Letter
To-
WMMWH%
High School Studenty

By, Sundiata Acoli

January 1°¢, 2000
Letter to Washington Heights
High School Students (2000)

Hello Yc

‘What's up? Que Pase? Your teacher, Ms. T., tells me
that you all have a lot of questions about racism, police
‘brutality, prisons, oppression and so forth. She asked me
to write a letter to the class about it and run it down te you.

wm,rmm.nm'-’:m 1 was a member of
the Black Panther Party that fought against police
in the ‘60s/70's, 50 I know about that. I've been in
for the last 26 years, so 1 know prisons. And I've been
oppressed all of my life and have fought against it all of my
Tife, o you know I know about oppression.

Racism, police brutality, prisons and oppression are all
connected. They all work together to keep people of color
down in particular and poor down in general. Let’s sce
how this operates.

RACISM

‘What is racism? My dictionary says it's “the belief that
race accounts for differences in human character or ability
and that a particular race is superior to others.” Well, that
sounds slick but it is a bunch of crap.

Racism is not about what a person believes about
another race; it's about what a person, or race, does to
another race. Beliefs are simply things in people’s heads —
their thoughts, ideas, opinions, etc. A person can believe
or think mhgmﬂzywmmﬂhd:m’!hﬂoer
in any way — as long as 't do anything to you.

ngmmmwmhlgnM-hm. No

as as you try to do anything, like kiss
mm.mmu.mmnmmm
you, t0o. If s0, you and Aisha can then kiss with no
problem because both of you want to and she consents
(agrees by word or action) to kiss you.

But let’s say Aisha doesn’t want to be kissed by Goeffrey.
Yet he throws her down and kisses her anyway. He likes it,
kipnaps her, takes her home, names her “Beatee,” beats
her every night and locks her in the closet. He keeps her
Half-naked and half-starved and only lets her out to clean
house, cook, or wash clothes. He never pays her a dime
nor lets her go to school, nor does he teach her to read or
write. And this goes on for 40 years until she no
remembers her real name, ar how she came to be fn

Rouse. E3
Atthat “Beatee” in the
scmar e sy e
ooy ke i e BT R
friends come over, he tells them that “Boatec” is a shut
'whom he found homeless on the strects at a young age,

ragged,

and hardly speaking English. He took her in, gave her a
g00d home and raised her 2s best he could. She was
happy, grateful and stayed on as his maid. His friends
wlﬁmw“m.ﬂmﬂum

street to Geofrey, who's waiting for the doorman o bring
i o arcind:

You step up to Geofirey and say, “Yo! Man, what's
happening with her?” He his story of “Beatee” that
he' often told bis friends. They stand around ey o
agreement. He ends saying, “I did the best I could do for
her but she wasn't ahle to make something of hersctf e
&:mul‘“w“lwh‘-
because she's Black and it accounts for the difforenee in
ber.”

You might believe his story unless you knew the true
i e b ey ling

‘Well, racism works the same way. It's not about what
r-n—(ﬂhﬁgh-kmwm“m ‘When one
race consistently, time and again, another race’s
uses foree to take advantage of that race for the benefit of
Mmm—m’tw e I

‘When you know the origin, or the true history, of a
problem, you are much better abie to understand ft and
come up with a solation to it. Millions of years ago the
homan race began in Afriks. They were Black people.
Many years later some spread to other continents. Over
time, the separation, climates, nbreeding and
other factors changed: appearance to the general
racial and ethnic features we recognize todzy. 4

Afrika was the land of the Blacks, the East was the land
of the Arabs and Asians, North Amerika was the lind of
the Reds, South America and the West were the land of the
Browns, and Europe was the land of the Whites. On each
continent great civilizations rose and fell, perhaps many
times, with Afrika being the first and perhaps

clvil abd religious systems which still govern the universe.
Zimbabwe, Ghana, Mali, Songhay, and other parts of
Afrika.

The Europeans, or Whites, are newcomers and the
Iatest arrivals to civilization. Mﬂ-bgm.:dfn
invasions of Egypt from the north, often combined with
Ahhvm&ﬁ;hhﬂbmhﬂﬂn;l‘rm
‘many times over the previous centuries, in addition to
earlier and ongoing Asian invasions. At this time race had
mbmhgmlh'ﬂmm those
prisoners captured wars, 'was how slavery
began. Whites, Blacks, Browns, and Yellows were all
made slaves, if captured. A slave or ex-slave could and
often did, rise to the highest position in society.
came to Afrika to study at its Egyptian universities. The
Aﬁiknm-wmhmn“whmh hﬁﬂ-dk"l:lhﬂxlldcﬁe
circa 650 B.C.E, invasion of its crown jewel — Egypt, sitting
u&emﬂheme-:dum Over time the
Earopeans looted the Egyptian temples, tombs, and 5
Tibraries, carrying many of its books and other treasures
backto Greece, Reme and other Earopean centers, and
burned the rest of the books along with the library to the

1slam and ing the occupiers, but at the
same time Afrikans from its eastern seaports.
‘The Arabs made a practice of strong slave
long before warring invaders and slave hunters crashed
down om their headz again, forcing them to flee once more
into the interior in a circular movement that
ultimately kept them on the move for centuries. &
In the meantime, Enropeans rewrote history to hide the

previous Afrikan discovery as their own. They said that
Afrikans were and always had been hesithens and savages
who gave nothing to the world, and that it was the Greeks
and Romans who laid the foundation to White Western
Civilization.

