MC-DSA Leads Major Victory for CMU Students
By Nikoli Weir
If the Anti Jared Taylor protest showed anything, it showed that the Mesa County Democratic Socialists of America (MC-DSA) means business. We said we would organize a massive event to protest Jared Taylor, and we did. We said we would be as well organized and we were, like a well oiled machine. We said we would be loud and militant, and we were.
No other group in Grand Junction stood up to Jared Taylor in such an organized fashion. The liberals and democrats didn’t do it. The libertarians didn’t do it. Campus administration refused to move even a finger. The local churches did nothing. We, the socialists and revolutionary organizers, were the ones who made a stand, and the masses recognized that and they followed us.
The Mesa County Democratic Socialists of America is different from other organizations in town. We are not guided by vague feelings and sentiments. We do not shy away from that which is difficult. We do not tone down our ideas to appeal to our opponents. We proudly declare that the only way to defeat fascism is by means of socialist revolution.
We understand that the only way to oppose the incoherent ramblings of fascist madmen is by putting forward clear and nuanced analyses of the political situation. The fascists try to win people over by tricking them, but the people are not stupid. They do not want lies and empty promises; they want a clear understanding of why things are the way they are, and they want to know how to bring about change.
We provide such an analysis, and we provide such a guide to action. We work tirelessly to bring to light the contradictions which rend our society into pieces, and to show that the existence of these contradictions is not inevitable. The rise of racial hatred, white supremacy and fascism is not accidental. Capitalism is in decay, and whenever societies begin to fall apart, violent and reactionary groups emerge whose sole mission is to attempt to preserve the decaying society by means of violence and coercion.
That is the objective role of fascism in history; to preserve capitalism by means of terror and violence. The only way to oppose this is by the power of the organized working people. We may not have won the war against fascism, but we certainly won a battle against it.
In the weeks leading up to Jared Taylor’s speaking event, CMU students, on their own initiative, joined the Western Culture Club (the club that invited Taylor) and attempted to hold an election to appoint new officers and change the direction of the club to be more positive and uplifting. In response, John Marshall sent two of his top-ranking administrative thugs, Jody Diers and Trey Downey, to illegally prevent the students from exercising their rights. Despite this the students soldiered on and refused to be intimidated or coerced by John Marshall and his fascist appeasing gang of academic frauds.
Jared Taylor ended up speaking to a room that was more than half empty. Of the 80 seats that were sold, only 25 were occupied by listeners, eight of whom were there to argue with and question Taylor. Most of the attendees were unimpressed by his arguments, and less than five people clapped for him. Patriot Front came to town, but they hid like cowards a few blocks away from the demonstration. The fascists wasted time, money and manpower on an event that ended up being a total defeat for them, and a major victory for student and community organizers.
The fascist appeaser John Marshall also suffered a major defeat. The Daily Sentinel falsely reported that only 150 people showed up to protest. We had a ticket counter, and we handed out over 600. For ten straight minutes, over 600 people chanted and denounced him as a spineless enabler of totalitarianism and fascism. When press, including the student newspaper the Criterion, tried to enter Taylor’s event to report on it, they were denied entry, despite Marshall’s claim to be a first amendment absolutist. When Dean Withers, a left wing content creator, interviewed Marshall and asked him a difficult question, Marshall walked away like the coward that he is.
Even the CMU Campus Unity Festival, which was originally organized by students but shamelessly co-opted by John Marshall, wasn’t enough to shield him. We made sure that everyone knows John Marshall is a liar, a fraud and a crook, and we will continue to spread the truth that he so desperately tries to hide.
All of these victories for the students and the community would not have been possible if it wasn’t for the tireless efforts of MC-DSA activists and allies. For the past month we have been working day and night to plan and coordinate the event to make sure it was safe and welcoming for everyone in the community.
MC-DSA provided an ‘open-mic’ segment that platformed regular students’ voices. Students spoke to their personal experiences with racism and hate on campus. MC-DSA cares about our people and their voices, and we believe that providing a space for them to speak their truths is vitally important.
But even with all of that, none of this would have been possible if it wasn’t for our local community showing up en masse to oppose Jared Taylor and his vile white supremacist rhetoric. The community showed up and they made themselves heard. They showed Jared Taylor and his supporters that Grand Junction will never again welcome fascism and white supremacy. They showed that when the working people stand united, they can never be defeated.
Some of our local elected officials also showed up in support. City Councilmembers Scott Beilfuss and Randal Reitz, as well as school board member Jose Chavez, came to support the community and oppose racism and hatred.
In the past few months, students and community members have also been showing up consistently on 12th and North to oppose the Trump Administration’s campaign of mass deportations and the U.S. government’s funding of the genocide in Gaza. The students are not new to opposing fascism; they have been doing it, and they will continue to.
On March 27th we stood as the vanguard of the anti-fascist student movement, and we don’t plan on backing down any time soon. We will continue to stand up against fascism, white supremacy, and capitalism. We will continue to stand up for ourselves as working-class people. We will continue to fight, and we will win!
The Revolutionist 