Passionate Declarations by Howard Zinn

Author:Howard Zinn
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2003-02-27T16:00:00+00:00

One of the things said most often about the United States is that there is very little class consciousness. But there is strong evidence that this view is mistaken. Back in 1964 the Survey Research Center of the University of Michigan asked people, “Is the government run by a few big interests looking out for themselves?” About 26 percent of those polled answered yes. But by 1972, 53 percent answered yes. And long after the war was over, in 1984, the year that Ronald Reagan was reelected president, a poll by the Harris organization showed that 74 percent of the public believed “a small group of insiders run the country.”62

Truth is, class consciousness is a slippery term, making it hard to decide whether American workers are class conscious. Most blue-collar and white-collar workers certainly know that there are employers and workers, rich and poor, powerful and powerless and that “a small group of insiders run the country.” They have not translated this consciousness into the formation of a working-class party such as in England, France, Italy, Spain, etc. They have suffered many defeats at the hands of the employer class. But the fact that there is consciousness of their situation creates a basis for future action.

For his book Working, Studs Terkel spent three years interviewing hundreds of people: farmers, miners, receptionists, telephone operators, actors, truck drivers, garbage men, mechanics, janitors, policemen, welders, cabdrivers, hotel clerks, bank tellers, secretaries, supermarket workers, athletes, musicians, teachers, nurses, carpenters, and firemen. He found pride in work, but also “a scarcely concealed discontent” and, compared to his interviews of workers in the thirties, more people who said, “the system stinks.”63

It seems that very many people understand the existence of injustice and the need for change. But they consider themselves helpless, and this is probably the greatest obstacle to social change.

History comes in handy in this situation. People can learn from the history of social struggle (a history that is largely omitted in the traditional learning that takes place in our schools and in the society) how seemingly powerless people were able to bring about changes in their own situation and changes in public policy. The history of the civil rights movement, the antiwar movement, the women’s movement, and the labor movement can inspire people to create new movements for change.

History does show us how hard it is to challenge those in authority, those with great wealth and great power. It shows how many battles have been lost in class conflict in this country. But we also learn that at certain times in history, surprising, unpredicted victories became possible when ordinary people organized, risked, sacrificed, and persisted.

Those victories for social justice did not come through the normal workings of the political system. It is useful, even necessary, to work through the regular channels as far as they can take you. But they have never taken us very far. The very poor seem to understand that. In 1969 a Senate committee was investigating hunger in the South. A black woman was on the stand and Senator Ellender of Louisiana was questioning her.

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