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Ain't I A Woman? newspapers, June 1970-July 1971

1970-12-11 "Ain't I a Woman" Page 4

[2 photos]

Genocide is not Survival by Laura & Pam --white women

   For some time now, Women's Liberation groups across the country have raised the demand for free and legal abortion as part of an overall demand for control over our own bodies. Other groups have called for extensive availability of birth control methods, legalized abortion laws and other measures to prevent overpopulation. More recently, a new demand has reached us: That we deal with the possibility that uncontrolled abortion and other methods of birth control could easily mean genocide for non-White peoples.
   As a concrete example, it would be very simple to include sterilization after a certain number of children as a prerequisite to obtaining welfare payments, etc.
   We already know that women in cities all over the country are being sterilized without their knowledge or consent, perhaps after delivery of a child or during some other kind of operation. This happens with regularity in New York City to Black and Puerto Rican women. This is presumably done by doctors who feel they are doing it for the good of the women themselves and for the good of the world, But which world -- the white or the non-white? White America controls over 60% of the wealth of the world and consumes over 60% of the world's raw materials. Certainly it would be to the benefit of the non-white peoples if there were fewer white people, particularly Americans.
   A growing group in the United States, called "Zero-Population Growth" supports forced sterilization programs in Third World Nations. Paul Ehrlich, chief spokesman for "Zero Population" and author of Population Bomb, commented on a proposal to sterilize all males in India with three or more children: "We (the U.S. Government) should have applied pressure on the Indian Government to go ahead with the plan. We should have volunteered logistic support...Coercion? Perhaps, but coercion in a good cause."
   Why is the advocacy of compulsory sterilization particularly directed at India? India's population per square kilometer was only 113 in 1957, while the population per square kilometer in England was 208, Belgium 288, and Holland 304. Why not direct resources into reclaiming land and making it more habitable? Or perhaps the justification was the periodic famines in India. In 1952, for example, 20 million Indians were starving, although India's Government warehouses were so full of food that the U.S. and Canada were asked to postpone shipments of wheat until the next year. After investigation, the author of a report in the New York Times concluded that, "India's current problem apparently is not a food shortage or famine, therefore, but widespread unemployment..."
   The real causes of starvation and poverty is not overpopulation but the poor distribution of wealth in the world, due to man-made institutions, barriers, and social conditions. Any person concerned with the population explosion who points first to Black and Third World peoples as a prime example of "too many kids" is in reality suggesting and inadvertently supporting an already existing program of Genocide. 
   India is only one example. In Puerto Rico, birth control pills were tested for at least three years before they were allowed on the American market. In several Third World Nations, including Vietnam, experiments were being conducted with chemicals, to induce temporary sterilization. For some women the effects were permanent. These are subtle manifestations of the racism in this country which declares that non-white peoples simply aren't as important as whites.
   Groups concerned with "overpopulation" and Women's Liberation are going to have to deal with the fact that now, as in the past, demands by white groups can very easily be converted into justification for further oppression and loss of self-determination for the non-white peoples of the world. 
   Racism has always allowed white people to gain "more freedom" at the expense of the rest of the world. Our demand must be analyzed in the light of our acknowledged racism. Abortions and other forms of birth control can continue to be legitimate demands of a group concerned with world liberation only if they are put forward as elective alternatives. Measures have to be found to prevent the possibility of coercion or ways in which they can be used for genocide. These measures must be included in our demands for self determination. 
   Otherwise, we as two individual women who are working within the Women's Liberation Movement, feel that the demand for legalized abortion should not be pushed further. 
    Reprinted from W.L. Newsletter
    W.L. Library, 1131 So. Brook St.
    Louisville, Kentucky  40203

Berkeley Tribe/Liberation News Service
   Berkeley (LNS)--One hundred and fifty women recently crowded into a Berkeley City Council meeting to demand a public hearing "at which all the raped women of Berkeley can finally speak, (and for which on-the-premises child-care must be made available to us.)" While the women presented their list of demands, one woman with a Winchester rifle in her hand stood at the council chambers' doors, guarding herself and other women.
    These Berkeley women have been putting on spontaneous guerilla theater skits in the streets and have made tape recordings to teach women how to deal with hecklers and rapists. They are encouraging women to pick up women hitch hikers and to attend self-defense classes.
   Their demands are as follows:
   1. Free, frequent public bus transportation for all women from dusk to dawn.
   2. Increased, improved adequate lighting for all neighborhoods, including the dark areas around all buildings.
   3. That landlords bear the total expense for effective security locks on all windows and doors of Berkeley apartments.
   4. That taxpayers' money be diverted from the Berkeley police budget into a fund to hire a staff of women trained in the psychology of rape. That these women will accompany the police on the initial investigation of all rape reports. (This is done in other countries)
   5. That further funds be diverted from the Berkeley police budget into the hands of all of the Women's Liberation groups in Berkeley to initiate and maintain public self-defense classes for all women in Berkeley.
   6. That self-defense training for all female schoolchildren be introduced throughout the Berkeley school system.
  7. That the City Council give women of the Free Future adequate funds to draw up, print and circulate a pamphlet on How to Prevent Rape.
   8. That since the Berkeley police are either unable or unwilling to protect women against rape, any women in Berkeley who feels that her life is threatened have the right to bear concealed or unconcealed loaded weapons which will deter rape and aid in her self-defense. 

