Working people don't need politicians from either of the two big business parties to set up commissions to define "decency standards." The Democrats and Republicans who run City Hall preside over a city with rising homelessness, a police force with an established record of brutality, a record of intrusions on democratic rights, antiunion attacks, and other assaults on the rights of working people. This bipartisan offensive--organized by the liberal wings of the Democratic and Republican parties--is what propels Giuliani's moves, not fascist-like censorship proposals of a Republican mayor, as Democratic mayoral hopeful Fernando Ferrer asserts.

Deciding whether to go see an art exhibit and judging whether it is offensive is an individual decision that should be defended by all working people. Ceding to the bourgeois government decisions over what art work can be displayed, what books libraries can carry, or what magazines or videos a store can sell is not only a direct attack on democratic rights. It also opens the door to further intrusions on the unions and other organizations of working people, as well on as the right to privacy.

More than a year ago Giuliani denounced another exhibit at the Brooklyn museum as antireligious "Catholic bashing." This attempt at censorship was pushed back by protests organized to defend democratic rights and public funding of the arts. The lesson from that victory is that rallies, public forums, and other discussions in defense of free speech are needed to protect democratic rights when they come under attack. The labor movement and all supporters of democratic rights can raise a unified voice in this controversy to say: Uphold freedom of expression! Defend the First Amendment!
 
 
Related article:
Thousands visit controversial exhibit at Brooklyn museum  
 
 
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