Turning the Tables: New Book Looks at How WTC Restaurant Workers Used 9/11 Tragedy As Organizing Opportunity
By Karen YiFebruary 10, 2009 | Posted in IndyBlog , John Tarleton | Email this article
Atop the North Tower of the World Trade Center, employees from every nationality graced the tables of the Windows on the World restaurant serving exquisite wines and delicacies while speaking in their native tongues for the benefit of tourists that came to dine at one of the city’s must-see attractions. But after the 9/11 attacks, the plethora of languages was snuffed out. The fall of the towers took the lives of 73 Windows on the World employees, displacing hundreds more. In the years that followed, Windows on the World survivors found themselves still struggling to recover from the loss of their jobs and their co-workers while watching in dismay as anti-immigrant sentiments gained strength in the larger society.
“There was a lot of backlash in New York especially [for] immigrants and people of color, people like mine, Arab and Muslim,” said Fekkah Mamdouh, a Moroccan immigrant and former employee at Windows on the World, at a Feb. 4 book release event at Fordham Law School in New York. The event celebrated the recent publication of The Accidental American (Barrett-Koehler Press), co-authored by Mamdouh and Rinku Sen, president and executive director of the Applied Research Center (ARC) and publisher of ColorLines magazine.
“I lost 73 of my brothers and sisters,” said Mamdouh, who worked tirelessly with his union helping displaced workers and families of victims. In 2002, Mamdouh, along with three other individuals, founded the Restaurant Opportunities Center of New York (ROC-NY) to advocate for restaurant workers’ rights and overturn the culture of unjust labor practices within the industry. At first the organization catered to the most exploited workers—low-income “back of the house” employees, usually immigrants—but soon grew to include native born employees, and even higher-paid “front of the house” workers, owners and managers.
“U.S. residents and people like Mamdouh, people like me…have the same sets of interest and those interest would be much better served together than apart,” says Sen. At times interspersed with personal anecdotes of Mamdouh’s worker experience The Accidental American captures the progression of ROC-NY into a pan-worker coalition of both the native and foreign born. Sen also weaves in the greater issue of Congress’ immigration reform debate. “There’s a fundamental unfairness to that, that has to be addressed in our immigration policy,” she says. “What you see in Congress is the definition of the American community getting narrower and narrower…more and more exclusive.”
And it is this exclusionary politics that ROC-NY is fighting. Saru Jayaraman, co-founder of ROC-NY says the restaurant industry is now the largest private sector employer in the country, with 13 million employees nationwide and 200,000 employees in New York City. Yet the levels of worker organization remain low, with only one percent unionized in the city and less than one percent unionized in the country. Besides fighting abusive practices in the restaurant industry, ROC-NY is stopping nothing short of overturning the exploitative treatment of workers in the restaurant industry.
In 2006, in conjunction with ROC-NY, former Windows on the World employees founded Colors, one of the city’s first worker-owned restaurants, where everyone—from the busboy to the chef—owns an equal part of the restaurant. Located on Lafayette street in the heart of NoHo, the chic and luxurious Colors celebrates cuisines from all over the world, reflecting the 22 different ethnicities of its 32 worker-owners.
“The idea of the ‘accidental American’ is that even for people who choose to come here there’s an element of accident,” says Sen. “Then there’s no such thing as a pure American identity, everybody’s got the right to claim that identity and to shape it.”
“Even Christopher Columbus came here by accident,” says Mamdouh.
February 11th, 2009 at 8:21 am
Nuevo Plan de Aztlan http://www.blazingstar.org
WHEREAS, We the Chicanas y Chicanos of the United States of America honor our Native American heritage with all our hearts and minds;
WHEREAS, We the Chicanas y Chicanos of the United States of America honor the sacred call of our Native American ancestors for peace and justice throughout our Americas; and
WHEREAS, We the Chicanas y Chicanos of the United States of America recognize La Raza has been struggling with a new wave of racial harassment, discrimination and persecution in our Americas since September 11, 2001.
NOW THEREFORE, We the Chicanos y Chicanos of the United States of America resolve as follows:
SECTION 1. TITLE
This resolution may be cited as Nuevo Plan de Aztlan.
