterritorial laws on other nations and citizens of other countries with impunity. In fact, many White Savior Lefties cheer the growing imperialism. For them, American exceptionalism is a goal without end.

“For instance, attached to the NDAA 21 is an amendment that targets ‘foreign’ assets for seizure if the Treasury demands it. Unbelievably, the original language contained provisions which prohibited the ‘foreign’ asset owner from challenging the government in court. It was changed as part of the NDAA to allow for challenges. Nevertheless domestic asset holders are unscathed, while ‘foreign’ asset holders could lose it all. The White Savior industry is demanding Congress to pass this anti-foreign but pro war bill ASAP.

“The American Left is too indifferent to US imperialism and if they are antithetical, they are way too weak to make a difference. The American Left is absolutely hopeless.”

“Political Prisoners: ‘Say Their Names’” Glen Ford calls for the current mobilization against police brutality to speak about and remember the long list of political prisoners in the US justice system.

Reg Callaway writes:

“The irony of Black August is it coincides with the atomic warfare waged against Japan 75-years ago. These significant histories are barely given a second thought by most Americans even to this day.

“However, both histories have a similar underlying theme: racism with the stated aim to annihilate as many Black and Japanese civilians as possible under guise of preserving national security.

“White Saviors of the day told us ‘Fat Man’ and ‘Little Boy,’ code names for the atom bombs, were necessary in order to quickly end the war and so US troops did not have to invade the Japanese mainland to have a war of attrition.

“White Savior media kept anti-war Black voices such as W.E.B Dubois out of their pages so he couldn’t put cold water on the so-called victory over the ‘Japs.’ Of course, ‘Japs’ was the kinder racist pejorative word used to describe Japanese citizens at the time. W.E.B. Dubois called Democratic president Harry S. Truman, who authorized the bombings, Adolf Hitler. Folklorist Zora Hurston described Truman as ‘the butcher of Asia.’

“Countless other Black voices such as Paul Robeson expressed their disgust at the racist war against the Japanese, but they were sidelined in the White Savior media so US imperialism could go about its business unfettered and unchallenged.

“Truman knew Japan was about to surrender, but he had to drop them on people of color. But most importantly, he had to showcase to the world white supremacy was here to stay. By dropping ‘Fat Man’ and ‘Little Man’ the US government put people of color of the world on notice: buck white supremacy and you will face doom. An astute observer will notice the US government never bluffs. It is part of the machismo carried out by political elites to demonstrate their ruthless disregard for human life.

“However, the US government uses more advanced and far more reaching weapons on people of color than atom bombs can ever do. The go to weapon of mass destruction that keeps antiquated nuclear tipped ICBMs in their silos are sanctions. Weaponized US sanctions on people of color of the world have destroyed more lives than a squadron of ICBMs could ever do.

“Anyway, Black August victims holed up in US gulags wasting away have experienced a similar kind of nuking Japan suffered. The White Savior establishment guarantees they have no agency by fortifying the war machine with ever more extreme takedown measures. Think of it as nuclear fallout where the victims suffer irreparable radiation scars.

“It is no mistake more Black men are tied to the carceral state than the number of slaves in 1850. The victor gets to write the epilogue.”

The struggle to teach the next generation of activists their history is essential. The memory of the movement cannot be left at the hands of the state.

Jahan Choudhry is Comments Editor for Black Agenda Report. He is an organizer with the Saturday Free School based in Philadelphia, PA.

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