[Marxism] Amnesty for immigrants means human rights for all by Cristina Gutierrez

[Bonnie Weinstein <giobon@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Demand General and Unconditional Amnesty for All!
Demand the Freedom of Mumia Abu-Jamal!
Demand Human Rights For All!
Rally Monday, June 19, 2006, 5:00 P.M.
Third Street and Palou Ave., San Francisco
Note: This is a very important community rally. We urge everyone
to turn out in support of the immigrant struggle and their linkage
with the struggle for human rights and social justice in the Black
community. Together and with the support of all those who seek
human freedom and justice we can build a movement that can win!
For more information call: 415-431-9925

http://www.sfbayview.com/061406/rightsforall061406.shtml

Amnesty for immigrants means human rights for all

by Cristina Gutierrez


Cristina Gutierrez thrilled the crowd at the June 4 Civil Rights Cookout
with her fiery speech. (See Website for photo)

Is our demand for unconditional amnesty for all a just demand for immigrant
workers?

Is unconditional amnesty for all a solution to our problem?

Are the governments of our countries guilty of our migration?

What does our struggle as immigrants have to do with the struggle of Black
people in this country?

These are some of the questions in people's minds as we try to unite the
struggle of Blacks and Latinos in this country.

I will begin and end with the last question because without unity and the
support of Black people in this country, it will be impossible for us
immigrant workers to achieve any solution to our problem. It is the
exploitation and oppression of Blacks in this country that has justified and
allowed the exploitation of people of color all over the world. It is based
on this exploitation of our Black brothers and sisters that we immigrants
have ended up here in the United States with no rights, with jobs that no
one wants to do, and getting paid, at times less than minimum wage.

Our brothers and sisters come from all over Latin America following the jobs
that the government of the United States took away from our countries of
origin, with the agreement and cooperation of our own governments. Our
countries are rich in oil, zinc, copper, fruit, vegetables, textiles, etc.
The United States has created companies to exploit these products in our own
land, paying our workers one-third of what a worker would get here doing the
same job. These agreements are made between governments in order to make the
maximum profit that will benefit the wealthy and exploit and weaken the
rights of workers.

Here at home in the United States, the government needs cheap labor that our
undocumented workers provide to continue to maximize profit and, at the same
time, control the struggle of the workers of this country. These workers
from Latin America work for almost nothing and are used to create a huge
unemployment problem among Black workers. This will guarantee the huge army
of the unemployed that the government needs to have ­ workers fighting one
another.

We can see that there are no borders for the ruling class. They go as they
please. They exploit people as the please whenever and wherever they want
to.

Unconditional amnesty is a natural way to bring the problem of immigrants
closer to a real solution. We know there is a law that we have been forced
to break because it does not meet the needs of our time. The government of
the United States must recognize that this law is obsolete and give amnesty
to those of us who have broken it in order to feed, clothe and house our
family.

We immigrants have to do so as a result of the United States treaties like
the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which allows the
exploitation of our countries by United States businesses. Amnesty is not a
long-range solution, but it is the only possible, just and short-range
solution. The long-range solution will be when there is real fair trade
among countries and where priorities of all governments concerned are the
wellbeing of people, not profits.

The Black people were brought here by force from Africa to do the worst jobs
to create the wealth of this country. When finally they were emancipated,
they were betrayed. Emancipation was used to meet the needs of an industrial
society that needed workers, not plantation slaves. It was used to guarantee
cheap labor.

When Black people began to organize as a powerful working-class force in
this country, their leaders were murdered as they are trying to do to Mumia
Abu-Jamal. Drugs were introduced among the population to destroy them ? but
not enough to keep them from being used as an army of the unemployed against
any workers who are organizing for their rights.

But we know better than that. We know that Black and Brown must unite. And
this is the best moment to do so. Together, the people who are the backbone
of the wealth of this country can defeat all that continues to enslave us
today and create the unity that will win the freedom that awaits us
tomorrow.

Cristina Gutierrez is the head teacher at a small children's center in the
Mission called Companeros del Barrio. She has been involved in the
Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal, the anti-war movement and the
childcare movement in the '70s that resulted in children's centers in San
Francisco public schools. The group that has initiated this June 19
demonstration also organized amnesty rallies April 10 in the Mission and May
1 at the Federal Building that drew 10,000 people. For more information,
email bonnieweinstein@xxxxxxxxxx












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