Only A Revolutionary Movement Will End The 505 Years Of Genocide:

The recent Welfare Reform Law known as "The Personal Responsibility and Work Reconciliation Act of 1996," signed by the Clinton Administration, will put an end to Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) - a main component of the "welfare" program which provides money to poor and struggling families. This new law will also affect a host of other social programs such as cuts to Social Security, Disability and nutrition programs.

We Understand That Although Most Welfare Recipients Are White, These Recent Attacks Are Clearly Meant To Be Against La Raza And Africans.

Although, it is a fact that more than half of the people on welfare are white people, the other half is composed of poor and working class Mexicanos, Africans and other colonized peoples. We understand that although most welfare recipients are white, these recent attack are clearly meant to be against La Raza and Africans. Along with the Clinton Crime Bill, 3-Strikes law, Prop 209 and 187, English Only laws, and the recent re-implementation of orphanages and new adoption policies, we see that these are a part of the overall economic crisis that the capitalist economy is in.

As an effort to stabilize the "federal economic budget" the colonial state is scrambling to destroy the social service sectors by pumping those funds into the national deficit. The political power of the welfare state is now concentrated in financing the Pentagon, Free Trade and other pro-capitalist-colonialist services that maintain Raza in poverty, misery and colonization.

Even before the ink on the welfare bill had even dried, California Governor Pete Wilson opportunistically signed a Governors Executive Order to deepen the attack against Mexicanos. This order takes welfare reform a step further by denying social and health services to Mexicanos who are "legal residents."

Although there are many components to this new welfare law the most compelling are the following:

This bill was created and passed federally with pre-set guidelines, the federal government has given power to the states to tighten the existing ones. Given the anti-Mexicano climate in California, we are already seeing this with Wilson's Executive Order and we expect to see more. California has been given until July 1997 to begin implementing the bill, as expected California is acting faster and recipients have already been sent letters asking to show proof of citizenship and invited to an informational workshops as a way of trying to make us feel as though we are a part of some democratic process, when in reality this is only a formality and Raza are going to be cut regardless.

These New Laws Mean An Unavoidable Situation In The Work Place With Increased Violations Of Workers Rights, Dangerous Working Conditions, No Benefits And Over All Increased And Intensified Situation With The Exploitation Of Workers.

Another aspect of this bill will require that there be a mandatory five year limit on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (formerly AFDC) and requires you to begin working within two years to maintain benefits; in other words you work or lose your money, this goes for 25% of recipients for 1997 and eventually having 50% in the work force by the year 2002! States will only provide for six weeks of job training; there is no allowance for college or more that one year of vocational training. If recipients do not comply their aid will be cut. This is clearly a losing situation either way, with the majority of the good jobs going to white people and thousands of Raza will be pushed into meaningless, low paying slave wage jobs. This means an unavoidable situation in the work place with increased violations of workers rights, dangerous working conditions, no benefits and over all increased and intensified situation with the exploitation of workers. From the perspective of the bourgeoisie this will be a boost for U.S. capitalism's competition, that will allow them to secure higher profits and reduce financial debts at our expense.

You'd Better Be Almost Dead Before You Can Be Seen By A Doctor...

Under Wilson's Executive Order, social service and health care benefits to Raza who are "legal residents" will be denied beginning last April and will affect Raza as soon as that. There will be no more preventive health care or services given to fight the flu, prenatal care etc. The health situation must now be an "emergency" before Raza can be seen at the hospital. According to Medi-Cal, an emergency is defined as "someone who is bleeding heavily , not breathing, or in a lot of pain and it looks like the person might die or be disabled." In other words you better be almost dead before you can be seen. In general terms this means no more doctor visits for correctable medical problems, operations, or prenatal care for Raza women that can and will turn into bigger problems. We can expect to see a rise in preventable childhood diseases, birth defects, pre-term births, higher infant mortality rate and a generally unhealthy Raza community in need of medical attention.

The ultimate purpose of this so called reform and executive order are to demoralize and destroy our communities. We can already see the massive problems this reform is going to create, not only with Raza losing money to support their families but with long term effects of cuts in medical programs, nutrition programs and intensified exploitation in the work place. This process left little or no money for support services. What they did leave was an increased amount of money to go toward foster care, adoptive services and increase law enforcement in our communities guaranteed through the "crime bill."

Clearly this is another attempt to enslave, lock-up and murder Raza using tactics such as these. We have to understand and make clear to our people that attacks like: Welfare Reform, English Only, Clinton Crime Bill, Immigration Reform, and 3 strikes are part of a bigger picture in which the ultimate goal is genocide. We are facing a campaign that is intensifying day by day. It is a campaign directed at Mexicanos by anti-Mexican, racist politicians that are doing everything in their power to deny us any kind of health care and social services that our families depend on for their survival.

We Want To Put An End To Their Cycle Of Dependency, Generation After Generation Of Blood Sucking Parasitism For Over 500 Years!

We have to be clear that these attacks did not begin in 1996, but in 1492 when the colonial process began with the European invasion and the parasites landed their disease infested ships on our land, then they benefited from our land, labor, and resources; as they do now. We have to understand that their very existence and survival is because of our exploitation. They have the nerve to talk about breaking the "cycle of dependency!" We want to put an end to their cycle of dependency, generation after generation of blood sucking parasitism for over 500 years! We have to be clear that it is they who control the means of our production and resources and doing it on our land, this clearly is the contradiction that we face as colonized Indigenous peoples. We know that their is a military occupation of our barrios for a reason that they have to beat up, and lock us down and fill our communities with drugs that keep us from understanding and resisting so that we are so lost that we are unable to consciously build and organize a strong movement for our freedom and self-determination.

¡Abajo Con "Welfare Reform," "English Only," Crime Bill," "Immigration Reform," Prop. 187, Prop. 209, And "3-Strikes!"