About 500 years ago Europeans found themselves cut
off by Turks from the Jand route to East India and its trade
goods. They began seeking a sea route to India. Thinking
the world was flat, they hoped to sail around Afrika,
keeping near to its coastline, to reach India. They wanted
to avoid sailing too far out into the ocean for fear of

off the end of the Earth.

On each failed attempt to circle Afrika they sailed part of
the way along its western coast, gave up, and went ashore
o or invite Afrikans to return to Europe with
them. From these captives or guests, the Europeans
Jearned of navigation by the stars, which Afrikan caravans
had used for centuries to cross the great Sahara and Sinai
deserts, two vast seas of sand. They also learned of ancient
Afrikan sailors who had sailed across the ocean toa
distant land and back — which was probably why they took
the Afrikans back to Europe in the first place. Columbus
put it altogether — navigation by stars and known voyages
to distant lands — to become one of the first Europeans to
reach the Americas. Also, years earlier the Europeans had
been introduced to fire crackers in China. They used the
technique to make gunpowder and the gun — and it was on!

Europeans began kidnapping Afrikans and bringing
them and Buropean convicts to the Americas as
indentured servants. At first they released both European
and Afrikans upon completion of their servitude or
sentence, but over time the slave owners passed laws that
made Afrikans indentured, or enslaved, for life.

At the same time, colonial Whites waged war against the
indigenous people of the Americas, the Indians, or Red
race, and began killing them off with guns and blankets
infected with small pox, in order to take possession of
their land. While massacring the Reds and enslaving the
Blacks in the Americas, they turned their cannons on the

plantations to produce more tobacoo, cotton, sugar, and
rum, to sell to Europe. With the money carned they then
mmmmmmmwm

to fight the Red and Brown races and take
more of their land. And this vicious cirele continned for
centuries.

Everywhere Whites went, they spread their racism by
setting up the most vicious racial caste, or category,
system the world had ever seen. All people were ranked by
color — Whites at the top, then Yellow, Brown, red and
Blacks at the bottom. They fanatically forbade any sexual
relations between White women and men of other races.
‘The rule did not, however, apply to White men having
sexual relations with women of other races, which was in
fact rape, since women of color had little or no say or
cholcein the matter. Sexual relations among races of

‘were mostly a matter of choice, preference, or
cultural tradition — the Whites looked down an any
woman having sexual relations with Black men.

Social relationships between Whites and other races
importance, or ease. The positions of governor, legislato)
businessman, skille professional, shop owner, plantatio:
owner, overseer, boss, and straw boss, ds well as all other
desirable jobs, were restricted to “Whites first.”

If no Whites could be found for a choice job, it was given
to the next racial level, the Asians, usually Chinese or East
mmmmrwoqumu-wmemm-

Asian woman, or Brown, or Red woman, and lastly, a
‘Black woman. If none could be found still, then the next
racial level, Brown, would be permitted or made to take
‘the job, and so on down the line to the Black, who was
always last to gain and first to pain.

‘The color caste system was brutally enforced by
Europeans in all dealings with other races. They would
kill, brutalize, enslave, or imprison anyone of color, or
even Whites, who violated the rules for any reason. With
this policy, Whites fought their way through the Americas
in order to establish their power over all other races. The
lowest White normally had more power and was treated
better than the highest person of another race. All Whites
‘were above the law with respect to other races. A drunken
‘White tramp or rogue could murder the chief of another
race and most Whites would band together to protect him
and prevent him from being tried by the injured race.
Rarely, if ever, would he even be brought to trial. People
of color were generally treated as less than animals, and
were bought and sold, worked, bred, and often housed like

history, culture, and how European culture came to be in
their hands.

All this was done by Whites to other races for 400 years
by force of arms, cannons, whips, chains, the Navy, militia,
police, White citizens, lynchings, beatings, slavery,
prisons, guile and trickery in order to force other races to
submit, work, idolize European culture, and be afraid to
resist or practice their own culture, 5o that a White elite
could rule and grow rich, and Whites in general could live
well off the free and cheap labor of people of color and the
poor. That's racism and the foundation of White
supremacy. Its purpose is to maintain power over people
of color and the poor for the benefit of White elites and
their cohorts.

