Pittsburgh Strikes Out! Third Innocent Traveler Locked-up - Free Getu Coalition Trifold

Pittsburgh Strikes Out!

Third Innocent Traveler Locked-up

Could YOU be the next one to be locked up for something the FBI already cleared you of?

What about being under 24-hour lock-down in

SOLITARY CONFINEMENT?

Check out the facts…. 

Free Getu Coalition

http://www.freegetu.org (412) 361-2983 info@freegetu.org

Just the Facts

From the Media

WPXI News (“Threat Closes Down Bus Station”, Gina Redmond, Feb. 1 2002)

* Getu Berhanu Tewolde, an Ethiopian (legal immigrant), was charged by the City of Pittsburgh for making terroristic threats, causing and risking a catastrophe, and aggravated and simple assault.

* One witness heard a woman screaming that Getu had pushed her and the bus driver telling him to sit down. The witness reported that the police came 5 minutes later.

* The FBI’s anti-terrorism task force was called by the police to respond to a bomb threat.

* FBI officials say “The threat was very non specific. Just um related to people dying that kind of thing. It was very fragmented to say the least.”

* The FBI determined that there was no basis for charging Getu with terroristic threats.

* BUT the Pittsburgh Police beat and arrested Getu and the City of Pittsburgh charged him anyway.

Fox53 News (10 O’clock News, Feb. 1 2002)

* Even though the FBI did not find Getu to be a terrorist, the Police arrested him anyway because of “the totality of the circumstances” (Cmndr. Valenta)

From Getu

Interviews at the Allegheny County Jail

* Getu was traveling from Washington DC to Denver for a surprise visit with his uncle. The bus made a scheduled stop in Pittsburgh.

* After re-boarding the bus, Getu accidentally bumped into a Greyhound manager in the narrow aisle. Although he apologized, the manager started yelling at him and got off the bus.

* The driver asked Getu to leave the bus. Respecting the driver’s authority, Getu complied.

* In the Greyhound Station, the manager spoke to people who then approached Getu and told him to sit down. Getu remained standing because they had no right to tell him to sit.

* A policeman arrived, who did not show Getu a badge and did not identify himself. He told Getu to sit down, but Getu refused.

* The officer immediately attacked Getu. Getu was then able to escape and, happy to get away, raised his hand, in which he was holding a pen.

* The officer approached again. Although Getu moved the pen away – the officer beat him with the help of others and “disarmed” Getu of his pen, breaking it in two.  

This is Pittsburgh’s Third Time –

What’s Going On?

#1) October 29, 2001

Art Institute of Pittsburgh student Salam El-Zaatari was arrested at the Pittsburgh International Airport for carrying an X-Acto knife in his laptop case. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, people with “non-Arab names” caught with guns and knives at the airport were not arrested. Salam ended up being charged with a felony and spent almost two months in solitary confinement. It became too much for Salam and he plea-bargained so that he could go back to Lebanon.

(Sources: “Man with box cutter arrested at the airport,” ThePittsburghChannel, Oct. 29 2001 / “Victim of post-Sept. 11 hysteria repays our intolerance with forgiveness,” Dennis Roddey, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Dec. 22 2001 / “Homefront: a range of weapons seized at airport,” Dennis Roddey, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Dec. 15 2001 /Zi’s interviews with Salam’s supporters, Dec. 2001)

#2) November 17, 2001

Mazen Mohamed Abdallah was boarding a train to Chicago. He was surprised that bags were not being checked by security and asked guards why they weren’t, as there might be a bomb. Instead of acknowledging the poor security at the Amtrak station, the police charged Mazen with making a terroristic threat, simple assault, and disorderly conduct. Mazen plead guilty and was sentenced on April 5.

(Sources: “Federal Court – guilty plea in bomb threat,” City Briefs, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Jan. 12 2002 / “Bomb threat suspect held on $150,000 bond,” Steve Levin, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Nov. 20 2001 / “Bomb threat empties Amtrak Station,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Nov. 18 2002, Zi’s conversations with Mazen’s supporters, Dec. 2001)

#3) February 1, 2002

Getu Berhanu Tewolde (see reverse)

What About Getu –

What About This Time?

Getu was placed in the Mental Health pod and pressured to take 8 psychiatric pills a day without justification. He was denied lawyer visits and was in 24-hour solitary confinement, with only two hours a week to leave his cell for showers and phone calls.

Although a Behavior Clinic examination was ordered for Getu on February 11, as of March 11, when the Free Getu Coalition was formed, there was no sign that the exam would be provided. The exam, without which he could not be bailed out and his trial could not even begin, is supposed to be given within three days. The Coalition, with the help of the ACLU, got Getu a visit from a lawyer and the Behavior Clinic exam, which he passed. The Coalition protested at Getu’s preliminary hearing on March 15 and bailed Getu out – the Greyhound manager did not show up and the simple assault charge was dropped.

