History 102 essays on historical documents you will be required to submit three (3)
CARL WHITMAN EXCERPTS FROM “GAY MANIFESTO” 1970
Download 232.89 Kb.
|
- Navigate this page:
- COALITION OF GAY ORGANIZATIONS : EXCERPT FROM “MANIFESTO,” 1972
- EXCERTS FROM THE “BYLAWS OF THE A.I.M CHAPTER, DES MOINES, IOWA” , 1968
- EXCERPTS FROM BYLAWS OF THE A.I.M. CHAPTER, ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA ,1968
- EXCERPTS FROM “EL PLAN DE AZTLAN” (El PLAN ESPIRTUAL DE AZTLAN), 1969
- Organizational Goals
CARL WHITMAN EXCERPTS FROM “GAY MANIFESTO” 1970 San Francisco is a refugee camp for homosexuals. We have fled here from every part of the nation, and like refugees elsewhere, we came not because it is so great here, but because it was so bad there. By the tens of thousands, we fled small towns where to be ourselves would endanger our jobs and any hope of a decent life; we have fled from blackmailing cops, from families who disowned or ‘tolerated’ us; we have been drummed out of the armed services, thrown out of schools, fired from jobs, beaten by punks and policemen. And we have formed a ghetto, out of self-protection. It is a ghetto rather than a free territory because it is still theirs. Straight cops patrol us, straight legislators govern us, straight employers keep us in line, straight money exploits us. We have pretended everything is OK, because we haven't been able to see how to change it — we've been afraid. In the past year there has been an awakening of gay liberation ideas and energy. How it began we don't know; maybe we were inspired by black people and their freedom movement; we learned how to stop pretending from the hip revolution. Amerika in all its ugliness has surfaced with the war and our national leaders. And we are revulsed by the quality of our ghetto life. Where once there was frustration, alienation, and cynicism, there are new characteristics among us. We are full of love for each other and are showing it; we are full of anger at what has been done to us. And as we recall all the self-censorship and repression for so many years, a reservoir of tears pours out of our eyes. And we are euphoric, high, with the initial flourish of a movement. We want to make ourselves clear: our first job is to free ourselves; that means clearing our heads of the garbage that's been poured into them. This article is an attempt at raising a number of issues, and presenting some ideas to replace the old ones. It is primarily for ourselves, a starting point of discussion. If straight people of good will find it useful in understanding what liberation is about, so much the better….
1. What homosexuality is: Nature leaves undefined the object of sexual desire. The gender of that object is imposed socially. Humans originally made homosexuality taboo because they needed every bit of energy to produce and raise children: survival of species was a priority. With overpopulation and technological change, that taboo continued only to exploit us and enslave us. As kids we refused to capitulate to demands that we ignore our feelings toward each other. Somewhere we found the strength to resist being indoctrinated, and we should count that among our assets. We have to realize that our loving each other is a good thing, not an unfortunate thing, and that we have a lot to teach straights about sex, love, strength, and resistance. Homosexuality is not a lot of things. It is not a makeshift in the absence of the opposite sex; it is not a hatred or rejection of the opposite sex; it is not genetic; it is not the result of broken homes except inasmuch as we could see the sham of American marriage. Homosexuality is the capacity to love someone of the same sex. Heterosexuality… reflects a fear of people of the same sex, it's anti-homosexual, and it is fraught with frustration…. For us to become heterosexual in the sense that our straight brothers and sisters are is not a cure, it is a disease. Lesbianism: It's been a male-dominated society for too long, and that has warped both men and women. So gay women are going to see things differently from gay men; they are going to feel put down as women, too. Their liberation is tied up with both gay liberation and women's liberation. …The existence of a lesbian caucus within the New York Gay Liberation Front has been very helpful in challenging male chauvinism among gay guys, and anti-gay feelings among women's lib. Male Chauvinism: All men are infected with male chauvinism — we were brought up that way. It means we assume that women play subordinate roles and are less human than ourselves…. Male chauvinism, however, is not central to us. We can junk it much more easily than straight men can. For we understand oppression. We have