Fascism

Dockworkers Showed Labor Movement How To Shut Down Fascists

September 2, 2017 Peter Cole, www.inthesetimes.com Resist! Fascism, Labor Movement, San Francisco

By Peter Cole for In These Times - What role should the labor movement play in beating back the resurgence of fascism? Resistance, while a powerful concept, is far too vague. Local 10, the San Francisco Bay Area branch of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU)—and perhaps the most radical union in the United States—demonstrates what can be done. This past week, the San Francisco Bay Area—long a center of unionism, social justice movements and radicalism—took center stage. Patriot Prayer is a right-wing organization with a demonstrated history of inciting racist violence, most obviously in Portland, Ore., while ironically asserting peaceful intentions. The far-right group declared it would rally in San Francisco on Saturday. Local 10 took a lead role in organizing counter-protests that contributed to the San Francisco event being canceled the day ahead of its scheduled event. The union’s role in this wave of popular mobilizations demands consideration. At its August 17 meeting, Local 10 passed a “Motion to Stop the Fascists in San Francisco,” which laid out members’ opposition to the rally and intention to organize.

Don’t Feed The Trolls — How To Combat The Alt-Right

August 24, 2017 Kazu Haga, www.wagingnonviolence.org Resist! Fascism, White Nationalism, White Supremacy

By Kazu Haga for Waging Nonviolence - Nazism and white supremacy are forms of violence. Let’s start there. The constitution does not protect violence, and I’m happy to see that the California chapter of the ACLU has taken a stand against protecting the “free speech” of hate groups. But with or without marching permits, it is clear that public displays of hatred are a growing trend in the United States. And as much as I don’t want to give these groups more attention, it is also clear that simply ignoring them is not going to make them go away. So what do we do? Many communities seem to have embraced the militant tactics of Antifa, so much so that it seems like it’s already an expectation that every alt-right rally will turn into a violent battlefield. Yet I can’t help but wonder if these tactics are giving the alt-right exactly what they want. Is it possible that we could be winning small battles while losing the war? Is it possible that as we celebrate Nazis getting punched, their numbers are growing as a direct result of it? I don’t pretend to have all the answers. I would even admit that a portion of the blame for the rise in violence has to go to those of us committed to nonviolence for our failure to come up with the type of assertive response necessary in these urgent times.

Noam Chomsky: AntiFa Is ‘A Major Gift To The Right’

August 24, 2017 Maya Oppenheim, www.independent.co.uk Educate! AntiFa, Fascism, Nonviolence, White Supremacy

By Maya Oppenheim for The Independent. Noam Chomsky has criticised the anti-fascist movement and argued its actions are wrong in principle and it is a “major gift to the right”. The eminent intellectual, who is described as the father of modern linguistics, argued the movement was self-destructive and constituted a tiny faction on the periphery of the left. Antifa, shorthand for anti-fascist organisations, refers to a loose coalition of militant, decentralised, grassroots groups which are opposed to the far-right. The movement, which was founded in Europe in the 1920s, has dominated headlines in the wake of a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville earlier this month. Neo-Nazis, KKK members and “alt-right” supporters clashed with anti-fascists and a woman was left dead after a car ploughed into a crowd of anti-fascist protesters.

Author Of Antifa Handbook Defends Antifascist Violence

August 21, 2017 Ana Radelat, www.ctmirror.org Educate! Fascism, Racism, Violence

By Ana Radelat for The CT Mirror - Washington – The death of Heather Heyer and the wounding of 19 others by a neo-Nazi at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., has become a recruiting call for a little-known group with an anarchist bent called the antifa. Antifa members fought with white supremacists in Charlottesville and attend many counter-demonstrations to white power rallies to shield protesters from neo-Nazi violence. But in doing so, the antifa, a contraction of the word “anti-fascist,” sometimes uses violent tactics of their own. The loose affiliation of radical activists has for years clashed with white supremacists and right-wing extremists. The presence of antifa members among the mostly peaceful counter-protesters in Charlottesville led President Donald Tump to compare the angry white supremacists – one of whom allegedly killed Heyer – to the counter protesters, saying there was violence “on both sides” and prompting a national furor. Connecticut GOP party chairman J.R. Romano has said the antifa is close to neo-Nazis, on a “scale of evil.” “All these neo-Nazis are assholes,” Romano said. “Where Trump missed the mark, and the only way I can explain this, in the grand scheme of things, this white supremacy Nazism, on a scale of evil, that’s a 10. But the antifa guys are like at an eight.”