Since the preliminary hearing, an attorney from the National Lawyer’s Guild has taken Getu’s case pro-bono, and the “causing and risking a catastrophe” charge has been dropped. Getu has plead not-guilty to the remaining charges and wants to fight for his freedom – the trial starts December 12.

Support for Getu is growing. Speakers representing broad segments of Pittsburgh spoke on Getu’s behalf at a press conference on June 13 – including representatives from the Pittsburgh chapters of Amnesty International and the NAACP, as well as union leaders and clergy.

CALL TO ACTION

Join the free Getu Coalition to:

* Demand that all charges be dropped. Write to the D.A. –

Stephen Zappala, Jr.
District Attorney of Allegheny County
County Court House
435 Grant Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15219

* Add your voice to the growing support for Getu and opposition to his persecution. Contact us about our upcoming protests and meetings.

* Make others aware of Getu’s case and the pattern of hysteria and abuse it exposes – tell your friends and neighbors and bring them to Coalition events. Set-up tables to spread the word.

Join all of us to free Getu Berhanu Tewolde, prevent any more Salams or Mazens or Getus from falling victim to racial hysteria and draconian imprisonment parading as justice, and to work with your city to end this nation-wide farce.

Contact the Free Getu Coalition at (412) 361-2983 info@freegetu.org http://www.freegetu.org

Zi  Thomas Merton Center  Islamic Center of Pittsburgh  Students in Solidarity (University of Pittsburgh)  Amnesty International (Carnegie Mellon)  Muslim Students Association (Carnegie Mellon and University of Pittsburgh)  International Socialist Organization  Pittsburgh Anti-War Coalition  Socialist Workers Party  Progressive Student Alliance (Carnegie Mellon)

JOIN THE FBI – SEARCH YOUR NEIGHBORS WITHOUT “PROBABLE CAUSE” (Civil Rights Leaflet)

 JOIN THE FBI – SEARCH YOUR NEIGHBORS WITHOUT “PROBABLE CAUSE”

 

Legislation and Executive Orders since September 11, as well as laws from before then, strip away a surprising number of civil liberties and civil rights from both US citizens and aliens (such as permanent residents).  Police no longer need probable cause to eavesdrop or physically search anyone in the US.  Aliens have been almost entirely stripped of their right to free speech and association.  Due process has been suspended for aliens, and hearsay can be used against them in military trials where there is a precedent for swift executions without appeal.

 

How have foreigner’s civil rights changed since September 11?

 

Under the new anti-terrorism bill, an alien could be barred from returning to the US after a trip abroad if their speech “undermines” the anti-terrorism efforts; in other words, if you criticize the US, you can’t come back.  This is according to Section 411 of the USA PATRIOT (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism) Act.

Even if aliens stay quiet, they can still be deported for doing something that wasn’t illegal at the time.  Aliens can be deported for associating with a group the government considers terrorist even if the group was not considered a terrorist group when the alien was associating with the group.  The alien will also have to prove that they could not know that their assistance to a group (not designated as terrorist) would further terrorist activity.

 

What sort of evidence needs to be demonstrated before law enforcement can go after someone?

Under the USA PATRIOT Act, FISA (Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act) rules apply – the government does not need to show probable cause to eavesdrop or physically search anyone. 

FISA was passed in 1978 when it was revealed that the FBI was conducting illegal wiretaps and break-ins during the civil rights and anti-war movements.  FISA is administered by a secret court, and the justifications for surveillance are kept secret from the defendant’s lawyers.  In 1995, FISA was extended to include physical searches, and FISA orders increased 46% (576 to 839) from 1994 to 1996.  This act applies to US citizens and aliens. (Sources: USA PATRIOT Act (http://thomas.loc.gov) / “Spies Like Us”, Steve Watrous, API, News Digest Vol 19 #42, October 15, 1998).

 

Speaking of the evidence, what is it, and how good is it?

The INS can use secret evidence which is withheld from prisoners and their lawyers (Source: “On Secret Evidence,” The Washington Post, October 21, 1997).  This form of evidence is not permitted for criminal or even national security cases, but since the 1950 an obscure provision has allowed it to be used for “immigration” proceedings.  (Source: “Rarely Used Law Now Falls Most Heavily On Arabs”, William Branigin, Washington Post, October 19, 1997)  Here is an example of one case:

 

“As his family looked on, agents of the Immigration and Naturalization Service and FBI, accompanied by local sheriff's deputies, took Najjar away in handcuffs.  That was on May 19. Six months later, Najjar, 40, is still being held in a Florida county jail. Although he was arrested on a charge of overstaying his student visa, his continued detention stems from a more serious accusation, but one that U.S. authorities refuse to spell out.