largely opted out of a system which oppresses women daily — our egos are not built on putting women down and having them build us up. Also, living in a mostly male world we have become used to playing different roles…. And finally, we have a common enemy: the big male chauvinists are also the big anti-gays. Women's liberation: They are assuming their equality and dignity and in doing so are challenging the same things we are: the roles, the exploitation of minorities by capitalism, the arrogant smugness of straight white male middle-class Amerika. They are our sisters in struggle. …We must come to know and understand each other's style, jargon and humor… It is important to catalog and understand the different facets of our oppression. There is no future in arguing about degrees of oppression. A lot of ‘movement’ types come on with a line … about homosexuals not being oppressed as much as blacks or Vietnamese or workers or women. We don't happen to fit into their ideas of class or caste. Bull! When people feel oppressed, they act on that feeling. We feel oppressed. Talk about the priority of black liberation or ending imperialism over and above gay liberation is just anti-gay propaganda. Physical attacks: We are attacked, beaten, castrated and left dead time and time again. There are half a dozen known unsolved slayings in San Francisco parks in the last few years. “Punks”, often of minority groups who look around for someone under them socially, feel encouraged to beat up on “queens”, and cops look the other way. That used to be called lynching. Cops in most cities have harassed our meeting places: bars and baths and parks. They set up entrapment squads…. Cities set up ‘pervert’ registration, which if nothing else scares our brothers deeper into the closet… Psychological warfare: Right from the beginning we have been subjected to a barrage of straight propaganda. Since our parents don't know any homosexuals, we grow up thinking that we are alone and different and perverted. Our school friends identify ‘queer’ with any non-conformist or bad behavior. Our elementary school teachers tell us not to talk to strangers or accept rides. Television, billboards and magazines put forth a false idealization of male/female relationships, and make us wish we were different, wish we were ‘in’. In family living class we're taught how we're supposed to turn out. And all along, the best we hear if anything about homosexuality is that it's an unfortunate problem. Self-oppression: As gay liberation grows, we will find our uptight brothers and sisters, particularly those who are making a buck off our ghetto, coming on strong to defend the status quo. This is self oppression: ‘don't rock the boat’; ‘things in SF are OK’; ‘gay people just aren't together’; ‘I'm not oppressed.’ These lines are right out of the mouths of the straight establishment. A large part of our oppression would end if we would stop putting ourselves and our pride down. Institutional: Discrimination against gays is blatant, if we open our eyes. Homosexual relationships are illegal, and even if these laws are not regularly enforced, they encourage and enforce (the) closet…. The bulk of the social work psychiatric field looks upon homosexuality as a problem, and treats us as sick. Employers let it be known that our skills are acceptable as long as our sexuality is hidden. Big business and government are particularly notorious offenders. The discrimination in the draft and armed services is a pillar of the general attitude towards gays. If we are willing to label ourselves publicly not only as homosexual but as sick, then we qualify for deferment; and if we're not ‘discreet’ (dishonest) we get drummed out of the service…. We are refugees from Amerika. So we came to the ghetto — and as other ghettos, it has its negative and positive aspects. Refugee camps are better than what preceded them, or people never would have come. But they are still enslaving, if only that we are limited to being ourselves there and only there. Ghettos breed self-hatred. We stagnate here, accepting the status quo. The status quo is rotten. We are all warped by our oppression, and in the isolation of the ghetto we blame ourselves rather than our oppressors. Ghettos breed exploitation: Landlords find they can charge exorbitant rents and get away with it, because of the limited area which is safe to live in openly.... Our ghetto certainly is more beautiful and larger and more diverse than most ghettos, and is certainly freer than the rest of Amerika. That's why we're here. But it isn't ours. Capitalists make money off of us, cops patrol us, government tolerates us as long as we shut up, and daily we work for and pay taxes to those who oppress us.
