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Today's
Stories
December
4 / 6, 2004
Alexander
Cockburn
Politicize the CIA? You've Got to
be Kidding
December
3, 2004
Dave
Lindorff
Lie Then Escalate
Ben
Tripp
Fun With Boycotts: How to Shop in a
Time of Crisis
Joe
Allen
Murder in El Salvador: the Assassination of Teamster Organizer
Gilberto Soto
Matthew
B. Riley
Human Rights Court Fails Lori Berenson
Meir
Shalev
In the End, It is the Violin that Wins
Bob
Wing
The White Elephant in the Room: Race and Election 2004
Christopher
Brauchli
When McCain Bit His Tongue
Sasan
Fayazmanesh
The EU, the US, Israel and Iran
December
2, 2004
Tito
Tricot
No Justice in Chile: I'm a Torture
Survivor in a Country Where Torturers Still Run Free
Behzad
Yaghmaian
The Murder of Theo Van Gogh and Muslim Migration
Dr.
Susan Block
Lana and Me: Meetings with Remarkable Apes
Frank
/ Chowkwanyun
Liberalism and Its Bounds
Lee
Sustar
Standoff in Ukraine: the Bad v. the Corrupt
Patrick
Cockburn
Another Grim Record in Iraq
Mark
Engler
Seattle at Five
Michael
Donnelly
Something Stinks in South Bend: the Firing of Tyrone Willingham
Nate
Collins
The Bay Area Mall on an Ohlone Burial Grounds
Saul
Landau
The Assassination of Danilo Anderson
December
1, 2004
Phillip
Cryan
Associated with Whom? Rightist Bias
in Wire Coverage of Colombia
Dave
Zirin
What's the Matter with "Leon"?:
Budweiser's Racist Commercial
Ghali
Hassan
Iraq's Health Care Under the Occupation:
200 Children Die Every Day
Donna
J. Volatile
Beware Western Nations Threatening "Democracy"
Patrick
Cockburn
How Saddam Tried to Arm the Insurgency
Nick
Meo
Chemical War Over Afghanistan
Mike
Ferner
The Battle of Toledo
Mokhiber
/ Weissman
Shame and Determination on Global AIDS Day: 40 Million and Rising
Kathy
Kelly
Looking the Other Way: the Real Crimes
of the UN in Iraq
November
30, 2004
Jennifer
Van Bergen
The Veil of Secrecy
Toni
Nelson Herrera
Meeting Kurtz: When Art is a Crime
Paul
Craig Roberts
The Bush Delusions: Successful at Incompetence
Patrick
Cockburn
The Insurgency Strikes Back: There Are No Safe Havens in Iraq
Chuck
Munson
WTO Protests Five Years Later: Seattle Weekly Trashes Anti-Globalization
Movement
Adam
Williams
Citizenship Sold: Back to Business in Indiana
Gregory
Elich
A Dangerous Turn in the US Plans for
North Korea
Website
of the Day
Read Lynne Cheney's Lesbian Novel Online!
November
29, 2004
Dave
Lindorff
Blowback in Ukraine: The Hand of
the CIA?
Omar
Barghouti
"The Pianist" of Palestine:
Roadblock Concerto at Gunpoint
Mike
Whitney
The US Media and Fallujah: How to
Market a Siege
Uri
Avnery
The Abu Mazen Style: "Give Me
Some Credit!"
Matt
Vidal
Globalization and Economic Inequality: a Look at the Numbers
Patrick
Cockburn
An Interview with Iraq's Foreign
Minister
Alan
Farago
Sex Change and Salvation: God, Girly Men and Endocrine Disrupters
Justin
Huggler
Bhopal 20 Years Later
Antony
Loewenstein
How Australia Reported Arafat's Death and Legacy
Gary
Leupp
Ukraine: Poll Results Aren't the Real
Issue
Website
of the Day
Mosul: Images from a Kill Zone
November
27 / 28, 2004
Peter
Linebaugh
Torture & Neo-Liberalism with
Sycorax in Iraq
Alexander
Cockburn
What Happened to O'Reilly's Loofa?
