Socialistworker

BY THE beginning of the 20th century the South’s rulers had denied blacks the right to vote and had re-established legal segregation. This system of apartheid was known as the “Jim Crow” laws. There were 181,000 blacks in Alabama eligible to vote in 1900. Two years later there were just 3000. All-pervasive racism encouraged poor whites to identify with the system and laws banned them from meeting blacks. The period in which the US eclipsed Britain as the world’s biggest economic power also saw the imposition of officially sponsored racism across the US. Two of the most famous films from […]

MARK LATHAM’S election as Labor leader has stirred up the national debate. The view that Latham might offer a serious fight is giving confidence to everyone who wants to see Howard thrown out at the election. In contrast to the wooden gestures of Simon Crean, and Kim Beazley’s well known support for the US military alliance, Latham captured the anger people felt around the war on Iraq. He called Howard’s ministers a bunch of suckholes and labelled George W Bush, the most dangerous man alive. Latham’s message that Howard has taken out the rungs in the ladder of opportunity resonated […]

UNITY AGAINST capitalism and war was the central theme of the Socialist Alliances second national conference, held in Melbourne on May 10-11. Some 120 delegates representing more than 900 financial members in 24 branches debated how to build on the Alliances first two years of existence. There were 160 observers. It was so fantastic to meet such a broad range of people. The respect delegates showed for one another was one of the most positive things, said Angela Budai, an organiser with the Finance Sector Union and a delegate from the Northside branch in Sydney. Two main resolutions were put […]

BRENDAN NELSON’S legislation to fundamentally restructure higher education along free market lines was passed on the final sitting day of the Senate in December. The package was passed by a single vote due to a dirty deal between Education Minister, Brendan Nelson, One Nation’s Len Harris and the three Independents Meg Lees, Brian Harradine and Shayne Murphy. HECS fees will be deregulated with universities given the power to increase HECS by 25 per cent. There will be a 40 per cent increase in cap on the number of full fee paying undergraduates. It will become much easier for private institutions […]

Jarvis Ryan looks at the roots of anti-Muslim racism and explains why the left must stand up against the anti-Islamic backlash FOUR YEARS into the “war on terror”, many people can see that this war is in fact a war being fought by the US and its allies for economic and imperial gain — to seize control of energy resources and territory. However it would be politically unacceptable for George Bush, Tony Blair and John Howard to admit this. There are very few wars where rulers speak honestly about their motivations. Instead they make a huge effort to convince their […]

TWENTY thousand people marched through Wellington to New Zealand’s parliament on Wednesday May 5. The march was the culmination of a historic “hikoi” (march) to protest government legislation that attacks Maori rights over New Zealand’s coastline. During the hikoi’s journey from the top and bottom of Aotearoa (New Zealand), tens of thousands of people took part, making it one of the biggest protests in this country in recent times. Even more significant was that 90 per cent of the protesters were Maori, Aotearoa’s indigenous people. Like Australia’s indigenous population, they still suffer the ill-effects of colonisation and racism. Maori make […]