While all of these facts are given in the article, they are added at the end after several paragraphs and a photo present the main theme: that high school students and crowds that "spanned several generations" were protesting for "Freedom for Kosova." The article concludes by approvingly quoting a rally organizer, Arta Haxhaj, calling for "Actions, not words" in the fight for Kosovan independence.
But this kind of action does not help working people in Kosova, Yugoslavia or the United States. The Militant has consistently printed articles explaining how the imperialists are using Serb terror in Kosova as a pretext for expanding its military intervention in the Balkans. Thousands of imperialist troops are today in Yugoslavia under the cover of "peacekeeping" and stopping the slaughter in Bosnia. Last year thousands of troops were sent to Albania during the rebellion there, again under the cover of "humanitarian" purposes. Actions that call on the imperialists to get tough on Belgrade and denounce "serbo- slav communism" play into the hands of Clinton and Albright, who are leading the expansion of NATO and are on the lookout for opportunities to use their military might to reimpose capitalism in Eastern Europe and Russia.
Maybe a number of the participants in the rally were interested in the working-class struggles described in the Militant and in Pathfinder books. This would be a reason for supporters of the Militant to try to find ways to reach these individuals with a communist perspective on the struggle in the Balkans. But this would not be a reason to present the April 24 rally as one to be supported and repeated. There was nothing progressive about this action that linked "Freedom for Kosova" with U.S. military intervention.
Michael Italie
Atlanta, Georgia
Terminology signifies line
A number of recent Militant articles on union struggles
have called the workers' adversaries "management."
"Northwest management has stepped up its attacks" (issue no.
18). "Tensions between labor and management at Case remain
high" (issue no. 16). The editors repeat this phrase in the
headline on page 11. A Fletcher Challenge striker is quoted,
"Management `wants to tell you what to do.'" Since
management is not in the quotation marks, presumably it was
substituted for the striker's words.
I started to notice this only after reading Letters from Prison by the Militant's founder and longtime editor, James P. Cannon. On page 173 he writes, "While I am on this subject, let me mention that I saw the expression "management" used in a recent issue of The Militant. The right word is employers, or bosses, or blood-sucking exploiters. Terminology signifies line."
Has the Militant's line on "management" changed since the days of Cannon? Or has this been an editorial oversight? I haven't done any research to see how long this expression has been back in use.
Kristin Meriam
Birmingham, Alabama
Editor's reply: The Militant agrees with Cannon's view on this. Thanks for pointing it out.
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