Migrant Unity a Historical Nightmare for Amerikans
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April 23 - Thousands of people rallied in San Francisco's Dolores Park and marched through the streets to the Federal Building today to protest anti-immigration actions by the Amerikan government. This rally was the continuation of weeks of actions uniting migrant communities of all nationalities across the united $nakes.
Among the speakers, a womyn from the Chinese Progressive Association called out U.$. imperialism for forcing people to come to Amerika by its economic policies enforced on Third World countries. This message was repeated by other speakers including a womyn from the San Francisco Day Labor Program: "We are forced by the U.$. imperialist system to leave our countries to come here [to find work]."
A representative of the Service Workers' Union spoke about the need for migrant labor in this sector: "without immigrant workers they would collapse." It is true that the less desirable jobs in Amerika are taken up by migrants from Third World countries. This speaker expressed the sentiment of many of these workers: "we deserve the right to be part of the Amerikan dream." This is the same sentiment that leads to many people at these rallies waving Amerikan flags. But the Amerikan Dream is built on slavery, exploitation, theft of land, and international terrorism by the Amerikan government. The Amerikan Dream can only exist for the few at the expense of the many. If some oppressed nations gain access to the wealth and privilege enjoyed by white Amerikans, they will join the ranks of exploiters, living off the misery of the majority of the world's people.
Signs at the rally also reflected an unrealistic belief in this country. One read "This is a democracy" and another, "This is a free country." Other signs demanded the government respect people's humyn rights. While it's good to remind people of what Amerika claims to uphold and demand it live up to principles like the international declaration of humyn rights, we should also see the Amerikan government for what it is: a dictatorship of the bourgeoisie.
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Many of the dozens of flags being carried by protestors were American stars and stripes, the rest were from Central and South American countries. There were also two dance troupes that performed music and dances from Mexico and Korea, dressed in traditional clothing. This is one signal that demonstrators at this rally are proud of their heritage and culture, and are not looking to "blend in" with the Euro-Amerikan culture.
In this city, known for its progressive activism, this demonstration was strikingly different from the many anti-war protests frequently held in this city. While anti-war protests are overwhelmingly white, this protest was overwhelmingly attended by Latinos with a significant representation of Asians. This difference may not seem surprising, considering the topic of the protest. But it is disturbing that so many white people are willing to stand up against the U.$. war in Iraq but will not stand against white nationalism here in Amerika. These are the same white people who oppose the war in Iraq because it means spending money there that they want spent at home; they don't see that this money is all stolen from the Third World peoples and does not belong to Amerikans.
One of the biggest Catholic churches in the city held a bilingual mass during the rally, after which the archbishop led the people into the streets to join the march. This is further evidence of the divided interests of various nations in Amerika. Oppressed nations, particularly in California the Mexican people, have a life and death interest in this immigration battle. The white nation, on the other hand, benefits financially from militarized borders that keep the wealth in the country and the poverty out. And so it does not take a lot of political thinking for oppressed nations to see immediately the importance of fighting reactionary nationalism and anti-immigration. Many people will be politicized through involvement in these protests, as they see the reaction of the government and many in the country, and make connections to struggles in their own country.
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At one point during the march, pigs surrounded a group of oppressed nation youth who mostly wore hoods and bandanas to cover their faces allegedly because they were carrying large sticks. About a dozen motorcycle cops quickly lined up on one side of the street as we turned a corner and another 25 or so pigs on foot swarmed in. While nothing much came of the stand off, which lasted less than a minute, the tactic was effective in isolating the youth as older Latinos in white t-shirts and Amerikan flags distanced themselves from the incident. Even greater intimidation tactics have been reported in the form of immigration sweeps by Homeland Security throughout California. The state continues to intimidate the general population of the internal semi-colonies leading up to the May 1st general strike, while promoting splits in the movement. Speakers at this rally, however, assured that there was no split between the organizers opposing anti-migrant legislation and ensured massive participation on May 1st.
Such enthusiasm is well warranted. At this rally alone, numbers continued to grow throughout the day. After marching to the Federal Building thousands chanted NO! when asked if we were getting tired, followed by chants to deport la migra, the u$ Congress, George Bu$h and others. In the short term, signs seem to point to a growing struggle despite state tactics to defuse it. In the long term this is only a precursor to the inevitable struggles the oppressor nation in Amerika will be up against as the masses of the world demand equality and a right to livelihood.
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A conscious minority of whites who attended this rally included many carrying signs proclaiming that "we are all immigrants." At another rally supporting migrants' rights in San Francisco's gay district two days earlier, a speaker took up this theme saying that new groups of immigrants have always had a hard time in Amerika when they first start to arrive. This is partly true, but suggests that Latino migrants, who face the most significant impact of tightened immigration restrictions, are more recent arrivals to Amerika. White groups, such as the Irish, did face oppression when they first started immigrating to this country. However, this was akin to the sort of hazing process alluded to by the above sentiments and these groups have since been fully integrated into the white nation receiving all the attendant privileges. But if the Irish and Czechs were hazed before becoming amerikans, the existing oppressed nations in amerika have generally not even been allowed on the pledge list. Mexican, other indigenous nations and even the Chinese predate white immigration to and conquering of the western united $nakes. While Euro-amerikans killed off and pushed out indigenous people to seize the land, Chinese migrants were providing a majority of the region's wealth from production. The influx of European immigrants via the transcontinental railroad was just another wave of settlers robbing the wealth that had been built up by Mexican and Chinese people. A similar process was taking place in the east simultaneously, where Irish immigrants displaced large sectors of the New Afrikan proletariat and house servants.(1)
Today, in 2006, Mexican, Chinese, Filipino and many other Latino and Asian peoples stand together in opposition to the continuation of this white nationalism. This is the legacy of centuries of genocide and land grab coming back on the oppressor.
Notes:
(1) see J. Sakai. Settlers: The Mythology of the White Proletariat for an excellent account of this history