To be a free territory, we must govern ourselves, set up our own institutions, defend ourselves, and use our won energies to improve our lives….Right now the bulk of our work has to be among ourselves — self educating, fending off attacks, and building free territory. Thus basically we have to have a gay/straight vision of the world until the oppression of gays is ended. But not every straight is our enemy. Many of us have mixed identities, and have ties with other liberation movements: women, blacks, other minority groups; we may also have taken on an identity which is vital to us… And face it: we can't change Amerika alone: Who do we look to for collaboration? Women's Liberation: summarizing earlier statements, they are our closest ally; we must try hard to get together with them…. 2. Black liberation: This is tenuous right now because of the uptightness and super-masculinity of many black men (which is understandable). Despite that, we must support their movement, particularly when they are under attack form the establishment; we must show them that we mean business; and we must figure out which our common enemies are: police, city hall, capitalism. 3. Chicanos: Basically the same problem as with blacks: trying to overcome mutual animosity and fear, and finding ways to support them. The extra problem of super up-tightness and machismo among Latin cultures (exists)…we're both oppressed, and by the same people at the top. 4. White radicals and ideologues: We're not, as a group, Marxist or communist. We haven't figured out what kind of political/economic system is good for us as gays. Neither capitalist or socialist countries have treated us as anything other than non grata so far. But we know we are radical, in that we know the system that we're under now is a direct source of oppression, and it's not a question of getting our share of the pie. The pie is rotten….
CONCLUSION: AN OUTLINE OF IMPERATIVES FOR GAY LIBERATION 1. Free ourselves: come out everywhere; initiate self defense and political activity; initiate counter community institutions. 2. Turn other gay people on: talk all the time; understand, forgive, accept. 3. Free the homosexual in everyone…be gentle, and keep talking & acting free. 4. We've been playing an act for a long time, so we're consummate actors. Now we can begin to be, and it'll be a good show! We demand the enactment of civil rights legislation, which will prohibit discrimination because of sexual orientation in employment, housing, public accommodation, and public services. COALITION OF GAY ORGANIZATIONS : EXCERPT FROM “MANIFESTO,” 1972 Amend all federal Civil Rights Acts, other legislation and government controls to prohibit discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations and public services. Issuance by the President of an executive order prohibiting the military from excluding for reasons of their sexual orientation, persons who of their own volition desire entrance into the Armed Services; and from issuing less-than- fully-honorable discharges for homosexuality; and the upgrading to fully honorable all such discharges previously issued, with retroactive benefits. Issuance by the President of an executive order prohibiting discrimination in the federal civil service because of sexual orientation, in hiring and promoting; and prohibiting discriminations against homosexuals in security clearances. Elimination of tax inequities victimizing single persons and same-sex couples. 5. Elimination of bars to the entry, immigration and naturalization of homosexual aliens. Federal encouragement and support for sex education courses, prepared and taught by gay women and men, presenting homosexuality as a valid, healthy preference and lifestyle as a viable alternative to heterosexuality. Appropriate executive orders, regulations and legislation banning the compiling, maintenance and dissemination of information on an individual's sexual preferences, behavior, and social and political activities for dossiers and data banks. Federal funding of aid programs of gay men's and women's organizations designed to alleviate the problems encountered by Gay women and men which are engendered by an oppressive sexist society. Immediate release of all Gay women and men now incarcerated in detention centers, prisons and mental institutions because of sexual offense charges relating to victimless crimes or sexual orientation; and that adequate compensation be made for the physical and mental duress encountered; and that all existing records relating to the incarceration be immediately expunged. ********************************************************************** INDIAN RIGHTS MOVEMENT From 1950 to 1970 more than a hundred Indian tribes lost reservation lands and the percentage of American Indians living on reservations dropped drastically. These changes forced young American Indians to look for work in urban areas. In 1968 a group of urban Indians in Minnesota established the American Indian Movement (AIM), to fight mistreatment of Indians by police and to improve prospects for jobs, education, and housing. Below are the Articles of Incorporation of two of the AIM chapters of the movement, in Des Moines, Iowa and St. Paul, Minnesota. EXCERTS FROM THE “BYLAWS OF THE A.I.M CHAPTER, DES MOINES, IOWA” , 1968 We the concerned Indian Americans, residents of the Des Moines area, for the purpose of forming a corporation under and pursuant to the provisions of the Chapter, do hereby associate ourselves