One of My Freedom Fighter Friends

Recently I thought of my friend, Jim G. We became acquainted when I was politically active. He has been active in leftist politics all over this country for several decades. Jim had a very admirable grasp on the spirit of political struggling. Many people who lean the way I do have no trouble grasping that trade unions are vital to keep management from abusing and lowering the standard of living of the workers. Few argue that the struggle involves rich people whose power is in their money, and poor people whose power is in their numbers. The way for the ruling class to get over is to help us divide ourselves up into isolated groups so we don’t avail ourselves of our power. Hatred of one group for other groups is a good way to do that. Not everyone gets, however, that fighting racism and bigotry is essential if working people are to maintain their standard of living.

This principle is axiomatic to Jim. And when I say that he fought racism and bigotry, I mean exactly that. He has many interesting tales to tell about his adventures defending his beliefs. Here is one I heard:

Jim is a member of an organization that publishes material and supports counter demonstrations against hate groups who commit hate crimes. He is hip to the skin head music and how it is designed to lure young people into blaming other races for everything that goes wrong. Immigrants are taking our jobs; Jews are controlling the economy; blacks are responsible for all the crime, that sort of thing. Getting people to hate each other for any reason you care to create is useful, but if you can incite bigotry on the basis of some perceived economic threat, like the stealing of jobs, that is real hard to break through.

Jim’s group helped sponsor an event where a speaker was engaged to tell a largely upper middle class Jewish group what he suffered during the Holocaust and how he survived the concentration camps. He was in his eighties when the speaking engagement occurred. Jim’s comrades got word somehow that a small party of skin heads intended to raid the event, which was taking place in the basement of a school auditorium or something, I think, and to try to knock some heads around. As a precaution, Jim’s group assigned the speaker a bodyguard. Jim was posted at the door to look out for trouble. As the speaker and the bodyguard were walking from the parking lot toward the building, five or six hooligans intervened and began summarily beating up this elderly Jewish man. Jim ran inside where people were milling about, beginning to take their seats. He yelled, “I need some help out here! I need some help right now!” No one moved a muscle. A few peered out the window and saw the attack, but no one rose to help. Someone at some point called the police, but Jim, the bodyguard and the old man were left alone to fight off the attackers who outnumbered them two to one.

Jim said they did well. Jim, as I indicated, has been in a few scrapes defending his beliefs. What surprised him, though (and me), is that the old man got in pretty many good licks himself. He held his own against these bullies who were old enough to be his great-grandchildren.

The skin heads were losing by the time the police got there. Jim was sitting on one of them. A couple more had fled. Witnesses were able to straighten the police out on who were the good guys and who were not. The cops took out the trash.