Committee Opposed to Militarism and the Draft (COMD)

Articles Archive
Hits: 1082

From the July-August 1994 issue of Draft NOtices

 

Grassroots activism in one of the world's most militarized communities.



-- Rick Jahnkow

S.D. Committee Against Registration and the Draft (CARD) ProtestIn June of this year (1994), the Committee Opposed to Militarism and the Draft (COMD) reached its 15th birthday. This may not seem like such a significant milestone when compared to the persistence of a national peace organization like the venerable War Resisters League (founded in 1923!). But, COMD's 15th year does take on special meaning when you consider the nature of the community in which we are based: San Diego is like a military weed patch; one that keeps on spreading even as the parasite is cut back in other places. Our military payroll is over $3 billion and our uniformed population is increasing with base closures. It is amazing that an anti-militarism group can sprout and persevere for so long in such a conservative climate.

Thus, on the occasion of our 15th anniversary, we thought a retrospective article would be appropriate for this issue of our newsletter:

Formed to do anti-draft work

In the spring of 1979, as Congress was preparing to vote on a proposal to, once again, require young men to register for a possible draft, a small group of people met in San Diego to discuss a local response. Participants included Bill Roe, a former anti-Vietnam War activist; Hoppy Chandler of the New American Movement; Norm Lewis, a formerly-imprisoned Vietnam War draft resister; Libertarian Party activist Fritz Sands; and myself, also a former anti-Vietnam War activist.

The group had heard about the recently-formed national Committee Against Registration and the Draft (CARD)¹, and decided to create a local chapter. As a grassroots effort, San Diego CARD's initial goals were: to help defeat draft registration legislation; organize opposition to any future draft or national service program; and help expand the network of individuals and groups doing anti-draft work. (San Diego CARD would later change its name to the Committee Opposed to Militarism and the Draft.)

Articles Archive
Hits: 1214

From Draft NOtices, April-June 2022



-- Rick Jahnkow

This summer will mark the 40th anniversary of an event that began a life-changing period for many members of activist communities around the country. It started with a phone call received by a young person in San Diego County on June 30, 1982, the results of which soon triggered a whirlwind of intense reactions around the U.S.

Before saying more about the phone call, some backstory is needed: In 1980, then-President Carter ordered young men to begin registering with Selective Service for a possible future military draft. He intended registration to be a symbolic threat to the Soviet Union following its invasion of Afghanistan. It proved to have no effect on the Soviets; what it did do, however, was trigger a renewed movement of war resistance in the U.S. that had not been seen since the end of the Vietnam War.

During the summer of 1980, the implementation of draft registration was begun with separate deadlines for two age groups, starting with males born in 1960 and followed by those born in 1961. At the end of the two deadlines, news media were reporting statistics that indicated a significantly low rate of compliance in many places. In San Diego County, for example, the total number of registrations was less than half the number of men in the two age groups. Nationwide, the estimated number of non-registrants was in the hundreds of thousands. The statistics looked so bad for Selective Service that, by 1981, there was a growing assumption that the government would soon feel compelled to begin prosecuting at least some non-registrants.

Articles Archive
Hits: 1022


From Draft NOtices, April-June 2022

--Isidro Ortiz, PHD

The history of the movement for ethnic studies in California and elsewhere continues to be contentious and dynamic. That it has been and continues to be is not surprising, for as noted in an earlier Draft NOtices article, there is much at stake, including the possibility of students developing a critical consciousness that might pave the way for the questioning of militarism.

Since the last article on this topic in Draft NOtices, there have been two developments in California that are worthy of notice. First, due to a lawsuit settlement, in January the California Department of Education decided to “excise” two affirmations from the California model ethnic studies curriculum. These were the “In Lak’ech Affirmation” and the “Ashe Affirmation.”  The actions were in response to litigation brought by the Californians for Equal Rights Foundation. In September 2021, the Foundation and three parents from San Diego accused the state of violating provisions of the California Constitution relating to religion, specifically Article 1, Section 4, and article XVI Section 5. The Department decided to accept settlement “in order to avoid the costs, expense and uncertainty of protracted litigation.”

In the aftermath of the settlement, Frank Xu, president of the Foundation, declared in a San Diego Union-Tribune commentary that the foundation was “not categorically opposed to the idea of teaching ethnic studies in state classrooms” and supported a “balanced and constructive ethnic studies course, to the extent that such lessons add to the general education value for our K-12 students.” But, he said, “That has not been the case with the ethnic studies model curriculum. Or the more popularized liberated ethnic studies, both steeped in critical pedagogy.”

Xu declared that the lawsuit had only challenged the prayer components of the “In Lak’ech” and “Ashe” affirmations. He complained that “the education establishment has not lost momentum in promoting an ideologically charged version of ethnic studies. But, at least, the removal of the two chants moved the state closer in alignment with our constitutional principles of equal treatment and no religious endorsement.”

Subscribe to...

Click HERE

 

Ninth CIRCUIT COURT RULING: CONFRONTING MILITARISM BY USING EQUAL ACCESS TO HIGH SCHOOLS

When the military comes to your local high school, you have a legal right to give students an opposing view. This has been the position taken by federal district courts in Florida, Pennsylvania and Illinois and two federal appellate courts. The most broadly-worded decision came from a case that COMD took to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in the 1980s. Here is the background:

Find Out More | Download PDF