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Fight the PowerThis statement was prepared by a group of anarchists/Greens and in no way necessarily represents the opinions of anyoneelse. We encourage a diversity of leaflets expressing any other viewpoints.

Something historic is happening. Though it seems only slightly different from life as usual as a UVMstudent, something historic is happening and will be remembered as a significant moment. These lastcouple of days has witnessed a solidarity only rarely experienced at UVM since its opening 200 years ago.Three years to the day of the last takeover of \\^terman by students of color, the President s Office hasbeen occupied again to demand action against racism.Why? The immediate reasons have been expressed over and over again in speakouts and classrooms.Students of color, deeply commited to this university, have tried every administrative avenue to overcomeracism on campus, but they've only found endless redtape, manipulative lies and deadends. Like students of color before them, they have found an administration that has turned a blind eye to racism,or has actively perpetuated racism, for example, by firing faculty because of their ethnicity or selectivelyrecruiting mostly Euro-American students.At UVM and indeed at campuses across the country there are two levels of racism at work. First,there are individual acts of racism, such as name-calling, derogatory graffiti and even beatings. Butmore powerful, because of its persistence, invisibility and insideousness, is institutional racism. It isthis that has driven the protestors, and others around the country, to repeatedly turn to tactics suchas occupying administrative offices. Since the institutions are racist in themselves, working withinthose racist institutions leads to endless frustrations, co-optation and burnout. The only voice thatpeople of color have is therefore not the voice of the administration, but their own voices togetherwith other students and the community generally the voice of solidarity. By taking over Waterman,business as usual has significantly and symbolically been blocked. Consequently, this has created avacuum of institutional power, and the power of solidarity and mutual aid has flowered as if fromnowhere to take its place. In effect, on a very small scale, the seeds of a true participatory democracy with its vibrant, balanced sense of cooperation, individuality and civic virtue has temporarily replacedIhfj unlver-qitv nf hnrpmirrnpv anH eypriilive nnwp.r_ FxQffL Ihgse^eeds. the ideals ofXreedom.self-determination, equality, reason, and democracy can take root and grow. This action, then, isn'tmerely a protest against institutional racism, but more ofa collective affirmation/or cultural diversityand the human spirit.The American dream has become the ideal of the wholesome American pie image of white picket fences,white nuclear families with 2.5 kids and private suburban sprawls and malls. But since racism is trulyinstitutional and racism along with sexism, homophobia, poverty, ecological degradation andstatismis truly essential to business as usual we have to question not how equitably we slice the pie, butthe vety makeup of the pie itself. Just as the feminist movement shouldn't be about helping womenclimb the male corporate ladder more successfully, so too the anti-racist movement shouldn't be aboutsucceeding within the confines of a racist system. We have to question how the pie is cooked and inwhat type of bakery. The suffering and oppression that is endemic to our society must be met head-onwith fundamental and systematic change. We must not redistribute the crumbs of the pie more fairly,but join together to cook a whole new pie in a whole new way.Is this possible? Do we have to accept what's been spoon-fed to us? No, no, a thousand times noWe must continually struggle together in solidarity for a better society that's free from racism andail other forms of domination. We must fight racism by "fighting the power" and not believe the "hype"that the present society is the best for which we can hope.We believe to truly overcome institutional racism, we must:1. Socialize property and the economy. We must bring an end to privatized wealth that is held inthe hands of huge multi-national corporations, some of which are larger than nations. Capitalism isinherently racist. American capitalism was founded on the backs of the slave trade and Native Americangenocide. Today, capitalism depends upon the cheap labor of immigrant peoples. And further, the logicof a market economy is built upon profit that will use anythingand any culture as a means for itsowTi greedy ends. For example, once rap music became popular, it was quickly snapped up, often de-cul-tured and used by white media execs to sell products.

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Given the technology of today, there can be no excuse for private property, the market or wage slavery.All arguments for capitalism depend upon the threat of scarcity. But our technology, integrated withnature, can produce such a super abundance (rather than, for instance, paying farmers not to produce)that unequal and competitive distribution of basic products makes no rational sense.2. Decentralize and cultivate direct democracies. While we believe that the economy should besocialized, we emphatically believe that it should not be socialized on a national level. The centralizationof power is inherently racist. Centralization on a national level stifles diversity and homogenizes orAmericanizes a truly pluralistic society. For example, the evils of a highly centralized socialism isrevealed by the USSR in its domination of its various ethnic republics. And here at home, how can wetrust the national government to wield even more power when currently its jails are disproportionatelypacked with people of color? We can't. We should look to ethnic neighborhoods and the 300-plus NativeAmerican municipalities and support them in their struggles for self-liberation while we struggle todemocraticize and liberate our municipalities and universities.3. End all domination* Even if the economy was politicized and the polity was democraticized, racismand other hierarchies would still survive. Racism has an independent life of its own, free from the marketand the state. To ultimately extinquish racism, we must cultivate the social Instinct and mutual aid inall of us, coming together in the spirit of these last few days. It is only through cooperation, opennessand community that people will begin to challenge their own prejudices and close-mindedness. and findthe support to relate to others in new, liberator}^ ways. Then, the passions of the last couple of days donot need to be something out of the ordinary-, but can be a daily part of our lives. Therefore, we mustend racial slurs, for instance, not through authoritatively-imposed restrictions on speech, as is unfortunately happening on some other campuses. But, instead, we must end racism as well as all hierarchiesthrough the nurturance of a collective sensibility that forever encourages difference.These are big demands: just as ending institutional racism is a huge task. But steps are being takenhere in the halls ofWaterman: challenging authority, fighting power, educating and organizing. How toget from here to there can't be easily answered, but must evolve through ongoing struggle, education,spontaneous improvisation and a continual strengthening of a new, pluralistic Left. Only together, canall the power go to all the people, and can individuals and their cultures finally flourish.4. Democratize the university. For the crisis confronting us today as a university community, weimplore you to consider ways to democratize ourselves here and now. The university is presently governedauthoritati^^lyby an oligarchythe Board ofTHistees and its various hidings, such as the President.These handful of individuals are largely white, male corporate and state executives. It is no wonder whythey refuse to even negotiate with students of color or third world educators. They are the ruling class,running a business as smoothly and profitably as possible. We call for the disbanding of the Board ofTrustees and this whole oligarchic structure. Most immediately, coordinated student, faculty and staffsenates can begin to take over the power indeed, they already make some important decisions for theuniversity. But as the collective sense of responsibility and care that balances rights with duties expands,as we've seen it explode in these last few days, these three senates must replace their representativestructures with a participatory and direct democracy.University education must be more than vocational training or a mill for future corporate executives.First and foremost, it must be a leader in cultivating a true sense of citizenship in its students and thecommunity at large. To overcome the ills such as racism that have been bitterly passed down to us, weas the first adult generation of the 21st Century must expand our education way beyond any paststandards. We must not only study the history and cultures of Europeans, we must study and come toknow civilizations around the globe. So too. we must not only study the actions of kings and queensor presidents and senators, we must study and teach ourselves true democracy to be active participantsand dedicated citizens no longer self-seeking but willing and able to act in the name of a truly multicultural humanity. If we can do this today at our campus, we will serve as we already are as amodel for others from which to find inspiration. Sit-ins. speakouts. teach-ins, hunger strikes, boycottsand other acts of solidarity united with struggles against other oppressions are all steps toward takingback the power. For in the end. it's not only about recruiting a few more students or hiring a few morefaculty of color, it is about institutional change tha; brings power to ^ people.

April 25, 1991