Progress Now Action

The burly fellow next to me asked what my button said. "We're Industrial Workers of the World," i replied.

"Good to see all of you here," he responded. "I'm a Teamster."

I responded in kind, and then observed there was a lone fellow from the Carpenter's Union on the other side. "Everybody's got a right to be confused" said my new Teamster friend.

This was a "Citizens for Immigration Reform" event. They called for it, they organized it. They wanted the confrontation, working people against working people. For once, i am a counter-protester. Not a familiar role for me, but one i'll accept whenever working people go up against other, less-privileged working people.

Now, some folks who read this will not understand my choice, the choice of my union, the choice of my friends. We stood with working people who are under the gun, the most exploited and most derided in our society. We, the counter-protesters were several hundred strong, we were loud, we were boisterous.

If we're generous enough to count the TV camera man, the Citizens for Immigration Reform mustered almost twenty in Denver.

A real bust.

So i've had to rethink my concerns about this group.

I was concerned these protesters might be the new brownshirts, and i thought the Denver group's invoking General Patton ('May God have mercy upon my enemies, Because I won't...') on their website displayed a dangerous jingoist mentality. But the brownshirts were a mass right-wing working class movement, using racism and brutal intimidation to build their numbers in support of Hitler's racist policies. What i saw this morning wasn't a mass movement, it wasn't a threat, it wasn't militant. It was impotent.

And they knew they were impotent. The schedule declared: Time: 7:30 a.m.- 11 a.m. But they put down their signs, gave up and went home two hours early.

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The protest began at 7:30 a.m.. This was everyone that had showed up, photo snapped at 8:33 a.m. By 9:05 a.m. they all left.

I've been marching, protesting, walking picket lines for more than thirty years. I've seen a lot of protests. This Denver effort was the most obvious, abrupt, resounding defeat in any cause i've ever seen.

What does it mean, such a dismal performance by the Minutemen right here in the heart of Tancredo territory? When folks quietly disappear from a confrontation, leaving not a soul to deliver the message, you know they've admitted something to themselves.

The next question becomes, will they think about the real issues? Will they realize that our problems result from actions of the powerful, actions against us all?

The protester's website said they were protesting the employers of the immigrant workers. They came to El Centro Humanitario, the place of the workers. But if there is a movement gaining strength in this country, it is workers standing together.

We were white. We were brown. We were black. We were asian. We were native american. Some were in wheelchairs. Some communicated with each other through gestures rather than speech. We cooperated, shared food, felt incredible strength in our numbers.

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The counter-protest at 8:36 a.m.. I couldn't fit everyone in the photo without stepping into the street. Note the rope by the no-parking sign-- it circled half the building, with protesters around. Most stayed behind the rope.

Psychologically, the workers who stood together with the immigrant workers won this confrontation.

Easily.

But that doesn't solve ANY of the problems. We demonstrated only that worker against worker doesn't work.

We have yet to prove that worker joining together with worker can accomplish something.

My friend and fellow IWW member Gary, a grandfatherly type with a knack for communicating, talked with a few of the protesters across the street. He told them that they were attacking people they should ally with, that the corporations are the ones kicking all of our butts, and they ought to join us in confronting the real enemy. He said a couple actually agreed with him, but a couple saw it very differently.

I haven't yet sorted out the reactions in my own heart. I wonder if the results were similar across the country. I wonder if there will be soul-searching, re-thinking.

There's no doubt in my mind, i will always stand with working people against the corporate powers when it comes to struggles. But i'm troubled that it is so difficult to reach people who see the struggle in terms of workers against workers. That's exactly what the corporations and their paid-for politicians love. And that realization cuts deeply.

What momentarily felt like a victory now feels like a lost opportunity. It isn't a victory if its over folks who should be your allies, your friends.

You see, i share the concern that many of these people have about jobs, about corporations off-shoring, yes, even about immigration policy enacted primarily for the benefit of the wealthy. I want justice for all working people, and i see a world in which corporate elites make decisons for all of us. The only way forward is to recognize the power relationships. But how do we reach out to people who seem to have so much bitterness toward their fellow working people?