Trump And America’s Fascist Forefathers

August 19, 2017 Glen Ford, www.blackagendareport.com Educate! Donald Trump, Fascism, US history

By Glen Ford for Black Agenda Report - Donald Trump was even more agitated and combative than usual at Tuesday’s press conference. How could he draw a line to separate the “neo-Nazis” and assorted “white supremacists” that had descended on Charlottesville, Virginia -- one of whom used his car to crush the life out of a young woman -- and the “very fine people” that favored keeping Robert E. Lee’s statue on its pedestal in (recently renamed) Emancipation Park? And, where would the racist-removal project end? The answer, as somebody once said, was blowing in the wind. “So this week, it is Robert E. Lee,” warned Trump . “I noticed that Stonewall Jackson is coming down. I wonder, is it George Washington next week? And is it Thomas Jefferson the week after? You know, you really do have to ask yourself, where does it stop?” There is nothing wrong with Trump’s logic. If the legacy of slavery is to be excised root and branch, then nothing less than the most profound social transformation is in order. Why stop with statues of long dead men? If you rightly condemn Washington and Jefferson as loathsome oppressors of humanity, you are then obligated to purge the nation and world of the poisoned fruit of their racist perversion. What these forefathers “brought forth on this continent” was “a new nation, conceived” NOT in liberty, nor was it dedicated to the proposition that all men were created equal.

Condemning Trump Not Enough, People Must Condemn Racist Laws

August 18, 2017 Peter Certo, www.otherwords.org Create! Donald Trump, Fascism, Racism, White Nationalism, White Supremacy

By Peter Certo for Other Words - Our president has no trouble naming his enemies — CNN, Rosie O’Donnell, Nordstrom, immigrants, Muslims, the all-women version of Ghostbusters, etc. etc. But when it comes to violent white supremacists, his passive streak is impossible to miss. When neo-Nazis and Klansmen incited a riot in Charlottesville, Trump famously blamed “many sides.” Even after a belated statement finally condemning the racist perpetrators, Trump immediately backtracked. The very next day, he blamed the fictitious “alt-left” for the violence and insisted there were “many fine people” among the torch-bearing Confederates. This was far too much even for many Republicans. Senator Jeff Flake accused the president of “making excuses” for “acts of domestic terrorism.” John McCain insisted “there’s no moral equivalency between racists” and their opponents. Marco Rubio worried the president was resurrecting an “old evil,” while Texas Rep. Will Hurd called on Trump to apologize. These Republicans (and many others) deserve credit for speaking out. But condemning Nazis is the lowest bar in the broader fight against white supremacy.

Stop White Nationalist Efforts To ‘Unite The Right’

August 18, 2017 Shane Burley and Alexander Reid Ross, www.wagingnonviolence.org Strategize! Charlottesville, Fascism, Racism, White Nationalism, White Supremacy

By Shane Burley and Alexander Reid Ross for Waging Nonviolence - The city of Charlottesville, Virginia has become a flashpoint for the neo-fascist movement in the United States. Comprised of neo-Confederates, open Nazis, self-described “white identitarians,” and Traditionalists, this fascist movement is mobilizing for a “Unite the Right” protest on August 12 to stop the renaming of parks and removal of Civil War monuments. Initially permitted for Emancipation Park, formerly known as Lee Park, where the statue of Robert E. Lee is slated for removal, Charlottesville officials decided on Monday to move the Unite the Right protest to McIntire Park instead. The American Civil Liberties Union has announced that it will join the Albemarle County-based Rutherford Institute in representing Unite the Right leader Jason Kessler to officially oppose the location change, despite city officials’ concerns regarding health and safety. Unite the Right organizers promise the rally will be held at Emancipation Park regardless. Although Unite the Right bills itself as a populist coalition of conservative forces opposing the destruction of the South and its legacy, the group’s organizers are open about their extremist beliefs.

