What anti-imperialism sounded like 100 years ago. A mass meeting see eight hundred at a gathering called by the All-America Anti-Imperialist League opposing U.S. involvement in the Moroccan War. Taking place during the American Negro Labor Congress founding convention in Chicago and at the Metropolitan Community Center, the gathering saw songs by the Ukrainian Choir; addresses by Lovett-Fort Whiteman, Manuel Gomez, a representative of the Koumintang Left, and many others; resolutions and sign-up sheets.

‘Chicago Workers Protest Use of American Aviators in French War on Riffians’ from The Daily Worker. Vol. 2 No. 250. November 1, 1925.

At an enthusiastic protest meeting arranged by the All-America Anti-Imperialist League held at the Metropolitan Community Center, 3118 Giles Ave., not only was a resolution passed condemning the state department of Washington for permitting American aviators to go to Morocco, and fight against the Riffians in their struggle for the independence of Morocco, but a local section of the Anti-Imperialist League was formed with W.B. Anderson as provisional secretary.

W.C. Francis, delegate from the International Alliance of Negroes of Pittsburgh to the American Negro Labor Congress, was chairman of the evening. After a few introductory words he introduced Lovett Fort-Whiteman, national organizer of the American Negro Labor Congress.

Imperialist Divide World

Fort-Whiteman in the course of his speech showed that the imperialists have divided the world of the darker races among themselves. That France, Belgium and England control more colonial peoples that there are Inhabitants in their respective countries.

In his speech he showed that when imperialists have a surplus of gold which they cannot invest in home industries to make profits for them and in order to keep this gold producing more profit, investments are made in the colonial nations with the intention of exploiting the natural resources of those nations and enslaving the people living in those countries.

Want Zinc and Copper.

In describing the fight of the Riffs for the independence of Morocco, he stated:

“They want northern Morocco because of the deposits of zinc, of copper. They want to take and develop and make profit from these mines. That is why they are fighting.

“The sultan of Morocco is a French puppet. But in Morocco, they had a man, a leader, who did not fear the imperialists of France and Spain, who today is leading 30,000 Riffs against the combined military forces of the France and Spain and has won many victories.”

Spanish Worker Speaks.

Following the speech by Whiteman, A. Rodriguez, a Mexican worker attending the American Negro Labor Congress as a delegate of the unorganized Mexican workers of Brownsville, Pa., described the conditions In Mexico of the workers under the domination of the American bankers and manufacturers. He showed the development of the Mexican industries and described how the worker is forever kept in ignorance and in debt.

Workers Must Fight Imperialism.

“The workers themselves must find ways and means to throw imperialism. Imperialism will not be abolished by the imperialist government but by the organized masses of working people,” declared Rodriguez in closing his appeal for united action of all workers in the fight against their common oppressor.

Ukrainian Chorus Sing.

The Ukrainian chorus of Chicago consisting of twenty voices, dressed in the colorful costumes of the land which they left, sang a number of songs in the Ukrainian that were enthusiastically responded to by the audience.

Richard B. Moore was then introduced. This leader of the Ethiopian Students Alliance of New York City spoke of the heroic fight that Abd-el-Krim has put up against French imperialists.

Krim Not Alone.

He showed that Krim was not alone in his fight against the French imperialists, but that a group of the organized workers–the Communists–of France were aiding the Riffs in their struggle to gain independence. He brought out that not only are French Communists aiding the Riffs in words, but also in deeds, and that the French government has jailed one of the Communist members of the chamber of deputies for his activities against the French imperialist policy.

Manuel Gomez, secretary of the All-America Anti-Imperialist League, was applauded when he said that “nothing can destroy a powerful, resolute, determined movement of oppressed peoples for national liberation.”

“But the American aviators,” continued Gomez, “have a sinister significance. Here we have a situation where a nation is trying to rise, trying to find its feet. To the Riffians, these American aviators represent America.

“In the Riff we see an alignment of forces which is world-wide. All over the world, the big and powerful nations and trying to bring the weaker and more undeveloped ones under their control.

“Of all the imperialist nations, the United States is the most aggressive, the most militant, and the most powerful. During the past twenty years we have witnessed an enormous expansion of American imperialism. The United States is trying to embrace the whole world.

“But there is a strong movement against this growth of American imperialism. This movement finds its expression in the Americas in the All-America Anti-Imperialist League, whose aim is to unify and coordinate the struggle against imperialism of peoples all over the world.

“The All-America Anti-Imperialist League will fight against the Monroe doctrine, which gives the United States the right to exploit and oppress the nations of Latin-America.

“The All-America Anti-Imperialist League will fight the so-called ‘peaceful penetration’ of China.

“The All-American Anti-Imperialist League will fight for equal social, economic and political rights for Negroes, and for all races.

“These ends cannot be attained unless we overthrow the powers that rule America.

“The All-America Anti-Imperialist League was founded less than a year ago. It now has living sections organized in Cuba, Mexico, Central America, and a section is growing up in the Philippines.

“I am going to ask all those of you who want to fight American imperialism to join tonight in forming a section of the All-America Anti-Imperialist League.”

Resolution Unanimously Adopted

The following resolution presented by Manuel Gomez, secretary of the All-America Anti-Imperialist League, was unanimously adopted by the meeting protesting against the use of American aviators in the war on the Riffs.

—

American adventurers and soldiers of fortune, who were trained as aviators in the great imperialist slaughter of 1914-18, have crossed over into Africa and are fighting on the side of the French robbers in their war against the brave Riffian tribes struggling for independence.

American Hypocrisy.

