From every city and rural area across the state, swelled by others who decided to take a stand from many other parts of the country, the mass outpouring demanding "take down" the symbol of oppression and brutality that is the Confederate battle flag was heard loud and clear in state capitals across the country and by the twin parties of the wealthy minority in Washington.

"Your heritage is my slavery," was a sign carried by many. The heritage of youth and working people lies not with the Confederate battle flag, but with the war to defeat the slavocracy in the South. It lies with General William Sherman's march to the sea, with which the Union Army broke the back of the Confederacy. It is with the battles of workers across the South to establish union organization, to unify and fight for decent wages and social conditions. It is with the historic battle to bring down Jim Crow segregation, pushing back the ability of the employers to divide working people and to justify the super-exploitation and denial of rights because of the color of one's skin.

But as marches in Columbia, Atlanta, Decatur, and in hundreds of other cities showed, these are burning questions today. The cop assault on longshoremen protesting union-busting moves in Charleston, South Carolina, is further evidence of that fact.

The depth and breadth of the new proletarian movement arising—of men and women in towns and rural areas; of farmers; of unionists and workers fighting for a union; and of those fighting against oppression and for human dignity—came forth in an especially powerful way this past week.

Tens of thousands took to the streets to win Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday as a federal holiday. Many, including worker-correspondents writing in this paper, said the day could be used to continue to march, demonstrate, and rally to press forward struggles for social justice and equality. Tens of thousands are using the day to do so, giving inspiration to others to join in.  
 
 
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