‘That was then, what about now? Does racism still exist?
Does White supremacy still exist? Yes, but after 500 years
it's gotten slicker and changed somewhat so that it's
harder to see or detect.

mﬁemdw,mm“' slavery, all white
persons held authority over people of color. But. of
color and anti-slavery Whites resisted. Eventually,
became too eostly in terms of lives and money, and
resulted in the Civil War which brought an end to chattel
slavery. The color caste system simply switched to
enslaving people of color and the poor through low pay,

‘wages, peonage, and later, segregation laws
enacted for the purpose of keeping people of color in their

Following World War II, the U.S. became the world’s
leader, but the majority of the world’s people were people
of color. Most Were engaged in armed and unarmed
struggles for independence from European colonialism or
control. The U.S. knew it couldn’t sell its racist form of
government, economics, and trade to the world as long as
ithad segregation codes against people of color at home.
Moreover, the bad publicity from people of color and anti-
racist Whites’ growing resistance to segregation in the U.S.
‘'was hurting its world image. Colonized people worldwide
‘were turning toward the non-racist socialist form of
government as preached by the Soviet Union, North Korea,
North Vietnam, Cuba, ete.

The Europeans were losing lives in doomed colonial
wars. G;':‘Ingsvviau-ldewuuﬁnginlou&nlu
abroad, plus segregation prevented many White
businessmen in the hotel, restaurant, nightclub, school,
university, and other trades from to the growing
populations of color at home. Segregation had become too
costly in lives and image as a result of the Civil Rights
movement. Once again, the U.S. color caste system
mmmmﬁwm‘mmwmm

law books, but it never in fact, fully desegregated the
ountry. It coukdn’t because the color caste system is the
core of its governing and economic structure. It can’t
change the structure without giving up its goal of
hush-hush topics these countries, and
wherever this sort of discrimination exists, because it
shows that the old color caste system is still
alive and 1t’s only been modified to make it more
presentable and 10 see, but the core of the system
and its function, remain the same.

So, what's asystem? Its like a machine, except it's a
network of people, places and things all working together
according to a plan that’s designed to produce certain
results. A system enables a person to work in it by simply
carrying out one’s role, without having to know the whole

designed to produce certain results, ‘we neither
designed it nor set it up.
The invaders set up this color caste system we
Pprosperous themselves, in general. 1
‘When you maintain or keep control over someone or
something, that’s called domination. And when you use or
take advantage of someone, that’s known as exploitation.
The European invaders set up a system that dominates and
exploits other races and the poor for the benefit of the
‘White elite and its supporters. That’s a racist system.

‘The children of the invaders, a rich White elite, still
'maintain that system, only it’s been changed a little over
the centuries to blind people to its true function. When a
system is used to do something, that makes it
So, finally, what is racism? Ft’s the systematic domination
«and exploitation of one race by another race for their own

Once you look at racism in that light, you understand it
and how it works, and you know it's not beliefs, but a
practice, that’s done by one race to another.
You also know if’s not done because of “beliefs” or wrong
ideas,” but because one race benefits from dominating and .
exploiting another race. And last, you understand that
racism is not some random or incidental encounter, but a
system set up long ago by the White invaders who made it
a cornerstone of their government and economics. They
passed it on to their children who maintained its core, the
color caste system, but changed its outer appearance each
time resistance blocked it from continuing in its earlier
form — thus it has come down to our times.

Racism is 0 systematic today that the majority of
‘Whites no longer have to be personally racist toward
people of color. And racism will continue no matter how
many people of color become part of the system. Racism is
ingrained in its very core. No matter who operates it, the
mere operation of the system itself ensures that people of
color and the poor will continue to be dominated and
exploited by a White elite and their

So what is this racist system called? It's called
capitalism — and it’s maintained by a rich White elite who

control the government. The government controls us,
people of color and the poor, for the benefit of the elite
White capitalists, their supporters and Whites in general.
The capitalists benefit from their corporations, making
term “Police Brutality,” as used today, is actually
in::ea. Tt should be called, “Polios Murder and
Brutality,” since killings by the police are usually dumped
into the brutality category.

Police Brutality is the use of undue foree by the police.

assault occurs anytime someone needlessly puts anyone in
fear of life or limb. Mi:m‘thwtnbew Ttis
enough that they are put in fear, such as having someone
pull a gun or knife on them. That alone is legal grounds
for an assault

assaults. luyhdnlnrnfmminmdgmm
live there. That’s ane reason the police do it. These
uncalled for police assaults can also be classified as police

“The police rarely or never conduct such “stop and frisk”
tactics or “Crime Unit Sweeps” in White communities,

are quick to shoot and kill youths of color. In almost every

rifn\ﬂhirsmnmmmlm-ymmm. Whyis
t?
system’s authority, or the government’s authority, which
in essence are one and the same.

