CONTACT: JOE SHANSKY (414) 218-3331
On behalf of thousands of members across Wisconsin, Voces de la Frontera stands in solidarity with the “Occupy Wall Street” demonstrations on both the national and local levels.
Today we are experiencing devastating economic inequality, at a level which is no longer sustainable for the vast majority of the country. For far too long, we’ve been the victims of an economic system which marginalizes the poor and working classes, including immigrant workers who have to come to the US as a result of free trade agreements which only favor multi-national corporations.
The legacy of racism in the US means that racial and ethnic groups in the US that have been historically marginalized have been especially hard hit in the wake of the Great Recession.
The recent financial crisis caused by Wall Street generated an additional 8 million to the official unemployment rolls, and has had even greater impact on African American and Latino unemployment rates.
The housing market bubble of 2006 and the recession that followed from 2007-2009 has reduced wealth of Latino households by 66% and 53% among African-American households respectively, compared to white households whose wealth also declined by 16%.
Banks such as Wells-Fargo have made record profits off of immigrant detentions and imprisonment by investing heavily in the private prison industry. The private prison industry drafted the Arizona SB1070 racial profiling law and has lobbied for similar laws in other states.
This devious collaboration of politicians, banks, and private prison companies has separated families, trampled on the civil rights of individuals, weakened local economies that benefited from immigrant communities, and created a climate of fear and demonization of Latinos and immigrants in communities where AZ copycat bills were passed.
Voces de la Frontera joins the demand for an end to this unconscionable concentration of wealth by the top 1% and the scapegoating of immigrants as a way to misdirect the legitimate anger of working people from those who are truly responsible for the current crisis we face.
It is only democratic grassroots movements from below that have led to transformational change in our nation’s history.
On October 15th in Zeidler Park and beyond, Voces will stand with Occupy Milwaukee and others who are also suffering in this economy, to spread the message that Wall Street, banks, and multi-national corporations must be held responsible for record poverty and unemployment.
We demand no cuts or layoffs to the public sector, a massive job creation program on the scale of the New Deal, humane immigration reform, and saving families from foreclosures.
