Since the people of Chicago sent the message that racist bigotry is unwelcome in their city, the Donald Trump campaign has spared no effort in limiting the time it gives people to organize against the reactionary message and movement Trump has inspired. Despite getting only three days’ notice before the campaign rally, a coalition of Pittsburgh and surrounding residents were diligent in organizing a mass action against Trump and the white supremacy that has inflated his popularity.
The initial march called by the ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) Coalition was made up of hundreds of workers, students and activists toting signs that read: “Shut down white supremacy,” “Immigrants are not criminals,” and “No tolerance for anti-Muslim bigotry.” They chanted loudly, “No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA,” “Shut down Trump,” and in celebration of the shear mass of people on foot “The people united will never be defeated!”
Taylor Goel of ANSWER spoke at the opening rally: “It is an honor for me to be here today with all of you to raise our voice loud and clear to say that Pittsburgh does NOT welcome racist, anti-immigrant, anti-worker bigots like Trump!”
The Trump campaign held two events in Pittsburgh. The first, a televised town hall hosted by right-wing media pundit Sean Hannity, was set in a part of Pittsburgh heavily populated by colleges and students. The second was a campaign rally at a downtown convention center. Activist groups organized actions to confront both of Trump’s appearances, but not without threats by right-wing, open-carry demonstrators, who had posted on social media their plans to organize. This, undoubtedly, was a scare tactic meant to dissuade anti-Trump protesters from gathering.
The online group spoke of their arsenal of weapons and boasted, “Stopping ANY attempt of roadblocks is our main objective … this isn’t a place to mess around!”
More than 1,000 protesters converged on the convention center where Trump held his rally, marching from several directions.
The downtown rally against Trump delivered a strong message of solidarity between working-class people all over the world. There was no message of violence, but true to form the police set up a barricade and lined up with their backs to the fascists after arresting some protesters for disrupting traffic.
A protester, when asked what brought him to the protest, said that he is infuriated by Trump’s empty, contradictory policies coupled with his blatant and unrelenting racism on the campaign trail.
Pittsburgh is a city where capitalist plunder has crushed the livelihoods of many working-class families through gentrification, unemployment, unaffordable housing, low wages, displaced labor, and underfunded education. These problems disproportionately affect communities of color. While Pittsburgh’s size is relatively small, the minority unemployment rate is one of the highest in the United States. Many of the highest paying jobs are reserved for affluent migrants, locking many locals into perpetual poverty.
Trump’s campaign not only preaches a message of hatred and intolerance but also frivolous spending based on paranoia and fear-mongering. This has inspired an uprising of far-right conservatives who see their own economic problems as brought about by immigrants and refugees, specifically Mexicans and Muslims. In reality, it is the capitalist profit drive that causes jobs to be deported to other regions of the world; employers hire workers at low wages displacing higher paying labor.
Taylor Goel said: “Racism has always been an indispensable tool for the rich, white ruling class to fool the average white person, for him to rationalize and normalize white supremacy. And by whipping up racist anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim hatred, by normalizing the criminalization and hatred of working-class immigrants and people of color, by targeting the Mexican and Muslim people in particular, Trump is doing exactly that.” Goel added, “Now is the time to escalate the struggle, build the movement, and join organizations that are up to that task like the ANSWER coalition.”
The unified message sent by the people of Pittsburgh is that we will not stand for racism, sexism, anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant, or any other form of bigotry being spewed by Donald Trump and his campaign. From Chicago to Pittsburgh and onward, we will continue to hit the streets to confront this reactionary movement. Ultimately, in order to win, we need a united multinational movement.
