The Militant (logo) 
   Vol.65/No.35            September 17, 2001 
 
 
Letters
 
Protest of rightist rally
About two dozen residents of Newton, North Carolina, met informally over lunch at a Mexican restaurant August 27 to express their opposition to an anti-immigrant rally held the previous week. The organizers of that rally claim that lax enforcement of immigration laws has caused a swell of "illegal immigrants" to pour into the United States, taking jobs away from "Americans." At the rightist event about 75 participants yelled at Latino motorists and carried signs with slogans such as "It's Our Borders, Stupid," and "Now Swim Back."

The organizers of the lunch-time meeting said they had been offended by the racist rally and had thought someone should do something about it. So they decided to get a few of their friends together just to make the point. The gathering was advertised in news reports, on local TV channels, and in the Charlotte Observer.

Two of us who traveled to the meeting from Kannapolis were warmly welcomed at the event. We raised the importance for working people to not be fooled into turning foreign-born workers into scapegoats for the recent massive layoffs by companies in the Carolinas.

Instead, the layoffs are due to the legal workings of capitalism. It is in our interests to build our unions and the fighting unity of all working people.

Dean Hazlewood
Kannapolis, North Carolina
 
 
Macedonia intervention
Well over 2,000 people marched through the streets of central Athens August 28 to protest the deployment of a new contingent of NATO troops in Macedonia. The march received a very friendly response from working people doing their shopping in the area. Some of the slogans at the march were: "No soldier to Yugoslavia"; "We won't fight for the US and Germany"; and "People of the Balkans unite to fight imperialism." The march was organized by the Athens Peace Committee and Youth Action for Peace.

The imperialist government in Athens, seeking a wider role in the region it considers its "back yard," has contributed a contingent of more than 400 soldiers and officers to the NATO force. Defense Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos stated 29 August in parliament that "no one can impose...a change of the borders through violence in the Balkans and expect that Greece will remain passive."

Regular protests have been taking place in the port city of Thessaloniki, which has long been central to the transport of soldiers and materiel throughout the Yugoslav wars.

Natasha Terlexis
Athens, Greece

The letters column is an open forum for all viewpoints on subjects of interest to working people. Please keep your letters brief. Where necessary they will be abridged. Indicate if you prefer that your initials be used rather than your full name.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home