An old-fashioned May Day celebration


It began in 1886 when Chicago workers called a strike on May 1st to demand an eight-hour day. Police promptly attacked.


The day for workers spread throughout the world. By the 1950s, government and business leaders claimed to have forgotten that it began in Chicago. “It’s a Communist holiday,” they cried. To be good Americans, workers stopped marching.

Last year, it began anew. Immigrants rediscovered our holiday (they had never forgotten it). A year ago, one million people – immigrants and citizens – marched in downtown L.A.

This year the march was smaller in comparison, but still ranked as one of the largest in Southern California history.

High school walkouts to join the march were reported throughout the city at more than 50 schools. Many other schools had been placed on lockdown.

The downtown march, sponsored by the March 25 Coalition, was estimated at 50,000 - 75,000. Smaller feeder marches streamed in from all directions into the downtown area.

They rallied for full rights for workers, against deportations and for amnesty for the undocumented.
According to march organizer Javier Rodriguez, “There are 600,000 women in danger of deportation with 3.3 million children, and we want those united. We do not want those families separated by raids and deportation.”

Another march was attacked by police at 6th street and Park View. This march, which ended at MacArthur Park, also was estimated at about 50,000 people. Observers said police shot tear gas and rubber bullets into the crowd. They declared the mostly family crowd in MacArthur Park to be an unlawful assembly.

TV news cameras showed police attacking a woman journalist whose press credentials were clearly visible. Then the scene shifted to a crowd of police surrounding a boy who appeared to be no more than 10 years old. They hit him with their clubs until he fell on the ground.

Responding to criticism, LAPD Chief William Bratton told the media, “Some of what I’ve seen does not look appropriate.”

As in 1886, police called their actions a response to a group of anarchists who were throwing bottles and rocks at them.

Ironically, police broke up the more moderate of the two marches. The MacArthur Park leaders, including the AFL-CIO and Cardinal Mahony (who was speaking as the police descended on the rally), had refused to participate in the downtown coalition because it was calling for a strike and boycott on May 1.

Around the country hundreds of thousands of workers were in the streets, and in L.A. the police were not far behind. As H. Rap Brown liked to say, “it was as American as cherry pie.”

Posted: Tue - May 1, 2007 at 07:00 AM          

©