“Like more than a dozen other Arabs around the country, Najjar, former editor of an Islamic journal and a pastor at a Tampa mosque, has been denied bond on the basis of secret evidence the government only will say indicates an association ‘with a known terrorist group.’ So far, none of those being detained has been charged with any crime.

“In trying to defend Najjar, ‘his lawyers felt they were fighting a ghost,’ said his sister, Nahla Arian, a naturalized U.S. citizen. She said he belonged to a Tampa committee that supported the Palestinian uprising known as the intifada before disbanding in 1992, but denied he has any connection to Middle Eastern terrorists. (continued on reverse)

“After Najjar's arrest, his sister said, FBI agents interrogated him for two hours and offered to help solve his immigration problems for cooperation in their investigation. The FBI office in Tampa declined comment on grounds that the inquiry is ‘ongoing.’” 

(Source: “Rarely Used Law Now Falls Most Heavily On Arabs”, William Branigin, Washington Post, October 19, 1997)

 

When the INS tried to deport six Iraqis, who had been evacuated to the US by the CIA during a failed rebellion, former CIA director James Woolsey stepped in.  Woolsey was able to reveal what the INS’s secret evidence was, as the New York Times describes:

 

“Finally free to read what the government had fought to conceal, he was astonished to discover that the case against his clients was, as he put it, ‘a joke.’ One of the Iraqis, for example, had been the victim of an Iraqi attempt to kill him with thallium, a rat poison so lethal that it is banned in the United States. Yet the F.B.I. had solemnly reported that this resistance fighter (the object of two other assassination attempts) had been taking thallium as a ‘recreational drug.’ Dr. Ali Karim, who had treated visiting C.I.A. officers at an Iraqi resistance base, was, unrealistically, suspected of spying for both Iran and Iraq (bitter enemies), partly on the basis of a few childhood trips to Iran and a medical degree from Baghdad.”

Woolsey says: “My expectation had been that there would be something real in the material, some sign of ordinary human intelligence at work…  But this was junk, just junk.” 

(Source: “The Radicalization of James Woolsey”, New York Times, Andrew Cockburn, July 23 2000)

 

Secret evidence applies to everyone suspected of terrorism, right?

At least six members of the Irish Republican Army were threatened with secret evidence in immigration hearings, but Attorney General Janet Reno suspended the use of secret evidence; she suggested that peace in Northern Ireland could be disrupted by applying secret evidence rules to Irish people “linked” to terrorism.

(Source: “Rarely Used Law Now Falls Most Heavily On Arabs”, William Branigin, Washington Post, October 19, 1997)

 

A man unwittingly carried a loaded handgun through security a checkpoint in New Orleans on October 25, 2001 , and boarded a plane.  He realized that he had the handgun after take-off and handed the gun to a flight attendant.  The man was not charged, although a security employee was suspended.

(Source: “A Nation Challenged; Man Takes Gun on Plane”, New York Times, October 25, 2001)

On the other hand, three days later Salam El-Zaatari, a student at the Pittsburgh Art Institute, was arrested at the Pittsburgh International Airport when a box cutter was found in his computer case.  After arresting Salaam, the FBI turned him over to the INS.

(Source: “Man With Box Cutter Arrested at Airport”, The Pittsburgh Channel, October 29 2001)  It was later clarified that it was, in fact, an X-Acto knife (a craft tool), not a boxcutter that was found in his case. 

 

What about outside the INS?

Starting on November 13, people suspected of terrorism can now be tried by a military tribunal where the sources and methods of investigation are “protected” and not subject to scrutiny.  This is now legal because of an order signed by President GW Bush,  an order that does not require approval from Congress.  Defense Secretary Rumsfeld says, “To have successful prosecutions, we might have to give up sources and methods…. We don't want to have to do that.”

Michael Ratner, an international law and war crimes expert at Columbia University said, “I am flabbergasted …military courts don't have the same kind of protections, you don't get the same rights as you do in a federal court.”   The prosecution will be allowed to use hearsay as evidence, and the opportunity to appeal will be curtailed.  When these tribunals were used in World War II, secret trials lead to the “swift” conviction and execution of six people.

New York attorney Victor St. John said, “There is certainly a greater sense of security and formality that

might keep things from dissolving into a circus” – out of the circus and into the kangaroo court? 

