ACROSS THE COUNTRY

By Ray Siqueiros

People's Weekly World

TUCSON, Ariz. - Close to 500 students marched here Sept. 14 at the University of Arizona, rallying for peace, racial respect and understanding. Students carried signs calling for "peace and understanding - not hate" and respect for people from the Middle East.

Islamic mosques on campus here have been the target of racial taunts, including small mobs of students who spat on the holy sites as they passed. An open mic session on the steps of the administration building held after the march was reminiscent of decades-long struggles and mass protests for minority students' civil rights.

Sponsored by the Progressive Alliance, a multiracial coalition of student groups, the open mic allowed speakers to call for peace and to denounce violent hate. While expressing deep sadness over the victims of the attacks, a Navajo woman student admonished the crowd to be wary of calls for reprisals.

She recounted the terrorist genocide practiced upon her people by the U.S. military in the infamous "Long March" where thousands of Navajo women, children, and elderly mercilessly died on a forced march relocating their nation in northern Arizona. Various young speakers talked about the need to focus on people not profits, respect for gay and lesbian students, and strategies for multiracial unity and peace.