Immigration and human rights

Why Monday, May 1st MattersApr 30, 2006

US

Manuel Guzman

The time has come for everyone to stand in solidarity and demand an end to the tyranny of the people by corporations and their billionaire beneficiaries. We are all being squeezed by their greed and everyday more and more families are slipping into poverty. Aside from the economic issues, there is the unspoken truth that racism is fueling the backlash to an organized and empowered immigrant movement.



No, not all immigrants are latino or Mexican, but there is enough hostility being thrown in our direction that to stand in solidarity on Monday, May 1st, is to fight back against future acts of violence like this.

Prosecutors won’t immediately seek hate-crime charges against two white teens accused of brutally beating and sodomizing a 16-year-old Hispanic boy, who was clinging to life after being left for dead, authorities said.



The two attacked the boy after he tried to kiss a 12-year-old girl at an unsupervised house party Saturday night in suburban Spring, authorities said

The attackers apparently were offended at the age difference between the victim and the girl, who is also Hispanic, and shouted racial slurs at him during the 10- to 15-minute attack, investigators said.

Authorities said the two dragged the boy from the party and into the yard, where they sodomized him with a plastic pipe from a patio table umbrella and poured bleach on him.

The United States is a culturally diverse land, there is not one monolithic norm for Americans, no litmus test that says, "You act like an American." Not even the English language can be used, because there are countless U.S.-born citizens who don’t speak a word of it. It’s not like that tongue was native to these shores.



I’m utterly disgusted by what happened to that young boy in Texas. It is a symptom of the larger problem of demonization and xenophobia being preached by groups like the Minutemen, National Alliance, and some of the Republican lawmakers in Washington, D.C. I’m aware of the rising tension because it is starting to affect me personally when I’m out in public. There are more sideways looks and clutchings of the purse as I walk by. I wish I was joking… If leadership is not shown at a national level against this form of hatred and violence, then I fear a large and wide-spread problem in the future.



To participate on May 1st is to show solidarity for human rights and human dignity. It can be done in many forms, whether you participate in a full-scale boycott as is being called for by groups nationwide; or it can be done symbolically by wearing a white shirt on Monday with some type of ribbon that will draw the curiosity of your co-workers and family.



The Green Party of the United States gives a great example of what it will mean to stand with the immigrant population in the United States. Take it to heart as you decide on your form of protest.

RESOLUTION

Whereas, representatives in both the U.S. House and Senate are promoting resolutions criminalizing the status of immigrant workers;

Whereas, such actions would violate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which recognizes "the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family;"

Whereas, both the House and Senate reflect an overwhelming majority of representation of citizens of immigrant ancestry;

Whereas, a great portion of people adversely affected by such resolutions are of heritage indigenous to the American continents;

Whereas, immigrants contribute to the U.S. economy, including 7 billion dollars paid into the U.S. Social Security System per year;

Whereas, the illusion of gained employment for U.S. citizens is nullified by the presence of "outsourcing" of jobs to citizens in other countries void of wage, health and safety protections, this without objection by representatives in the House and Senate;

"Whereas, our ten key values direct us to stand in Dr. Martin Luther King’s legacy of solidarity with the oppressed and supporting the age-old American Labor movement principle, "An injury to one is an injury to all;"

Whereas, we honor the second Key Value of the Green Party of the United States: "All persons should have the rights and opportunity to benefit equally from the resources afforded us by society and the environment. We must consciously confront in ourselves, our organizations, and society at large, barriers such as racism and class oppression, sexism and homophobia, ageism and disability, which act to deny fair treatment and equal justice under the law;"

Be it resolved by the Green Party of the United States Steering Committee, the Green Party of the United States National Committee, and the Green Party of the United States Peace Action Committee, that we join in solidarity with the "El Gran Paro Americano 2006, the May 1 Great American Boycott, honoring ‘Un dia sin immigrante’ ‘A day without an immigrant’ with the pledge for No Work, No School, No Sales, and No Buying."

El pueblo unido jamás será vencido! - The people united will never be defeated