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Show Opinion Mainstream Corporate Media Dismisses Democracy VENCEREMOS FALL 2000 16 By Peter Phillips Associate Professor of Sociology at Sonoma StateUniversity and Director of Project Censored, a media research group. By ignoring critical social issues mainstream corporate media dismisses democratic values in the United States. Since the Fall of 1999 there have been four major political , 7 demonstrations in the United States. The cities of Seattle, Washington DC, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles each hosted either a major political party convention or ¿lobal economic institution. meetings where thousands of activists protested, engaged in non-violent civil disobedience, and in rare, often provoked cases, caused superficial damaged to public and private property. Corporate media has labeled the protesters as- unorganized groups of radical environmentalists, single issues extremists, and directionless anarchists bent on disrupting social order. The extensive involvement of unions and labor in Seattle has generally been explained as an one time aberration and the global trade issues focusing on NAFTA and the WTO have been mostly forgotten. The corporate media has been particularly strong in its denigration Ef the. recent demonstrations at the Democrat and Republican conventions. Presenting the image of the demonstrators acting out radical fantasies in a deteriorating attempt to sustain the momentum of Seattle. While on first glance it may seem that Mumia rallies, anti- water fluoridation teach-ins, marches against Occidental Oil's threats to the U"wa tribe, police brutality demonstrations, and chists, have black-clad anarlittle in common and no centralized leadership. A deeper analysis will deter- mine that each of the protesting individuals and social action groups share a common disdain for institutionalized power structures that service the ¡Cefporate elites of the world at the expense of working people and the environment. . The demonstrators represent millions of us who innately recognize that the New World Order is one that does not allow for grassroots democratic processes, but rather pontificates the inevitabilities of globalization, corporate growth, and individual belt A while proceeding with building institutions for top-down ob private partnerships to control and regulate the behaviors of the global masses. Fifty-five million non-voters in the U.S. already recognize that it takes money to buy power and access to our two party system and have opted out of the charade. They recog- nize that our collective ability building realnews systems independent of corporate to participate has been strucmedia. tured out of the political deciThe anarchists, supposedly sion making process. The activists in Philadelphia encourage by Eugene Oregon author John Zerzan, are clear and Los Angeles speak for the on their objectives of building millions of us who had to stay at work doing the overtime to sustainable democratic grassmake ends meet in our bifurroots communities that respect the environment and minicating economy. We silently mized domination in any form. cheer the demonstrators and Americans many daily resist bureaucratic rules —Certainly and top down management in could fine common ground for such a our own ways. Overt resistance humanistic goal. to national and global power To simply dismiss the recent structures is a manifestation of the Da mistrust working activism as disgruntled groups people eel towards govern- of aging hippies and misguided youth is a grave error. By ments and their mega-corporanot addressing the specific tion partners. issues corporate media is disThe activists are the New itself. We Progressive Movement, a van- missing dean must examine the specifics of guard of political actors emergimg from the grassroots of protest, the inequalities of our society and globe, and improve hometown USA. They have the ways of building democratsuccessfully used the internet, and satellite links to stream e- ic participation for the betterment of humankind. mail, radio and TVimages throughout the world, and continue to work towards Columbus Day: National Holiday, or Celebration of Genocide? By Movimiento (MECHA) Estudiantil Chicána/o de Aztlan University of Utah ] We propose that a new federal holiday be declared. It should be called Hitler Day, and we will celebrate Adolf Hitler's control of many European countries and the death of millions of people that resulted from 16 Does that sound ridiculous to anybody? It should. - Yet in essence, celebrating Columbus Day is the same thing, and many people in this country do it happily and without thinking. Federal employees get a day off, retailers advertise Columbus Day sales, and ele- mentary school children are taught that in fourteenhundred and ninety-two Columbus sailed the ocean blue while they color pictures of the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. : The fact is that Columbus did not discover Ámerica. The Americas had been inhabited by millions of people long before he ever stumbled across it on his way to somewhere else. The fact is that Columbus' supposed discovery resulted in the rape, robbery, and genocide of millions of indigenous people, along with the institution of the slave trade. Columbus and those who followed him came in search of gold and power, and brought with them death and disease. So the question is, why do we celebrate this holiday? Instead of taking a day to celebrate the person who caused the deaths of millions of people, we should remember the people whose lives were taken. Columbus Day should be a day when we become educated on the true history of the Americas. We recognize the fact that the conquest of the Americas created a new race, the mestizo, a mix of the Indigenous American and European which most of us come from. However, the fact remains that our mestizaje came as a result of rape and conquest, not a sacred union shared by lovers, so it makes sense for us to recognize the ancestry and heritage of our first mother, la Indigena. We take pride in our mestizo heritage, a mixed blood, and some feel it appropriate to celebrate on this day. But we cannot celebrate as long as the marginalization of Indigenous people on this continent RA GRAN les, poetry, short stories ticulos, poemas, cuen continues. Some argue that our Indigenous ancestors enslaved each other. Many also justify the African slave trade by claiming the Africans enslaved each other in their native lands. Yet how can we believe these claims and interpretations of our ancestors when none of this information comes from pre-conquest indigenous records? Most of our records - were promptly destroyed by conquerors, just like many oral histories died with North American Indians when their nations where decimated and destroyed by European settlers. The conquest and colonization of the Americas continues as long as this holiday ao While Indigenous people and all people of color remain marginalized the colonization of the Americas continues. The time has come to take it back. Lets start by getting rid of this racist and classist holiday and replacing it with a celebration of Indigenous resistence and survival in which we learn our true history and discuss which steps to take in order to progress. : IES Nite (O! Tona al BAILE DE AÑO NUEVO DEL CLUB GUATEMALA Viernes 29 de Diciembre del 2000 7:.00pm-9:00pm CENA (AL) DIAL KIWANIS CLUB LSO Para más información llame 699-2827, 303-9297 O 521-4247 Los Esperamos Información de salud online Online Health Information http//www.med.utah.edu/pated pracer $. Eccles Health Sciences Library — University of Utah Henlo Sciences Center — The Office 4 Patient Education |
