Oakland vigil October 8th

by a RAIL comrade

There was a vigil in an Oakland park on October 8, 
Indigenous People's Day, to stop the war and end 
racist scapegoating.  The event started off with a 
performance by the Korean Women's Drum Circle. 
Approximately 100 people gathered to demonstrate 
solidarity with people of color both abroad and 
within the united states.  One womyn read a letter from a 
prisoner on death row opposing the war.  Bringing 
attention to the prison population reminded people 
of the hypocrisy of calling the United $tates a "free" 
country.  A man read a piece called "I am 
Anonymous," describing the many acts of u.s. 
imperialism that have killed people.  The millions 
of innocent lives lost are not mentioned by the 
media or in history books, while the 5,000 
amerikan lives lost on September 11 are given 
prime coverage and considered an "evil" act. 

The organizers pointed out that while imperialist 
War serves the United $tates's military and economic 
purposes, predominately people of color are killed 
because they serve in the front lines.  RAIL adds 
that wimmin and children also disproportionately 
suffer in times of War, when rape is used as a war 
tactic and children are left parentless.  

A womyn from Pakistan shared her account of being 
the victim of a racist attack.  She was physically 
assaulted by a man in Alameda, and suffered a 
severe concussion.  "How can the u.s. claim it is 
going to help the women in Afghanistan," she 
asked, "when it can't even protect women in its 
own country?"  Bush's promise of "humanitarian 
aid" for Afghanistan is an attempt to make 
americans feel less guilty about bombing 
civilians.  The War also serves as a justification 
for repression within the United $tates, where immigrants now 
have to be even more worried about both individual 
acts of racism and unlawful detention by the 
government and police.

The organizer's message of "love and solidarity" 
is important to the extent that anti-imperialists 
need to recognize that their stuggle is tied to 
the stuggles of people of color worldwide. 
However, RAIL criticizes the organizer's statement 
that radicals and reformists need to "put aside 
their differences and work together."  Anti-
imperialist politics is not reformist. 
Revolutionaries must not alter their agenda to 
serve reformist goals. Reforms only end up 
pacifying american people of color and the working 
class, thus strengthening u.$. imperialism to the 
detriment of those in the Third World.