Socialist Action /December 1999
Youth in Action
By ADAM RITSCHER
Decatur, Ill., the recent scene of bitter labor struggles by striking
and locked-out workers at the Staley, Caterpillar, and Bridgestone Firestone
plants, last month also saw the angry raised fists of hundreds of Black
and white high school students protesting the unjust expulsion of seven
Black students.
The seven students, who got in a brief fist fight during a football game
between Eisenhower and MacArthur high schools, have been charged with "felony
mob action," and were expelled from school for two years. They are
also being threatened with possible prison terms for the felony charges.
The expulsions were handed down by an almost all-white school board and
are being passed as part of a so-called "zero tolerance for violence"
program. But current and former students have said that racism is the motivating
factor here, and that racism on the part of white teachers and school board
members has long been a serious problem.
Forty-four percent of public high school students in Decatur are Black,
yet a large majority of students who suffer suspensions each year are Black,
and Blacks on average receive more severe punishment for similar offenses
committed by white students.
In an act of inter-racial solidarity following the expulsions, the expelled
students' classmates turned out in several protests. A demonstration of
1000 that marched through the streets of Decatur demanded the re-instatement
of the seven.
The school board, prodded by Gov. George Ryan, reacted by offering a
"compromise" that would reduce the expulsions to one year, and
allow the seven students in the meantime to attend a school for troubled
youth. The students have rejected this offer.
On the mornings of both Nov. 8 and 9, the expelled students, along with
community activists and figures like Jesse Jackson, appeared at Eisenhower
High School seeking readmission. The school board responded by closing Eisenhower
and the other two Decatur high schools on those days, claiming that the
actions constituted a threat to "public safety."
We in Youth for Socialist Action salute the protesters of Eisenhower
and MacArthur high schools, and stand in support of the demands to readmit
the seven expelled students. Such drastic and reactionary discipline policies
are becoming all too common in high schools across the country, using the
excuses of drugs and violence to curtail the democratic rights of young
people.
We call for a movement of mass action, that through demonstrations, such
as this inspiring one in Decatur will mobilize thousands of young people
and their allies to smash racism and defend the democratic rights of all
youth!
----------------------------------------
Curfews Attack Our Democratic Rights
A couple of months ago, the city government in the town of St. Francis,
Wis., passed a new law that will require all youth caught outside after
the city's curfew to pay a fine.
The idea, according to the city council, is to make young people have
to pay, literally, for being out after 11 p.m. The fine set by the city
is $50, though if a youth is found to be truant, the $50 fine will go up
to $67!
Students in St. Francis were baffled by this new law, and protested that
they didn't understand how anything this absurd could be justified.
This, and similar laws being passed in hundreds of cities and towns across
the country, are making youth de facto prisoners within their own communities.
The lives of young people are being structured so as to resemble "work
release" and "exercise hours" from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.!
Citing fears of gangs and drug-related violence, city governments are
cracking down hard on what young people can do, how they do it, and between
what hours they're allowed to do it. It's as if we're seen as some kind
of wild animal, imported from some dark land, that has to be domesticated
and put on a leash to keep us from biting law-abiding senior citizens and
happy-go-lucky housewives!
Youth for Socialist Action condemns these curfews, and similar restrictions
upon the rights of young people. We recognize that these attacks are meant
to break us, and alienate us from the rest of society.
Taking place within the context of massive attacks by the powers-that-be
upon many basic democratic rights of working people, and especially Blacks
and Latinos, we call on our fellow youth to resist these measures and organize
protest movements to stop them.
In several cities and towns, young people have defeated these curfews
and other restrictions by answering them with mass protests and by mobilizing
broad community opposition.
We pledge to help youth in any town confronted by these attacks in any
way that we can. Together we can fight back and win!
Socialist Action /December 1999 |