Bay Area rallies against war

by a RAIL comrade

MIM and RAIL attended a rally to oppose war in the 
Middle East and racism in the U.$. justice system in 
San Francisco on October 6, the day before the 
bombing of Afghanistan began. The event featured 
speakers, poetry, music and a plethora of 
organizations addressing the issues. Comrades 
distributed copies of MIM Notes covering the 
aftermath of the attacks on the United $tates and gathered 
signatures to oppose censorship in prisons.

The speakers varied from real revolutionary 
opposition to the war and the injustice system to 
those who offered solutions such as "kiss don't 
kill." Mario and Ramona Africa of the MOVE 
organization reminded the audience that the 
government dropped a bomb in Philladelphia killing 
11 members of MOVE; yet, there was no public outcry 
or even any mainstream media coverage of the 
event.

Former Black Panther David Hilliard spoke of the 
serve the people programs that the party ran 
providing health care for the people and free 
comissary for prisoners. He announced the 
reinstitution of the prison bus program, which 
will again bring family and friends from the 
neighborhood to the prisons for visits. However, 
he was not clear whether this program would be 
conducted in the same revolutionary context. Serve 
the people programs are not charities but programs 
that serve a need of the oppressed while 
organizing towards communism.

Once news hit that the United $tates/United Kingdom had begun bombing 
Afghanistan on October 7, a rally and march was 
planned for downtown San Francisco, as happened 
around the Bay Area and across the country. The 
San Francisco march brought thousands of people to 
the streets to protest the attacks. There was a 
broad spectrum of people ranging from 
revolutionaries to those waving amerikan flags, 
and there were even a couple people who staged a 
counter-protest across the street praising the 
bombings. One womyn held a sign reading "de-
radicalize peace." While it is sad to say, peace 
is a radical proposition in today's world. 

What the flag-wavers calling for peace don't understand 
is that peace can never exist under imperialism. 
They ignore the fact that the U$ is responsible 
for the exploitation of people across the globe, 
and that those same people will continue to fight 
that exploitation. Without military intervention 
the imperialists would be unable to carry out the 
economic policies that they profit from. Until 
this vast contradiction between the exploited and 
the exploiters is resolved, war will continue to 
be waged.

The crowd chanted numerous anti-war slogans 
including, "hey, hey, ho, ho, this racist war has 
got to go." Calling the invasion of the Middle 
East a racist war is not really accurate since the 
motivations are really economic and not based on 
any ideas of race. Though the genocidal effects of 
U.$. actions in the Middle East may be interpreted 
as racist, the government knows it is there for 
economic interests. Regardless, the racist 
ideology of the amerikan people has proven useful 
in rallying support for the war efforts. While the 
Spartacist League chanted slogans such as, 
"National Unity is a lie, Bosses profit while 
workers die," the alliance of the amerikan workers 
has emerged clearly on the side of U$ imperialism. 
Polls after the first air strikes showed nine out 
of ten amerikans supported them and that three-
fourths of amerikans would support the use of 
ground troops. (1) Meanwhile peace rallies occur 
in a sea of amerikan flags and pro-war slogans and 
racist attacks on those perceived to be from the 
Middle East continue. One speaker in the rally 
mentioned the courage required to speak out 
against the war due to the vigilance of the pro-war 
government, media and majority of amerikans.

On October 8, the day following the initial 
bombings U.C. Berkeley students staged a walk-out to 
protest. One organizer told how he was called a 
"sand nigger" and told "we're gonna bomb you and 
all your friends." While the majority showed up to 
oppose the bombings, a significant contingent of 
students came out in support of war with signs 
such as, "They fight to keep us safe, support 
them." A comrade overheard one passerby say, 
"There are a few white people up there, what the 
fuck?" referring to the anti-war speakers. Again 
reiterating the reactionary strength of white 
nationalism in imperialist countries.

The U.C. Berkeley anti-war coallition brought many 
groups together in opposition to the bombing. A 
speaker from Asian and Pacific Islanders Force was 
particularly on point with calls to oppose all U.$. 
interventions and imperialism, while supporting 
the right to self-determination of all nations. 
One group began a chant of "Support the war? 
Enlist!" to challenge the pro-war contingent.

notes: (1) The New York Times. 8 October 2001.