By Ethen Lieser
Here is the worst case scenario: a militant group, possibly dressed in red imprints of Karl Marx or Mao Tse Tung, encroaching on Washington, D.C. Snipers are hidden on tops of skyscrapers and in manholes. There is an air battle, causing residential homes to burn like forest fires while airplane debris falls from the sky. The postcard bays of the Atlantic coast ripple in chaos. It’s a war. And it’s on American soil.
Formed in 1975, the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP) has one thing in mind — take over the American government and institute communism. Sound impossible? The 17 members of the S.F. Bay Area RCP branch don’t think so. Nationwide, the party is currently initiating recruitment efforts as the next step in their revolution. The numbers of current members are not made public.
“What we’re doing right now is preparing the ground for a revolution,” said Stephanie Tang, the spokesperson of the RCP. “In addition, RCP just released a draft program, a kind of road map for destroying the old and creating the new.”
At an RCP discussion session held on May 9 at Revolution Books in Berkeley, Larry Everest, a correspondent of the Revolutionary Worker newspaper and supporter of the RCP, stressed the importance of the programs. “They aren’t just another piece of paper,” he said. “It’s just not another book. Revolutions have been won and lost based on whether your program is correct or incorrect.”
He later added: “Getting this [program] out to people and having them read it can change their minds and lives because once you start seeing how different it is, you realize how ridiculous and absurd this society we live in now is.”
But one thing is clear: no psychologist is needed to prod this program’s true feelings. In the first paragraph of Part I, the reader is confronted with this:
Of all the tyrants and oppressors in the world, there is none that has caused more untold misery and committed more screaming injustices against the people of the world than the rulers of the U.S.
Following the guidelines of communism’s Big Three — Mao Tse Tung, V.I. Lenin and Karl Marx — the RCP tries to rekindle their theories. The RCP looks to Mao Tse Tung the most, citing his views on the potential of the peasant movement. In the last century, Mao’s vision influenced revolutionaries throughout the Third World. But he was also criticized for several disasters, including the Cultural Revolution and the Great Leap Forward, which created large-scale agricultural communes — and ultimately caused 20 million people to starve to death.
And even with the fall of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, Tang adamantly disagreed that communism “failed.”
“[Communists] emerged into the world when they were considered very much in the minority and the imperialist system was much stronger internationally,” Tang said. “They were eventually defeated because when you bring about a society where you are working for mass equality and to undo all these old ancient oppressions … a lot of people aren’t going to like that and they fight very hard to get in your way and undo your revolution.
“So that’s what happened, they were defeated, but they didn’t fail. And we think the lessons that came out of those societies prove to us that, in fact, they were on the right road.”
Throughout the two-hour-plus session, the participants, ranging in all ages, intensely sat on folding chairs in a circle. They were cordial, allowing everyone a chance to voice their thoughts. Each opinion seemed to ricochet off the walls of the tiny bookstore. The ceiling constantly creaked. Posters of Frederick Douglas and Malcolm X lined the graffiti-stained walls. It was archaic, plastered in the time of Marx.
One man was frustrated over the vagueness in the roles of homosexuals in communist society. After several minutes of heated argument, Everest, in his methodical and calculated speech, backtracked: “Luckily, we did call this a draft.”
Sitting cross-legged on the bookstore’s counter was Reiko Redmonde, 40, a hapa events coordinator for RCP. She considers herself to have a ’60s mentality and, even today, she hasn’t stopped trying to ignite revolutions. In the white-dominated room, Redmonde stood out. She was the only Asian American at the discussion. “[Being Asian American], I think I have a certain life experience,” she said. “You grow up with this profound hatred for inequality.”
She possessed a stern face, hair cropped to the scalp, the look of an intelligent observer. She smirked when somebody made an off-the-wall point. When she spoke, Redmonde’s enthusiasm exploded like a shaken can of soda. She talked about the prospect of a revolution: “There are times and there are times, and when it is right, the system can no longer rule in the old way and the people have refused to go along with things … then such a revolutionary attempt at a seizure of power is possible.”
And people dying for this cause?
“Revolution that would take place and be participated in by millions and millions of people in this country?” Redmonde asked herself. “Yeah, [it is] justified, totally.”
Reach Ethen Lieser at elieser@asianweek.com. |
