A rally, which took place on the steps of the Athens County Courthouse, was in response to Kasich and other governors publicly opposing the entrance of Syrian refugees into their states following Friday’s terrorist attacks in Paris.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich, United States imperialism and anti-Muslim rhetoric were called into question at Tuesday’s Solidarity Rally, which was sponsored by the Athens branch of the International Socialist Organization.
The rally, which took place on the steps of the Athens County Courthouse, was in response to Kasich, along with more than 20 other U.S. governors, publicly opposing the entrance of Syrian refugees into their states following Friday’s terrorist attacks in Paris.
Protesters held signs with slogans such as “Refugees welcome, racists get out!” and “John Kasich doesn’t speak for me” at the rally.
“As socialists, we thought it was very important to organize this anti-racist rally on the principle that we think in order to liberate all of humanity, humanity needs to act in solidarity across racial lines and not let racism divide us,” Ryan Powers, a junior studying philosophy and a member of ISO, said.
Bobby Walker, a junior studying women's, gender and sexuality studies and also a member of ISO, said the past week has reminded her of the anti-Muslim backlash that followed the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
“I know, personally, I had a lot of flashbacks to 9/11, to the years after 9/11,” Walker said. “My family, which is Muslim, was subject to a lot of racist bigotry and hatred.”
Walker recalled instances of family members who were bullied at school for wearing their hijabs and her grandfather being called a terrorist.
“We will not allow the John Kasichs of the world to engage in this rhetoric that aims only to incite yet another foreign occupation, yet another imperialist war, another genocide of brown bodies,” Walker said. “When they tell us to be fearful of Syrians, of refugees, of Muslims, we must be adamantly opposed to regulation and profiling of innocent people who are only fleeing our bombs and our terror, not bringing their own.”
Walker said Americans should criticize not only terrorist attacks, but the wars supported by the U.S.
“In the same breath that we condemn and mourn the attacks in New York, D.C., Paris and Syria and Lebanon, we should also condemn the billions of dollars our government has pumped into wars overseas and the racist, Islamophobic rhetoric that they spew to justify those imperialist wars,” Walker said.
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Tyler Barton, a member of ISO and an OU alumnus, said he felt “physically heavy” with the weight of the attacks and what he said was a “predictable” reaction from U.S. governors.
“I refuse to stand by and passively watch as the rich and powerful attempt to turn tragedy of the terrorist attack in Paris into anti-Arab racism at home and imperialist wars and occupations abroad,” Barton said.
Barton said Syrian and Muslim people are not the enemy, but the imperialist and capitalist system of the United States is.
“No working-class Syrian ever put me in soul-crushing student debt or evicted my family from our home in the middle of an economic crisis that they created, but Chase Bank did,” Barton said. “No Iraqi ever sent poor working-class Americans halfway around the world to murder innocent civilians and be murdered themselves on the pretense of blatant lies about weapons of mass destruction, but George W. Bush did, and Hillary Clinton did too.”
Barton said terrorist organizations benefit from the racist backlash of the Western world, using it to justify their growing influence.
“We should reject this narrative and support one of international solidarity,” Barton said.
Barton and other speakers referred to the Islamic State as “Daesh,” the acronym for the group's Arabic name, as a way of delegitimizing the terrorist group. According to The Guardian, the word also carries a negative connotation, meaning “bigots who impose their views on others” in its plural form.
Barton encouraged protesters to join ISO, or any other organization that works against imperialism.
“If you’re not a socialist, if you’re not interested in our organization, find another organization you can join,” Barton said. “As long as it’s against imperialism and against the imperialist wars of the United States.”
— Nora Jaara contributed to this report.
