By Raskonikov Radek

TOMBALL, Texas – In spite of 100° weather today (9/11/10), I went to Tomball again in order to protest the racists and support the day laborers. While there were less people than last week on both sides, there was one thing that was absolutely clear: while our numbers were smaller than the racists, our unity was far greater. Not only did we stand firmly united against them, but we also had a great deal of support from the people of Tomball. It was quite evident that the people of Tomball wanted the racists out of their town, for we received many kind words from drivers and walkers passing by our rally. A couple of passers-by stopped to join us. A couple of others rejected the racists’ lies after discussing the immigration issue with us. Despite our numbers, we outlasted the racists again, chanting “Ya se van, ya se van, los racistas ya se van” as they departed. Love is stronger than hate.

As I left, an elderly Latino worker from a nearby restaurant approached me and shook my hand to express his gratitude for what we had done to fight racism that day.

The Tomball City Council rejected a number of anti-immigrant proposals just last week. This seemed to incite the racists and there was one minor physical confrontation in which one racist assaulted one of the organizers. They shouted vicious slurs, as they did last week, and tried to defeat us by playing loud rock music. Every moment that we spoke, standing strong with our signs and chanting together, we were acting as agents of the historical struggle against racism. Each one of us expressed our solidarity with humanity and our opposition to racism.

Racism has been used historically by the wealthy classes to divide working people. When working people stand together and support each other, great progress can be made in building a better world for everybody. When working people fight each other, the wealthy classes win. The wealthy classes know the tactic “divide and conquer” very well and use it effectively.

I had no doubt that the racists are unhappy with the conditions of working people and want a better world for themselves and their families. They probably think that attacking people less fortunate than themselves will somehow improve their lot in life. However, it is my opinion that they are only serving the interests of the wealthy.

We stand united and the larger our number, the more powerful our influence in the struggle against racism. Come support us next Saturday at 8 AM in front of the HEB in Tomball (HW 249 B & Main Street/FM 2920-28520 Tomball Pkwy.) so that we can win this struggle!

Here is a quote from the organizers of the rally supporting immigrant’s rights:

We are glad to report that last night the Tomball City Council overwhelmingly rejected proposals to close the day laborer site, make English the City’s official language, and prohibit undocumented workers from working or renting or owning businesses there. Racists from the Border Watch, Minute Men, and Tea Party suffered a huge defeat last night, and this is a historic victory for workers and democratic-minded people of all backgrounds. As you may know, the rejection of these anti-immigrant proposals was widely publicized in the Houston area media. The Houston Chronicle’s article on the meeting can be found at

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/7190647.html.

By Raskonikov Radek

TOMBALL, Texas – Today I went to support the exploited immigrant workers in Tomball. Every week, a few Minute Men, Border Watch and Tea Party members come and terrorize these workers. They shouted horrible things at them and even used violence against the workers. About 20 courageous people came to support the workers and oppose the cowards on 9/4/2010, just two days before Labor Day. There were also two television stations (Univision and Fox News) who were reporting on it. We were there in solidarity to both protect the workers and drive the Minute Men and their pals out. The racists never came to the day laborer site. They instead lined up across the street in an HEB parking lot on a busy main road. The right wingers had sent a spy who was sniffing us out and waiting for us to leave. We did leave, in fact, in order to counter the anti-immigrants at HEB. A few of us remained with the workers in case the racists came to the day laborer site.

We outnumbered them and had far more unity. They were so demoralized they used children in their vicious attacks. They called for all immigrants to be put into concentration camps. We protested them for an hour and had formed a large collective body. The right wingers were scattered all over the place and lacked unity or solidarity. The spirit of revolt was strong amongst us, whereas the anti-immigrants were merely repeating racist anti-immigrants slurs that required not the least bit of thought.

In order to drive the fascists out, we will protest them each week in Tomball. We should outnumber them since any person of conscience who hears such terrible things and sees such disgusting people will want to march in the streets to demand that they leave. The workers need your help. Without you, the immigrant workers will continue to be exploited and the racists will continue to carry out their criminal activities. Unite with the Tomball workers to stop the anti-immigrants and drive racism out of Tomball.

The next action will be held on Saturday morning, September 11, beginning at 8 AM. This action will be held in front of the HEB store at Tomball Parkway (Highway 249) and Main Street (FM 2920).

These actions are being Organized by the Latin American Immigrants Rights Organization And the Progressive Workers Organizing Committee. If you have questions or would like more information, please call (832) 692 – 2306, (281) 935 – 9258, or (832) 282 – 6997.