Confront the Actual History of the USA
Contribute to the “American Crime” Series
Updated February 27, 2018 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
Want to volunteer for revcom.us, and feel like you are in basic agreement with the principles for volunteers? We have a project for you! Revcom.us began a regular feature, AMERICAN CRIME. Each installment focuses on one of the 100 worst crimes committed by the U.S. rulers—out of countless bloody crimes they have carried out against people around the world, from the founding of the U.S. to the present day.
Read the American Crime series here
This series of articles is focused on the first of the “3 Things that have to happen in order for there to be real and lasting change for the better” from Bob Avakian:
People have to fully confront the actual history of this country and its role in the world up to today, and the terrible consequences of this.
Right now the American Crime series takes on heightened importance, when both Democrats and Republicans are filling the air with the putrid and dangerous stench of how “great” America is, was, or could be. These articles follow this basic format:
- The crime
- The criminals (and co-conspirators if needed)
- The alibi
- The actual motive
You can find articles that have already been written for the American Crime series on revcom.us here.
If you or others are interested in researching and/or writing to contribute to this series, contact spreadrevolution@gmail.com. You may have a suggestion or the editors can propose one for you.
You won’t be on your own in working on this. Editors will be working with you as you tackle the project, and will want to hear what you are running into and what you are learning, and may make suggestions.
In working on this project, you will be making a real contribution to waking and shaking people up about the real history of this country, provoking them to learn more about why this country is this way, and inspiring them to look at the real solution.
A NEW PROJECT:
In addition to documenting particular American Crimes, revcom.us has a new, related project: scientifically determining, through as accurate a survey as possible
- how many deaths have been caused by direct U.S. military intervention in the past 70 years
- how many deaths have been caused by U.S.-supported proxy wars and U.S.-provided military “aid”
- how many refugees have been created by U.S. military aggression in all its forms.
Our goal: to arrive at an ironclad figure that no one can factually dispute. This would include, but not be limited to, those crimes covered in the American Crime series. If you want to contribute to this survey, email spreadrevolution@gmail.com.
Below are some suggested American Crimes in our series that need to be researched and written. If you’re interested in these or have other suggestions, email spreadrevolution@gmail.com.
America’s racist, genocidal response to devastation of Puerto Rico from Hurricanes Irma and Maria
Hurricanes Irma and Maria knocked out power, water, phones, roads, for millions, and 95 percent of the people still have no electricity. A week and a half after Hurricane Maria hit, 3.4 million people were scrambling every single day for their most basic survival needs—drinkable water, shelter from the elements, formula for infants, food for children, fuel for cars, and cash to buy any of these things. Many have died already—far more than the 18 people that the authorities and media admit to. The Miami Herald reported that “bodies are piling up at the morgues of the 69 hospitals in Puerto Rico, of which 70 percent are not operating.” In response, the Trump/Pence regime did almost nothing for over a week, other than issue self-congratulatory tweets about what a “fantastic” job they were doing.
Racist Poisoning of People in Flint, Michigan―2015
For more than 18 months (starting in April 2014), the state of Michigan poisoned the people of Flint, Michigan, with drinking water contaminated with lead (as well as other contaminants). Lead is a well known neurotoxin that injures anyone exposed to it, and in particular causes permanent and irreversible brain damage to children. Lead levels in the tap water of some Flint homes are at twice the level of lead that is considered “toxic waste”—and this is the water that about 100,000 people, including 30,000 children, were forced to drink. For 16 months, the state consciously covered this up—doctoring tests, slandering critics, and lying to people, telling them everything was all right.
Massive, Illegal, and Illegitimate Surveillance
In 2012 Edward Snowden—who had worked for a decade inside the “intelligence community” at the National Security Agency, the CIA, and the Defense Intelligence Agency—came forward to blow the whistle on the massive, illegal, and illegitimate surveillance that the U.S. has been carrying out on the phone and Internet communications of literally billions of people, here and around the globe.
COINTELPRO
In the1960s and early 1970s the FBI worked closely with “red squads” of local police departments (squads organized for the explicit purpose of suppressing communists and other revolutionaries) to conduct a massive campaign to undermine political opposition through its COINTELPRO (short for counter-intelligence programs) operations. The program targeted political groups and individuals resisting the U.S. government’s various and many crimes, in this country and around the world. A major focus of COINTELPRO was harassing, jailing, and outright murdering leaders in the Black liberation movement; one of the main targets of COINTELPRO was the Black Panther Party.
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