Labor Day Marchers here Letter: “The Regular People” here
Labor Day Marchers Welcome Red Flag
LOS ANGELES (USA), September 7— Thousands of people, mainly union members, their families, and high school students, marched in the 47th Annual Labor Day Parade in the Wilmington neighborhood of Los Angeles. Nine comrades of the International Communist Workers’ Party were there.
Some were posted with revolutionary communist signs and red flags at an intersection where the parade passed by. Many marchers raised their fists in support. Others snapped pictures. One colorfully-dressed woman loudly insisted that her friend take her picture with the group. Our signs contrasted sharply with the parade’s official reformism: “Thank the unions!”
We distributed Red Flag to contingents as they marched by. And to people riding in trucks and cars. Many came to us asking for copies.
Before the march started, other comrades went to the assembly point to start distributing Red Flag. A young man told a comrade, “I’m from Nicaragua, and I’m a communist!” He took the paper and exchanged contact information.
A retired teacher comrade was distributing the paper with a sign on his back that read (in Spanish) “Fascism Attacks Us All; Let’s End It With Communism!” He felt a tap on his shoulder. It turned out to be his former student, Sam. Sam and his sister were very active in the Party while in high school.
“They had moved away and I lost contact,” said the comrade. “Now Sam is a welder and wants to be part of the union that he marched with. He’s a brand-new father and he lives in my neighborhood. I will surely follow up with him and get him active again.”
“It was a great day!” commented another comrade. We distributed over 600 Red Flags and more than 50 Palestine pamphlets. Many were grateful for the paper and glad that we were there.
Letter: The “Regular People” Versus the Ruling Class
“Should we kill the Zionist Jews?” a transit worker asked a comrade distributing Red Flag outside his workplace.
The comrade didn’t know what he meant. She replied cautiously, “The Zionists are the most dangerous enemies of Jewish people.”
Turns out that the worker is angry at the influence the Israeli rulers have over the United States. He knew that the Los Angeles police (and many others) are trained by Israeli soldiers. That Section 291 of the new US National Defense Authorization Act establishes a US-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative that will strengthen the two countries’ military ties.
He doesn’t like any of that. He “feels bad about the Palestinians.”
The worker took Red Flag. Then he confided to the comrade, “I used to be MAGA.” What changed his mind? “Everything,” he said. Inflation. War on Iran. Corruption. Lies.
As the conversation continued, the worker raised the possibility of a civil war in the US.
“It shouldn’t be ‘red’ versus ‘blue,’” said the comrade. “It has to be class war: workers versus the capitalist rulers.”
“Yeah, the regular people,” agreed the worker, as he headed back to his car.
—Comrade in Los Angeles (USA)
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