Chris Drew on Mon, 19 Jun 2000 06:28:14 +0200 (CEST) |
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[Nettime-bold] ART-ACT Notes 21b |
To unsubscribe from ART-ACT Notes simply reply with unsubscribe in the Subject line. 21b ART-ACT Notes 21b CONTENTS 1) ART-ACT Art Submissions 2) Racism Places U.S. Scientist in Cruel Confinement 3) Link to Editorial Cartoons on the Amadou Diallo Case. 4) ART ACT Unearths ART ATTACK on Internet. Check out "Tolerance between Cultures" by Rui Bernardini Azenha - submitted to ART-ACT at http://www.art-teez.org/artists/rba1.htm Check out "All the Same Under the Skin" by Pat Apt - submitted to ART-ACT at http://www.art-teez.org/artists/pa1.htm RACISM PLACES SCIENTIST IN CRUEL CONFINEMENT an editorial by C. Drew The latest developments at the Los Alamos Lab illustrate how racism hurts us all by blinding us to real issues and dangers. Right wingers have rattled the bones of rumored stolen secrets that occurred during the Republican Administrations of the 80's to unnerve the Clinton Administration. They are employing the old "Yellow Peril" scare tactics. The panic reaction they have created has placed an innocent scientist, Wen Ho Lee, into cruel solitary confinement. http://www.wsws.org/articles/1999/may1999/chin-m27.shtml As it turns out, the information right wingers claim to be stolen has been proven to be available in several unsecured locations on other government sites (http://www.wsws.org/articles/1999/jun1999/spy-j19.shtml ). There is not a shred of evidence that Mr. Lee did anything more than work on a network computer using only password protections to prevent unwarranted access or took work home with him. Yet, today he is jailed and held in solitary confinement reserved for the most violent of criminals http://www.wenholee.org/ ). Clarence Page in his syndicated column appearing in the Chicago Tribune (6/14/00) asks "Why, for example, is Wen Ho Lee jailed while former CIA head John Deutch is walking around free?" Mr. Page explains, "Both allegedly violated security laws by taking classified computer files home and keeping them in unsecured locations. ... the computer files at the heart of the case (against Mr. Lee) were not given the crucial "secret" or "confidential" security classifications, as the indictment against him alleges, until after he was fired." This Asian-American intellectual rots in jail after serving this country well for 38 years while someone else, perhaps a real thief, in the same Los Alamos Lab has stolen or "misplaced" two hard-drives with truly sensitive information. After all the fuss over security, as reflected in the extreme treatment of Mr. Lee, 26 Nuclear Emergency Search Team members were allowed to enter and leave the top secret area where the hard-drives are stored without so much as a signature. Once security clearance was determined, they had unescorted access to the vault. They were able to open the locks to access the hard-drives alone as if not one of the 26 was human enough to ever be compromised. Once the news of the missing drives came out Rep. Bart Stupack (D-Mich) noted his local library protects Winnie the Pooh books more than Los Alamos does our national secrets - library books require a signature. This practice goes back long before the present administration. We need to require that sensible, clear security procedures be developed and adhered to across the board so that common practice does not land one person in jail and another at the head of an agency. The "good ol' boys" on the Nuclear Emergency Search Team are obviously not more trustworthy than Mr. Lee, yet none of them are in jail. We need to demand Wen Ho Lee's release while awaiting trial. This is proof that racism is dangerous to our national interests by allowing us to avoid the real issues. It's a matter of Human Rights. Racist, inhumane, scapegoating is not a solution. Strict common sense procedures are. Set Mr. Lee free. --30-- To see a dozen or so editorial cartoons on Police brutality visit http://cagle.slate.msn.com/news/diallo/ ART ACT Unearths ART ATTACK on Internet. A racist rock group insults the name of art with its event billed as an ART ATTACK. This event took place at the University of Maryland the same day presented a paper to the "Cultural Diversity in Cyberspace Conference." As I explained how we were using community art to build a "Cyber Center" for a community of diversity on the Internet - a controversy boiled across the campus regarding this band and students were mobilizing to protest this example of racism on Campus. I knew little of that day. Some reference was made to it by someone as the day begun for us on campus but its significance was not discussed. Later after I had delivered my paper and the conference was over I sat on campus with my wife waiting for a ride to dinner to arrive. Pople were walking toward the area of the event - the ART ATTACK. It was little more than a band stand with a ton of equipment. I wondered what made this an 'ART ATTACK." I wondered about the use of such a military image to describe the event. While researching the Wen Ho Lee editorial I found the link below and realized I had missed a chance to hand out literature on our website and to make solid contacts with an Asian-American college community and other activists. http://modelminority.com/music/yellowfever.htm In a Post-Protest Report by Tanya M. Lee on May 8, 2000 at the above link she explains the protest was very successful and states "...It is time to show that we, the "silent" minority, will no longer remain silent, no longer be apathetic, and no longer allow oppression to occur. Whether it is on our campuses, in our workplaces, or any environment we may be a part of daily, WE WILL BE HEARD!!! So, now, post-performance, I sit here and challenge you. I challenge those who have been active in your respective communities to go beyond your comfort zone and help other minorities. What affects one community, affects us all...and a coalition speaks is more powerful and speaks much louder (especially in the name of diversity... INTERACTION!!). For those who became active because of this controversy, I challenge you to remain active...." The On-Going Story of Community Art (will return in ART-ACT Notes 21) It is important for me to continue this story of what went into building UM-CAC. Yes the story is long because estimates are that an artist in this nation is luck if she or he may gain support before the age of forty-five with many never finding favor and many more dying verious deaths along the way. What do we have to do to create more opportunities for artists to survive and contribute to their verious audiences and communities. Tune - in for next episode and keep checking out the ART-ACT art. Chris Drew <mailto:umcac@art-teez.org> Uptown Multi-Cultural Art Center http://www.art-teez.org We dress Chicago and the Internet in t-shirt art. Come get some! 773/561-7676 _______________________________________________ Nettime-bold mailing list Nettime-bold@nettime.org http://www.nettime.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nettime-bold