Fred
Gardner
Ashcroft v. Raich: Medical Marijuana and the Supreme Court
Kathy
Kelly
What We Can Control
Diane
Christian
The Other Cheek: "Empire Doesn't Analyze, It Acts"
Gary
Leupp
One More Neocon Target: South (Yes, South) Korea
Lenni
Brenner
Equality and Rights of Return: Jefferson Instructs the New York
Times
Ron
Jacobs
Death Squads and Iraq's Elections: the Mysterious Murders of
the AMS Clerics
Joshua
Frank
An Interview with Kevin Zeese on Nader, Kerry and the ABB Crowd
Toni
Solo
The Murder of Danilo Anderson
Saul
Landau
Fallujah, the 21st Century Guernica
JoAnn
Wypijewski
Matthew Shepard Case 6 Years Later: Why Hate Crimes Laws are
No Cure for Homophobia
Justin
Taylor
Empire's Lawless Opportunities
Amos
Harel
The Case of Captain R.
Walter
A. Davis
Tabloid Justice
Stephen
Hendricks
God's Kind of Men
Poets'
Basement
Albert, LaMorticella and Ford
November
26, 2004
Peter
Feng
Gavin Newsom: Man or Machine?
Greg
Moses
It's the White Vote, Stupid
Liaquat
Ali Khan
The Devil's Work: Bush's Minority Appointments
Michael
Mandel / Gail Davidson
Why Bush Should Be Banned from Canada: a Memo to the Ministry
of Immigration
Dave
Lindorff
Nation of Sheep, Turkey of an Election: Urkrainians Show the
Way
Gary
Corseri
When Black Friday Comes...
Paul
Craig Roberts
Whatever Happened to Conservatives?
Website
of the Day
Iraq Pipeline Watch
November
25, 2004
Willliam
Loren Katz
Giving Thanks to Whom?: "Thanks
to God We Sent 600 Heathen Souls to Hell Today"
Mitchel
Cohen
Why I Hate Thanksgiving
Mike
Ferner
An Uncommon Mom
November
24, 2004
Gila
Svirsky
License to Kill: the Example of Violence
is Set by the State
Winslow
T. Wheeler
The
Other Mess in Congress
Christopher
Brauchli
The Company He Keeps: the Syndicate of Tom Delay
Dave
Lindorff
Double Standards on Exit Polls: Hypocrisy Sans Irony
Ron
Jacobs
The Occupation of Iraq is the Root of t he Problem
Ken
Sengupta
Witnesses: War Crimes in Fallujah
Diana
Barahona
The Final Holocaust or Why I Voted for Ralph Nader
John
L. Hess
Safire the Shameless
Jason
Leopold
Did Harvard Hire (Another) War Criminal?
Jeffrey
St. Clair
The Mark of McCain: the Senator Most Likely to Start a Nuclear
War
Map
of the Day
Now and Then: 2004 v. 1860
November
23, 2004
Forrest
Hylton
Bush and Uribe at the Beach
November
22, 2004
Dave
Zirin
Fight Night in the NBA: Selective Outrage
in Detroit
Paul
Craig Roberts
On to Iran: We Won't Get Fooled Again?
Michael
Mandel / Gail Davidson
Why Bush Should be Banned from Canada
Kathie
Helmkamp
Our Son: a Marine Who Won't Kill
Ken
Sengupta
The Triangle of Death: "This is Now the Most Dangerous Place
in Iraq"
Mike
Whitney
Greenspan's Hammer
Roger
Burbach
Why They Hate Bush in Chile
Website
of the Day
Fed Up with Government Lies and Corporate Spin?
November
20 / 21, 2004
Alexander
Cockburn
The Poisoned Chalice
Todd
May
Religion, the Election and the Politics of Fear
Abbas
Ahmed Ibrahim
The Horrors of Fallujah: a First-Hand Account
Kevin
Zeese
Mishandling Nader
Landau
/ Hassen
After Arafat
Tom
Barry
The Vulcans Consolidate Power: The Rise of Stephen Hadley
Fred
Gardner
Pot Shots: Ask Dr. Todd
Justin
E.H. Smith
Triumph of the Will: the Sequel
Carl
Estabrook
Where We Are Now
Gary
Leupp
Imperial History-Making vs. Reality-Based Thought: a Dialogue
Dave
Lindorff
Apocalypse Soon
Jenna
Michelle Liut
Plans Colombia and Patriota: Wanton Wastes of Money, Manpower
and Lives
Mickey
Z.
