Sandy Sand, a West Hills resident, freelance writer and former editor of
the Tolucan, submitted this article on the May Day rally today. Use the comment box to voice your opinion.
By Sandy Sand, guest columnist
The May Day rally to demand rights for immigrants is in a few hours, but it's
not too late for rally-goers to take a few tips on how to parade and rally
with civility.
If 9,400 Los Angeles police officers had to go through crowd control classes as
a result of the rioting that followed last year's May Day immigration-rights rally,
then it follows that etiquette classes for rally goers should be mandatory, too.
Lessons in common sense on the part of mothers with tots in tow, wouldn't hurt either.
Moms, the instant you see hooligans on the loose, armed with bags of trouble-making
tricks, you get yourself and your kids the hell out of there! Don't stand around
ogling as if a celebrity just showed up.
And do it before a cop tells you to move out of the way.
When and if the police do something wrong, I will be among the first to criticize
them, but not this time and not for what happened last year.
Maybe they didn't do everything according to Hoyle to get an out-of-control situation
reigned in, and maybe their crowd control training was a little lax, but it's been
quite a while since they were faced such a situation.
All the blame was placed on the police; there wasn't one word of criticism from
politicians or the press for the rioters who started it.
It was obvious from the get-go that the rioting and public disturbances were planned
well in advance of the May Day event.
I defy anyone to walk through a City park and find rocks lying around labeled "throw
me." Think about it; most parks are vast expanses of lawns, and rocks on grass
would wreak havoc with Parks and Rec's riding mowers.
Those who are clueless about rocks in parks, probably also believe that frozen water
bottles grow on trees; it should have been obvious to anyone with an ounce of sense
that these missiles were carried into the park by trouble makers.
In a sweeping generality, Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition of
Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, who attended last year's rally, said, that "the
whole city up in arms."
It's doubtful that the "whole" city was up in arms. Law-abiding residents of L.A.
and the Valley didn't hold back in letters to editors to put the blame where it
belonged: On the rioters.
This wasn't a demonstration demanding rights for legal immigrants, it was a deliberate,
blatant, well-planned effort to tout the rights of illegal immigrants and cause
trouble.
Legal immigrants do not have to march for rights; law books filled with their rights,
and in some cases they have rights we don't have. They also have plenty of legal
representation.
The only right uninvited guests have is to be politely shown the door, and told
to apply for a visitor's pass in the proper manner.
That is exactly what happens to illegal immigrants in Mexico, although there is
nothing polite about how they're shown the door.
Be a legal alien resident in Mexico and try to buy property. You can't do it.
The U.S. should take a few lesson from Mexico's immigration playbook instead
of them telling us to do the exact opposite of what they do.
Some of those hurt in last year's melee were members of the press, which did
nothing but exacerbate the cries of "foul" hurled at police.
The press, like parade-goers need rally etiquette classes. See trouble brewing...step
out of the way. View the melee from a safe distance, and make sure your photographers
didn't leave their telephoto lenses on the kitchen table.
Causing a riot and blaming the police for the result they didn't like is no way
to win the hearts and minds of the public, so here are three of the most important
rally etiquette lessons:
Lesson #1: Take your cues from Mahatma Gandhi or Martin Luther King's playbooks.
Marching in a direct line to one's intended goal by peaceful demonstrations.
Lesson # 2: Shut up! Don't be baited into a fight by someone's words. The best
way to answer words you don't like is to ignore the speaker.
Words are just that, words. Sticks and stones really do harm.
Lesson #3: Hearing rumors of trouble? Attend if you're curiosity can't keep
you away, but for pity sake -- leave the kids at home with grandma.
Parade and rally goers need etiquette training as well as the police. The police
are trained and will come prepared for this year's May Day rally, but you can
bet that trouble makers will come equally prepared.
Ron Kaye is the former editor of the Los Angeles Daily News where he spent 23 years helping to make the newspaper the voice of the San Fernando Valley and fighting for a city government that serves the people and not special interests.
