Who remembers January 12th anymore? A hundred or so neo-nazis came to town; and at least 400 people came out to shout them down and vent some of our frustrations at the racist lies they stand for; hundreds more people, people with small children, people with aversions to violence, organized and came together at unity rallies and other anti-racist events. Even people who didn't come out to any of the festivities still showed their support and their anti-racism by just living their lives, not to mention giving shelter and cover to a number of anti-racists who had to hide from police or nazis. All in all, it was clear that while York might be divided in a lot of ways, while it has its problems with racism like anywhere in America, there is no place at all for neo-nazis in town.

Well, well, well... As if the community response on January 12th didn't get through, more nazis are planning on coming to the fair city of York. After the humiliation they suffered last time they were here, we don't expect nearly as big an event as last time, but to be honest, no one knows what to expect for Saturday. Even if it turns out to be just ten Aryan Nations wingnuts hiding well behind police lines, we still feel it is important for the community to come together and send a strong message that white supremacists of any kind are not welcome.

THANKS, YORK

Despite all the venom the two newspapers had for us, we feel we had a very warm welcome in York on January 12. And we've enjoyed talking to people on visits since then. We want to thank the Yorkers who we stood side by side with and who led the charge through city streets as we all swept them clean of nazi trash.

We ought to remind the newspapers that out of towners added up to no more than 100, a number dwarfed by the 300 Yorkers present. That's about the same as the number of folks who went to the Unity Rally. We think its fair then to say that the people of York decided what they wanted to do, depending on their beliefs and what they felt able to do, and acted accordingly. We're proud that we were part of that response. We're proud that the nazis got run out of town that day, and with quite a few bruises.

QUESTIONING THE '69 PROSECUTIONS

We'd like to take a moment to raise some questions about the prosecution of 11 people on charges stemming from the 1969 riots, after all, it was this circumstance which the nazis were trying to exploit in January.

First of all, we'd like to say that we think the most important thing to get out of the situation is a better understanding of what happened, why, and what lessons people can take from it. Specifically, working class people--black, white, latino, all of us--need to take a few lessons from it. There are no doubt many, but two points that stand out to us are these:

DON'T TRUST THE POLICE

No doubt the kids in the Newberry Street Boys and the Girarders thought that they had real back-up in their beef with the boys from around College Ave. Taking the police side and helping repress the rebellion did nothing for the individual white kids involved or for the white neighborhoods that they came out of. Police are lying snakes and they'll use us everytime.

BE REAL SURE WHO YOUR ENEMIES ARE

The white boys in those two gangs thought blacks were their enemies and they put a lot on the line for that conviction. A few years down the road that belief didn't make much sense anymore, but the damage was already done, in their own lives and the lives of their victims. And what about the black kids taking part in a just uprising against an exploitive political and economic order, who fell into the same race trap and took pot shots at whites riding through the neighborhood?

There's no prosecutorial solution to what happened back then. But there is a people¹s solution. We still have a lot of the problems that existed back then. Life ain't easy for poor people, whatever your so-called race or nationality. So the next time we get ready to fight the things that are keeping us down, we need to have a better idea of how to do it. That¹s why we've got no time for these nazi fools spreading mistrust among us.

We propose the idea to the people of York for an amnesty for the 10 non-governmental defendants. As for Charlie Robertson, who acted with the authority of the police and the city, and who still shows so little understanding or remorse for what he did, we feel no need to offer any defense. Let the blood hound Rebert prosecute him to his heart's content.

We also believe there should be a full investigation into the city and police complicity in the schemes that are attributed solely to Robertson. Why should we believe he acted alone? One of the reasons for the riots in the first place was police harrassment. Let's be clear were blame for the riots belongs: first of all on the city goverment, police, and business leaders who kept the black community severely marginalized and harrassed and used race to divide working class people.

ANTI-RACISTS GET A RIDE ON THE RAILROAD

Anti-racists from York and surrounding states got treated to a dose of York Justice over two days of court this past February. It became clear what defendants were in for when the court refused to reschedule hearings for a time when several defendants out of state lawyer could be present.

The charges ranged from the ridiculous to the absurd. Two animal lovers, one a strict vegetarian, were charged with punching horses; one woman was charged with disorderly for resisting arrest while she cared for the young girl run over by a nazi in a pickup truck; another woman was charged for asking her arrested boyfriend for the keys to her car; two men were charged for cursing nazis; one man was arrested for throwing a snowball... As the Judge would say each time before handing down sentence, "You understand, these are very serious charges".

To no one's surprise, what the police did not see, they invented. And no amount of well reasoned questioning from the defense could sway the judge's faith in police testimony, after all, "these are very serious charges" and "how could the prosecutor present false evidence," thinketh the judge, "I had lunch with him just the other day." Another day in court with the Good Ol Boys. Except for one not-guilty due to a no-show by the arresting officer, everyone was found guilty and one anti-racist was sentenced to 90 days, which he has appealed.

KEEP AN EYE ON CHANNEL 49 FOR "WORLD'S APART'S" INTERVIEW WITH ANTI-RACIST ACTION MEMBERS.

We recently appeared on the Worlds Apart TV show, an in-depth discussion of racism, civil rights, and hate, and spoke about our message of self-reliance in stopping hate groups from taking root. Call the station for date and time.

SHUT DOWN THE NATIONAL ALLIANCE IN WASHINGTON DC ON MAY 11TH.

The nazis keep coming back, the dim witted bastards. In September, the Klan called for a march in Lancaster, PA, which they backed out of at the last minute. Then no less than five nazi groups came to York this past January. The Aryan Nations is back today. And for the last year the National Alliance has been having regular demonstrations in Washington DC. Anyone in York who doesn't feel like waiting for the next time they decide to hold a rally here can come with us down to Washington, to drive the message home that they'll have no peace if they come around here and its time they crawl back under their rock. Call the Baltimore ARA hotline at 410-783-5449.

WHY WE FIGHT

We'd like to point out first of all that physically fighting is not our only response to nazi organizing, but we do believe it is essential. Nazis thrive off the illusion of thier superior strength, they recruit people who want to be part of that imaginary Aryan superiority. When we defeat them physically, we destroy the illusion of their superiority and demoralize their recruits.

Some people believe that to do this is to violate Nazi's right to free speach. We disagree. We oppose the government censorship of anybody, even nazis. But nazi organizing goes beyond the realm of speach, nazi organizations are preparing for race war and are more than capable of violence. So it becomes necessary to respond appropriately, to be able to defend ourselves and defend our communities. It becomes necessary to stop nazi organizing before it is able to begin carrying out its plans. And we'd rather fight these fools now when they are small, when we can fight with our fists and a club or two, than fight them later with guns and everything else. Hitler gave the helpful advice that "the only way our movement could have been stopped is if our opponents had consistently and forcefully driven us off the streets from the very beginning". We trust his judgement on this one.