Hundreds of people protested in the streets of Arizona today against racism and against the visit of Republican Presidential candidate front-runner Donald Trump.
Fountain Hills, is a suburb of Phoenix in Maricopa County, and is known for racist Sheriff Joe Arpaio and former Governor Jan Brewer, and March 19 it hosted America’s “favorite” bigot Donald Trump. Arizona’s Primary is next Tuesday March 22, the state will award a number of valuable delegates and Trump is predicted to win.
Despite the many drawn to Trump’s racist speeches, there are hundreds of thousands of people of color and anti-racist whites ready to fight back in self defense against the threat of this growing fascist movement.
That’s why hundreds of people traveled to the site of Trump’s rally to stage a demonstration. People from many different nationalities, young and old, students workers and families came out in unity.
The people shut down a nearby highway to block traffic from attending the rally. In the face of shouting drivers, police and a climate of overt, militant, right-wing racism, the people locked arms and shouted “Si se puede!” and, referring to Trump, chanted “Get this clown out of our town!”
Liberation News interviewed a number of local protesters who echoed what’s becoming a national call for unity in the streets. One protester braved the crowds of Trump supporters and embedded himself in the right-wing crowd, carrying a sign with a swastika to point out what he explained were the “similarities between Hitler’s anti-Jewish rhetoric and Trump’s anti-immigrant bashing.”
Indeed this was a central galvanizing point for the Trump supporters who heckled Brown people and protesters, while screaming “Build the wall!” This of course, refers to the white supremacist scapegoating and hatred towards Latin American immigrants.
Muslim people who, like Latin American immigrants, are oppressed, attacked, and in the cross hairs of Trump’s vicious attacks came out to join the protest. One protester told Liberation she had to come out because “I have a 12-year-old daughter and I don’t want them to live in a world where they fear their mom could be deported just on the basis of their religion.” Trump has in fact called for the banning of Muslims from entering the United States.
From Chicago, to Arizona and onward, the people will continue to go onto the streets to confront this nationally growing racist movement. Ultimately this is what will be needed, a united multinational mass movement to effectively beat back the right-wing.