The Granma Moses of Radical Writing: an Interview with William
Blum
Greg
Moses
The Same Old Struggle Against Imperial America
Sharon
Smith
Abortion Rights and the Election: What Now?
Ron
Jacobs
Sandwiches and Car Bombs
Ben
Tripp
Raising d'Etre: Finding Money in Hollywood These Days
Richard
Oxman
Basketbrawl Two Pointer: Iraq Rules!
Gilad
Atzmon
Politics and Jazz
Poets'
Basement
LaMorticella, Albert, Ford, & Anon.
Website
of the Day
Voice of the Forest
Hot Stories
Alexander Cockburn
Behold,
the Head of a Neo-Con!
Subcomandante
Marcos
The
Death Train of the WTO
Norman Finkelstein
Hitchens
as Model Apostate
Steve Niva
Israel's
Assassination Policy: the Trigger for Suicide Bombings?
Dardagan,
Slobodo and Williams
CounterPunch Exclusive:
20,000 Wounded Iraqi Civilians
Steve
J.B.
Prison Bitch
Sheldon
Rampton and John Stauber
True Lies: the Use of Propaganda
in the Iraq War
Wendell
Berry
Small Destructions Add Up
CounterPunch
Wire
WMD: Who Said What When
Cindy
Corrie
A Mother's Day Talk: the Daughter
I Can't Hear From
Gore Vidal
The
Erosion of the American Dream
Francis Boyle
Impeach
Bush: A Draft Resolution
Click
Here for More Stories.
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Weekend Edition
December 4 / 6, 2004
Mining Camp Blues
The
Red State Variation
By
JACKIE CORR
Once I had a daddy and he worked
down in a hole.
Diggin' and a-haulin'; haulin' that Birmingham coal.
Many times I wondered when they took my daddy down
Will he come back to
me--Will they leave him in the ground.
Something like the pitcher that they sent down in the well
Wond'rin' will they break it. Lawdy, lawdy who can tell.
MINING CAMP BLUES by Trixie Smith, 1925
Did you ever wonder what it would be
like if there had been no liberals, no radicals and no wobblies
in old Montana?
Try Alabama.
On April 9, 1911, an explosion
at the Banner coal mine in Littleton, Alabama blew 129 miners
to bits.
Which is no surprise.There are few states or countries, anywhere
in the world, that match the depravity of the Alabama past.
Doubters of such a statement can quickly become familiar with
the history of mining, not just in Alabama, but in the Dixieland
Red states that just sent George Bush back to the White House.
Now--it must be admitted - mining fatalities were no big deal
in America's "Progressive Era." In 1917, in one pop,
we had 170 so miners killed right here on the Butte hill in the
Granite Mountain-Speculator mine. I can walk out my front door
and still see the remains of these shafts in the distance. So,
as far as mines go, what happened in Butte or in Alabama took
place in an era when lots of miners died underground.
Even today, with deep shafts and great danger mostly in the past,
miners who died underground still account for a large chunk of
America's violent death toll. Other groups have died violently,
servicemen at war abroad, traffic accident and gun shot victims,
Native Americans in the "winning of the west," and
miners. And American miners were killed and injured in mines
where conditions and safety laws lagged for behind Europe and
South Africa.
But conditions were not the same everywhere. Down there in Dixieland,
in modern day Bush Country, we find a very grim picture.
In Alabama as we will see, things were quite different then up
here in Montana. And mining is a reason why our Montana past
is radically different from the hard-core red states where slave
mining was openly practiced decades after the end of the Civil
War.
As compared with our old Montana "blue state" heritage,
miners were a lot worse off down there, in Dixie, in today's
Bushland.
For you see, even way back in 1911, Alabama was a big time "red"
state. The reddest of the red as we shall see.
