We March to Reclaim the Dream

*Members of the Grassroots Immigrant Justice Network marched on August 28th in Washington, D.C. as part of the civil rights rally counterposed to the Glenn Beck rally held that day near the Lincoln Memorial. The GIJN issued this statement of solidarity at the march.*

As we march to today to “Reclaim the Dream,” the Grassroots Immigrant Justice Network stands in solidarity with our African American Sisters and Brothers, and other oppressed communities. Martin Luther King’s Dream has not yet been fulfilled and we continue our struggle for jobs and justice, protection of the environment, and an end to the violence of war and racism.

We welcome you, our compañeros in this March, to stand with us in solidarity with undocumented workers, and to oppose the menace of renewed racist xenophobia directed against immigrants and all communities of color. Our two communities are not separate; the immigrant community is also African, and Haitians and many Latinos share African blood. Today, most new immigrants are People of Color. Both historically and in the present, Black and Immigrant communities have faced many of the same injustices, and both continue the struggle for full economic and political rights. The threat of racism and discrimination against one of us is a threat to all of us.

Current attacks focused on the immigrant community, such as the unjust Arizona law, are a new version of the old Jim Crow, this time targeted at Brown and Indigenous People. No one knows better than the Black community how the criminal ‘justice’ system is used to oppress communities of color. The African American freedom struggle is an ongoing inspiration to many of us in the immigrant movement. We will not permit backward-looking demagogues to drive a wedge between our communities. Standing together in common struggle empowers us to resist this campaign of hatred.

The current wave of anti-immigrant racism sweeping the nation threatens to render the basic fabric of our society. In Prince William County, Virginia, 25 miles outside the nation’s capital, an anti-immigrant law similar to Arizona’s was passed three years ago. Since then, immigrants have suffered racial profiling and seen their families cruelly torn apart, decades of effective community policing policies have been irreversibly destroyed and the immigrant community lives in a state of constant fear. Unless we stand together in firm opposition to local, state and federal policies that criminalize immigrant workers, militarize our borders and destroy entire communities, the same fate awaits the entire nation.

As we march together to Reclaim the Dream, let us resolve to continue the unfinished work begun by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other freedom fighters. In the words of Rev. Al Sharpton, “It is imperative for the African American community to stand together with the Latino community and for the Latino community to stand with the Asian community. You cannot have human rights for some—we need it for all.”

The Grassroots Immigrant Justice Network works to promote community dialogue on immigrant rights issues, labor issues, and immigration reform. Immigration should be approached as an issue of human rights and labor mobility, not as an issue of national security and enforcement that serves to criminalize and divide workers. We believe that our immigration system must be based on the human rights and dignity of all people.