2004 - July

Behind the murder of Emmett Till lies a campaign of terror against Southern Negroes—and whites. Its aim—to halt the growing movement to apply the Supreme Court no-school-segregation decision.

Race hatred was whipped to a fever pitch following the widely-hailed high court ruling. Southern governors and congressmen openly called for flouting it. They were afraid—afraid of the new militancy and courage of Southern Negroes. And they were afraid of the new, but little-publicized, democratic feelings of many whites.

“The murder of Emmett Till must be the beginning of the end of segregation and lynching!�

This is what people are saying in memorial meetings and protest rallies throughout the US.

But so far, the administration in Washington hasn’t said a word about the murder of Emmett Till, and this is an administration which doesn’t spare words when it claims a violation of freedom—thousands of miles from our shores!

Clearly the unpunished murder of Emmett Till and the force and violence used against would-be Negro voters in Mississippi show a plot to subvert the Constitution.

How in the hell did a 24-year-old progressive black woman win a seat in the state legislature in the heart of Newt Gingrich country? How did University of Michigan students change the tide in the national debate on affirmative action? How did a 25-year-old Green become mayor of a city in New York? How—and I kid you not—did a young Latina help topple the mighty Daley political machine in Chicago?

The punk rock tradition was—for a very long time—closely tied to a cynical anarchism and go-it-alone individualism. Voting was seen as “selling out� to the system, just like signing your band to a major label would be. But Bush has been so bad for the world that the punk constituency can longer afford the luxury of sitting on the sidelines. The punks have even started a website to mobilize for the election: www.punkvoter.com!

Fat Mike, of NOFX, explains in his introduction that the bands on Rock Against Bush Vol. 1 “have come together for one reason, and that’s to express our outrage at—and form a united front against—the dangerous, destructive, and deadly policies of George W. Bush and his administration.� The intro, as well as two inserts entitled “20 Reasons to Hate Bush Jr.� and “20 More Reasons to Hate Bush Jr.� make strong and occasionally funny arguments for voting against Bush this November. For example: