IMPRESSIONS OF THE LOS ANGELES GRAN MARCHA In Van Nuys, where I work, on Tuesday, March 28, 2006, we watched a nearly flag-free, spontaneous immigrant rights high school walkout take over Van Nuys Boulevard, not far from where the same students later shut down the 405 freeway. This was only one of many grass roots high school walkouts throughout southern California, and it came on the heels of the largest demonstration ever in LA, 500,000 people marching on Broadway in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday, March 25. Based on my impressions, the Gran Marcha was dramatically different than a much smaller anti-Iraq war march held in Hollywood on March 18. Consider the differences.
The anti-Iraq war march was really an effort of left-liberal organizations, mainly the Peace Center (United for Peace and Justice), ANSWER, and the World Can't Wait, all in turn created by left-leaning parties, to reach out to the Democratic Party, but with virtually no success. Other than Jackie Goldberg, soon leaving the California State Assembly, the only other governmental representatives at the anti-war march were hundreds of cops and parking enforcement officers. Likewise, the unions, churches, ethnic organizations, and non-profits all the base of the Democratic Party and organizers of the immigrant rights marches were absent. Other than Pacifica, the media was also a no show. In contrast, the immigrant right march was not just enormous and spirited. It was also successfully organized from the top down by the Spanish language corporate media, the Catholic church, unions, non-profits, and elected officials who ignored the anti-war march. In fact, the lead speaker was Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, an ambitious Democratic Party leader. The organizers not only got an amazing turnout, but kept the demonstrators to a tight political message: US patriotism and opposition to harsh anti-immigrant legislation adopted in 2005 by the House of Representatives (HR 4437). Furthermore, even though those who attended the march held progressive concerns - rights for working people the march itself was by no means progressive. In fact, it actually struck me as a fairly conservative march. Imagine if the left had organized an alternative immigrant rights march. It would have been totally multi-ethnic. The themes would have been "workers have no borders" and "unity between immigrants and citizens." The political program would have been a simple, straightforward formulation: national borders should become as open for workers as they already are for employers and investors. There also would have been substantial opposition to the Iraq War and its domestic blowback, in particular the post 9-11 crackdown on immigrants from Islamic countries. None of this could be found at March 25. This march was entirely different, reflecting the political outlook and economic concerns of its corporate and establishment organizers. It had four defining features: 1. Totally segregated. The Gran Marcha was at least 99 percent Latino, with no other immigrant groups (Koreans, Chinese, Iranian, Armenian, etc.) visible, even though they all attended the 1995 march against anti-immigrant Proposition 187. The picket signs, banners, tee-shirts and chants, all furnished to marchers by the organizers, were predominantly Spanish, with scattered English. Other immigrant languages were never seen or heard. 2. Totally patriotic. US flags were everywhere. In fact, I have never seen so many US flags in my entire life, much less at a protest march! The flag waving did not just happen; the organizers handed out US flags en masse. Furthermore, I don't believe they promoted the US flag just to offset anti-immigrant yahoos calling for mass deportations and a wall on the Mexican border. Flag-waving has been part of US immigrant absorption policy since WW I. Developing loyalty to the flag is critical to politically resocializing immigrants to emotionally support US patriotism. In the current period, this is critical and means support for US foreign and military policy. In other words, support for the Iraq war, including military enlistments into what is often dubbed the Green Card Army. 3. Totally nationalistic. In addition to the hundreds of thousands of US flags passed out to the marchers, many also brought or bought Mexican flags. Likewise, many of the chants and speeches touted Mexican or Latino nationalism. The latter is quite an irony, too, since the new pan-ethnic categories of Latino and Hispanic were developed in the Nixon White House! They don't even exist outside the United States. 4. Totally on-message. The entire march, like parallel marches in other US cities, was devoted to opposition to HR 4437, which makes illegal immigrants felons. Less oppressive legislation was barely mentioned, such as that proposed by President Bush and Senators Specter, McCain, and Kennedy. Their alternatives revive the old Bracero program by legally admitting immigrants into the US to work or join the military. And, as mentioned above, the march's picket signs, banners, and tee-shirts contained no references to progressive pro-immigrant themes: the elimination of borders, opposition to the Iraq War or to cutbacks, or unity between immigrants and citizens. Tentative conclusion: The impulse of those hundreds of thousands who took to the streets -- improving their working situation -- is laudable, but their ranks need to be bolstered by the other immigrant groups in Los Angeles, as well as by U.S. citizens. We are all in the same boat and should not be artificially separated by imposed ethnic or legal categories. The march's patriotic and nationalistic themes also should be countered by opposition to a Green Card Army and US foreign policy. After all, if it were not for US policies in Latin America -- in particular support for despotic regimes, the Contras, and NAFTA the ranks of Saturday's march would have been much thinner. Finally, we should oppose overt attacks on immigrants, whether they are perpetrated by vigilantes like the Minutemen or the Federal government after 9-11. These issues should be linked to, not severed from, the current immigration debates. 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