rn: “strange fruit” in California & Chomsky site

2000-02-27

Jan Slakov

Dear RN,

Here are two messages from the same address, one about the recent
exoneration of the police who killed a black man who they say was a
suspected rapist (according to CBC news) but we all know that what he was to
the police, was a man who had black skin...

all the best, Jan
PS Dan, (author of these messages) do let us know a bit about who you are if
you have time, eh?
*************************************************
Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2000 20:21:58 -0800
From: CyberBrook <•••@••.•••>
Subject: Forty-One Times!

Forty-One Times!
       by Ron Jacobs
                   http://www.neravt.com/left/

                  The verdict is in. The cops are free to kill again, if
they feel the need. The
             community of color has been reminded, once again, of their
place, and the
             police are reminded, once again, of theirs. If one is a cop in
America, (s)he
             is free to shoot and kill an unarmed human just because
his/her skin is black
             and s/he lives in a poor neighborhood. If one is a cop in
America, s/he is
             above the law. What would be cold-blooded murder becomes self
defense, if
             the cops are the ones pulling the trigger. What would be a
weak attempt at
             lying by any other person becomes an entire courtroom defense,
if one is a
             cop. What should have been a tireless prosecution in pursuit
of a gang-style
             execution becomes a shabby masquerade by the district
attorneys office
             when the killers are cops. What should have been a post-trial
plea by the
             police for a little mercy becomes a post-trial plea by the
murdered man's
             family for calm to a crowd of righteously angry friends and
supporters of the
             murdered man.
                  Welcome to the new millennium, America, where the strange
fruit no
             longer hangs from the sycamore trees, but bleeds to death in a
New York
             City doorway and the lynch mob wears the policemans uniform.
Welcome to
             the new millennium, America, where the murder victim is blamed
for his
             death because (and only because) his skin is black. Welcome to
the new
             millennium, America, where the man on the television asks us to
             sympathize with the killers because they were four white men
who killed an
             unarmed black man. Welcome to the new millennium, America,
where the
             color line that W.E.B DuBois said would define the twentieth
century has just
             shown its ugly head in the twenty-first.
                  This verdict is inexcusable. These cops intended to kill
Amadou Diallo
             when they shot him forty-one times with their semi-automatic
pistols. Forty
             one times. One, two, thre, four, five, six, seven, eight,
nine, ten, eleven,
             twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen,
eighteen, nineteen,
             twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two, twentypthree, twenty-four,
twenty-five,
             twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty,
thirty-one,
             thirty-two, thirty-three, thirty-four, thirty-five,
thirty-six, thirty-seven,
             thirty-eight, thirty-nine, forty, forty-one. 
******************************************************************
Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2000 21:27:16 -0800
To: •••@••.•••
From: CyberBrook <•••@••.•••>
Subject: Chomsky

I don't recall if they have a search engine on their site, 
but the place for all things Chomsky can be found at: 

www.zmag.org/chomsky
Good luck!---Dan

>Hi Jan:
>    A friend asked where I got the Chomsky quote below.  I thought it
>was from one of your postings but have been unable to find it.
>    Does it ring any bells?  Don't bother if it doesn't come easily to
>mind.
>
>    Thanks.
>            Yours,  Mike N.
>Note from Jan: doesn't ring a bell for me; does anyone else know?
>---------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>    "A principle familiar to propagandists is that
>    the doctrine to be instilled in the target audience
>    should not be articulated: that would only expose
>    them to reflection, inquiry, and, very likely, ridicule.
>    The proper procedure is to drill them home by
>    constantly presupposing them, so that they become
>    the very condition for discourse".
>
>                            Noam Chomsky