Jarvis Tyner at NUT’s Race Advisory Committee
“A new Civil Rights Revolution”
There are some people – a few in my experience – who seem to wear a sense of legitimate authority like the rest of us wear our most comfortable clothes... and when you meet them, you feel you really need to know what they have to say.
One such person is Jarvis Tyner, the American black civil rights and political activist, veteran of the organising committee of the Martin Luther King 1963 “I Have a Dream” demonstration and campaigns, long-time friend and comrade of Angela Davis, activist with the Black Panthers, leading member of the Communist Party of USA.
Jarvis spoke recently to the Union’s Race Advisory Committee
as his first engagement on a tour of Britain as part of Black History month,
which then took him on an exhausting route, criss-crossing the country,
speaking at Universities, Trade Union meetings, anti-racist organisations,
community groups, Morning Star Readers Groups, and finishing at the Communist
Party’s weekend “university” – Question Everything!
At our Race Advisory, Jarvis began by commenting on the “critical time” facing the world – and asserted that the oppressed had a huge “humanising” role to play in such a time, just as Back people had played such a role throughout the history of the USA. He reminded us that the earliest foundations of US capitalism were built on the wealth created by slaves, but that Black people were constantly denied access to their history, and were bludgeoned into a sense of inferiority by segregation, racist law and institutions including schools and the terrorism of The Klan. All this had a devastating effect on the psyche of Black people. It was against all of this that the Civil Rights movement had struggled – and needed to continue to struggle.
Jarvis, throughout his contribution, showed how the anti-racist and civil rights struggles related directly to the class struggle in the States. He referred to the rise of individual black politicians, military figures and entrepreneurs – “the Condo and Colin clique” - was simply “sugar coating” on the real class and ethnic divisions in the States.
Before turning to the US education system, Jarvis spoke about the general governmental and party political struggle. He described the 20 million strong Black vote as “concentrated in the cities, and in its direction”. As a result of the tradition and experience of the Civil Rights movement, over 90% voted anti-Bush et al. He reminded us that in 2000 Bush lost the popular vote across the USA, but following the Florida manipulations, took office through a “judicial coup” – “unelected by the people, but given power by the judges”. In the subsequent election, there was a “vicious campaign” against Black voter registration. Jarvis described how in Ohio – a key State -hundreds of thousands of forms distributed and collected by the Trade Unions registering black voters were declared “legally unacceptable” because they were on standard paper rather than card, though each contained al the necessary information and legal requirements.
Jarvis went on to assert that the same racism and lack of democracy evident still within US politics is now running rampant in the world at large, promoted by Bush and the same forces that support him at home.
Turning to the education system, Jarvis described how there was a concerted attempt in the US to portray public education – ie state education – as a failure. This campaign has been reinforced by 25 years of education budget cuts. He reminded us that the 1954 Supreme Court decision on integration of schools – when he was aged 13 – was never enforced… and that segregation remains in many schools. Now more funding is found for “successful schools” which largely serve communities that are neither black nor working class. Meanwhile the “No Child Left Behind” strategy is built on a punitive platform of “standards, targets and ‘high-stakes testing’” – which has negative and damaging effects wherever it is imposed – and particularly in black and working class communities. The marketisation and privatisation of schools through “Charter Schools” and voucher systems continue apace, and threaten the same communities. As a result there are well-funded schools with private sector support for some – a few - and a growing situation of “schools like prisons” where security patrols, funding cuts, sackings and closures are the norm for the most disadvantaged. This was being rapidly compounded by the development of “faith schools” – which challenged the US constitutional position of the separation of church and state
Jarvis digressed just a little as a result of his “schools like prisons” remark to remind us that the USA had the highest prison population per head in the world – with 50% of those incarcerated being black – around 80% of those on Death Row. Crime and drug dependence were encouraged in black communities by the oppressive nature of life for many – particularly the young… thus the need to continually challenge and rebuild the Civil Rights movement.
That movement takes many forms across time and space. At present the campaign to raise Black awareness and voter registration for the November 7th Congressional elections is assuming the greatest importance, as a loss of a Republican majority would seriously undermine Bush’s programme at home and abroad. The ‘anti-terrorist hysteria’ that had gripped the USA following the attack on the World Trade Centre – an attack that Jarvis suggested had not ever been properly explored and reported, and that many believed had some involvement of US security services – had created more terrorism by the US state. The democratic rights of the American people – and particularly black and working class people were under attack, and the US politicians and military were arguing their right to intervene economically, politically and militarily anywhere in the world they saw fit. But the consensus in the US was breaking down, and thus the importance of the Congressional elections and the Black vote in it.
However, the struggle in the US goes well beyond electoral politics. Jarvis asserted there needs to be a “new Civil Rights Revolution” and spoke briefly about his current work with Jesse Jackson to create new “Street Heat” – declaring that after the elections there would be a “new offensive” centring on education and health care.
Jarvis finished by insisting that Black Americans had always had a key role in advancing and developing US democracy – and there was “plenty of room for further advancement and development!”
