Workers can never be illegal Marchers Unite for Jobs, vs. Anti-Immigrant Racists

STATEN ISLAND, NY, November 13 — “Wherever we live no one is illegal because people can never be illegal!” These words echoed across Staten Island, a place that has seen the ugly face of capitalist racism. In response to more than 17 violent attacks against immigrants in the area over the past year, a multi-racial, multi-generational group of church members and peace activists had come together.
In the march, PLP’s vision for the future was clearly present: a society where all labels that are assigned to us by the racist, capitalist system will be eliminated. All of these categories: “Black or white,” “citizen or immigrant,” “legal or illegal,” “employed or unemployed.” will disappear in a society where borders are abolished, racism is outlawed and everyone will contribute to society in some form.
At the first rally a worker from Colombia spoke about the racist media that portrays Colombians as drug pushers and criminals. She said what many workers know to be true: that immigrants are looking for a job, a place to live, and peace. She stood as a figure of strength, not bowed down by the problems she faces.
The next speaker was the daughter of a worker from Mexico who had been severely beaten in a racial attack. She stood with her child in her arms to speak out against the brutality towards her father and to thank everyone present for standing up and speaking out. She said that all they ever wanted was to work and to live.
The march was called to order and as we marched we passed many signs of how capitalism is failing workers of the world: a huge bus barn that could employ many hundreds more for public transportation; a parking area for school buses that needs drivers and aides to help students to settle down, feel comfortable on their way to and from school; an ambulance company that could train and use more emergency medical technicians to treat sick workers. But capitalists and their government only care about profit, and so there are cut-backs in all of these areas.
The signs bobbed up and down as people marched down the street chanting “Asian, Latin, Black, Red, White — Workers of the World Unite”;  “What Do We Want? Jobs! When do we want them? Now!”; “Racism means – fight back!, unemployment means – fight back!”  Although this is not a densely populated area people came out to watch us. Some smiled, some waved, some joined us. Workers stood in shop doorways taking literature, happy that people were speaking out.
As the march neared its end between a housing project and an elementary school, our message became clearer. There were demands for more hiring in education and elsewhere and an end to racist discrimination.  These people who marched and spoke exposed the boss-inspired theme of  separation. 
As the march ended one ninth-grader from a high school whose parents are Haitian immigrants, who has had to watch and endure the terrible conditions that have been going on in Haiti since the earthquake, spoke with emotion but without the slick phrases of political leaders. He said we need to be educated; we need jobs and we need to end racist hatred.  These oppressions affect us all no matter what our color. Over the course of the day we distributed 200 CHALLENGE newspapers to workers of Staten Island. They opened the paper to read Our Fight (see pg. 2); We dedicate our lives to smashing capitalism and all the labels it puts on workers.