The Latino community is taking the lead, but revulsion to the police killing of 13-year-old Andy Lopez is widespread in California’s Sonoma County, where unemployment is still high following the 2008 collapse of the construction industry and where the big new employer is a gambling casino.
Parents throughout the county realize that, with the police militarized in both weaponry and mentality, their kid could be next in neighborhoods where race is often secondary to class.
As middle-class Anglos realize that they are also being dispossessed by the oligarchy, a working-class unity is slowly taking form.
What develops out of the anger at the death of Andy Lopez will be important to that unity. The call for “Justice! Now!” that the students make in both English and Spanish has to be answered.
Justice for Andy, yes. But the moment calls for much, much more — justice for the Latino community, justice for the whole 99 percent.
The unincorporated, low-income, heavily Latino neighborhoods of Santa Rosa, Petaluma, and Sonoma must immediately be incorporated, the sheriff replaced by city police, the roads paved, and city services extended.
Santa Rosa elections must immediately be held by district, not citywide, so that working-class candidates can be elected to the city council, rather than just coming from the wealthy eastern hills. All residents of the city must have the right to vote in local elections.
The schools in the working-class neighborhoods should be raised to the highest level in the district. The $100,000 chef at the French-immersion school should be let go and the money used for better lunches across the district.
“Andy, presente!” (Andy lives!) people are chanting in Santa Rosa. Andy deserves a much broader justice than just dealing with his killer. And we need the unity of the 99 percent to get it.
