3110 Learning From History: Possibilities for Peace and
Justice
Helene Atwan, Paul Bennett, Robin Hoecker, and Howard
Zinn
As Howard Zinn approached the stage, the mass of UUs which
had long since surpassed the 1,000 seats listed in the program
began to clap and cheer raucously. Zinn continued towards
the stage with a slight smile at having been recognized and
welcomed so effusively and loudly.
Helene Atwan, the director of the Beacon Press, introduced
Zinn as well as Paul Bennett, the Chair of the Peace Task
Force at the Unitarian Church of All Souls in Manhattan, and
Robin Hoecker, a Social Justice Intern with the UUA Washington
Office for Advocacy.
Zinn spoke with humor, intelligence, and clarity for the
first hour of the program. The audience was delighted, often
breaking into loud choruses of laughter or applause. Even
when they had to ask Zinn to speak a bit louder, it appeared
that he could do no wrong.
Zinn was followed by Paul Bennett, who spoke of his experiences
in becoming a social activist and chairing the Peace Task
Force at his Manhattan congregation. Robin Hoecker closed
with the story of how she had come to take a series of moving
photographs of the residents of Iraq, which were later used
by Congressman Jim McDermott (D-WA) in his official statement
against the war on Iraq.
Atwan opened the program by first quickly telling the crowd
that not only would they have the privilege of listening to
Howard Zinn, but that two young adults - Bennett and Hoecker
- who had been very much moved by him to action were going
to speak about their activities at the end, and that after
all the speeches were complete, Zinn would stay behind and
sign books for those interested.
Atwan then informed the immense gathering that Zinn was a
preeminent historian and author of numerous books and plays.
She described him as both an advocate and an activist, and
mentioned that he had helped by giving feedback or other input
into 20 Beacon Press books. She then turned the lectern over
to Zinn.
Zinn said that Beacon Press was “my favorite publisher”,
because it is independent, and doesn’t care if it loses
money. “It’s good to have a publisher like that.”
As suggested by the title, history was the main subject of
Zinn’s speech. He expressed his belief that a knowledge
of history is key; without knowledge of history, it is as
though you were born yesterday, and anyone can manipulate
you. Zinn said that history helps tell you whether something
is true or false. For example, knowledge of history would
incline you to believe that the current administration is
lying about something, as all past administrations who have
entered into a war have done so.
Perhaps Zinn’s most important theme of the evening,
one that he would return to, was that history can disabuse
citizens of the notion that your interests and the government’s
interests are the same. This, he said, has been noticed by
political theoreticians such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Thomas
Jefferson, and Adam Smith.
Zinn warned against being fooled by the preamble to the Constitution,
which says “We the People.” It was not a group
of farmers creating the constitution for all; it was 55 rich
white men. These rich white men wrote the Constitution to
protect rich white men.
Zinn mentioned the important influence of Shay’s Rebellion,
a rebellion in Western Massachusetts by a group of farmers
just home from fighting in the Revolutionary War. This uprising
scared the ruling elite and helped shape the Constitution.
Zinn stated that the rebellion was more an action of democracy
than the Constitutional Convention, as the rebellion was a
mass movement of the people, while the Convention was attended
by only a few members of the ruling elite.
Next Zinn expanded on the harms of not having a working knowledge
of history. He suggested that without such knowledge, terms
such as “National Security” and “National
Defense” would become synonymous with “Our Security”
and “Our Defense.”
There is a history of liars, Zinn said, in the White House,
especially when it comes to wartime. Polk said that Americans
must go to war with Mexico because “American blood has
been shed on American soil.” Congressman Abraham Lincoln
proposed the “Spot Resolution” to determine whether
the spot where the blood was shed was in fact on American
soil. Zinn also mentioned that President Truman said after
the bombing of Hiroshima that it was “a military target.”
Zinn said, “They say we must respect the president…
Why?”
Zinn reminded the attendees that there is no necessary relationship
between education and morality. “Lying is bipartisan…
Clinton lied too! No, I’m not talking about that!”
In 1998, Clinton bombed several targets in Iraq, using justifications
similar to our current president’s reasons for war.
If we have yet to find weapons of mass destruction now, what
makes us think there were any then?
If someone were not sure if Bush was lying about the justification
for war, Zinn supposed, a knowledge of history would suggest
that there is a good chance that he is. This would suggest
that looking in newspapers and going outside the mainstream
media would be a good plan in order to try to discover the
truth.
The current truth, Zinn stated, was that there is “no
order in Iraq, there’s chaos in Iraq.” Iraqis
are holding signs that say “No to Saddam, No to Bush.”
