LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
LETTERS to the Editor A New Black Politics Manning Marable's "A New Black Politics" (August issue) seems to skirt the issue of class, substituting unwieldy ideas of race. Not only is the...
...The atmosphere and power of these older trees demand respect...
...Arthur D. Penser Huntsville, Alabama Saving the Forests It was refreshing to return home after a month in Oregon and find articles in The Progressive (September issue) and in local Mobilization for Survival and Audubon Society newsletters concerning our forests...
...Why not just identify the problem as poor versus rich...
...coast, it will now have to confront a hostile United States without the solid backing of a strong communist camp...
...That would permit you to be color-blind...
...Anthony M. Givhan Long Beach, California If Manning Marable is going to include "the unemployed and poor of any race," why call them "people of color...
...But the revolution is still strong, and Fidel Castro is still the most popular and charismatic figure on the island...
...Thomas A. Caffrey New York, New York I'm not sure about David Souter, either...
...We must not allow more destruction of this irreplaceable resource...
...I think I have made my point: Cuba will be greatly affected by events in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union...
...There are already shortages of oil and raw materials that used to arrive regularly from the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe...
...The Soviet Union is not in a position to help Cuba as it did before...
...Lionel Martin Havana, Cuba The editors welcome correspondence from readers on all topics, but prefer to publish letters that comment directly on material previously published in The Progressive...
...Dan Folkus Collingswood, New Jersey The tragic flaw in talk about race relations today is that we still talk in terms of color...
...The national forests will continue to draw more revenue from tourism than from the logging industry—provided that we preserve this valuable ecosystem...
...I am an American journalist who has spent thirty years in Cuba— since I went to the front during the fighting at the Bay of Pigs, using my California Highway Patrol credential given to me at KPFA, the Pacifica Foundation station in Berkeley where I worked...
...His response is, 'Nothing.'" That has not been and is not my position...
...Ienjoyed the articles on Cuba ("Socialism on One Island?," June issue) and I found Saul Landau's especially insightful...
...Since this continent has fewer "ancient" architectural wonders, it is our duty to show reverence for the treasures of the forests by calling our representatives and voicing support for the Ancient Forest Protection Act (HR 4492...
...Saving the forests will have little impact on jobs...
...Of course the changes in the communist bloc nations will have deep repercussions in Cuba...
...All letters may be edited for clarity and conciseness...
...A nation of only 10.5 million people right off the U.S...
...This is particularly important to African-Americans, who are the prime victims of color-based talk...
...The type of growth I witnessed cannot be cultivated in one or two centuries...
...It is unlikely that the Soviet Union can pay four and five times the world price for Cuban sugar, although it might give Cuba a preferential price...
...During my years in Europe I appreciated the older architecture, much of it preserved from previous centuries...
...While in western Oregon, I enjoyed several days in the Willamette National Forest...
...There are more disaffected Cubans now...
...In his article in that same issue, William Steif approvingly quotes something I allegedly said to him: "Martin is asked what effect the Eastern European and Soviet changes will have on Castro's Cuba...
...But it hardly follows that killing human fetuses is ethical...
...Nicholas Frankovich New York, New York Socialism on One Island...
...Moreover, trade with many of the former "fraternal" socialist nations of Eastern Europe-East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary—has already come to a virtual standstill...
...The Owl and the Hoots," Comment, August issue...
...From my experience, the revolutionary government had broader and more enthusiastic support in the 1960s and part of the 1970s...
...But on the preceding page, you repudiate highly dependent, budding members of the human species with the assertion, "Anyone who becomes pregnant should have that right [to abortion], without first having to get through the maze the Court has just constructed...
...I am sure that your representation of the abortion issue is not very straightforward ("Supreme Folly," Comment, September issue...
...And certainly Cuba will suffer from the loss of its old allies in a geopolitical sense...
...See Mary Meehan's article, "Abortion: The Left Has Betrayed the Sanctity of Life," in the September 1980 issue of The Progressive...
...That's why abortion is controversial...
...With decentralization and the introduction of a market economy in the Soviet Union, Cuba will have to adjust itself to a new and much harsher reality...
...You must have some heated discussions at your offices over this contradictory editorial policy...
...Let our premise be that no woman should be pregnant unwillingly...
...Joseph Hahn Milwaukee, Wisconsin The Abortion Issue Regarding the endangered northern spotted owl, The Progressive asks, "Do we protect the environment and all the species that depend on it...
...Despite the living nightmares created by the proposition that an unwanted fetus is a human being, there remain those—yes, even on the Left—who are not comforted by the circumlocutions of Planned Parenthood and NARAL...
...Nor will the Soviets be able to provide Cuba with military hardware free of charge...
...All letters may be edited for clarity and conciseness...
...Those who appreciate nature know how humble humans become in this environment...
...Not only is the designation "people of color" creaky, but it's stupid to suggest that white people have no color whereas everyone else does...
...But Bill Steif is correct in quoting me as saying that Cuba is not Romania and that its revolution has much more of a solid popular base than any of the former Eastern European regimes...
...To terminate an unwanted pregnancy" entails the death of a fetus...
...What we're doing, in effect, is perpetuating one of the most vital tools of racism, color-based terminology toward human beings...
...Thank you for the awareness...
...The editors welcome correspondence from readers on all topics, but prefer to publish letters that comment directly on material previously published in The Progressive...
Vol. 54 • October 1990 • No. 10