SECTION 2. TERMINOLOGY
Nuevo Plan de Aztlan is based on the following terms:
a) Americanas y Americanos
Americanas y Americanos are ALL AMERICANS regardless of our races, colors, languages, cultures, nationalities, ethnicities, religions or creeds.
b) Aztlan
The concept of Aztlan is derived from the Nahua history of the Mexicas before their southern migration from Norte America into Centro Mexico during the 11th Century. Aztlan today is Indigenas of Mexican-American and(or) Mexican descent who consider ourselves Chicanas y Chicanos regardless of where we were born, live or die.
c) Carnalismo
Carnalismo is the love and compassion Chicanas y Chicanos have for each other as carnalas y carnales (sisters and brothers). Carnalismo is what unites and strengthens Chicanas y Chicanos as we work together for peace and justice.
d) Chicanas y Chicanos
Chicanas y Chicanos are Indigenas of Mexican-American and(or) Mexican descent who consider ourselves Chicanas y Chicanos based on our Native American heritage.
e) El Movimiento
El Movimiento is the Chicana y Chicano Movement for peace and justice. El Movimiento is comprised of numerous academic, athletic, artistic, business, commercial, cultural, educational, political, recreational, social, spiritual, wholistic and other Chicana y Chicano organizations and individuals working for peace and justice throughout Aztlan, our Americas and the world.
f) Heritage
Our Native American heritage includes our ancestral lands and freedoms; and all the histories, cultures, traditions and mores of our Native American ancestors.
g) Indigenas
Often called Native Americans or American Indians, Indigenas are all the indigenous peoples of our Americas including those of mixed-race heritage like La Raza.
h) La Causa
La Causa is for peace and justice, the eternal cause of Chicanas y Chicanos who recognize there can be no true peace without true justice, i.e., the abolition of poverty, racism, sexism and all other injusticias in our Americas.
i) La Raza
Chicanas y Chicanos can be Black, White, Brown, Red, Yellow and(or) any other âskin colorâ like the rest of La Raza and the human race. The concept of La Raza was derived from a 1925 essay published by Jose Vasconcelos, a Mexican educator who called the millions of mixed-race Indigenas with Latin-American and(or) Latin-European ancestors La Raza Cosmica.
La Raza is comprised of every race, color, nationality, ethnicity, culture, language, religion and creed in the world. This rich diversity is the unifying power, force and strength of Chicanas y Chicanos, and of all La Raza as we grow to know, understand and honor our great heritage.
j) Latinas y Latinos
Latinas y Latinos of our Americas are Indigenas with a Latin-American and(or) Latin-European heritage. Millions of Latinas y Latinos also have African, Asian and other Non-Latino ancestors.
k) Racism
·Racial categories are crude labels based on parentage, genetics and(or) physical traits, not religious or scientific proof of oneâs superior or inferior nature like racists believe.
·Racism is the belief one or more âracesâ are inherently âsuperiorâ to one or more other races. [Example: Many Americans believe âWhite peopleâ are inherently superior to âNon-White peopleâ and that âBlack peopleâ are inherently inferior to all other people.]
·Racism includes the belief âmixed-raceâ people like La Raza are inferior to those with birth parents of the same race. âRace-mixingâ is still condemned by racists today. · Indigenas were considered savages (less-than-human) when Europeans first invaded and occupied our Americas. “Christianized” and(or) otherwise assimilated Indigenas are still considered inferior by todayâs racists.
·Racists are not just poor or poorly educated citizens, there are wealthy and highly educated racists throughout government and society who strive to protect and preserve their privileged status via institutional, industrial and commercial racism. Racists are not just White, either; there are Brown, Black, Red, Asian and other racists, too.
·The racist imposition of the colonial English language on Indigenas continues to cause horrendous problems for Chicanas y Chicanos in education, employment and virtually all other aspects of life in the U.S. Laws, rules and regulations are selectively enforced by local, state and federal institutions against La Raza, as English is used as a weapon to deprive Chicanas y Chicanos of liberty, equality and justice throughout our lives.
·Private industry (âfree enterpriseâ) also causes havoc for Chicanas y Chicanos by perpetuating racist stereotypes and beliefs about La Raza for profit and gain. [Example: Mass media and the âentertainmentâ industries commercialize racist stereotypes and beliefs about Latinas y Latinos throughout the world, while pretending to be âspreading freedom and democracyâ alongside the Pentagon.]
l) Terrorist(s)
A terrorist or terrorists are human beings who use unwarranted violence and(or) the threat of violence to kill, rob, rape, torture, imprison or otherwise impose their will over other human beings.
SECTION 3. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
Nuevo Plan de Aztlan addresses the alarming attacks orchestrated against Indigenas throughout Norte America since September 11, 2001 (9/11). U.S. officials are using La Raza as a scapegoat or smokescreen to distract or divert attention away from their heinous war crimes in the Middle East.
