“The people united will never be defeated!” rang through the main street of Massapequa Park, outside the office of Rep. Peter King, the U.S. congressman who is building racism and xenophobia by holding hearings on Muslims. Eighty people chanted after one of the keynote speakers spoke of the need for unity of all people against bigotry, racism and hatred. By providing communist leadership to this movement, we can demonstrate that racism is a tool of the larger, systemic problem that is capitalism.
People from peace groups, church groups and others united to speak out against King’s poisonous ideas and to help build a new and growing coalition. There were many different ideologies within the circle of demonstrators chanting on the street that day. But almost everyone joined in chants like, “Muslims, Christians, Jews unite. We’re all in the same fight.” There were cops on the street and a handful of King supporters who were shouting their usual garbage about demonstrators “not being Americans.”
The various groups that are working to develop relationships and build the movement against racism and xenophobia face a long and uphill struggle. A number of cars drove past; some people hooted at us while others supported us. About half the demonstrators and some passers-by took CHALLENGE.
The church group that sponsored the demonstration also organized a march against AgroProcessors for their abuse of Mexican-born workers, as well as a march in Staten Island against racist attacks on Latinos. These were other examples of uniting people against racism. All of these struggles grew out of church forums to educate members and friends about the particular manifestations of racism. We are getting better at developing these actions. We will do more and become stronger as the struggle continues.