Socialist Action /February 2000
Youth in Action
Prop. 21 Targets Youth in California
By JAVIER ARMAS
California voters are faced with a decision this March-whether or not
to pass Proposition 21. Many California youth are threatened and becoming
politicized on this issue. What is Proposition 21, and why are young people
so threatened?
Proposition 21 gives prosecutors, instead of judges, the power to send
many juvenile cases to adult court, which will push more 16 and 17 year-olds
into state prisons. It will allow law enforcement to define gangs as three
or more people with "similar characteristics." These "suspected
gang members" are now subjected to legal wire tapping.
Youth will get a felony conviction for only $400 of vandalism while now
it takes $50,000. This initiative will eliminate the confidentiality of
youth records so an employer can pry into any crime a person committed when
they were young.
It can impose a mandatory secure lockup for many juvenile offenders regardless
of the need for treatment. It will impose a 180 day jail time for misdemeanor
gang offenses as well as creating a death penalty for certain "gang"
offenses.
The California Department of Corrections has estimated that Proposition
21 will require 22,000 new prison spaces over the next 30 years at a cost
of $1 billion. The crime rate of youth has been decreasing steadily in the
last 10 years.
Those who understand what creates crime and what prevents it understand
that this initiative is not going to lower crime; that's why the Chief Probation
Officers of California are against this initiative.
So why are young people facing such a reactionary proposition? If the
rate of crime is not high, why are politicians and the media portraying
young people as criminals and violent offenders?
This is happening for two reasons. One is that while the mainstream media
is boasting about "the best economy ever," working people are
suffering from hidden unemployment, wretched poverty, and a high cost of
living. As the working class and even many middle-class people suffer, the
ruling class needs to create new scapegoats to divert their growing anger.
They are now pointing the finger at youth and saying that this is the
group that is responsible for society's problems. Since young people have
few legal rights, they become the perfect scapegoat.
The second reason is that of direct profits. Prisoners have a certain
account of money to buy products in the jails. In 1995, California had $64
million in prisoners' accounts. This money doesn't just collect dust.
AT&T estimates that prisoners spent $1 billion in long-distance calls
in 1995. The Corrections Corporation of America, whose revenue rose by 81
percent in 1995, is listed as one of the top 200 small businesses by Forbes
magazine.
Sending people to prison is creating a large market for capitalism. Sending
young people to adult prison is ideal for the capitalists, who will do anything
to make a profit.
This March we must explain to people what is really behind this initiative
and not let it become law. VOTE NO ON PROP 21!
Even if this initiative is passed, young people have to realize that
this system is against them and that a social movement is needed to win
the rights we deserve. Politicians, lawyer groups, and liberal teachers
are not the ones who have the capabilities to win these rights.
Only if we mobilize thousands of young people to struggle in a movement
that is independent of the Democrats, Republicans, and other ruling-class
institutions can we win and protect our rights.
Los Angeles Conference
Attracts Radicalizing Youth
Around 65 people turned out on Jan. 23 for the first ever YSA-sponsored
Southern California educational conference. The conference attendees, predominantly
youth, got a full day's dose of the politics of Youth for Socialist Action
and Socialist Action.
The first of three sessions was called "capitalism and war."
The speaker was Carole Seligman, the National Secretary of Socialist Action,
and she delivered a piercing analysis of the dynamics, motives, and history
of war under capitalism.
Youths attending this session got a great lesson in what the forces behind
capitalism are that cause war, and what we as revolutionary socialists can
do to stop it.
The second session, given by San Francisco YSAer Paul McKim, was titled
"Which way for the youth movement: why we need to build a revolutionary
youth group."
The impressive speech dealt with explaining and learning the lessons
of the Leninist strategy of party building, and applying them to the youth
movement.
The fruitful discussion that followed Paul's talk proved the interest
and education that the youth got out of it.
The last session, on the World Trade Organization, was given by Jeff
Mackler, who is a national committee member of Socialist Action and one
of the head organizers of the movement to defend Black prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal.
The talk dealt with the significance of the Seattle anti-WTO protests,
the debate over free trade versus protectionism, and the state of the world
economy. Again, great interest was shown in the subject and talk by the
number of youth there; many took part in the discussion afterwards.
Present at the conference were youth from Santa Monica, Santa Barbara,
Irvine, San Francisco, and more. Perhaps most impressive was a delegation
from the Socialist Student Union of Hamilton High School, who sent several
members.
The Hamilton students are working closely with the Los Angeles YSA, and
they are involved in their own struggle against the school administration
to keep their organization alive.
The conference showed what the YSA has been saying all along: young people
are beginning to question the present state of things, and this radicalization
is giving us socialists a great opportunity to win them over to our ideas.
We can surely expect to see more of this in the future.
The YSA down here has a lot of upcoming activities.
We are holding a forum on the case of Elian Gonzalez this week, and we
just initiated a student committee to organize some action around the case,
including a protest in front of the Westwood federal building.
The YSA is also organizing a discussion class on the Nicaraguan revolution.
In addition, we helped to organize a teach-in for Mumia Abu-Jamal during
the first week of February at UCLA. Speakers included Jim Lafferty (National
Lawyers Guild, KPFK), Mike De la Rocha (UCLA student president), and Jeff
Mackler. Over 100 attended the several-day event.
For information, e-mail us at lasocaction@hotmail.com.
Socialist Action /February 2000 |