California's Dellums Urges Crowd to 'Challenge' Carter

"The question is not, 'What will Jimmy Carter do for us?' but 'What we the people demand that Jimmy Carter do for us?" Congressman Ron Dellums of California's Seventh District told a crowd of about 200 in Science Center D last night.

The black Congressman, whose district includes the city of Berkeley and parts of Oakland, spoke at a fundraiser for Citizens for Participation in Political Action.

Dellums criticized the United States's foreign policy for "the secrecy, the closed process" that produces it.

Calling the Pentagon a "rat-hole in Virginia," the ex-Marine added, "America needs to reject its historic role as police officer of the world, gun-runner of the world, counter-insurgency expert of the world."

Coalition for Change

Dellums also spoke on domestic politics, saying, "Blacks must not be co-opted by the system," but must participate in a broad coalition for social reform.

Dellums described a need for health, education and tax reforms, adding, "I believe democratic socialism will happen one day in this country." The Congressman worked as a social worker before he took public office.

During the question and answer period following Dellums's speech, a member of the Spartacist Youth League criticized Dellums for being part of the Democratic Party.

The Congressman replied by criticizing the "intellectual arrogance, elitism" of some leftists and added, "It is much easier to be a purist."