Racists Look Emboldened. They’re Actually Terrified.

August 17, 2017 Olivia Alperstein, www.otherwords.org Educate! Charlottesville, Fascism, Racism, White Nationalism

By Olivia Alperstein for Other Words - The act of terrorism that killed one person and injured others in Charlottesville, Virginia was horrific. There will be more days like these. Angry, cowardly, fear-mongering white supremacists have been emboldened by a president they see as the last great hope for the purity of the white race. They came for Charlottesville intent on hate and destruction. They were met instead with an outpouring of humanity from around the nation. We stand united against hatred and bigotry, and we stand on the right side of history. They are taking to the street with Tiki torches against the tide of equality. They want to strike fear into our hearts, but it is they who are afraid of a better world. I have bad news for these people, including the young man who intentionally plowed his vehicle into a crowd of innocent people. See, we’ve had dark moments in our history, when people were enslaved and dehumanized: Not to give away too much for those who aren’t familiar with our history, but the arc of the universe has bent towards justice. We’ve had the Civil Rights Movement, the Voting Rights Act, many marches on Washington. We’ve had boycotts, protests, rallies, and sit-ins. We’ve had Supreme Court cases and constitutional amendments. The symbols that white supremacists march with represent failed political movements like the Confederacy and Nazism.

Channel Zero: A 24-7 Horizontal Anarchist Radio Station

August 12, 2017 Chris Steele, www.popularresistance.org Create! Anarchism, Cooperatives, Fascism, Media

By Chris Steele. Channel Zero is a newly formed network of several anarchist and anti-authoritarian English language podcasts that launched on August 9, 2017. The 24-7 audio stream and website was organized to make radical podcasts more accessible. Current shows include: The Final Straw Radio, Kite Line Radio, Rust Belt Abolition Radio, the Crimethinc Ex-Worker Podcast, SubMedia, The Rebel Beat, A-Radio Berlin, The Danthropology Podcast, the Solecast, Which Side Podcast, Resonance: an Anarchist Audio Distro and the IGDCAST. According to Channel Zero: Our goal is to expand the reach of anarchist analysis into a larger and more public audience, within a horizontally run organization that is lead by the podcasters themselves.

Welcoming The Fascists To Charlottesville

August 11, 2017 David Swanson, www.davidswanson.org Resist! Charlottesville, Fascism, Racism

By David Swanson for Let's Try Democracy - I have mixed emotions about the fact that I’ll be missing the latest big fascism rally here in Charlottesville, because I’ll be elsewhere participating in kayak trainings for an upcoming Flotilla to the Pentagon for Peace and the Environment. I’m delighted to miss the fascism and the racism and the hatred and the gun-toting lunacy. I’m sorry to miss being here to speak against it. I’m hopeful that there might be something resembling a disciplined nonviolent and nonhateful opposition presence, but strongly suspect that a small number of violent and hateful opponents of racism will ruin that. I’m thrilled that taking down a racist war monument has gone mainstream. I’m depressed that, even though the legal delay in taking it down is based on its being a war monument, one side wants it down for being racist, the other side wants it up for being racist, and everybody is perfectly happy to pack the town with war monuments. I dread the possibility of hearing that the racists again chanted “Russia is our friend!” meaning that they believe without evidence that Russia corrupted the U.S. election and they are grateful for it, but I’m hopeful that they have moved on to other bizarre chants — though my hope is minimal that anyone might chant “Russia is our friend” and mean by it that they’d like to build peace and friendship between Americans and Russians.