(Sources: “Bush Order: Terror Trials by Military”, Ron Fournier, AP, November 13 2001 / “Terrorists Could Face Military Trial”, Anne Gearan, AP, November 14, 2001).

“What’s your favorite restaurant?” and other National Security Concerns (Civil Rights Leaflet)

“What’s your favorite restaurant?” and other National Security Concerns

 

Large “man-hunts” have been launched by the Justice Department to prevent further attacks.  Foreign students, tourists, and businessmen are being asked questions of dubious value, and in some cases there is verifiable harassment and intimidation by law enforcement officials who then pressure foreigners to reveal the names of Middle Eastern foreigners they know.

 

Since September 11, the FBI has been questioning Middle Eastern students in over 200 college campuses on topics such as “the names of their favorite restaurants” and “their views on Osama bin Laden.”  Students from Arab countries have been interviewed – no students from Germany , the country some of the hijackers came from, were visited.

“One of the reasons they want to know where a student lives is so that they can come find them when necessary or simply watch them,” said Catheryn Cotten, Director of the International Student Office at Duke University .

 

One Saudi student said he was asked about his politics and that he was afraid – “I know they can do anything they want to you.”   The student’s name was provided to the government by two other Saudi students after being detained for taking photographs of their university’s sports arena – they were in a photography class.  The student’s interview ended with government agents telling him to “expect to see us again.”

(Source: “In Sweeping Campus Canvasses, U.S. Checks on Mideast Students”, Jacques Steinberg, New York Times, November 12, 2001)

 

Until September 11, the government had asked colleges and universities to stop sending information on foreign students because “the I.N.S. could not scale the mountain of paperwork.” Now, even though no terrorist student has been found through asking questions about their favorite restaurant, it seems worthwhile to process the large amounts of paperwork.  Schools have no real choice but to cooperate: “By alienating the government, a school could risk losing its authority to request visas for foreign students, most of whom pay full tuition.”

(Source: “In Sweeping Campus Canvasses, U.S. Checks on Mideast Students”, Jacques Steinberg, New York Times, November 12, 2001)

 

There have been very few campus protests in support of the civil rights of foreign students, unlike the outrage expressed when university and law enforcement officials profiled American-born students in the past.  After an assault on an elderly woman in 1992, SUNY-Oneonta provided the state police with a list of every Black and Hispanic Student – this resulted in weeks of campus protest.  

(Source: “In Sweeping Campus Canvasses, U.S. Checks on Mideast Students”, Jacques Steinberg, New York Times, November 12, 2001)

 

What is the result?  Over 300 Saudi Arabian students have suspended their studies in the US and returned home, complaining of “widespread abuse, harassment and maltreatment mainly by government agencies.” 

(Source: “300 Saudi students return home from US”, AFP, Nov 10 2001)

 

What about foreigners in general?

 

Prosecutors around the USA have been ordered by the Justice Department to work with the police to find and question 5,000 male students, tourists, and businessmen between the ages of 18 and 33.  The DOJ refuses to name which countries’ male citizens are being sought after, and spokeswoman Mindy Tucker says, “We've allowed them to come into this country and we expect them to help.”

(Source: “Justice Dept. Widens Terror Probe”, Karen Gullo, AP, November 13, 2001)

HOW TO STOP CRIMINALS – LEARN FROM THE PROS! (Civil Rights Leaflet)

HOW TO STOP CRIMINALS – LEARN FROM THE PROS!

 

"Anyone with dark skin or who spoke with an accent was taken aside and searched," said the passenger, Mike Glass, 43, of Seattle. "And then they went to any male with too much facial hair." 

(Source: “10 Held at Kennedy Airport and La Guardia, Closing Both”, Clifford J. Levy, New York Times, Sept 14, 2001)

 

Who are all these dark skinned people who’ve been pulled over since September 11?  Probably Middle Eastern terrorists, right?

 

On September 12, a Sikh man was pulled off a train in Rhode Island and arrested for carrying a “knife” – keep in mind that Sikh men are obliged by their religion to carry a ceremonial knife.  Sikhs are not Muslims and are also usually not Middle Eastern, but nevertheless the man “was driven away in a police cruiser as the crowds that had been gathered at the station cheered… State and Providence police had surrounded the rail station around 2 p.m. , when it was evacuated and searched. The state bomb squad entered the station carrying equipment and with dogs.” 

