A.N.S.W.E.R.

ANSWER stands for Act Now to Stop War & End Racism.

Alleged Socialist Connections

It should be noted that this group has been formed by members of the Workers World Party (WWP), which is an offshoot of the Socialist Workers Party. The WWP formed to support the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956. To quote from the LA Weekly, an article there has some interesting comments on the WWP, as follows: -- The party advocates socialist revolution and abolishing private property. It is a fan of Fidel Castro's regime in Cuba, and it hails North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il for preserving his country's "socialist system," which, according to the party's newspaper, has kept North Korea "from falling under the sway of the transnational banks and corporations that dictate to most of the world." The WWP has campaigned against the war-crimes trial of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. A recent Workers World editorial declared, "Iraq has done absolutely nothing wrong."

From that same article, regarding ANSWER, it stated: -- Several key ANSWER officials -- including spokesperson Brian Becker -- are WWP members. Many local offices for ANSWER's protest were housed in WWP offices. Earlier this year, when ANSWER conducted a press briefing, at least five of the 13 speakers were WWP activists.

A link the above article discussing the relationship between the WWP and ANSWER is here: http://www.laweekly.com/ink/02/50/news-corn.php

David Horowitz, the conservative former leader of the 1960s New Left movement, has also described ANSWER as a communist front group. In an article with FrontPageMagazine.com on January 20th, 2003 he stated: "America's enemies within turned out in force on Saturday in Washington DC and San Francisco under the auspicies of the Communist Workers World Party operating under its front organization, A.N.S.W.E.R."

A.N.S.W.E.R's response to Red-Baiting

From this page:

"The red-baiters have focused on singling out the presence of socialists and Marxists, in particular members of the Workers World Party (a socialist party in the U.S.), because some people in that party have been prominent in supporting the anti-war movement and the work of A.N.S.W.E.R. and their political positions have been routinely caricatured.

"Those who claim that A.N.S.W.E.R. is a "front" demonstrate their own racist and elitist perception of reality. Oddly invisible to them is the role of the various communities and organizations, including Arab Americans, African Americans, Korean Americans, Filipino Americans, Latinos, faith-based and solidarity groups who clearly have a central leadership role in organizing A.N.S.W.E.R. and carrying out the actions of the past year.

"That there are socialists or Marxists in the peace movement is neither a shock, nor a matter for repudiation. There are also Democrats, Republicans, Greens, anarchists, independents, and people with no party affiliation, and everyone is welcome. This is a united front of opposition that is becoming a big problem for the administration -- hence the stepped up demonization and red-baiting, particularly after successful mass actions."

Links

• International A.N.S.W.E.R
• A.N.S.W.E.R's response to Red-baiting