In answering questions, Jarvis spoke about the concerted right wing neo-con attack on youth and youth culture. They were again pushing the line that black people were responsible for the problems that afflicted their communities – violence, drugs, sexism – and that black youth were the source, not the victims, of these. Jarvis insisted that on the contrary 'Rap and Bling culture' were the creation of deprivation, poverty, insecurity and competitiveness. The destruction of basic “entry level” employment by the pressures of globalisation and the export of jobs, the escalation of house prices meant that many black youth had little stake in society. The “new Civil Rights Revolution” would challenge this low self-image and resulting despair, just as Dr King had in the 60s – though ruling class neocon plans for “The New American Century” would aim at the suppression of such a movement. So “the path would be one of struggle…again”
He agreed that there is a perception in many countries that “all Americans are the same”, and that we need to show that there are the same divisions in America that exist everywhere – social division that include both race and class. He maintained that the American people are fundamentally “very democratic” by tradition and inclination, but they are still for the most part either unaware of, or in denial about the US strategy of “oil and domination”
The session finished with Jarvis agreeing that it would be a good idea to have UN observers to oversee the November Congressional elections – but that in the end, the responsibility for defending and extending democracy lay with ordinary people –and that was something that he was absolutely committed to.
Thanking the Advisory group for the invitation, he in turn accepted our very heartfelt thanks for a fascinating and very useful session – and set off for his next engagement a few hours later in Newcastle.
Jarvis Tyner - potted biography
Jarvis Tyner was born on July 11th 1941 in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. He graduated West Philadelphia High School in 1959 and entered the working world. Soon after leaving high school he became active in the local Civil Rights Movement fighting against racism and discrimination in housing and public accommodations in West Philadelphia.
He took a entry level job in a printing company and after 3 years became assistant plate maker and camera man and a member of the Amalgamated Lithographers Union. He was active in a local civil rights group and took part in the effort to end discrimination hiring, housing and public services. As a youth he worked to end the exclusion of black youth from local teen dances. He took part in the Woolworth Five & Dime Store boycott in Philadelphia in solidarity with the sit-ins of black students at in Greensboro North Carolina to end Woolworths segregated lunch counters.
And when the local NAACP called for the an end to the exclusion of blacks from Girade College which was located in the heart of North Philadelphia, the cities largest ghetto, Tyner was a regular on the picket line.
In 1962 he took part in a Lithographers strike that lasted several weeks during the strike Tyner’s civil rights experience made him an effective organizer on the picket line. After the strike the majority white workers in his shop elected him shop steward. Around this time he joined the Communist Party USA. He is currently Vice-Chair of the Party.
After being laid off from his printing job, Jarvis worked for many months as a part time worker in various plants. As an unemployed worker Tyner continued his civil rights work including working with to integrate Band Stand which was the only nationally televised teen dance show of it’s day. As a result of the work of Tyner and his comrades Band Stand was integrated.
Tyner then found work in a furniture factory where he
successfully led an effort to bring in the Teamster Union.
As a leader of the local Youth Action Group in 1963, Tyner was part of an effort to bring a large number of buses filled with Philadelphia youth to the massive march on Washington where Martin Luther King gave his historic “I Have a Dream” speech. He was also an active participant in the work of the Negro American Labor Council, which later became the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists that Tyner continues to support today. .
In 1964 as a leader of the Philadelphia W.E.B. DuBois Clubs.
Tyner was an active participant in the anti Vietnam War and the Black
Power movements in Philadelphia. That year he was arrested at an anti
Goldwater rally on May 1st and charged with disorderly conduct and
resisting arrest; a charge that was dismissed after a public campaign on his
behalf. In 1968 Tyner was elected the National Chairperson of the DuBois
Clubs of America. That position required that he relocate to New York City
where he became a very active participant in the Peace and justice movements .
NY was a key area in the effort to build a black, Latino and labour base to the
anti war movement.
As the head of the DuBois club Tyner became a national leader in the youth peace, civil rights movements. He was elected to the steering committee of the National Coalition for Peace and Justice that was the largest and most anti war coalition at the time.
In 1970 as a leader of the Young Workers Liberation League, Tyner played a major role in the campaign to free Angela Davis. He helped to organized the 16 thousand strong rally at Madison Square Garden to welcome Angela to NY after she was won acquitted. Today, Angela Davis and Jarvis Tyner, both Communist Party activists, continue to be comrades in struggle.
In his youth he headed the effort to bring US youth to two World Youth Festivals taking place in the Socialist countries
In the Anti Apartheid era, Tyner worked with the National Movement in Solidarity with Southern Africa - the first organization in the USA to call for the release of Nelson Mandela and introduced the campaign to boycott South Africa to the US movement.
For over 45 years Tyner has been an active leader in the labour, peace, and anti racist movement. He has written numerous articles and pamphlets on issues such as the struggle for racial equality, in defense of labour’s rights and against globalization which he calls “imperialism on speed”.
He recently attended the World Social Forum in Mumbai. His political activities have taken him to many countries around the world. He has visited South Africa, Vietnam, and Cuba, as well as most countries in Western and Eastern Europe.
Jarvis Tyner is a founding member of the Black Radical Congress. The BRC is an effort by a diverse coalition of forces to organize and unite the Black left in the USA. Tyner was a member of its national coordinating committee for 5 years and is presently one of three coordinators of the New York BRC, taking responsibility for Trade Union liaison.
Tyner recently authored a document on the national question which has been widely read in left and progressive circles. His pamphlet entitled, “The Republican Campaign To Suppress The Black Vote” is considered one of the best exposes of the racism of the Republican Party and the Bush administration