(Source:  “Police take man into custody at Providence rail station”, Providence Journal, September 12 2001)

 

But it’s not just terrorists- local, state, and federal law enforcement agents are doing their best to protect us from more mundane criminals, such as drug dealers and traffic violators:

 

In Maryland in 1997, Charles and Etta Carter, an elderly African-American couple from Pennsylvania, were stopped by Maryland State Police on their 40^th wedding anniversary. The troopers searched their car and brought in drug-sniffing dogs. During the course of the search, their daughter’s wedding dress was tossed on one of the police cars and, as trucks passed, blown to the ground. Mrs. Carter was not allowed to use the restroom during the search because police officers feared that she would flee. Their belongings were strewn along the highway, trampled and urinated on by the dogs. No drugs were found and no ticket was issued.

(Source: The Daily Record, reprinted in “Driving While Black”, an ACLU special report, June 1999)

 

“The majority of people they are searching and humiliating are black people. That’s why I was so angry. I went from being an ordinary and decorated officer to a criminal in a matter of minutes”

    (Aaron Campbell, a major in the Metro-Dade Police Department who was stopped, wrestled to the ground, hit with pepper spray, and arrested, supposedly due to an illegal lane change and an obscured license tag, reported in the Washington Times, 1997)

But these are just isolated incidents, right?

“I arraign approximately one-third of the felony cases in New York County and

have no recollection of any defendant in a Port Authority Police Department drug

interdiction case who was not either Black or Hispanic”

(New York City Criminal Court Judge, early 1990s, reprinted in “Driving While Black” an ACLU special report, June 1999)

66% of Blacks believe they are treated less fairly by the police in their community

44% of Blacks and 29% of Hispanics feel that the police have stopped them at some time in their life because of their race or ethnic background

21% of Blacks reported unfair dealings with the police in the past month, rising to 27% of those under 35, and 31% of Black men

(Source: Gallup Poll on Race Relations in America, 2001 Update)

A study of stop and arrest data on the New Jersey turnpike from 1988 to 1991 showed that Blacks comprised 13.5% of the drivers and 15% of the speeders, but represented 35% of those stopped and 73.2% of those arrested.

A similar study in Maryland showed that while 74.7% of speeders were White and 17.5% were black, 79.2% of the drivers searched were Black

(Source: "A Resource Guide on Racial Profiling Data Collection Systems", Northwestern University, for the US Department of Justice)

 

But racial profiling is justified because minorities are more likely to be involved in crimes, right?

 

In low-discretion cases, such as red-light violations or speeding detected with radar equipment, where police have less of a personal decision whether or not to stop someone, the percentage of minorities goes down, while the percentage of whites increases.  In Montgomery County, Alabama, Hispanics made up 11.4% of total stops, but only 8.8% of red light/radar stops; The figures for Black Drivers were 27.3% and 26.2%, respectively. Whites, in contrast, made up 56.3% of radar/red light violations, but 52.7% of stops as a whole

(Source: "Traffic Stop Rates Show Disparities" Washington Post, Nov 2, 2001)

 

In the Maryland study, 28.4% of Black drivers who were searched were found to have contraband, compared to 28.8% of Whites- a difference of only 0.4%.

In New Jersey, between 1997-1998, 10.5% of searches involving Whites resulted in an arrest, compared to 13.5% of searches involving Blacks, a difference of only 3%.

(Source: "A Resource Guide on Racial Profiling Data Collection Systems" Northwestern University for the US Department of Justice)

 

Well, even if it is widespread, it’s the result of personal racism, not any sort of institutional bias, right?

 

In 1985, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles issued guidelines for the police on "The Common Characteristics of Drug Couriers". The guidelines cautioned troopers to be suspicious of “rental cars, ... drivers wearing ’lots of gold’ or who do not ’fit the vehicle’, and "ethnic groups associated with the drug trade."

(Source: "Driving While Black- Racial Profiling On Our Nation's Highways", ACLU special report, June 1999)

 

"One form of deterrence might be to develop a proclivity toward the type of persons and vehicles which are usually involved in these crimes."

(Source: Internal memo written by the Chief of Tumbul, Connecticut’s all-white police force, Ambrosini in 1993)

 

New Jersey State Trooper Emblez Longoria filed a lawsuit in 1999 claiming that he was "required to work in an atmosphere where the routine violation of constitutional rights of motorists and citizens of color was not only standard practice, but encouraged and required by his supervisors."

(Source: "Trooper Says State Police in New Jersey Discriminate", New York Times, Feb 6, 1999)

 

“Governor Christine Todd Whitman and Attorney General Peter G. Verniero concede for the first time that some New Jersey state troopers singled out Black and Hispanic drivers on highways and that at least 77 percent of those drivers troopers sought to search were minorities... Whitman says that while there was no official policy allowing profiling, various policies combined to create an atmosphere that went beyond simple racism.”

