Letters from Our Readers

Jahan Chowdhry, BAR Comments Editor

09 Oct 2019

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This week Barack Obama’s presidency and the Hong Kong protests were on your mind. We share your letters for “Obama, the Greatest War President: a Book Review” and “Why the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019 Must Be Opposed.”

In “Obama, the Greatest War President: a Book Review” Ron Ridenour reviews a new book on the former president’s foreign policy and argues that it demonstrates that Obama was among the most dangerous American leaders from the world’s perspective.

Tony Snuggs writes:

“It is true he was given a pass by black america saying that he did not have the votes to create change for blacks in this country. But the truth is, he did exactly what the folks that put him in office wanted: Create war on black and brown countries, pass the Affordable Care Act and usher in gay marriages and the LGBT movement. Not a single thing to help Black America.”

Aumonte Payne writes:

“It is easy to act like only the figureheads are responsible because as citizens we play a passive role in the carnage. That is by design. He was President of the United States. If you are going to hold Obama to a higher standard don't forget 1 in 5 army soldiers of the US military are Black too. You and I pay taxes that help fund that war machine. We are all complicit.”

In “Why the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019 Must Be Opposed” Kevin Zeese, Margaret Flowers, and K.J. Noh give a detailed account of the imperialist machinations behind the current Hong Kong protests and why this unrest does not justify proposed Congressional legislation changing Washington’s relationship with Hong Kong.

Alvin J. writes:

“Back in the Chinese/Asian Exclusion days, white working class Americans targeted Chinese with the slogan of ‘the Chinese must go.’ White Americans were victims of a global depression, but directed their anger mainly against the Chinese.

“In Hong Kong, we see militant and angry young people who are economic victims of a speculative, parasitic capitalist system that had been preserved from the British colonial system via One Country-Two Systems. Similar to the racist US working class targeting of Chinese in America, these ignorant young people, who have idealized and idolized the British and American imperialists, are telling Mandarin-speaking people to go back to the Mainland.

“I have heard back from one 1968-1969 Asian American Political Alliance/Third World Liberation Front/Ethnic Studies leader that the Frantz Fanon ‘Black Skin, White Masks’ model is not applicable to HK. However, the raising of American and British flags, and the burning of Chinese flags affirms the Black Skin, White Masks model.

“A Chinese JP Morgan Chase employee was attacked yesterday. He said ‘we are all Chinese (我们都是中国人)’。 He was subsequently attacked physically, and the ‘pro-democracy’ folks yelled ‘go back to the mainland (返大陆)’. Note that the protesters did not yell ‘down with finance capitalism, or down with JP Morgan.’

“The HK movement is not anti-capitalist; it is anti-Chinese and anti-China in an internally racist manner. Joshua Wong and Nathan Law are supported by Rubio, Pompeo, Pence, Steve Bannon. Joshua Wong's Demosisto group is funded by NED (the re-branded CIA).

“Comrades who've held a neutral or pro-HK democracy position should be able to see by now that the HK movement is an objectively reactionary movement that aligns with US imperialist interests. As a Third World Liberation Front vet, I, and probably most of you, are envious of what the HK Movement has achieved tactically in shutting down HK. Our ‘On Strike, Shut It Down’ efforts of 50 years ago truly pale in comparison. But we must not confuse our awe with their tactical success with the illegitimacy of the HK movement's goal.......Despite the the ‘pro-democracy’ outward appearance, the movement is not really about democracy. It's actually about a Color Revolution that aligns with US imperialism.”

Parsing through misinformation and truth is a duty of all revolutionaries. We will continue that process with your input here.

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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