Lessons From Portland’s Clashes With Fascists

June 11, 2017 Shamus Cooke, www.counterpunch.org Strategize! Black Bloc, Fascism, Racism, Trump

By Shamus Cooke for CounterPunch. Portland, Oregon had its collective mind blown in recent weeks. A Nazi murdered two people on public transit and a week later, on June 4th, Portland police were ‘protecting and serving’ a rally of 300+ ‘Alt-Right’ white supremacists from a counter-protest of over 3,000. A crushing tension gripped Portland as the protests neared; people were understandably scared that more deaths would occur during the confrontation. The far-right rally organizer– local demagogue Joey Gibson– announced that a local far-right militia would provide security, while alt-right ‘celebrities’ from around the country descended onto Portland, many of them decked out in protective gear for street fighting. One of these celebrity fascists who goes by ‘Based Stick Man’ (real name Kyle Chapman) tweeted: “I declare open season on Antifa [anti-fascists], squash on sight”.

How Norway Avoided Becoming A Fascist State

June 9, 2017 George Lakey, www.yesmagazine.org Educate! Fascism, Norway

By George Lakey for Yes! Magazine - Donald Trump’s obvious affection for authoritarians is prompting worried comparisons of our polarized country to the polarized Germany of the 1920s and ’30s. Since I’m known to see in polarization both crisis and opportunity, my friends are asking me these days about Hitler, the worst-case scenario. I grant the possibility of the United States going fascist, but argue that will not happen if we choose the practical steps taken by progressive Nordic social movements when they faced dangerous polarization. Consider the Norwegians, who experienced extreme polarization at the same time as the Germans did. The Norwegian economic elite organized against striking laborers and produced a polarized country that included both Nazi Brown Shirts goose-stepping in the streets and Norwegian Communists agitating to overthrow capitalism. Many Norwegians were flattered by the Nazi belief that the tall, blue-eyed blonde was the pinnacle of human development. Others vehemently denounced the racism underlying such beliefs. The politician Vidkun Quisling, an admirer of Hitler, organized in 1933 a Nazi party, and its uniformed paramilitary wing sought to provoke violent clashes with leftist students.

Antonio Gramsci And The Battle Against Fascism

June 6, 2017 Chris Hedges, www.truthdig.com Educate! Fascism, History

By Chris Hedges for Truth Dig - Antonio Gramsci wrote his “Prison Notebooks” at a time not dissimilar to our own. The political parties led by the liberal class, because they had detached themselves from the working class, were weak or irrelevant. The radical left had been neutered and had failed to articulate a coherent alternative vision to capitalism. There was a “crisis of authority.” Fascism was ascendant and state repression was becoming steadily more severe and totalitarian. Benito Mussolini’s regime claimed, like our corporate state, to be implementing a government based on efficiency, meritocracy, the management of society by experts and specialists and the elimination of class conflict through mediation. It too celebrated “heroic” military values, traditionalism and a mythical past that stretched back, in the case of fascist Italy, to ancient Rome. It also rewarded conformism and loyalty, denigrated the humanities and culture in favor of vocational and technical training, spectacle and patriotic kitsch. It preached a relentless positivism, ridiculed the concept of the public good by trumpeting a hyper-individualism and defanged the press. Dissent and criticism were condemned as treason. Gramsci when he was arrested in 1926 and imprisoned technically had parliamentary immunity, but by then the rule of law was meaningless.

Violence Erupts In Portland Amid Alt-Right, Anti-Fascist Rallies

June 5, 2017 Andy Campbell and Lydia O’Connor, www.huffingtonpost.com Resist! AltRight, Fascism, Portland, Violence

By Andy Campbell and Lydia O’Connor for Huffington Post - This city has been preparing for war for a week. PORTLAND, Ore. ― For days, Portland has served as ground zero for American hate, heroism and healing. Today, it served as America’s battleground. What started Sunday as two counterdemonstrations outside City Hall between anti-fascist protesters and members of the alt-right during a “Trump Free Speech Rally” evolved into an impromptu march and standoff with police. As police began closing off Chapman Square, where the anti-fascists had staged their protest, at around 3:45 p.m., officers lobbed loud explosives in the protesters’ direction. It’s unclear whether they were concussion or tear gas grenades, but there was a yellow smoke emanating from some of them. At least five explosions were heard as police pushed people back from that square. Portland police said the explosives were in response to projectiles thrown at its officers.

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