The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.62/No.38           October 26, 1998 
 
 
Letters  
Exaggeration doesn't help
In the introduction to the reproduction of president Fidel Castro's speech to South Africa's National Assembly in the Militant, vol. 62, no. 34 dated Sept. 28, 1998, it is claimed that "The Cuban leader was given a hero's welcome by millions of South Africans during his two-day state visit."

I have followed the newspaper and television coverage of comrade Fidel Castro's visit to South Africa and I attended his visit to the memorial to the youth of Soweto. I found no evidence to support this claim.

There weren't any mass demonstrations of welcome for comrade Castro that numbered more than 2,000 people, let alone millions. At his visit to the Soweto memorial there were at most 500 people - this in the heart of Soweto where mass rallies of tens of thousands were called at short notice in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The mass democratic movement is in decline, most working people who were participants in this movement no longer play any political role whatsoever. I am certain that vast sections of the South African people are attracted to the Cuban revolution and its leadership, they are just too demoralized and disoriented to express this attraction. Recently three immigrant workers were murdered in public after a demonstration of unemployed workers -this is certainly another example of this demoralization.

The strength of the Militant has been its accurate reportage of the facts so that readers will be able to understand the world in order to change it. This is an important strength that needs to be maintained if the Militant is to remain a weapon in the hands of fighters the world over.

Jairaj Chetty

South Africa

Editors' reply: Chetty is right - "millions" was an exaggeration that was not supported by the facts. The news article on Castro's visit to South Africa in the previous Militant accurately described the warm response the Cuban president got, without suggesting that any of the actions were larger than a couple of thousand people.

Discussion on AMFA
The Militant article "AMFA is part of boss antiunion campaign" in the September 28 issue has attracted a lot of attention here. This article passed through many hands and work areas in the hanger [at Northwest Airlines], and has prompted plenty of comments. Supporters of the Militant sold three subscriptions and over a dozen single copies.

One mechanic said that after he got the Militant, he showed the article on AMFA [the Airline Mechanics Fraternal Association] to a friend in the machine shop, which is a stronghold of support for the IAM [International Association of Machinists].

After that he never saw the paper again because so many liked it and wanted to read it. The next issue, with the article "IAM restructuring divides, weakens union at Northwest" convinced him that he would take the Militant home first, so that he could read the rest of the paper before showing it to anyone else.

The Northwest pilots' strike renewed some workers' confidence that it is possible to fight and win. More mechanics are open to discussing AMFA now than before the strike, and "AMFA No" buttons are being worn.

A mechanic and a machinist, one from Pennsylvania and the other from West Virginia, told me that they have coal miners in their family and were brought up to be pro-union, and appreciated the fact that the Militant article showed that AMFA attacks on ramp workers have nothing to do with union solidarity among workers.

Mike Italie

Atlanta, Georgia

Hidden sports history
One of the most publicized stories on the sports pages in recent years has been the attempts by Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa to establish a new record for the most home runs hit in a single season.

It may be of interest to readers of the Militant that the media, for the most part, got this story completely wrong. According to Cum Posey, who tabulated the records for the Negro Baseball Leagues, Josh Gibson hit 65 home runs in 1930 and 72 home runs in 1931.

Today, baseball officials and most of the media claim that Mark McGwire holds the record for the most home runs because he hit 70 this season.

Those who believe that McGwire has this record will argue that the Negro Leagues were not the "Major Leagues" and therefore Gibson's record should not count. However, due to racial discrimination, the Negro Leagues were the major leagues for African Americans. Most of the games played between the "majors" and the Negro League All Stars were won by the Negro League.

Throughout his life Josh Gibson was enraged by the fact that he never received the recognition he deserved.

Today, sports fans throughout the world have a right to be enraged at the media, which chooses to continue to ignore the accomplishments of Josh Gibson and the Negro Leagues.

Steve Halpern

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

 
 
 
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