(Source: "Whitman Says Troopers Used Racial Profiling", New York Times April 21, 1999)

Eastern tales illuminate (The Tartan, Carnegie Mellon University newspaper)

 

Terrorists or Freedom Fighters? (Student Union, Winter 1998 issue, alternative newspaper at Carnegie Mellon University)

So what is "terrorism"? Most definitions, such as that of the UN, say it is an act of violence against non-military targets, and other definitions add that it intends to coerce others to meet certain political goals. This, of course, begs the question about what a military target is, and what forms of "coercion" are permissible and not permissible. It is also interesting to note that definitions such as that of the UN explicitly stipulate that terrorists are those who are acting independently of a specific country (although the UN definition does make the blanket claim that all war crimes are acts of terrorism).

So what happens when a professional military force of an established country invades a territory? It uses force to impose a political "solution" upon the civilian (not to mention military) population. It may not bomb busses or assassinate political leaders, but it does use coercion.

What happens, however, if a political entity is not established? If the people do not have an "established" country - if they have been forced (coerced) out of their land or their freedom of self-determination has been taken away by a professional military force? What if a group of people is too poor to buy brigades of tanks, batteries of artillery pieces, or squadrons of bombers? Is war something only for those who have big bank accounts?

Such thinking outlaws "popular" (i.e. grass roots, as opposed to bureaucratic) struggles, and "Peoples' Wars," where guerillas fight the "establishment" they believe to be depriving them of their rights. These people may not be able to win by spending a lot of resources on tanks, but they have advantages in other areas. They have time on their side - they are not the invaders. A good strategy for them may be to harass the enemy, to not let them rest, and to fight by stealth in small units rather than by massive military operations of well-equipped forces.

Is it right to hurt and intimade people just because they disagree with you? Of course not, and perhaps this is the meaning of terrorism that most people might agree with in a non-political sense. However, what about civilians who serve the military of an invading force? What about the bureaucrats who assist dictators and exploiters in imposing their will on others? What about colonists and settlers who are armed and believe they have an ideological duty to clear certain lands of "out-group" populations?

Freedom fighting is not only about fighting people who wear uniforms, and it is not only reserved for the rich and one of the "official part of a division of a nation," as the UN says. It is about fighting for the right to live the way one wants to live in one's areas, without taking away that right from others. The enemy may be in the military, or they may be civilians. The maintenance of oppression may stem from military bases, or they may stem from government buildings. Care should be taken in not automatically thinking that only coercion by and on military targets is justified, and that civilians could not possibly be oppressors. It is usually the civilians that send and pay for the professional soldiers to impose their will on others (i.e. in "unjustified" offensive operations), that form the colonies to populate regions after they have been depopulated of their inhabitants, and that believe it is acceptable to use coercion to implement political goals as long as they do it under a flag of the status quo.

Comrade S

Towards a non-Centric Curriculum (English class final essay)

 (Please note I no longer support non-centric curriculum, this essay is from my pre-Marxist days)

There is a disparity between many ethnic groups in the United States in terms of literacy, education, employment, and other indices (Ogbu 143, Applebee 10, 11). Whites in America have a significantly better chance of having higher literacy levels than Blacks, Hispanics or Native Americans (Ogbu 143, Applebee 10, 11). What effect, if any, does curriculum have on this disparity?

American students are told about inventions made by Europeans, but how much coverage is given to advances made by peoples of other cultures? Barba reports in "Who Really Discovered Aspirin?" that most college graduates did not even know that something as commonly used as the compass was invented by a Chinese man (Barba, 27). In fact, most of the advances made by non-Europeans and women are often relegated to footnotes (Barba, 26). Several discoveries made by non-Europeans, but reported by Europeans, are credited to the European reporters (Barba, 27).

The Ancient Egyptians are treated as though they were not really Africans, although Diodorus of Sicily wrote that the Ancient Egyptians were probably the descendants of Ethiopian colonists (Wilson, 253). Ancient Egypt is often covered in a different chapter than the rest of Africa, or even as a part of the Middle East (Wilson, 254). Even when the Ancient Egyptians' contributions are mentioned, the influence of the ideas of the Ancient Egyptians on both Europeans and Africans is ignored (Wilson, 254). There is a tendency to ignore the ethnicity of non-European inventors.

The curriculum is in fact "Eurocentric". This means that when it discusses the history and development of various fields and world culture in general, it dwells only on European contributions and influences. The curriculum in fact implicitly promotes racist ideas * namely, the idea that only Whites have the intellectual ability and intelligence to succeed in the sciences, as well as in the arts and humanities.

