The Haymarket affair.

in #anarchy6 years ago (edited)

So it's international workers day today.

This is a holiday that the United States has made a point to erase from our collective memory and there is a reason for this.

Because they don't want you to know.

It was Chicago, and the year was 1886. There was a protest, by radical socialists, Anarchists and communists. The goal was to win the 8 hour work day.

MayDay.jpg

This was a turbulent time for the laborer. For too long the worker had toiled tirelessly 12 hours a day, 6 days of the week, for $1.50 a day.

It was organized largely by Lucy and Albert Parsons.

download (11).jpeg

It started on may second after a day of peaceful picketing, the Chicago police attacked and killed several of the picketers.

The next day, some one responded to the police killings by throwing a bomb at the police.

download (12).jpeg

This sparked more killings by the police and Marshall law. People's houses were searched without a warrant. Unions newspapers were shut down. The true nature of the ruling class showed it's ugly head.

Authority through violence, repression of none-conformists through violence, and when the repressed retaliate, there is even more violence.

There was a trial, some say the most notorious in history.

Haymarket+Martyrs.jpg

For there was no evidence presented. This trial was purely political, to shed the blood of the Anarchist.

Out of the 8 tried, 5 we're killed.

The state doesn't want you to remember those who died to improve your life. Have you ever been paid overtime? Have you ever had a weekend? Have you ever only worked 8 hours a day?

Then you have benefitted from this. Remember that. They died, so you could live better.

The martyr didn't die in vain.

Sort:  

thank you for sharing this history of oppression in this country

it seems there is a lack of knowledge of what America has done to the working people and the socialists that have defended them

The way history is taught makes it seem like the ruling class randomly get benevolent and then instill social change.

They omit the messy, wiggly, often chaotic movements of the masses. Which keeps the youth uninformed about the power of the citizens.

Coin Marketplace

STEEM 0.29
TRX 0.12
JST 0.033
BTC 63855.79
ETH 3113.00
USDT 1.00
SBD 4.04