Statement of one antifa going to Morristown to oppose white supremacists:

Confronting fascism is not an issue of free speech (or white privilege), it is an issue of popular self-defense. The prayer vigil is fully supported, but fascism must be opposed by all means. Below is an article written by a comrade six years ago dealing with this very subject.
RIP Dan & Spit, RIP Bunny, RIP Timur & Ilya

Never forgive. Never forget.

REVOLUTIONARY ANTI-FASCISM: A NECESSITY AND AN OBLIGATION
by Nicholas Barricada, April 2001

To many of us, the concept of militant resistance to fascism and racism comes almost naturally. Essentially all currents of revolutionary anarchism or Marxism agree on at least this simple principle: fascists cannot be allowed to speak, organize, march, or have a platform in any way, shape or form. It is a matter of basic safety, for ourselves as revolutionaries, and for all of those who, because they for some reason, be it the color of their skin, their sexual orientation, their nationality, or what have you, do not fit the norm of a proper "Aryan," and therefore become targets for fascist aggression every time they leave their homes.

Anti-authoritarians are, needless to say, as a general rule opposed to censoring people. We believe that your freedom extends to where that of the next begins, and as long as you do not attempt to impose your will on others through coercive means, you are within your rights to say and do as you please. Yet this of course has limits, and one of those is preaching racial hatred and justifying genocide, which is essentially what white supremacist groups do. Because although they may claim that they do not condone violence, one has only to take a look at some of the white supremacists' essays, website graphics and actions, which give tips on how to bait "niggers and spics" in order to assault them safely and graphics depicting white supremacists squeezing to death a Jewish person (or at least what they believe a Jewish person looks like), or t-shirts that depict immigrants being beaten to death, or the actions of armed groups like the Minutemen. Needless to say, most revolutionaries interpret this for what it is: a promise, not just an idea. We have seen them keep this promise all too often.

Fascism is not an issue of free speech. It is a dangerous and violent ideology, and when the proponents of that ideology are allowed to take to the podiums unopposed, we need only to look at history to see what the results are.

Fascists understand that, if they rule the streets, it marks the end of all grassroots level organizing and action for revolutionaries, and thus leaves the terrain open for them to present themselves as the only serious alternative to mainstream politics as usual. This is because they, through attacks, fire bombings, beatings, harassment, and whatever else it takes, ensure that it is unsafe for revolutionaries or anyone else to take to the streets. It is for this precise reason that we cannot treat fascist and racist ideologies as issues of free speech, or as innocuous things we can defeat by traditional, advocacy-based activism, but rather as a physical threat. There can be no discussion with fascism, only battle. Fascists and racists have repeatedly and openly declared war on us, and violate the freedoms of others on a daily basis through intimidation and direct violence, thus any actions which are taken against them must be seen primarily as acts of self-defense.

It is also important to note that historically, from Mussolini to the present day, fascism has utilized almost the exact same organizing strategy, based on a double-edged approach of violence on one hand, and respectability on the other. When fascist groups or organizations grow they first seek to establish a street presence, as described above. Meanwhile, their more "respectable" advocates, such as the leaders of small anti-immigrant factions across the country, attempt to appeal to the "responsible" or "law-abiding" citizen. This fools people into believing that they are not actually what the "leftists" make them out to be, but respectable and concerned citizens maligned by "the Jewish press" or other such nonsense. The aim here is to develop a supporter base of "normal" people and give the revolutionary left a bad image by portraying us as the violent ones. Does this mean that we should not oppose them? No, it simply means that we need to not only physically oppose them, but work to expose them at every turn and allow people to make the necessary connection between the suit and tie fascist and the
street-level Nazi thug.

Many on the left do not get this. The fact is, that sitting around arguing that combating fascists is a "product of white privilege" is unjustifiable. Groups such as the National Alliance and National Socialist Movement, to name only a couple of the many in existence, are openly racist organizations with a history of violence.

To those who tell us that we shouldn't work to shut down groups like those who will be coming to Morristown, we should ask if they would be willing to tell the relatives of the people that white supremacist Benjamin Smith killed, when he went on a rampage killing two and wounding nine several years ago, that white supremacists shouldn't be stopped, or tell the man of North African descent who was thrown into a freezing river after a National Front march in Paris that they should be allowed to march, or say to the friends of Timur Kacharava, who was stabbed to death by fascists in St. Petersburg, Russia, that it is white
privilege to defend yourself, or tell the Turkish shopkeeper in Germany that the Nazis who beat him to a pulp and set fire to his store after their concert had a right to be there, or tell the thousands and thousands who have died or gone to jail fighting fascism that they are wrong and are just "angry kids acting out of white privilege."

The truth is, it is unacceptable. So is fascism, which needs to be outlawed by the people themselves, being in the streets and by demonstrating, both through education and direct confrontation, that it is simply not tolerable and will be fought by any means necessary wherever it arises.
 
Last Updated ( Thursday, 26 July 2007 )