‘White, shoot, kill and brutalize
e e
o ot sty g nd 1
reason

o e Pl sy Mo and ek
destroy the rebellious ones of our communities. Any
youth who gets “uppity” during these stops is considered
rebellious. Often, a pretext is found to brutalize or arrest
them, give them a record early in life, and eventually, send
them to prison. chs of "
Sending so many. ‘color to prison makes
uderfwﬂ:poﬂmg:mmdﬂm hood. Young people
qu&ntn?lmdqdﬂer;d:mdm%‘

have less resistance and communities of color are left

‘majority of the U.S. population for a little longer.

The police do inside the country, what the CIA and
armed forces do abroad, although the distinction between
them is blurred. The U.S. military treats Afrikans, Asians
and South Americans in their countries the same as the
police treat people of color and the poor in their
communities. The police will contirue to ride roughshod
over people in the hood until its youths form
organizations to defend themselves and their commmunities
from police murder and brutality. The Black Panther
Party (BPP) and the Black Liberation Army (BLA) were
two such organizations that did this in the sixties and

seventies.

Defending the community from police murder, brutality
give the Civilian Review Boards teeth to ensure that killer
cops are sentenced the same as people of color and the
poor who commit murder, and pass laws that require the
police to live in the cities in which they work.
~munﬁadmiormmwummw
ks oﬂpwﬂedéui?:-:ndthe although not

poor,
sliminate it. The latter could only be accomplished by
shanging the structure and nature of the system Ik}
iltogether.

Prisons

Prisons are also part of the system, or government. Just
15 there are city, state, and federal police, there are city
prisons, called jails, as well as state and federal
prisons serve by holding, punishing, and making money on
back door move to re-enslave people of color through mass
imprisonment.

arresting
and sending, people of color to prison, while letting most
Whites go free or on probation for similar violations.

Prisons are brutal places. They serve the same purpose
as brutal police acts. They spread fear, keep the poor and
communities of color submissive and afraid to resist for
fear of imprisonment. Once imprisoned, the intent is to
hrukﬁwp-iun::-,junu&d-y-dﬂ:sry,nuh
return them to the streets, old, broken, and willing
informants on their communities.

Prisons are racist. Most are located deep in rural White
communitics, far from the hood. They provide jobs and a
better life for poor rural Whites. It keeps them solid
defenders of government policies regardless of how these
policies wreak havoc upon communities of color and other
poor Whites.
employing ﬁ:::l:denlnr Most of those accepted

more X
such jobs did so to better their own lives and are staunch
government control. It doesn't matter how many people of
color work in the prisons; in fact the staff could be all
‘Black and prisons would still be racist. They remain an
arm of the government, a color-caste system whose basic
structure and function remain unchanged. That function
is to maintain a White elite and their cohorts in power,
over people of color and the poor.

Private corporations are investing in prisons in droves
1o reap fortunes off its cheap slave labor. This gives
corporations additional motives to have the government
step up even further the mass arrest and imprisonment of
people of color, and give them even longer sentences to
create a greater supply of slave labor on which to amass
even greater fortunes. The time has long since arrived
‘where prisoners have no choice but to go on nationwide
strike to break this vicious cycle. All prisoners have to do
is to “do nothing,” lay down and refuse to work. The
government will react harshly, but in the end, it and the
corporations will have to withdraw their siege on our
‘communities, both inside and out.

Oppression

That is a good description of the system we live under. It
keeps people of color and the poor down by severe and
unjust use of force and authority. I's unjust because it's
racist and exploitative. It's kept in place by unjust force of
the police, prisons, and the armed forces. Despite all the
sweet talk of freedom, democracy, equality, free enterprise
and so forth, when you look behind the mask, it is all based
on the unjust use of force and 3

oo s that wil male theon silions of
corporations, set policies ‘make
dollars. The government uses its authority to carry out the
policies. The police at home and the Armed Forces abroad
‘use force on anyone or any country that won’t fall in line
‘with the dictated policies. That’s what the recent protest
Organization) in Seattle, Washington, and elsewhere, were
all about.

of color
People mmmmawu-m

History shows that this racist, capitalist system cannot
‘When resistance gets too costly, it only changes its
methods, then it continues down the same path — the
unbridled pursuit of riches through world domination of
people of color and the poor.

‘The entire system must be destroyed. It has failed

. And even now it’s i

system.

Sundiata Acoli
Sundiata Acoli #39794-066
(Clark Squire)
FCI Otisville South Chicago ABC Zine Distro
P.0. Box 1000 P.0.Box721
Otisville, NY 10963 Homewood, IL 60430

Bdited by Anthony Ra Published August 9th, 2008
— z“/‘(/!mnﬁm/ﬁulow:i’:;’m