According to their domestic propaganda, the âreal problemâ and therefore actual enemy or threat to national security is Mexicans and other Indigenas âinvadingâ Norte America, not the Pentagon killing, torturing, maiming, imprisoning and destroying other indigenous peoples’ lives in faraway lands.
Thousands of racist media, vigilante, âhomeland securityâ and other hostile actions have been executed against Indigenas since 9/11, as tens of thousands of these indigent men, women and children have been rounded up and herded out of Norte America like cattle.
SECTION 4. HISTORICAL ANALYSIS
Indigenas have suffered centuries of injusticias including genocide, rape, torture, mayhem, kidnapping, slavery, peonage, poverty, homelessness and groundless imprisonment at the hands of the original European invaders and occupiers of our Americas.
The offspring of these European terrorists expect Chicanas y Chicanos to ignore or forget this true account of their ancestorsâ horrendous atrocities, as if these abominations against our Native American ancestors never occurred or mattered.
As English imperialism via the U.S. government seeks to conquer the entire world, La Raza is increasingly faced with discriminatory law enforcement, housing, education, employment, healthcare, mass media, entertainment and other racist industrial, commercial and institutional policies and practices, especially since 9/11.
The offspring of the European terrorists who originally stole our ancestral lands are guilty of receiving this stolen property. Receiving stolen property is no less a crime than stealing it. These aliens remain in denial as they continue to exploit, oppress and otherwise deprive us of our ancestral lands and freedoms from generation-to-generation much like their terrorist ancestors did against our ancestors for the past few centuries.
U.S. racists are now working to outlaw MEChA and other Movimiento organizations being blamed for âtoo many Mexicansâ and other Indigenas in Norte America today. Local, state and federal government agencies have also made it extremely difficult for the Partido de La Raza Unida to rise politically against this institutionalized harassment, discrimination and persecution in any significant way.
These same racists oppose Chicana y Chicano Studies, affirmative action, financial aid, bilingual and multicultural education, ethnic studies, fair housing, equal employment opportunities and all other ways and means of attempting to create level playing fields for La Raza, as if the U.S. only belongs to Anglo-Americans and everyone else is a second-class citizen at best.
SECTION 5. MEXICO, CENTRO Y SUR AMERICA
The 21st Century campaign against Mexicans in the U.S.is also aimed at Chicanas y Chicanos since we are all familia. Chicanas y Chicanos have a natural, inherent or innate relationship with Mexicanas y Mexicanos because of our common Native American heritage that is everlasting.Other Indigenas throughout our Americas are suffering from these racist attacks too.
We are all being treated as a threat or potential threat to national security by the racist U.S. government at the local, state, federal and international level.
SECTION 6. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
a) We the Chicanas y Chicanos of the United States of America must reach beyond nationalism to establish and(or) coalesce with parallel movements of other Indigenas united around our multilingual, multiracial and multicultural heritage throughout our Americas and on outlying islands.
b) El Movimientoâs mass communication, organization and mobilization initiatives call for Chicanas y Chicanos to join forces with all La Raza against our common exploiters and oppressors because we cannot be free unless and until all La Raza is free.
c) Economic justice cannot be achieved without social and political justice. La Raza must join together as an international union of Indigenas to work for this justicia as opposed to permitting the racists to continue to exploit and oppress La Raza via commercial, industrial and institutional racism from generation-to-generation.
d) This indigenous union must ensure liberty, equality and justice for all Americanas y Americanos so We can all live, work and travel freely in peace and justice throughout our Americas for so long as the rivers flow.
e) The first priority of our new union is to abolish poverty, racism and sexism throughout our Americas.
f) This union must ensure all workers in our Americas receive good jobs and compensation so that all Americanas y Americanos can have nice homes in safe and secure neighborhoods and communities. People unable to work will also have nice homes in these safe and secure neighborhoods and communities because no one will live in poverty or homelessness in our Americas except by her or his own choosing.
g) We the Chicanas y Chicanos of the United States of America must ensure our children learn about our indigenous ancestors, at home and in all the schools, colleges and universities of our Americas so they and future generations will know, understand and honor our Native American heritage.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, We the Chicanas y Chicanos of the United States of America will live our daily lives in accordance with Nuevo Plan de Aztlan to the best of our abilities.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, We the Chicanas y Chicanos of the United States of America will encourage Chicana y Chicano organizations everywhere to review, adopt and incorporate Nuevo Plan de Aztlan into their own missions, goals and objectives so all Indigenas can stand united against the new wave of racial harassment, discrimination and persecution La Raza faces in the 21st Century.
Copyright 2008 Internet Mecha. Nuevo Plan de Aztlan may be reproduced, republished and disseminated freely.