CHICAGO, IL, October 1 — The occupation of the Whittier field house is in its third week. It appears that following one week of direct confrontation with the CPS (Chicago Public Schools) security (see CHALLENGE, 10-6-10), the city’s police, politicians, ruling class and their school board are waiting them out.
CPS, planning the demolition of the building, refused the mothers’ demand for a library and after-school facility, so they have begun transforming this place into the library and community center they want. Volunteer librarians and donations of hundreds of books have transformed the field house into a near-functioning library, proving we don’t need these politicians and the banks and businesses they serve to provide for our needs.
The predominantly Latina mothers are beginning to see this as more than a struggle for a school library because they now know it is simply 1 of 160 Chicago schools, mainly black and Latino, that don’t have libraries!
We are mobilizing the Party and our friends around this struggle:
• Chicago State University professors have circulated a petition supporting the mothers and brought black students to the field house.
• One student who previously had made several anti-immigrant comments in class changed when she went to show her support and met some of the mothers.
• A postal worker raised this struggle in his union, took up a collection and organized a BBQ at the field house.
• Comrades have done overnight guard duty.
• When some mothers were getting sick, the PLP County hospital club and friends helped organize a health fair for them. As one comrade took a mother’s blood pressure, she whispered, “I really like your paper. I’ve shown it to some of my co-workers.” She and others have met to discuss and write this article for CHALLENGE.
She then described the 7-year struggle for this library, saying her involvement initially was very minimal due to being driven by the many problems in her life pulling her away from it, “sometimes going to the local school council meetings, but mostly I just got information from one mother who went.”
At times very stoic and at other times very emotional and teary-eyed, she described the difficulties of being a single mother raising three children and her history of being terribly mis-treated by her ex-husband. She said her new boyfriend, who is black, treats her much better but it has increased a long-standing rift with her family due to their racism.
She noted the stress on her job and lack of respect by her boss who is always trying to put her down. Then she smiles when mentioning her discussions with co-workers about this school library fight.
The mothers now see a larger picture, how this potential demolition is part of a long-standing process of privatization of “public” property, tied to gentrification and the demolition of public housing ten years ago and the ongoing downsizing of public health care.
On the one hand, this struggle highlights the workers’ courage fighting back and the potential for widening class struggle. But it also highlights the necessity of PLP’s role within it to build the long-term personal ties and a sharp ideological exposé of how racist gentrification and privatization are not simply “bad decisions” but are necessary to capitalism.
During economic crises and imperialist wars, the bosses suck even more funds from all social services, from public schools and housing as well as squeeze profits from workers’ wages, pensions and health insurance.
However this struggle turns out, state power still belongs to the bosses. Their plan right now seems to be to wait the community out, but that too could change. One thing’s for sure: this struggle will change the parents and the community too.
Our Party must step up our efforts within our own mass organizations to support the Whittier rebels. This is especially important because within the struggles against these attacks we fight against the cancerous ideas of racism, private ownership and profits and the divisive nationalism that prevents our class from uniting to fight for a society that will destroy these evils — communism.