While these aviators now fighting Abd-el-Krim were still in America preparing to go to Africa, and while the United States government was still able to stop them, it made no effort to prevent their going. Some of the aviators received passports from the government after they had specifically declared their intention of fighting the Riffians.

No amount of hypocritical evasion can conceal the hostility of the United States government to the national movements of oppressed peoples. We call the attention of the American workers, and of all lovers of liberty, to this fact.

New Spirit Arises.

Among the darker races all over the world, there has risen a new wave of the struggle for freedom. In the Riff country of northern Africa, in Mesopotamia and China, in India and the Philippine Islands, in Jamaica, Porto Rico, Panama, and the other countries to the south of us, the people are demanding the right to conduct their own affairs free from the interference of foreign powers.

We declare that it is the duty of all Intelligent, liberty-loving Negroes in this country to stand by their brothers in foreign countries in these struggles. We declare that the reason France and Spain are warring or the Riffs is because they want to bring the rich natural resources of Morocco under the control of the French and Spanish monopolists. The soil of Morocco is rich in tin, copper and zinc. Its northern shore makes the approach of ships easy. The natives of Morocco can be made to work in factories, on railroads and in mines for very little wages. It is because of these things that Abd-el-Krim’s tribesmen are being slaughtered on the soil of northern Africa.

We declare that American aviators by fighting on the side of the French are helping the cause of robbery and oppression. We further declare that if the United States government really wished to stop the aviators from going as it now pretends–it could easily have done so by refusing to issue passports. We therefore protest against the criminal connivance of the United States government.

We further declare that the scheme of American capitalists to spend millions of dollars in Liberia for the purpose of establishing monopoly-controlled rubber plantations and factories, is a scheme which will benefit only the American money lords, and will cause the Negroes of Liberia endless suffering. Such a scheme is sure to lead to just such oppressive wars as the French are now waging in the Riff.

Africa For the Africans.

We declare that Africa should belong to the African people, not to a small band of foreign plunderers. We demand that the American government now take whatever steps are necessary to recall the American aviators from Morocco. We demand further that the United States government publicly relinquish all privileges of “extra-territoriality” that it enjoys in Morocco, as well as all similar privileges that have been wrenched from the weak er peoples in other parts of the world.

Against the robber policies of France, Spain, England and the United States! Hands off Morocco! Liberty for the oppressed peoples of Africa, Asia, and Latin-America!

—

C. T. Chi, in his speech following Manuel Gomez, greeted the assembled workers and greeted the American Negro Labor Congress in the same of the workers of China.

He then went on to describe the penetration of China by the imperialists in the following words:

“Peaceful Penetration.”

“Missionaries and scientists in the name of god and civilization, penetrated into depths of Asia, disturbing the tranquil life of the people. The genius of the scientists and the fervor of the religious missionaries were followed by the money grabbing desires of business men and blood thirsty ambitions of ‘benevolent’ governments.

“Fearing that they might be punished for their deceit, when they got to heaven (if they still believe in the existence of such a place) they invented a few phrases to justify their actions. “The White Man’s Burden,’ “The Crusade of Civilization” and the endless train of bunk that followed. All of these are intended as catching phrases.

Phrases Deceive None.

“Friends, these phrases deceive no one. They might claim that, thru missionaries they saved our souls, but friends, let me assure you, that what they have done is to lose theirs.”

After describing the Amritsar massacre of India and the manner in which the imperialist nations have attempted to crush India, he then went on to analyze the causes of the recent Shanghai strike.

“We are bound in every side by unjust treaties, fraudulently concluded at our disadvantage. Using the abundant material and the cheap labor which we can easily provide, these imperialist money grabbers made millions with little effort, much deceit and plenty of inhumanity.

Labor Strikers.

“The Shanghai incident had its origin in a labor strike, and the labor strike was the direct result of the unbearable labor conditions in the foreign cotton factories of Shanghai.”

Imperialism Passing.

“Friends, the world of imperialism passing,” declared Chi in his closing appeal for unity of all workers, “the movement in China, the war in Morocco, the war in Turkey–numerous movements in various parts of the world–and the trend of public opinion of enlightened circles, all augur the ill fate and coming end of imperialism.

“We don’t have to be afraid that imperialism will stay. It will meet its doom sooner or later. What we want to do is to hasten its death, to wash it away forever from the earth.

Unite in One Camp!

“Let us join hands with all enemies of imperialism, disregarding race, creed or nationality. Let the oppressed people as well as all enemies of oppression, whether white or black, unite into one camp and face every imperialist activity. with uniform vigilancy.”

Fifty Applications Signed.

Applications that had been passed out at the beginning of C.T. Chi’s speech were collected at the end of his speech. Fifty of the workers present signed the applications and it is the intention of this section to hold many more demonstrations of the type that was held.

Congress Donates Hall.

The All-America Anti-Imperialist League had issued circular letters calling on all Negro, Chinese, Hindu and white workers to participate in the protest meeting against the participation of the American aviators in Morocco and intervention in Haiti and China. The American Negro Labor Congress donated the use of the meeting hall to the All-America Anti-Imperialist League as its contribution.

The Daily Worker began in 1924 and was published in New York City by the Communist Party US and its predecessor organizations. Among the most long-lasting and important left publications in US history, it had a circulation of 35,000 at its peak. The Daily Worker came from The Ohio Socialist, published by the Left Wing-dominated Socialist Party of Ohio in Cleveland from 1917 to November 1919, when it became became The Toiler, paper of the Communist Labor Party. In December 1921 the above-ground Workers Party of America merged the Toiler with the paper Workers Council to found The Worker, which became The Daily Worker beginning January 13, 1924.

PDF of full issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1925/1925-ny/v02b-n250-NYE-nov-01-1925-DW-LOC.pdf