Which means that in 1911 there would be no liberal or IWW whining
or sniveling about workers wages, rights and working conditions.
And there would be no radical or socialist talk of unions. Even
to talk about, let alone try and organize a miner's union in
the Dixieland Workers Paradise was a crime. And it could (and
did) get you lynched or flogged. Even child labor was considered
a blessing down there and the ruling elite living in luxury were
openly thankful to Jesus for God's gift of free labor. (Could
this be where we will find the roots of "Compassionate Conservatism
?")
So if you looked at underground working conditions in old Alabama
and then compared these conditions with America's liberal working-class
hotbeds of unionism, you would find places like old Butte where
the Western Federation of Miners and the Butte Miner's Union
were a force for mine wages, safety and conditions. As for Dixieland,
no threatening labor movement ever existed, let along got off
the ground.
Now somebody familiar with Alabama history might say in rebuttal
- "You see at this Alabama coal mine where all these miners
were killed, it turns out they were not real employees."
And I would have to agree.
It turns out the doomed miners at Banner were "rentals,"
or leased prisoners. They were convicts rented out to the Pratt
Consolidated Coal Company by the state of Alabama,
So no, the miners used here were not real employees. Instead,
they were part of a bloody and brutal Dixieland racket, a business
that was considered a notorious evil in a red-state region noted
for notorious evils.
Along with Bibles, bloodhounds and chains, fried chicken and
child labor, flogging and mint juleps, convict leasing was common
in Dixieland's red states. And in America, when we find loud
bible-banging, and in those places where the name of Jesus is
used most frequently, we always find the very worst of working
conditions. And written by law.
* *
*
It was late one evenin' I was
standin' at the mine
Foreman said my daddy had gone down his last, last time.
Ev'ry day I've waited, sad and worried as can be
Waitin' for my daddy, thinkin' he'd come back to me
MINING CAMP BLUES
From the 1890's well into the
1950's, visitors to the American South often observed long lines
of chained Negroes marching along or working on Southern roads
and highways.
And chained Negroes were to be seen especially in Alabama where
the system was most rampant. For here we have the ideal business
friendly law, a heavenly model for God fearing Southern Christians.
Of Alabama's 67 counties, 51 leased their convicts to companies
who then built for what passed as prisons, sparingly fed and
clothed the convicts, and then supplied the guards, dogs, chains
and whips.
This law, in effect, made Alabama,s convict rehabilitation program
outright slavery and it lasted longer then anywhere else in Dixie,
from 1876 to 1928. In some years at least 10% of state revenue
of Alabama was derived from the convict lease program, there
being no taxing of wealth in these early red states.
And no taxes on those who benefited from these vile conditions
meant little or no money spent on public education or health.
Ironically, it would be FDR and the liberal New Deal that would
bring Dixieland conditions above those of the third world.
As for those slave miners killed at Littleton, Alabama in 1911,
deep in the Banner coal mine? Well, who were they?
As it turns out there doesn't seem to be but a few records with
the names of the dead miners anywhere in Alabama. But this is
Bush Country and modern southerners, journalists and historians
would rather examine other subjects. Like some noble aspect or
tiresome detail of the Civil War. They like that one.
There are exceptions, but all in all, the southern propagandist,
journalist and historian has shown little energy in writing about
what happened to blacks, children, working- class people and
unions after the Civil War ended. Today, some southern whites
still think Martin Luther King. Jr. had no legitimate complaints
and was really a Communist.
But no matter what Martin said, it turns out these miners were
all of one color. And they weren't white folks down in the mines.
But just because they did not keep a lot of records, we can't
say for sure that it was embarrassing or anything like that.
Maybe it was just because the life of a convict miner meant
so little - why even write it down. Isn't that Compassionate
Conservatism at its best?
Which means that in 1902 and 1903, (And mining historians have
found only this period for which a complete prisoner ledger survives)
( in Jefferson County, Birmingham, Alabama) in that county,
3,000 misdemeanor cases ended in conviction which meant sentencing
to the coal mines for most of those jailed.
And what were they charged with, what did they do to be sent
off as galley slaves as in old Rome?