This racism does not restrict its manifestations to contributions to world knowledge and culture. The presentation of non-European cultures is often only in the context of those cultures' relationships to Europe. For example, the African kingdoms of previous centuries are often mentioned only in the context of the slave-trade (Wilson, 254). "Everyone is now taught about the great civilizations of Rome and Greece, but how many people learn about the mighty empires of Ethiopia and Ghana?" (Vann and Kunjufu, 490).

African resistance to colonialism is often ignored, especially when it was successful. For example, Menelik II's successful defense of Ethiopia against the Italians at Adwa, or the Algerian war of independence, are often ignored (Wilson, 254-55). Often the presentation of the history of African Americans starts with slavery (Vann and Kunjufu, 490).

Discussions about Africa in most American high school textbooks often concentrate only on the problems of the continent. The photographs are limited to "camels...soldiers, and [Nelson] Mandela," and not African cities or industries (Wilson, 256). Also ignored are colonial causes of some of these problems (Wilson, 256), such as the civil strife caused by displacements of populations and the institutionalization of inequitable power structures. For example, rarely is it mentioned that a number of the ethnic conflicts in African countries stem from the fact that the borders of these countries often reflect colonial zones of control and not the territories of different ethnic groups.

This bias in coverage has several effects which contribute to the disparity problems in literacy and employment levels for the different ethnic groups in America. Andersen in "Worldmath Curriculum: Fighting Eurocentricism in Mathematics" discusses one of these effects:

"Every aspect of the educational process and every facet of industrial and technological activity must convince the majority of people especially people of color that they are biologically, intellectually, and /or psychologically incapable of understanding mathematics" (351-352).

The Eurocentricism in the curriculum disinterests minorities in subjects such as mathematics and science, as they feel that only Europeans have the "gifts" to succeed in these fields.

Another consequence of the Eurocentric bias in American high school curricula is that White students, especially males, are given false impressions of their superiority over other races (Barba, 26) The neglect of non-European contributions to world knowledge leads to a low level of self-esteem among minorities (Vann and Kunjufu, 490). The consequences would only be theoretical if it were not for minority authors who have elaborated on their personal experiences with these consequences. Annette Henry in "The Empty Shelf and Other Curricular Challenges of Teaching Children of African Descent: Implications for Teacher Practice" says:

"...these lessons that perpetuated notions of Black people as inferior and primitive, I can still painfully recall shrinking at my desk, wanting to disappear.... School was not a place where I could ask any practical or critical questions about the ambiguities in my own life as a Black child in a White Society" (Henry, 299).

It may be important to understand how the curriculum came to be so Eurocentric in the first place. If Eurocentric curricula downplay the contributions of non-European peoples and if they promote racist attitudes, how did they come to exist? Several theories have been put forward to explain how this system came to dominate American high school curricula. Rod Janzen in "Five Paradigms of Ethnic Relations" says non-Europeans where never fully accepted as "Americans" by Whites (349-350). They feared that America would become less European, become "physically darker, less Christian religiously, and less European with regard to its understanding of the best way to design social-institutions" (349). Whites, wanting the non-European Americans to become more like them, may have designed the curriculum to be Eurocentric in order to assimilate the non-Europeans into what the Whites saw as the "true" America a European, Christian America (349).

Other authors suggest an even stronger form of racism as the cause of the Eurocentric bias. Marilee Rist in "Ethnocentric Education" suggests that the Eurocentric curriculum was established to prevent minorities from challenging the power of Whites in America (29). John Ogbu in "Literacy and Schooling in Subordinate Cultures: the Case of Black Americans" claims that racism in the education system stems from a caste-like dimension of the American social structure (140). According to Ogbu, the discernible difference in literacy rates between Whites and Blacks in America is caused by various forms of racism in the American social system (140-145). This results in the establishment of "ceilings" to chances for attaining high literacy rates for minorities ceilings because minorities cannot progress in society because they are held back by systematic racism (140-145).

An increasingly popular solution to the problem of the Eurocentric bias in American high school curricula is to shift the curricular viewpoint from a Eurocentric one to an Afrocentric one. Similarly, Hispanic-centric, Native American-centric, and other similarly-centric programs have also been proposed (Janzen, 349-352). In this paper the term "non-European centric" will be used for the proposals which use a non-European culture as the culture whose contributions and influences are emphasized. A clarification of nomenclature must also be made. Afrocentric, and other non-European centric curricula, are often substituted for multicultural, and vice-versa. In this essay, these two groups of words will be treated as almost antithetical ideas. Afrocentric and other non-European centric refer to an African or African-American (or, alternatively, Hispanic, Native American, etc.) world view, whereas multicultural will refer to a world view which (at least in its intent) is not centered around any ethnic group.