together as a body corporate and adopt the following By-Laws: ARTICLE I The name of this corporation shall be known as The American Indian Movement of Des Moines (A.I.M of Des Moines), residents of the Des Moines and greater Des Moines area…. ARTICLE II The purpose of this corporation shall be to solicit and broaden opportunities for the Indian American in order that he may enjoy his full rights as a citizen of these United States, as well as his extended rights as a sovereign national native. We, the concerned Indian American residents of the Des Moines area, organize to upgrade the conditions in which the Indian lives, and to improve the image which has been portrayed in stereotype of the Indian American both on and off reservations. Our main objectives are to solicit and broaden opportunities for the Indian American in order that he, as a Sovereign Citizen of these United States ,as well as an equal part of Humanity, may enjoy his rights according to the Creed of this nation. …Short-range Objectives
Establish a program to better the Indian housing problem Establish a program directed toward Indian youth. Establish a positive program for employment of Indian Americans Establish a program to educate the industry in the area of Indian culture and its effect on the Indian. Establish a program to improve the communications between the Indian and the community. Establish a program to educate the Indian citizen in his responsibility to his community. Long Range Objectives To generate unification within the Indian people. To inform all Indian Americans of community and local affairs. To encourage Indian Americans to become active in community affairs. To bring the economic status of Indian Americans up to that of the general community. Article XIV Membership Section I. Members of A.I.M. must be of American Indian heritage, also non- Indians who are spouses of American Indians that have Indian children’s rights to protect. Section II. Non-Indians who have been so dedicated and interested in our Movement, Patrol, etc., can be made honorary members by motion in a general meeting. Honorary members shall not vote. EXCERPTS FROM BYLAWS OF THE A.I.M. CHAPTER, ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA ,1968 We, the concerned Indian Americans, residents of the St. Paul area, organize to upgrade the conditions in which the urban Indian lives, and to improve the image of the urban Indian. We…do hereby adopt the following goals: Our main objective is to solicit and broaden opportunities for the urban Indian in order that he may enjoy his full rights as a citizen of these United States. …PURPOSES
Articulate the need for jobs, job training, vocational counseling, housing, educational opportunities and related services for off-reservation Indians. Inform legislative and administrative bodies of local, state, and federal government of the needs of all Indians. Support the efforts of the tribes to obtain the kind of development programs they, as Indians, want and need. Present an accurate and dignified image of the Indian to the American public. Encourage a more accurate portrayal of the American Indian by mass media. Work for a balanced and informed treatment of the Indian in public school curricula. Support proposed improvements in Indian education that will strengthen, not weaken, Indian personality and cultural identification, as well as prepare him for economic fulfillment. Communicate to the urban Indians and to the general public, relevant information on Indian legislation and events, thereby strengthening the American Indian consciousness. Also, seek to interpret aspects of urban life and culture to Indians in order that they may adapt in the ways they feel are meaningful to themselves, without abdicating their own identity…. ****************************************************************** CHICANO MOVEMENT The Chicano rights movement of the 1960’s was an extension of a civil rights movement which began in the 1920’s with the establishment of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and continued in the 1940’s with the formation of the American G.I. Forum, composed of returning World War II veterans. In 1968 the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, (MALDEF), modeled on the NAACP, was also established. El Plan Espiritual de Aztlan (The Spiritual Plan of Aztlan) is a manifesto advocating Chicano nationalism and self-determination for Mexican-Americans. It was adopted by the First National Chicano Action Youth Conference in Denver, Colorado in 1969. “Aztlan” is the legendary ancestral homeland of the Aztec (Mexica) people. Historians who have tried to identify the location of “Aztlan” postulate that –if real-- it was either in northwestern Mexico or the southwestern part of the United States, acquired after the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848