Page 4    Volume 1 No 10     Ain't I

Saving...

[2 photos] Genocide is not Survival by Laura & Pam --white women For some time now, Women's Liberation groups across the country have raised the demand for free and legal abortion as part of an overall demand for control over our own bodies. Other groups have called for extensive availability of birth control methods, legalized abortion laws and other measures to prevent overpopulation. More recently, a new demand has reached us: That we deal with the possibility that uncontrolled abortion and other methods of birth control could easily mean genocide for non-White peoples. As a concrete example, it would be very simple to include sterilization after a certain number of children as a prerequisite to obtaining welfare payments, etc. We already know that women in cities all over the country are being sterilized without their knowledge or consent, perhaps after delivery of a child or during some other kind of operation. This happens with regularity in New York City to Black and Puerto Rican women. This is presumably done by doctors who feel they are doing it for the good of the women themselves and for the good of the world, But which world -- the white or the non-white? White America controls over 60% of the wealth of the world and consumes over 60% of the world's raw materials. Certainly it would be to the benefit of the non-white peoples if there were fewer white people, particularly Americans. A growing group in the United States, called "Zero-Population Growth" supports forced sterilization programs in Third World Nations. Paul Ehrlich, chief spokesman for "Zero Population" and author of Population Bomb, commented on a proposal to sterilize all males in India with three or more children: "We (the U.S. Government) should have applied pressure on the Indian Government to go ahead with the plan. We should have volunteered logistic support...Coercion? Perhaps, but coercion in a good cause." Why is the advocacy of compulsory sterilization particularly directed at India? India's population per square kilometer was only 113 in 1957, while the population per square kilometer in England was 208, Belgium 288, and Holland 304. Why not direct resources into reclaiming land and making it more habitable? Or perhaps the justification was the periodic famines in India. In 1952, for example, 20 million Indians were starving, although India's Government warehouses were so full of food that the U.S. and Canada were asked to postpone shipments of wheat until the next year. After investigation, the author of a report in the New York Times concluded that, "India's current problem apparently is not a food shortage or famine, therefore, but widespread unemployment..." The real causes of starvation and poverty is not overpopulation but the poor distribution of wealth in the world, due to man-made institutions, barriers, and social conditions. Any person concerned with the population explosion who points first to Black and Third World peoples as a prime example of "too many kids" is in reality suggesting and inadvertently supporting an already existing program of Genocide. India is only one example. In Puerto Rico, birth control pills were tested for at least three years before they were allowed on the American market. In several Third World Nations, including Vietnam, experiments were being conducted with chemicals, to induce temporary sterilization. For some women the effects were permanent. These are subtle manifestations of the racism in this country which declares that non-white peoples simply aren't as important as whites. Groups concerned with "overpopulation" and Women's Liberation are going to have to deal with the fact that now, as in the past, demands by white groups can very easily be converted into justification for further oppression and loss of self-determination for the non-white peoples of the world. Racism has always allowed white people to gain "more freedom" at the expense of the rest of the world. Our demand must be analyzed in the light of our acknowledged racism. Abortions and other forms of birth control can continue to be legitimate demands of a group concerned with world liberation only if they are put forward as elective alternatives. Measures have to be found to prevent the possibility of coercion or ways in which they can be used for genocide. These measures must be included in our demands for self determination. Otherwise, we as two individual women who are working within the Women's Liberation Movement, feel that the demand for legalized abortion should not be pushed further. Reprinted from W.L. Newsletter W.L. Library, 1131 So. Brook St. Louisville, Kentucky 40203 Berkeley Tribe/Liberation News Service Berkeley (LNS)--One hundred and fifty women recently crowded into a Berkeley City Council meeting to demand a public hearing "at which all the raped women of Berkeley can finally speak, (and for which on-the-premises child-care must be made available to us.)" While the women presented their list of demands, one woman with a Winchester rifle in her hand stood at the council chambers' doors, guarding herself and other women. These Berkeley women have been putting on spontaneous guerilla theater skits in the streets and have made tape recordings to teach women how to deal with hecklers and rapists. They are encouraging women to pick up women hitch hikers and to attend self-defense classes. Their demands are as follows: 1. Free, frequent public bus transportation for all women from dusk to dawn. 2. Increased, improved adequate lighting for all neighborhoods, including the dark areas around all buildings. 3. That landlords bear the total expense for effective security locks on all windows and doors of Berkeley apartments. 4. That taxpayers' money be diverted from the Berkeley police budget into a fund to hire a staff of women trained in the psychology of rape. That these women will accompany the police on the initial investigation of all rape reports. (This is done in other countries) 5. That further funds be diverted from the Berkeley police budget into the hands of all of the Women's Liberation groups in Berkeley to initiate and maintain public self-defense classes for all women in Berkeley. 6. That self-defense training for all female schoolchildren be introduced throughout the Berkeley school system. 7. That the City Council give women of the Free Future adequate funds to draw up, print and circulate a pamphlet on How to Prevent Rape. 8. That since the Berkeley police are either unable or unwilling to protect women against rape, any women in Berkeley who feels that her life is threatened have the right to bear concealed or unconcealed loaded weapons which will deter rape and aid in her self-defense. Page 4 Volume 1 No 10 Ain't I