Why Black workers should support immigrant rights
By
John Parker
Published Apr 29, 2007 6:37 PM
As Saladin Muhammad of the Southern-based Black Workers for Justice stated so
well, the Black struggle is fundamental to any struggle for justice since it is
African slave labor that created the economic base and the political base to
control the vast stolen wealth in this country.
That struggle makes this national liberation movement of an oppressed people
permanently attached to the general working class struggle for liberation. This
is why it became the standard bearer and representative of all the struggles
for self determination of oppressed people and labor rights here in the
U.S.
The demand for self determination was dramatically highlighted by the immigrant
community, led by Latin@ workers on May 1, 2006. And, by calling for a boycott
and utilizing aspects of a general strike, it made it clear that this was also
a labor issue—linking it, like the Black liberation struggle, to the
overall struggle for working-class liberation.
Given the potency of these two movements it is essential that a strategic
alliance be made between the African-American and Latin@ movements that is
concrete and deals with the most pressing issues facing both communities.
In terms of supporting immigrants, some in the Black community ask the
question, What have they done for us?
This is an understandable question given that the Black struggle in this
country has been ignored to the point of condoning genocide. Just look at how
organized labor failed to rise to the occasion during the Katrina crisis, nor
did the progressive movement in a big organized and consistent way. Although
there are many examples of individual organizations and activists who were
heroic in that struggle, a movement in defense of Katrina survivors has yet to
get off the ground.
The ruling class makes great use of these inadequacies in our movement and
plays the same game on Black, Asian and Latin@ workers that was played in the
1930s on white workers to convince them that they had no interest in uniting
and building solidarity with Black workers. Although only the bosses controlled
the amount of jobs available, they pushed the idea that Black workers were
stealing their jobs and community resources. Because of this they were able for
many years to convince white workers that Black workers should not be in their
unions. By creating division through the further promotion of white supremacy
and the super-exploitation of Black workers they were able to keep the union
movement weak and the amount of jobs, wages, benefits and quality of life of
white workers as low as possible.
Today, as if following the same script, there is an unrelenting drive by the
ruling class in this country to divide Black, Asian and Latin@ people through
sensational stories of atrocities by one against the other in the corporate
media.
Regarding Mexican immigrants and their children, the message says that what
helps Mexican people hurts Black people. And, what hurts Mexican people is no
concern of African Americans. In addition, the powers that be tell us that
Mexican and Chicano people have never done anything in defense of Black
people.
The only way you can come to this conclusion is to ignore history.
It was not too long ago that African slaves here would escape, not only heading
north during slavery, but south to Mexico. They did this because the Mexican
people and their government provided sanctuary and included those African
refugees into their families. Even though the U.S. government threatened war
against Mexico for this, the Mexican government did not budge (see article on
page 6 on this history).
We have much in common. We are each other’s neighbors in most parts of
Los Angeles. Therefore police harassment and killings in our neighborhoods
affect us both. And, as the government and local authorities step up the raids
and deportations that separate Latin@ families (as the slave blocks did to
African families during slavery), Black people in this country will be
affected. In these roundups that leave children as orphans, the only criteria
of these armed immigration gangsters who storm into workplaces and houses in
the Black and Latin@ communities is this: do you look non-European?
Now there are calls from Congress to deputize local police as federal
immigration agents. Imagine how threatened we in the Black community will be if
the LAPD gets a hyper boost to their powers of harassment and lethal force.
This year’s May 1 Boycott rally in Los Angeles includes Cynthia McKinney
as a keynote speaker and is demanding an end to these raids and deportations as
well as demanding justice for the survivors of Katrina victims and an end to
police and state terror against the Black community.
Rosa Parks showed the way by inspiring the Montgomery Bus Boycott. That
movement was responsible for lifting the quality of life of every working
person in this country. That is the potential of this latest boycott.
Please join Cynthia McKinney and others on May 1 at 12 noon at Olympic and
Broadway in Los Angeles and let’s build that strong united movement for
jobs, education, health care and against U.S. war.
Parker is West Coast coordinator of the International Action Center and Coordinating Committee member of the
National May 1 Movement for Worker and Immigrant Rights
(www.maydaymovement.blogspot.com)
Articles copyright 1995-2012 Workers World.
Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email:
[email protected]
Subscribe
[email protected]
Support independent news
DONATE