___________________________________________________________________ EXCERPTS FROM “EL PLAN DE AZTLAN” (El PLAN ESPIRTUAL DE AZTLAN), 1969 In the spirit of a new people that is conscious not only of its proud historical heritage but also of the brutal "gringo" (white, American) invasion of our territories, we, the Chicano inhabitants and civilizers of the northern land of Aztlan from whence came our forefathers, reclaiming the land of their birth and consecrating the determination of our people of the sun, declare that the call of our blood is our power, our responsibility, and our inevitable destiny. We are free and sovereign to determine those tasks which are justly called for by our house, our land, the sweat of our brows, and by our hearts. Aztlan belongs to those who plant the seeds, water the fields, and gather the crops and not to the foreign Europeans. We do not recognize capricious frontiers on the bronze continent Brotherhood unites us, and love for our brothers makes us a people whose time has come and who struggles against the foreigner "gabacho" (foreigner) who exploits our riches and destroys our culture. With our heart in our hands and our hands in the soil, we declare the independence of our mestizo nation. We are a bronze people with a bronze culture. Before the world, before all of North America, before all our brothers in the bronze continent, we are a nation, we are a union of free pueblos, we are Aztlan…. … Program El Plan Espiritual de Aztlan sets the theme that the Chicanos (La Raza de Bronze) (the Bronze race) must use their nationalism as the key or common denominator for mass mobilization and organization. Once we are committed to the idea and philosophy of El Plan de Aztlan, we can only conclude that social, economic, cultural, and political independence is the only road to total liberation from oppression, exploitation, and racism. Our struggle then must be for the control of our barrios, campos, (farms) pueblos, (villages) lands, our economy, our culture, and our political life. El Plan commits all levels of Chicano society - the barrio, the campo, the ranchero, the writer, the teacher, the worker, the professional - to La Causa. (the Cause) … Nationalism Nationalism as the key to organization transcends all religious, political, class, and economic factions or boundaries. Nationalism is the common denominator that all members of La Raza can agree upon. …Organizational Goals 1. UNITY: in the thinking of our people concerning the barrios, the pueblo, the campo, the land, the poor, the middle class, the professional--all committed to the liberation of La Raza.
about by driving the exploiter out of our communities, our pueblos, and our lands and by controlling and developing our own talents, sweat, and resources. Cultural background and values which ignore materialism and embrace humanism will contribute to the act of cooperative buying and the distribution of resources and production to sustain an economic base for healthy growth and development. Lands rightfully ours will be fought for and defended. Land and realty ownership will be acquired by the community for the people's welfare. Economic ties of responsibility must be secured by nationalism and the Chicano defense units. 3. EDUCATION must be relative to our people, i.e., history, culture, bilingual education, contributions, etc. Community control of our schools, our teachers, our administrators, our counselors, and our programs. 4. INSTITUTIONS shall serve our people by providing the service necessary for a full life and their welfare on the basis of restitution, not handouts or beggar's crumbs. Restitution for past economic slavery, political exploitation, ethnic and cultural psychological destruction and denial of civil and human rights. Institutions in our community which do not serve the people have no place in the community. The institutions belong to the people. 5. SELF-DEFENSE of the community must rely on the combined strength of the people. The front line defense will come from the barrios, the campos, the pueblos, and the ranchitos. Their involvement as protectors of their people will be given respect and dignity. They in turn offer their responsibility and their lives for their people. Those who place themselves in the front ranks for their people do so out of love and carnalismo. (brotherhood) … For the very young there will no longer be acts of juvenile delinquency, but revolutionary acts. 6. CULTURAL values of our people strengthen our identity and the moral backbone of the movement. Our culture unites and educates the family of La Raza towards liberation with one heart and one mind. We must insure that our writers, poets, musicians, and artists produce literature and art that is appealing to our people and relates to our revolutionary culture. Our cultural values of life, family, and home will serve as a powerful weapon to defeat the gringo dollar value system and encourage the process of love and brotherhood. 7. POLITICAL LIBERATION can only come through independent action on our part, since the two-party system is the same animal with two heads that feed from the same trough. Where we are a majority, we will control; where we are a minority, we will represent a pressure group; nationally, we will represent one party: La Familia de La Raza! (The family of the race) Directory: faculty faculty -> Dsci 3870: Management Science faculty -> Handling Indivisibilities faculty -> Course overview faculty -> Curriculum vitae wei chen professor faculty -> Digital image warping faculty -> Samples of Elements Exam Question III contains All Prior Exam Qs III except faculty -> 【Education&Working Experience】 faculty -> References Abe, M., A. Kitoh and T. Yasunari, 2003: An evolution of the Asian summer monsoon associated with mountain uplift —Simulation with the mri atmosphere-ocean coupled gcm. J. Meteor. Soc. Japan, 81 faculty -> Ralph R. Ferraro Chief, Satellite Climate Studies Branch, noaa/nesdis faculty -> Unit IV text: Types of Oil, Types of Prices Grammar: that/those of, with revision Download 232.89 Kb. Share with your friends:
|