May Day celebration
The traditional workers day of celebration, May Day, is recognized and feted all over Germany and, for that matter, almost all over the world. The United States, despite being the country for which May Day was organized to commemorate the Haymarket tragedy of 1886, is one of the few that does not recognize this holiday. The US has organized Labor Day instead which takes place the first Monday of September.
Labor Day was instituted during the administration of Grover Cleveland and was done largely to establish a “workers holiday” free from the taint of class and class struggle. How can you have a “workers holiday” that does not evoke in some way class and class struggle? Is this not one of our country’s great historical attempts at erasure that results in irony and/or farce?
Haymarket was a tragedy that took place in Chicago; an event that happened during the struggle for the eight hour working day. Innocent men, mostly German Anarchist Labor leaders, were put to death, some were imprisoned for awhile, one committed “suicide” in his cell the night before the hanging, and all of them were pardoned years later by Governor Altgeld who was then hounded out of office as a result. I could go on about the censorship, the arrests, the shutting down of the anarchist left press, the foaming at the mouth reaction of the Chicago wealthy, the excuse used to bring the iron fist down on the labor movement, etc., that happened because of what happened at Haymarket, but I am not going to. Instead, there is a link that will let you search for this info at your leisure.
I will digress a little though about the Haymarket statue in Waldheim Cemetery on the west side of Chicago. It is definitely worth a visit, and is a powerful beautiful monument that represents the injustice facing working people and their valiant fight for their rights. On the statue is an inscription with an incredibly stirring statement by August Spies, his last words: “The day will come when our silence will be more powerful than the voices you are throttling today.” Spies was one of the German Anarchist Labor leaders wrongly put to death. Many famous American labor leaders are buried here or had their ashes scattered here including Joe Hill. Emma Goldman, an anarchist and radical who fought for the causes of free speech, women’s rights, birth control and an eight-hour-work day, is also buried here.
Labor Day was instituted during the administration of Grover Cleveland and was done largely to establish a “workers holiday” free from the taint of class and class struggle. How can you have a “workers holiday” that does not evoke in some way class and class struggle? Is this not one of our country’s great historical attempts at erasure that results in irony and/or farce?
Haymarket was a tragedy that took place in Chicago; an event that happened during the struggle for the eight hour working day. Innocent men, mostly German Anarchist Labor leaders, were put to death, some were imprisoned for awhile, one committed “suicide” in his cell the night before the hanging, and all of them were pardoned years later by Governor Altgeld who was then hounded out of office as a result. I could go on about the censorship, the arrests, the shutting down of the anarchist left press, the foaming at the mouth reaction of the Chicago wealthy, the excuse used to bring the iron fist down on the labor movement, etc., that happened because of what happened at Haymarket, but I am not going to. Instead, there is a link that will let you search for this info at your leisure.
I will digress a little though about the Haymarket statue in Waldheim Cemetery on the west side of Chicago. It is definitely worth a visit, and is a powerful beautiful monument that represents the injustice facing working people and their valiant fight for their rights. On the statue is an inscription with an incredibly stirring statement by August Spies, his last words: “The day will come when our silence will be more powerful than the voices you are throttling today.” Spies was one of the German Anarchist Labor leaders wrongly put to death. Many famous American labor leaders are buried here or had their ashes scattered here including Joe Hill. Emma Goldman, an anarchist and radical who fought for the causes of free speech, women’s rights, birth control and an eight-hour-work day, is also buried here.
posted by paulmediaeye at 4:09 AM
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