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THIS WEEK IN PEOPLE’S HISTORY, DEC 18–24  
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_ Legalized Xenophobia Then and Now (1944), Gramsci’s Dialectic of
Hope (1929), ‘Leaving on a Jet Plane’ (1969), Mass Deportations by
the U.S. – in 1919?, CIA Lawlessness Exposed (1974), Will Boeing
Ever Come Clean? (2019), Giving Peace a Chance (1914) _

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_LEGALIZED XENOPHOBIA THEN AND NOW_

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 18, IS THE 80TH ANNIVERSARY of one of most
shameful chapters in the history of the U.S. Supreme Court. In
deciding Korematsu v. United States on this day in 1944, the Court had
to ignore the Constitution. 

By a vote of 6-3, the Court ruled that forcing more than 120,000
people of Japanese descent out of their homes on the West Coast into
concentration camps, based on nothing other than where they, or their
parents or grandparents had been born, was not a violation of their
constitutional rights. 

Bad enough that the federal government was guilty of blatant racial
discrimination in a time of national crisis; the evil was compounded
by the Court’s logic-chopping approval, which shows that the
Constitution can be a useless shield in times of national hysteria, a
lesson that resonates loudly today.
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_GRAMSCI’S DIALECTIC OF HOPE_

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19, IS THE 95TH ANNIVERSARY of the leading Italian
Communist and anti-fascist Antonio Gramsci writing to his younger
brother Carlo, “I’m a pessimist because of intelligence, but an
optimist because of will.” At the time, in 1929, Gramsci had been in
fascist prison for more than three years, convicted by a military
tribunal of “incitement of class hatred.” As he probably
understood, he was almost certain to remain a prisoner for the rest of
his life unless Italy’s fascist government was overthrown.

It was not the first (or the last) time Gramsci would emphasize the
interaction between understanding and aspiration, the importance of
achieving a synthesis of pessimism and optimism that transcends each
of them. “My mind is pessimistic, but my will is optimistic, he
wrote. “Whatever the situation, I imagine the worst that could
happen in order to summon up all my reserves and will power to
overcome every obstacle."
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_‘LEAVING ON A JET PLANE’_

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20, IS THE 55TH ANNIVERSARY of Peter, Paul & Mary’s
single rendition of “Leaving on a Jet Plane” rising to position
No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. 

It was only in 1969 that Peter, Paul & Mary’s cover of the ballad
(which had been written and recorded by John Denver in 1966) was
perceived as an anthem protesting the U.S. War against Vietnam. As
such, it was Peter, Paul & Mary’s biggest hit. You can listen to it
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_MASS DEPORTATIONS BY THE U.S. – IN 1919??_

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 21, IS THE 105TH ANNIVERSARY of the U.S.
government’s mass deportation, of 249 radicals, including Emma
Goldman and Alexander Bergman, to Soviet Russia.  

At the time, the U.S. alleged that Goldman’s deportation was legal
under the terms of the Anarchist Exclusion Act, but there was one
catch. Goldman was a naturalized U.S. citizen, and the Anarchist
Exclusion Act only allowed the deportation of non-citizens.  

The federal government did some hand-waving to “prove” that
Goldman’s citizenship was no longer valid, and Goldman decided it
would be hopeless for her to try to prove she was still a citizen in
the face of the government’s opposition.
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_CIA LAWLESSNESS EXPOSED_

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 22, IS THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY of stunning revelations
about the U.S. government’s crimes against a large assortment of
U.S. citizens. 

According to a New York Times article, for seven years the CIA had
been conducting clandestine warfare against the anti-Vietnam War
movement, other leftists, and thousands of people who were deemed
potential “enemies,” including members of Congress. 

The long article by Seymour Hersh, which he followed up with more than
30 articles with additional details, struck a nerve. Two days after it
was published, the man who had been running the CIA’s domestic
spying operation, James Angleton, resigned. Two weeks later, in an
attempt to save face, the Ford administration created the President's
Commission on CIA Activities within the US. Three weeks after that,
the U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly to appoint a special committee,
headed by Frank Church, to conduct its own investigation. 

Years later, when the dust settled, hardly anyone’s wrist had been
slapped for the CIA’s illegal behavior, but the general public knew
a lot more than it had about the CIA’s ability to break the law and
get away with it.
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_WILL BOEING EVER COME CLEAN?_

MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, IS THE FIFTH ANNIVERSARY of the day that the
Boeing Company’s aeronautical crime spree began to seriously
backfire.

It was the day in 2019 when Boeing management ran out of fantastic
excuses for the undeniable fact that its newest passenger jet, the
737MAX, was a death trap. Twice in the previous year, brand-new 737s
had, in perfect flying conditions, mysteriously nose-dived and taken
346 people to an early grave. 

Boeing had been largely successful in denying anything was wrong until
the New York Times featured the headline, "At Boeing, C.E.O.’s
Stumbles Deepen a Crisis" on page 1. Before the end of the day
Boeing’s CEO was out of a job.

Boeing’s firing of its CEO turned out to be too-little-too-late. 
Before long the U.S. Department of Justice accused Boeing of a
criminal conspiracy to defraud the U.S. in connection with the 737MAX
fiasco. Boeing and the Justice Department negotiated about the penalty
Boeing would have to pay if it was allowed to plead guilty to the
conspiracy, and they reached an agreement last summer.  But on Dec.
5, 2024, a federal district judge rejected what he clearly saw as a
sweetheart deal that let Boeing off easy. Stay tuned.
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_GIVING PEACE A CHANCE_

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24, IS THE 110TH ANNIVERSARY of a day that
frightened the commanders of the British, French, and German armies
out of their wits.

It was the first Christmas Eve since the beginning of World War 1.
Deadly trench warfare had been going on for five months and the troops
hated the idea of spending Christmas slaughtering each other.

Many of them did what any sane person would do. They put their weapons
down, climbed out of their trenches, walked across no-man’s-land,
and shook hands with the “enemy.”  Along vast stretches of the
front, the fighting came to a complete halt.  

On Christmas Day, British, French and German soldiers played what
people in the U.S. call soccer in between the trenches, while the
military brass was stricken with impotent apoplexy.  The brass
needn’t have worried; the shooting started again the next day and
continued almost without cease for the next 46 months.
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