[Marxism] A regrettable incident of exclusionism

[Louis Proyect]

John Riddell wrote:
> You have been excluded from events organized by the Communist League since
> 2004. Your public association at that time with Ernest Tate, who was
> violence-baiting the party and its sister organization in the U.S., the
> Socialist Workers Party, put you outside of those who are welcome at
> meetings we take responsibility for.

Well, I don't know John except through email exchanges and from his book 
on the Comintern, but I do know Ernie fairly well having met him in 
person 2 or 3 times at least. Let me put it this way, the notion of 
Ernie "violence-baiting" anybody is absolutely *insane*. For people who 
have been around the Trotskyist movement, there is a bitter irony 
related to Ernie's being a victim of Gerry Healy's goons back in the 1960s.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernie_Tate

Born in Northern Ireland, Tate was recruited by Ross Dowson into the 
Canadian section of the United Secretariat of the Fourth International. 
In the late 1960s, he went from North America to Great Britain to work 
with supporters of USFI to solidify the young International Marxist 
Group, of which he became a leader. Ernie and fellow Canadian Pat Brain 
worked side by side with Bertrand Russell in the Russell Tribunal set up 
to investigate US war crimes in Vietnam.

The famous beating of Ernie Tate in 1966 by supporters of Gerry Healy 
was a cause célèbre within the world Trotskyist movement. One of his 
recruits to the IMG was Tariq Ali.