Non-European centric proposals ultimately propose that members of different ethnic groups be separated, at least for some hours during the school day, so that they can receive education centered around their ethnic group (Gill, 574). Emphasis will be placed on contributions to society by members of their own ethnic groups. It is hoped by the proponents of non-European centric curricula that this specific emphasis will raise the self-esteem of the students, and that they will develop an interest in different fields (particularly in mathematics and science) which will help bridge the gap between minority groups in these areas (Gill, 571-576 ; Janzen, 350-351). This calls for a certain level of autonomy for each ethnic group in terms of high school curriculum, as it is assumed students can derive the most benefit from receiving education centered around the community they identify with most.

There are a few problems with this theory, however. One is that there may be a decrease in the efficiency of societal communication due to the lack of uniformity of education and the fostering of divisiveness (Janzen, 351). Similar curricula can help students from different ethnic groups understand each other better, and the increased socialization may similarly foster greater racial harmony. Another problem is that these non-Eurocentric approaches will not eliminate the potential racism which could arise from teaching a world view centered around any group. If minorities feel that their culture is indeed superior to the European culture, they may develop prejudiced attitudes against Whites. Racial divisiveness is obviously not beneficial to any society.

The problem with Eurocentric curricula is not that they are centered around Europe, but that they are centered around any particular group. This problem persists in Afrocentric and other non-European centric proposals, as they are still centered around an ethnic group. This centricism is what causes the racial divisiveness which has been a key factor of the problem of the disparity in literacy rates.

If the contributions of ethnic groups should not be overemphasized, should they be underemphasized? If the contributions of all ethnic groups to world knowledge and culture are recognized, students of all cultures and communities can build self-esteem and become interested in fields which Whites presently dominate in America. This cannot be done if the ethnic identities are ignored altogether, as recognizing the ethnicity of contributors to world knowledge is an opportunity to build the self-esteem of students from the ethnic groups. Not centering curriculum, while meaning not overplaying any culture, does not mean underplaying any culture either.

So what is needed is a curriculum which attempts to be free from presenting a world-view centered about any culture. Of course, although this is possible in theory, there are bound to be some prejudices entering textbooks and curricula, due to the fallibility of the humans who design curricula and teach students. Is it possible, however, to compensate (to some extent) for these subconscious tendencies?

An effort must be made to teach teachers about how to be conscious of biased views in educational materials. Teachers must be better informed of the Eurocentric biases in American high school curricula, and they must appreciate the direct relationships between this bias and the disparity between different ethnic groups in literacy rates and economic achievements in America. They must then try to ensure that the material does not overemphasize the contributions of any culture, and does not ignore the contributions any culture either. It is hoped that these measures can change the ethnocentricity of American curricula in a practical way, and the impacts of these views on the disparity in literacy rates between ethnic groups in America can then be decreased.

Works Cited

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Applebee, Arthur N., et al. "Learning to be Literate in America". In Report No. 15-RW- 01, The National Assessment of Educational Progress: The Nation's Report Card.

Barba, Robertta H.; Pang, Valerie Ooka; Tran Myluong T. "Who Really discovered Aspirin?". In the Science Teacher, v59, n5, pp. 26-27, May 1992.

Birrell, James R. "`Learning How the Game is Played': An Ethnically Encapsulated Beginning Teacher's Struggle to Prepare Black Youth for a White World". In Teaching and Teacher Education, v11, n2, pp. 137-47, March 1995.

Gill, Walter. "Jewish Day Schools and Afrocentric Programs as Models for Educating African American Youth". In the Journal of Negro Education, v60, n4, pp. 566- 80, Fall 1991.

Henry, Annette. "The Empty Shelf and Other Curricular Challenges of Teaching Children of African Descent: Implications for Teacher Practice". In Urban Education, v29, n3, pp. 298-319, October 1994.

Janzen, Rod. "Five Paradigms of Ethnic Relations". In Social Education, v58, n6, pp. 349-53, October 1994.

Ogbu, J. "Literacy and Schooling in Subordinate Cultures". In E. W. Kintgen, B. Kroll, & M. Rose, eds., Perspectives on Literacy. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press. pp. 129-153. 1988.

Rist, Marilee C. "Ethnocentric Education". In the American School Board Journal, v178, n1, pp26-29, 39. January 1991.

Vann, Kimberly R., and Kunjufu, Jawanza. "The Importance of an Afrocentric, Multicultural Curriculum". In the Phi Delta Kappan, v74, n6, pp. 490-91, February 1993.

Wilson, Angene H. "Teaching about Africa: A Review of Middle/Secondary Textbooks and Supplemental Materials". In Social Studies, v86, n6, pp. 253-59. Nov-Dec 1995.