Immigrant's rights demo in Chicago, Fri., Mar. 10 - LARGEST IN HISTORY

[Leopolds Ghost]

I saw this on the Maryland Populist mailing list.

There was no link to the article. I don't know if
it's permissible to post an entire article from IMC
(mods?)

There was a huge demo of immigrants, tens of thousands of them undocumented, in
Chicago on Fri., Mar. 10 opposing the bill in Congress, HR 4437, also known as the Border
Protection, Anti-Terrorism and Illegal Immigration Control Act, that is a fascist piece of
legislation pertaining to undocumented people. This demo got almost
no media coverage.
It was the largest demo in Chicago's history, numbering 100,000 to 300,000 or more.

It was historic - also because of the huge number of undocumented people in it,
who in the past would not demonstrate out of fear, but now feel they have nothing
left to lose. They believe that the government wants to get them out of the country.

When I went to google, I could find nothing about the demo except in Ireland's IMC
{Indy Media Center} of all places. Their article is below.

100,000 Protest for Immigrant Rights in Chicago
14 Mar 2006 16:55 GMT

On Friday, March 10, 2006 Chicago’s downtown was
paralyzed by an immigrant march estimated at more than
100,000 people. They carried hand-lettered signs
saying: “We are America,” “My Mexican immigrant son
died in Iraq,” “I’m a dishwasher—not a criminal,” and
“Don’t deport my parents.” The peaceful crowd
stretched two and half miles, from Union Park on the
West Side to their destination in Federal Plaza. No
immigrant justice march like this has happened in
Illinois history since some 80,000 immigrants marched
down State Street demanding an 8-hour workday in 1886.

Taking the EL to Union Square Park (a half hour
early!), every car and platform was flooded with the
overwhelmingly Latino participants in the
demonstration. White people curled in fear or made
sarcastic remarks, Black people inquired about the
goings on, and it became clear that the vast majority
of the mobilization came from within the Latino/Latin
American communities of Chicagoland, and the
Spanish-language news media and radio stations gave a
huge boost to the numbers. Towns from Aurora to
Addison had rented out every last available bus to
Suburban protesters, and some even came from Wisconsin
and Indiana. The evidence was laid out for all to see:
it is possible to get massive numbers in the streets
of the Windy City!

Some groups had been organizing for over a year, with
a powerful show of force in last June's South Side
demonstration, where between twenty and forty thousand
(20-40,000) overwhelmingly Brown people showed they
would not be hushed into silence by the national
efforts to promote xenophobia and racist patriotism.
The capitalist news media, from Lou Dobbs to FOX News,
has been increasingly spouting hate, which has in turn
energized racist groups like the Minuteman (whose
origins are alleged to have come from the likes of the
John Birch Society and/or the Ku Klux Klan in the
1960s and 1970s). Rounding it out, several competing
motions in Congress and state legislatures have pushed
to eliminate the human rights of the undocumented, or
else to secure their inalienable rights. Bills like HR
4437 call for the elimination of rights to health
care, education, and all constitutional rights for the
undocumented, as well as laying the groundwork for the
possibility of huge detention camps where people are
held until deportation and mass deportations the likes
of which this country hasn't seen since the
deportations of millions of Mexicans during the Great
Depression. HR 4437, also known as the Border
Protection, Anti-Terrorism and Illegal Immigration
Control Act, would even criminalize any act by a
citizen that did anything for an undocumented person,
including provide health care, teaching, renting a
home, and everything else. HR 4437 has passed the
House, and is going on to the Senate. The DREAM Act
and other proposed bills counter by promising basic
rights for all human beings within these borders.

But yesterday was not just Mexicans, but large numbers
of Ecuadorians, Salvadorans, Guatemalans, Irish,
Poles, Chinese, and some Asians, Africans and peoples
from elsewhere. Unions, local businesses, churches,
bike clubs, even competing street gangs, all came
together for the immense show of force. This was a
united voice of people coming out for their very
surival. Other demonstrations had happened in other
cities, but no where on the scale of the one here on Friday.

[rodeodance]

1. i hear there was a spontaneity to it. These are the best sometimes.

[hwmnbn]

2. This rally was unbelievable .........

I normally am at all the anti-war/political demonstrations here in Chicago. This one I was caught totally unawares. There was traffic disruptions for no apparent reason in the near-west side where I live. The pictures in the paper and on the news were incredible. I'd never seen so many people downtown since the late 60's.

I knew something big was up when a popular restaurant near my house was closed. THEY NEVER CLOSE!!! Apparently the kitchen and wait-staff decided it would be a good idea to attend the rally, so the owner decided to shut down for the day. You have to know this owner to see how extraordinary this was.

I wonder how we could get this type of turnout for our political rallies which have been enthusiastic but less than 10% the size of this one. If only we could sign up the hispanic community in the impeach the chimp movement. :woohoo:

[Mrspeeker]

3. media black out

its just wasn't liberal enough to get coverage :)