137 lines
8.4 KiB
Groff
137 lines
8.4 KiB
Groff
Winnie Mandela, Queerbashing, and the Left
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BAD Broadside #3
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Several months ago a trial took place in south africa that might
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have been expected to be of great interest to the progressive
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lesbian/gay movement. Winnie Mandela was charged with and convicted
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of various charges connected with the kidnapping and beating of
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several young men, one of whom was later killed by her associates.
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What makes this trial relevant to the gay/lesbian movement is that at
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least part of the reason for this attack was that these men were
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believed to be engaging in sex with other men, an activity that
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Mandela apparently finds worthy of punishment by beatings, and even
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death. Over two years ago, when this incident occurred, Mandela was
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severely criticized by anti-apartheid activists in south africa.
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However, with the notable exception of the article, "Has Winnie Lost
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It?" in the May 1991 BLK, we have yet to see any criticism of Mandela
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by progressive lesbian/gay activists or publications in the united
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states, including radicals like Queer Nation or Gay Community News. A
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number of local lesbians even participated in the organization of a
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women's event in Boston in her honor last June. Apparently many
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radical lesbians and gay men feel that queer-bashing is okay, as long
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as it is perpetrated by other progressives like Mandela.
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We concede that it is hard to know all the facts about what
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happened in this incident, but we have read nothing which leads us to
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doubt that anti-homosexual bias played an important role in the
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beatings and murder. Mandela herself admits that the presumed
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homosexual contact between her victims and a minister at a hostel in
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which they lived was the motivation for their abduction and beating.
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She claims, however that she was only trying to "protect" them from
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"sexual abuse," despite the fact the "victims" have never claimed that
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any abuse occurred. Like many parents who try to beat homosexual
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feelings out of their children, Mandela feels it is legitimate to
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torture those who prefer homosexual sex. If she were truly interested
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in protecting these men against alleged sexual abuse, why not deal
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with the supposed "abuser," instead of further abusing the "victims."
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The only abuse suffered by these young men was that inflicted by
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Mandela and her friends.
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Such actions on the part of Mandela against her opponents should
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come as no surprise given her commitment to violence and bloodshed as
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the preferred method of dealing with problems. Mandela has been tied
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to three other kidnappings and assaults, as well as a disappearance,
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that took place within a few months of the events she was being tried
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for. She also has been quoted as saying, "With our matches and our
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necklaces, we will liberate South Africa," referring to the practice
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of placing gasoline-soaked tires around the necks of those some
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anti-apartheid activists consider "traitors", and lighting them on
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fire. Interestingly, just like Mandela's bullying of young queers,
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necklacing is used only against black people.
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Unlike most of their counterparts in the united states, the
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progressive movement in south africa refused to keep silent in the
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face of Mandela's brutality. In fact, the first reports of the
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assaults and killing were published by an anti-apartheid newspaper,
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not the press controlled by or supportive of the government.
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Anti-apartheid organizations in south africa, such as the Congress of
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South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and the United Democratic Front
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(UDF), were quick to condemn such violence on the part of Mandela. The
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UDF/COSATU statement read, in part, "We are outraged at Mrs Mandela's
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obvious complicity in the recent abductions and assault of Stompie....
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We are outraged by the reign of terror that the team [Mandela's body
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guards, also known as the Mandela United Soccer Club or the Mandela
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Football Club] has been associated with. Not only is Mrs Mandela
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associated with the team, in fact, the team is her own creation. We
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are of the view that Mrs Mandela has abused the trust and confidence
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which she has enjoyed over the years.... The Mass Democratic Movement
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hereby distances itself from Mrs Mandela and her actions."
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This rebuke from her former allies in the anti-apartheid movement
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came only five months after another challenge to her image as a
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well-liked opposition leader. In September 1988, Mandela's home in
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Soweto was burned down by local "comrades," apparently in retaliation
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for a sexual assault against a student leader by members of the
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"football club." (Apparently, real sexual abuse is acceptable to
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Mandela and her friends, as long as it is heterosexual.) The attack
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on Mandela's home appears to have been prompted as well by ill-feeling
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generated by Mandela's rather comfortable lifestyle, which includes
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ownership of a Mercedes, in the midst of the widespread poverty in
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Soweto. According to a source in the anti-apartheid labor movement,
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the public condemnation of Mandela by COSATU and UDF was prompted by
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pressure on the part of Soweto residents fed up with the activities of
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Mandela and her associates. Prior to the killing of Stompie Seipei,
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opposition among other anti-apartheid activists to Mandela's thugs
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had led both Oliver Tambo and Nelson Mandela to call on her to disband
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the club.
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The left in the united states, hetero or homo, has never been very
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principled in its defense of individuals against the tyranny of
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progressive governments or movements. For instance, some gay/lesbian
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activists still defend the cuban politicians who imprisoned queers in
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the past and quarantine HIV-positive people today, practices these
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activists would find intolerable if engaged in by the united states
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government or its allies. Apparently, for many leftists, political
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leaders like Mandela and Castro who mouth the slogans of liberation do
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not need to live up to the same standards of behavior as mere mortals.
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In a column entitled "Leftist cheerleaders are often wrong, but never
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in doubt," Thomas Sowell discussed the mindset of Mandela's
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supporters: "Long before the present ugly episode, Winnie Mandela was
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justifying the hideous practice of burning political enemies alive.
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How could anyone have romanticized such a person? Like too many
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other issues, South Africa is not approached as a serious question
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about the fate of millions of flesh-and-blood human beings, but as a
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symbolic issue providing yet another backdrop for our own moral
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preening. Those who are preoccupied with showing that they are on the
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side of the angels are quick to find angels to side with. Winnie
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Mandela was just one of those angels."
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Just as many american leftists once ignored credible evidence that
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progressive leaders like Lenin and Castro were brutalizing and killing
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dissidents, most leftists today, including many lesbian/gay activists,
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continue to fawn over Mandela, despite the fact that even many of her
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former allies have seen her for the bully she is and have spoken out
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against her. People who are serious about liberation, sexual and
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otherwise, need to have a consistent commitment to personal freedom
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and be willing to speak out whenever people are unjustly attacked,
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whoever the attacker may be. Hypocritically covering-up and
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apologizing for the excesses of progressives puts into serious doubt
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the left's stated commitment to a free society.
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A slightly different version of this broadside appeared in Gay
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Community News, July 7-13, 1991
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NO COPYRIGHT
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Please send two copies of any review or reprint
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of all or part of this to:
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Boston Anarchist Drinking Brigade
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(BAD Brigade)
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PO Box 1323
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Cambridge, MA 02238
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Internet: bbrigade@world.std.com
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July, 1991
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