Friday evening, while protesting something they probably know very little about, a collection of white, middle-class college kids (also known as Anarchists apparently) marched through the upscale neighborhood of Georgetown here in Washington, DC. Protesting the corporatey corporations doing their corporatey stuff, these spoiled children began hurling bricks at storefront windows, in order to smash the state and such.

Unfortunately, they also managed to smash some poor young woman’s skull open (see pic above). All of this was apparently in preparation for Saturday’s big IMF/World Bank protests, or whatever. This is partly why I rarely go downtown these days. A pack of spoiled college freshmen ready for class war? I’ll pass.

Some of the organizers involved bragged today about shutting down shops in Georgetown, showing just how powerful they are and stuff. I think they started a drum circle and bought new Che T-shirts in order to celebrate, but that couldn’t be confirmed. The kiddies had this to say:

We are very pleased that many stores in the heart of Georgetown, long reviled by many longtime residents of the colony that is DC, including The GAP, American Eagle, Urban Outfitters, Banana Republic, and several cosmetics stores decided to close early Friday. Many of these stores rely on sweatshop labor, while at the same time denying their employees guaranteed rights, including the right to unionize and bargain collectively.

Georgetown has a long history, sadly not yet complete, of keeping out working class people of color. Once a separate city from Washington DC, Georgetown, at one point during the 19th century, was a haven of many recently freed slaves. However, much as low-income residents are now being pushed out of Washington, DC altogether through gentrification and the included increasing property values, poor people of color were also forced from Georgetown through “urban renewal”, even as early as the 1920′s.

And what a service they did today for DC’s working poor. By shutting down commerce in Georgetown today, on a Saturday, they deprived many of the city’s working poor a day’s wages. So while these kids all got on busses and went back to whatever college they’re from on mom and dad’s dime, actual DC residents got screwed. Yay Anarchism.

Where’s Eric Cartman when we need him?