First Published: Red Worker, the political newspaper of the Georgia Communist League (M-L), Vol. 1, No. 2, November 1971.
Transcription, Editing and Markup: Paul Saba
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In the aftermath of the Attica Rebellion, two views of this event became clear. One was the view of the Modern Revisionists, especially the “Communist” Party U.S.A. and their paper the Daily World. The other was the viewpoint reflected in the Red Worker and held by all communists and revolutionary people.
These two views can be summed up as follows: was Attica a heroic event to be welcomed by the working class; or, was it a big disaster to be mourned over?
The traitorous leaders of the C.P.U.S.A. moaned in the Daily World that the Attica Rebellion was a disaster. In all of their articles they focused on the death and suffering of the prisoners and their relatives and on the might of the armed force that Rockefeller used to suppress the revolt.
What was their purpose in trying to make Attica out to be a great tragedy? Their purpose was to discourage the workers and other oppressed people from following the revolutionary example of the heroes of Attica. These C.P.U.S.A. scabs hate the revolutionary violence of the masses and do everything they can to prevent it. They are defenders of U.S. imperialism and try to make the U.S. ruling class seem invincible. Henry Winston, chairman of the C.P.U.S.A. laid out the main line of the Party on Attica in an “analysis” in the Daily World. “Attica,” he whined, “is the Road to Fascism.” In other words he was saying “revolutionary struggle is self-defeating; it will only make the imperialists respond with vicious repression!”
This is exactly the lesson that his masters – the U.S. capitalists – intended to teach with their bloody suppression of the revolt!!
This is a great example of how the C.P.U.S.A. leaders are the mouthpieces of U.S. imperialism behind a “communist” veil.
Communists and other revolutionaries and class conscious workers took the opposite view to the Modern Revisionists of the C.P.U.S.A. We welcomed the heroic rebellion of the Attica prisoners and were encouraged by it.
We welcome it even though it meant the deaths of dozens of militant anti-imperialist fighters. This capitalist system causes thousands of deaths every day from imperialist wars, from unsafe working conditions, from bad health care, etc. But as Lenin said,
He who prefers death in the open struggle against those who defend and protect this horrible system, rather than the lingering death of a crushed, broken-down and submissive nag deserves the title of hero a hundredfold.
Revolutionary communists saw Attica as a great advance for the mass movement, not a setback. It was a notable lesson in the importance and necessity of revolutionary violence in our struggle. It was a magnificent example of the determination and courage of the oppressed people of the U.S., no matter what the odds against them.
The treacherous leaders of the C.P.U.S.A. cannot destroy the revolutionary essence of Attica no matter how hard they try! Attica will serve as a great inspiration and example for years to come!!