Of records that exist the most frequent charge is "not given."
Other charges listed are vagrancy, gambling, "abusive and
obscene language, " fornication, adultery, freight-train
hopping and many labeled "missed payment."
* *
*
"MISSING
THE PAYMENT"
With the profits lucrative and no employee problems, mining slavery
was quite extensive in Alabama. At another Birmingham mine in
1899 (Sloss-Sheffield Colaburg Prison Mine) a county health officer
found, from the records, 1,926 convicts underground. In anybody's
language, nearly two thousand miners underground means a very
large operation.
The health officer found hundreds of these miners had been charged
with vagrancy, gambling, talking too loud, in the wrong part
of town, and other minor offenses. In many cases, no specific
charges were recorded What the convict slaves were guilty of
was "missing the payment."
What happened was the unfortunate Negro was arrested for a minor
infraction and then fined $10.Unable to pay, he was sent to the
mine for thirty days. In addition, most of those prisoners then
had another year or more tacked on to their sentences to cover
fees owed to the sheriff, the clerk and the witnesses, if any,
involved in prosecuting them.
"The largest portion of the prisoners are sentenced for
slight offenses and sent to prison for want of money to pay the
fines and costs. They are not criminals," wrote Jefferson
County Health Officer Dr. Thomas Parke.He further questioned
whether "a sovereign state can afford to send her citizens,
for slight offenses,to a prison where, in the nature of things,
a large number are condemned to die."
Of course the mining company
had an explanation. : "The Negro dies faster," Sloss-Sheffield's
president wrote in a letter to local officials a month later.
At another Sloss-Sheffield mine, named Flat Top, a Alabama state
inspector reported that at the Flat Top mine prison, which had
165 inmates, there were 137 "floggings" with a whip
in one month of 1899. But there were no violations of the law.
So, as mentioned, convict mine labor, backed up by the whip
and the lash, lasted longer under law in Alabama (1928), then
anywhere else in the world. Then there were red-state benefits
for Alabama miners. Such as poor medical treatment, scant food
and frequent floggings.
Noted on a typical page from
a 1918 Alabama state report on causes of death among leased convicts
in mines include: "Shot by Foreman, Asphyxia from Explosion,
Tuberculosis, Burned by Gas Explosion, Pneumonia, Gangrenous
Appendicitis, Blown to Bits, Paralysis and Fall of Ground."
And so you want to be a red-state? Well, there it is, deep in
the heart of Bush country where you will find no liberal
whining or sniveling about workers wages.
And you will find no tradition of civil rights or concerns about
working conditions, wages and overtime.
Part 1 of 2...
Jackie Corr lives in Butte, Montana. He can be reached
at: jcorr@bigskyhsd.com
Weekend Edition
Features for November
27 / 28, 2004
Peter
Linebaugh
Torture & Neo-Liberalism with
Sycorax in Iraq
Alexander
Cockburn
What Happened to O'Reilly's Loofa?
Fred
Gardner
Ashcroft v. Raich: Medical Marijuana and the Supreme Court
Kathy
Kelly
What We Can Control
Diane
Christian
The Other Cheek: "Empire Doesn't Analyze, It Acts"
Gary
Leupp
One More Neocon Target: South (Yes, South) Korea
Lenni
Brenner
Equality and Rights of Return: Jefferson Instructs the New York
Times
Ron
Jacobs
Death Squads and Iraq's Elections: the Mysterious Murders of
the AMS Clerics
Joshua
Frank
An Interview with Kevin Zeese on Nader, Kerry and the ABB Crowd
Toni
Solo
The Murder of Danilo Anderson
Saul
Landau
Fallujah, the 21st Century Guernica
JoAnn
Wypijewski
Matthew Shepard Case 6 Years Later: Why Hate Crimes Laws are
No Cure for Homophobia
Justin
Taylor
Empire's Lawless Opportunities
Amos
Harel
The Case of Captain R.
Walter
A. Davis
Tabloid Justice
Stephen
Hendricks
God's Kind of Men
Poets'
Basement
Albert, LaMorticella and Ford
|