December 12--- California Latino activists held a state wide boycott to protest Governor Schwarzenegger's December 3 repeal of a drivers license bill that would have given so-called illegal immigrants the right to drive. Intended to demonstrate the economic power of Latinos in California, the boycott was a one-day economic strike where Latinos across the state stayed home from work and school and did not buy anything.
One third of the population in California is Latino and the state's industries rely on Latino labor, which makes up 45% of the workforce, particularly for the low wage jobs that other people don't want. Of the Latino nations in California, Mexicans are the overwhelming majority, making up about 80% as of the 2000 census.(1) Consistent with demographics, this strike saw heavy Mexican participation and leadership. It brought out a public demonstration of Mexican nationalism with Mexican flags flying across the state at protests and in the streets.
Schools in heavily Latino districts reported dramatically lower attendance, some businesses shut down in solidarity with the action, and many streets lined with stores were empty of shoppers. The Fresno Bee reported that absences in Fresno County alone cost school districts about $500,000. It is hard to quantify the economic impact to stores, but across the state, judging from absences in public schools, participation in the boycott appeared extensive. Several businesses interviewed by mainstream media reported shutting down their stores because they recognize the importance of (cheap) immigrant labor to their profits. The economic loss from a one day closure, even during holiday shopping, is nothing compared to the loss they would face if they lost their workers. This decision was no doubt also fueled by pragmatism for some companies who knew most of their workers planned to honor the boycott and skip work.
Demonstrations were held across the state by groups of boycotting Latinos, joined in solidarity by a few non-Latinos. In heavily Latino towns like Fresno and Santa Rosa hundreds of protesters took to the streets. In front of the state house in Sacramento several hundred protestors braved the rain to join the fight. The boisterous crowd got much support from passing cars honking at the signs calling for driver licenses and equal rights for Latino immigrants.
The bulk of the participants in public demonstrations were Mexican people, some living legally within U.$. borders and some here illegally. The imperialist border between the U.$. and Mexico enforces the Amerikan theft of Mexican land and keeps the people in Mexico, and throughout Latin America, in poverty and easy targets for exploitation. So-called illegal immigrants provide cheap farm labor in California, among other low paying and physically destructive jobs that white Amerikans don't want. And at the same time Amerikan corporations can set up factories just across the border and keep wages low because the Mexican workers can't cross the border to compete for the same jobs with Amerikan citizens.
This economic strike is one that MIM can get behind as a correct struggle by workers against exploitation that is a part of a larger national liberation struggle. It is Amerika that is illegally occupying Mexican land and it is the Amerikan people who are illegal immigrants who massacred indigenous populations to steal the land. Winning the right to a drivers license is just one small battle in the larger fight to abolish imperialist borders and win national liberation for oppressed peoples everywhere.
Called for by the Mexican American Political Association, based in Los Angeles, the boycott gained no union support. On such short notice, it is possible organizers did not seek union endorsements. But it is no surprise to MIM that unions were not even represented at the demonstrations which were dominated by Mexican immigrants. The Amerikan unions have a long history of opposing immigrant labor and organizing for the rights of white workers to the exclusion of oppressed nations. The Amerikan unions are strongly behind closed borders and fear jobs being lost to immigrants or being lost into other countries. This is because those unions are safeguarding the high standard of living enjoyed by citizens in this country at the expense of the people in Third World countries. Third World workers are exploited by Amerikan corporations which then bring the profits home and share them with Amerikan workers in the form of higher wages and benefits. Illegal immigrants within Amerikan borders face the same exploitation.
A demonstration at the California Department of Corrections in Sacramento, called for by the Barrio Defense Committee, a community organization in San Jose, drew attention to the Security Housing Units (SHUs) in California prisons which are torture cells where many Latino prisoners are locked up in solitary confinement for indefinite sentences. These SHU sentences are imposed on supposed gang members, but the criteria for gang member validation makes all Latinos likely suspects. Talking to someone in the prison yard, having a tattoo, and even signing a get well card are all marks against a prisoner. Politically active prisoners are targeted for this supposed validation to get them out of the yard so that they can't educate and influence other prisoners. A leader of the Barrio Defense Committee explained "From the [Senate SHU] hearings of September 15, 2003, it looks like it costs $60,000 to $70,000 to maintain one person in the SHU, which is millions of dollars wasted. Steve Castillo has been in the SHU for 8 years because he is a jailhouse lawyer. Hugo Pinell has been in the SHU for countless years because of his political beliefs! John Martinez was sent to the SHU for questioning the brutality in Corcoran! Francisco Cesar Villa is in the SHU for asking for the right size of shoes! And Jose Luis Avina and Eddie Bustamante are in the SHU for participating in the 1999 New Folsom Prison hunger strike. So ultimately, it comes down to organizing in the streets to make the fundamental changes to shut down the SHU's for a victory."
The protest in front of the CDC, marched to the state house to join the boycott demonstration. The boycotters in front of the state house eagerly signed a petition circulated by MIM to shut down the SHU and several spoke of relatives (or their own experience) locked up in these units.
A small group of activists proceeded inside to present a letter of protest demanding the SHU be shut down to Senator Gloria Romero, chair of the Senate Select Committee on the California Correctional System. Romero held hearings a few months ago to investigate the Security Housing Units (see MN 289) but activists had heard no follow up from her since then.
Romero was not in the office but her consultant on the committee, Rocky Rushing, agreed to speak with the activists. He explained that the CDC had met with the committee just last week to report on "progress" in responding to the concerns raised at the hearings. Bottom line: the CDC was not going to change anything. The CDC agreed to make a few cosmetic adjustments to their gang validation process which will allow prisoners to respond to the evidence. Most of the evidence is secret, and the CDC did not agree to do anything with prisoner's responses, so this is meaningless. The CDC also agreed to add some programming in the SHU. But these too are meaningless, focusing on education about gangs and anger management, so that the CDC can pretend the SHU is really doing something about "gangs" in California prisons, rather than providing much needed libraries, education, and recreation.
The activists questioned Senator Romero's assistant about follow up on all the concerns raised by friends and family at the recent public hearing. (Follow-up that the Senator had promised.) He said they told the CDC to address all concerns raised and supplied the CDC with a transcript of the hearing to do so. And he went on to say that the CDC claimed they had already addressed all these concerns! Needless to say, SHU organizers have not heard of the CDC following up with a single attendee at that hearing, where close to a hundred people testified about the horrors of the SHU. Perhaps most revealing was the statement by Senator Romero's assistant that they hoped to organize another meeting with the CDC and people concerned about the SHU so that when the CDC refuses to change those people at the table can feel like they were included. MIM takes this to mean that at least Senator Romero's assistant does not believe the Government has any power over the California Department of Corrections. They can call meetings, but they can not require change. This is no surprise as the CDC huge budget is still unaffected even after big budget cuts and extensive negotiating between the branches of the California government to arrive at a balanced budget.
MIM knows that real change to the criminal injustice system won't come from a Senate Committee. But we continue to appeal to all possible avenues as we fight for reforms to improve the lives of our brothers and sisters behind bars while we educate and build for the complete overthrow of the imperialist system.
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