Zinn reminded the attendees that Saddam’s greatest killings
happened first when he was an ally, and then when the United
States allowed his genocide of the Shi’ites in 1991
shortly after the first Gulf War ended.
It is also currently true, Zinn said, that the administration
is now trying to weasel out of what they said before as justifications
of the war. Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense, said before
the war that the administration knew where the WMDs were.
The administration claimed to have documents regarding the
Iraqi nuclear weapons program, which turned out to be forgeries.
Most disturbingly, President Bush said on Polish television
in May, that the United States had found WMDs.
One fact that gives Zinn hope for America is that the polls
show a 60% support for President Bush. The way Zinn figures,
if Bush can control 90% of the media, but only 60% of the
population, that’s a good sign. Also, according to Thomas
Friedman, who has been for the war all along, the polls are
not to be trusted. Friedman has been traveling the country,
and he said that around 90% of the country was against the
war. Zinn figured that if he were to say that 90% are against
the war, that’s wishful thinking, but if a pro-war columnist
says 90% of Americans are against the war, it’s probably
true.
Public opinion is volatile, Zinn pointed out. Former-President
Bush had two-thirds support for the war, but this changed
into two-thirds opposition with the realization of some of
the lies Bush had been telling the public, which helped Clinton
defeat him in the ’92 elections.
This helps lead Zinn to believe that Bush “can lose
the election. After all, he lost the last one!” Bush’s
power is superficial. It is helping cause rumblings of discontent
from below, and rumblings can erupt. Leaders do all right
until there are a million people in the streets. South Africa
is an excellent example of the power of the people to reject
a ruling elite.
Zinn found it interesting that people would impeach Nixon
for lying about breaking into a building, and Clinton for
sleeping around, but not Bush for sending young people to
kill, and be killed. That, he said, seems most like high crimes
and misdemeanors.
Zinn expressed concern with the Republican belief that power
comes from the barrel of a gun. The nuclear collar can destroy,
Zinn said, but not build. Also, what happens at home is connected
to what we are doing abroad. The gun we’re pointing
at Iraqis may provoke a bomb being set off in New York.
The United States sends young people overseas to fight, while
billions are cut from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs.
Zinn drew a parallel between this action and the Spanish-American
War, in which a few hundred Americans died in battle, while
five thousand soldiers died from poisoned meat from Chicago.
Zinn ended by noting a number of signs that suggested to
him that society was moving in a positive direction. Small
groups become large groups, and small acts can as well, especially
when they’re building on the natural desire for peace
and equality. Zinn agrees with Kurt Vonnegut on Original Sin,
Vonnegut believes in Original Virtue.
Rebellion starts with culture. Arts, poetry, and music all
have important roles in raising awareness, Zinn said. He was
very pleased to see the poets defying the White House. It
was reminiscent for him of the Greek playwrights who were
against war. Zinn was glad to see Michael Moore winning an
Academy Award and giving a speech against war. He spoke of
the power of words, books, and art. Zinn reassured the audience
that the 40% opposed to the war will grow, because truth has
power, art has power, and art and truth together become unstoppable.
In closing, Zinn read a poem by Daniel Berrigan from And
the Risen Bred entitled “In Loving Memory”.
The poem spoke of the importance of perseverance and was dedicated
to the memory of Mitchel Snyder.
Bennett began as a conservative, who was a fan of Rush Limbaugh,
but church expanded his look on the world, and he gradually
grew more and more dissatisfied with the conservative viewpoint.
On September 11 he walked from ground zero to the Unitarian
Church of All Souls in Manhattan and welcomed others into
the sanctuary. He became a leader of the Church’s Peace
Task Force, which has gradually grown so large that its mailing
list is a preferred method for communicating with the members
of the church in general.
Hoecker spoke of how A People’s History of the
United States changed her, and how change happens when
people read books and hear speeches. Once, at her college,
an activist group was waiting for a group of speakers who
didn’t show up, and one of the students went up to the
podium and said “We are the leaders that we have been
waiting for.” Hoecker had the opportunity to travel
to Iraq and take some pictures there, which can be found at
www.robinhoecker.com.
The picture on that page has been used by a variety of people,
including Congressman McDermott, who sent a copy of it with
his letter to each other congressman opposing war.
After the speeches, Zinn signed books, seeming happy to have
the chance to interact more directly with the people who had
been listening to him so intently for the previous hour. There
were so many people who wanted to talk to Zinn or get something
signed by him, that he was forced to not make individualized
dedications, but simply sign his name.
Reported for the web by Phil Morse-Fortier, edited by
Margy Levine Young; Web Design by Paul Hughes
|
