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Fascism is a concept that has grown a lot of particular interest since the

election of Donald Trump and the failure of neoliberalism. While we don’t

consider Trump himself to be a fascist but a right wing populist, we do

recognize that he has mobilized a broad coalition of the right, which

includes some fascists. However, reactionary violence is nothing new to

black and African people living in the United States. Our communities have

seen first-hand the terror campaigns of proto-fascist groups such as the

KKK, and other kinds of organized white supremacist violence. Our

oppression and exploitation have been central to the establishment of

modern capitalism in the Americas. This also means we have been fighting

back since we were brought here. Our stake in anti-fascism is not an

academic question.

Fascism needs to be defined for our context: right now this is a smaller

element participating within a popular front of the right wing. Most

notable of this multi-tendency white nationalist milieu is the alt-right,

who believe in atrocities such as "white" ethnic cleansing, misogyny,

violence against a perceived "other" (minorities, refugees, Muslims,

women,

lgbtqia, Jews), and overwhelming worship of authority and class-based

hierarchies. What allows this to spread is that neoliberal economic

policies under capitalism cause the working class to suffer, and they are

given scapegoats and offered false and authoritarian solutions. The

reactionaries’ influence within the State will be strengthened, which will

increase the suffering of black and African people at the hands of the

police, prison, and poverty.

While fascism sometimes spreads using political opportunists like the

electoral right wing, it is also an independent movement of the insurgent

right wing and has an agenda separate from and opposed to the current

state. Fascists also recruit through entryism into popular cultures and

subcultures (music, arts, internet groups, faith-based, etc). Today’s

fascists have improved the ability to hide within “legitimate”

conservative

political and social groups. Its spread is international and evident in

the

western turn away from neoliberalism towards economic nationalism,

Islamophobic motives surrounding Brexit, and the State literally

assassinating drug users in the Philippines. Trump is a big piece of this,

but definitely not the only one. In addition to being aware of fascists

attempting to turn the repressive state apparatus against us, we also have

to prepare to defend ourselves against reactionaries like George Zimmerman

and Dylann Roof, who have terrorized us with direct extralegal violence

since we got here.

It's important that we not let our history of struggle be claimed by the

liberal narrative that the civil rights era was built on a dogmatic

commitment to "nonviolence". Black and African people have had to

physically, mentally, and emotionally defend their communities from State

and white supremacist terror, and it was organized. Groups like the

Deacons

for Defense, Black Liberation Army, and Black Panther Party understood why

a self-defense approach in the face of police and reactionaries was

necessary. If a person knows the bloodshed that occurred at the height of

the labor movement, one must also acknowledge there has been consistent

violence against black and African people for centuries.

Labor organizers and specifically the IWW have long-opposed class traitors

like the Ku Klux Klan. White supremacists despise the radical left because

of their commitment to solidarity with all oppressed people. The IWW will

remain a target of the State and the far right, especially as our activity

gains momentum and size. The General Defense Committee has been and can

continue to be an excellent vehicle to grow the anti-fascist movement.

Anti-fascism needs to grow into an extremely popular movement in order to

win. Communities that build their capacity for organized defense against

the State and organized hate will be major contributors in the fight

against capitalism.

We black and African workers face this threat in many places within and

beyond our workplaces, and a fascist threat to any of the working class is

a threat to the entire class. We have no choice but to confront organized

white supremacists, just as we have no choice but to struggle against the

bosses in our workplaces. We are calling on our comrades in the IWW and

elsewhere, to join us in confronting white nationalists organizing to

direct further violence against our people. We are calling on the General

Administration to give our rank and file militants the support we need to

organize in defense of ourselves and our class on the ground. We believe

that the slogan “an injury to one is an injury to all” should also be

demonstrated by our white comrades who feel as though confronting fascism

is optional or of little importance.

For an anti-fascist, revolutionary unionism!

Twin Cities IWW African Peoples Caucus