May Day 2010 Rally in Austin, TX - International Workers' Day

Austins first May Day demonstration focused on immigrant rights was in 2006. I was stunned then by an Austin crowd as large as any I had ever seen -- 30,000 -- massive numbers, snaking through downtown streets to the federal building. That was the year of the first national mobilizations for comprehensive immigration reform. There were unprecedented turnouts occurring in every major U.S. city, including Los Angeles, Chicago and New York. Other Texas cities -- Houston, Dallas, El Paso and San Antonio -- had large demonstrations that year.

Those national mobilizations met with considerable blowback. There were rants on cable television about Mexican flags. Vigilante Minute Men got publicity for assembling on the border. More important, there were raids on places of employment, deportations, and jailings. Along with repression, the collapsing U.S. construction sector and increased violence associated with Mexican drug cartels made for a perfect storm of declining participation in subsequent years.

Arizonas law changed all that. The broad strokes of that recent legislation make the mere suspicion of undocumented status cause for questioning and detention. The potential impact on Latinos ignited Austins community as well as communities across the nation.

Organizers at the Austin Immigrant Rights Coalition (AIRC) -- www.airc.org -- had been holding their meetings in a small office. They moved to a church hall to accommodate the growing interest. AIRC describes itself as a grassroots, action-oriented coalition of immigrants, students, and allies including labor, faith, and community organizations. That is who they turned out for a spirited rally at the state Capitol and a march down Congress Avenue to City Hall.

Conchero dancers reminded those attending of the real non-immigrants in this country -- Native Americans. Linda Chavez, former union organizer and Democratic candidate for Lieutenant Governor, addressed the crowd. Marchers chanted:
Si se puede [Yes, we can]
Obama, escucha, estamos en la lucha [Obama, listen, we are in the struggle]
El pueblo unido, jamas sera vencido [The people united will never be defeated]

Like it or not, President Obama, comprehensive immigration reform demands have moved from the shadows onto center stage.

This is a ZGraphix production.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• may day
• 2010
• austin
• may 1st
• immigration reform
• worker rights
• International Workers' Day
• 'Workers
• Defense
• Project

[italianman2112]

Watching this I just cant help but think of all the native indians that got SHAFTED !

[777archangeI777]

@colibri1 Lets see millions of pounds of drugs coming over the border, brown folks are bringing these drugs here over this said boarder, 72% of violent crimes along the boarder are commited by brown people, id say brown people are the cause of this problem so why not close the boarder and only let those who intend to become citizens to enter. if you cant act like Americans you cant be an American...

[colibri1]

When it's pointed out that right-wing attitudes are racist, right-wingers always resort to claims that dark-skinned people do or sell drugs or are otherwise criminal, when data for years has shown that whites are more likely to have or use illegal drugs than anyone else.

Unfortunately, the right wing is winning on this. After the encouraging 2007 pro-immigrant, the government and right-wing vigilantes responded with a wave of brutal deportations and imprisonment, still going on.

[justine94610]

Wow ... I think we know what some folks "drug" is ... FOOD!! Let's outlaw fatty foods and FAT PEOPLE! I mean; isn't HEART disease or DIABETES a bigger problem than X from south of the border? Short people are sorta annoying too, so let's ban that trait as well ;)

[groundinghubris]

Thank you for this video. I ended up so far back in crowd I didn't get to see or hear speakers and musicians. So now I have gotten to hear the important messages.

I did notice how few pro-Az and supporters of racial profiling were there. Also, just outside the entrance to capital I sat on the bumper of a truck from AZ which obviously belonged to at least one of them. So I am not sure how many of the less then 20 were actually from TX.

But I believe the ratio of against to pro speaks for itself