Twice in recent years, Los Angeles Magazine listed Kaye among the city’s most influential people, specifically in the area of politics. Kaye has been variously described in the media as the “accidental anarchist,” “the Patrick Henry of the San Fernando Valley” and a “passionate populist.” He is now committed to
carrying on his crusade for a greater Los Angeles as an ordinary citizen. Previously, Ron worked at the Los Angeles Herald Examiner,
Associated Press, Cleveland Plain Dealer and The Australian as well as papers
in Fairbanks, Alaska and Yakima, Wash. He also wrote for Newsweek magazine, The Guardian in London and the Naitonal Enquirer.
I don't get this. If the whole point is to get people involved in the political process, why bash protesters who are out to have their voices heard. This reminds me of the worst sort of politics, where people bemoan lack of participation until someone actually goes out there and says something they don't like. Sandy Sand has a right to her opinion, but I think she's misguided. We need more protests, and more attention to them from the media...
When I see the May Day rally I wonder how any individual person in this city can ever have a voice, be heard, and be treated fairly.
It seems that the only way that anything happens in L.A. is if a group makes a loud noise.
However, if one single person is fighting for justice, or truth, or economic parity, or protection, he or she will be ignored.
I dunno. Maybe all large cities are like this? Look at Chicago--they are killing each other in the streets. Look at New York. You can still get away with putting 51 bullets in an unarmed man if you are well-connected in New York.
But when I saw the May Day marchers I thought, "They have gathered in huge numbers to try to be heard and inspire, force, or plead for change and yet, it doesn't work."
What chance can one solitary person have against such forces? And I'm not talking about illegal immigration---I'm referring to all the injustice that pollutes the city.
If many cannot get justice than how can one?
There is so very much injustice. I think L.A., like all big cities, is overflowing with it.
Go rent, "The Power of One". Excellent movie. I also think that Sandy Sand is misguided. Maybe just a white Valley woman where they all seem to have such animosity toward Latinos.. It's very sad.
In Los Angeles, if you are a solitary voice, the powers that be will ignore you or else they will marginalize you by calling you names.. crazy, NIMBY, whiner, etc. So you can't win for losing.
Elected officials don't want solitary voices speaking out here. They don't want large groups protesting either. They don't want anyone to interfere with their agendas and that is sad. We've not had an advocate since Joel Wachs left except for Ron Kaye.
9,400 cops were trained in crowd control for an event that only brought out 8,500 people.
"I also think that Sandy Sand is misguided. Maybe just a white Valley woman where they all seem to have such animosity toward Latinos.. It's very sad."
Talk about misguided!
Note to that commentor:
First, you ignorantly swat away Sandy Sand's opinion as belonging to ALL white women from the Valley. If that's not a sign of a bigotry, I don't know what is.
And you are not misguided?
As if all people of all races are not hurt by illegal immigration... what of the people from other countries who've patiently waited for years to become citizens the legal way?
What of the people (construction workers, etc.) who must compete and have their wages undercut by noncitizens who will work for less - non-citizens who don't care about assimilating, don't care about this country, don't care to learn the language - only want money to send back home, only want to receive free educations, free medical, etc.?
What of our politicians who bend over backwards to protect noncitizens who break the law to get here, who've stolen someone else's identity? Meanwhile, legal citizens have to deal with the fall-out?
What of the businesses who make a profit, while undercutting other businesses, off illegal citizens?
What about schools being filled to capacity, roads jammed, hospitals crammed - with illegal citizens?
What about how we're all paying for it in taxes? Our children are paying for it with lesser educations.
Does that only concern "white women from the Valley"?
What an ignorant bigot you are!
Those people in the streets who - rather than being grateful for what they've already received - are demanding more...
they hurt every legal citizen of ALL races - the legal Mexican citizens who are here and just trying to get ahead; the legal African-Americans who want to receive a decent education and compete in the workplace; the Indian, Thai, Nigerian, Spanish, Swiss skilled workers who would love to come to the US but must wait for years while people pour through our borders illegally.
It's about coming here ILLEGALLY.
And it's an issue not cared about only by white women in the Valley.
Meanwhile, keep turning your head to how corrupt businesses are getting slave labor, keep turning your head how Mexico is a thug nation that can't care for it's citizens and is only getting worse.
Keep believing that they "do jobs we won't do"... as if we're supposed to forget that we've grown up knowing actual citizens who build homes, wash dishes, mow lawns, flip burgers, take care of children...
Keep your ignorant attitude and the cycle of corruption will only continue.