Read on Twitter
Claims of "outside agitators" - an anti-Black, anti-Immigrant, and anti-Semitic history [THREAD]:
Claims that a small group of "outside agitators" are co-opting an otherwise calm movement is not just wrong, its steeped in anti-Black, anti-Immigrant and anti-Semitic tradition.
Already addressed by black anarchists back when the people of MPLS responded to the murder of Philando Castile, these claims erase the hard work and delegitimize the militancy of IBPOC protestors and organizers https://libcom.org/library/4th-precinct-black-anarchist%E2%80%99s-perspective-struggle-minneapolis%E2%80%99-northside-streets-ikemb
These claims have also been used as right wing talking points to divide left movements under the Trump administration. In this form they are more expressly anti-Semitic and conjure images of a Soros funded conspiracy https://portside.org/2018-10-11/racism-anti-semitism-undermining-and-delegitimizing-protest-now-soros-myth
But it's important to remember that this dogwhistling has always been used by the establishment left and the non-profit complex. In the 50s, the ACLU accused radical left organizers of being un-American - reporting their names to the FBI and HUAC board https://www.counterpunch.org/2005/04/09/from-mccarthyism-to-cointelpro/
The emboldening of the FBI during the McCarthy years set a precedent for dogwhistling conspiracies from within radical left movements. This supported a political environment where the FBI could implement COINTELPRO and use these types of claims to divide the militant, black left
McCarthyist claims assumed agitators were a part of some "out group" - often symbolized as (often Jewish) immigrants fomenting unrest in bad faith because of their allegiance to some ambiguous and evil cause.
These arguments are often championed by those who seek to control the will of resistance. Non-profits and career organizers alike have stoked these fears since the red scare https://twitter.com/black_autonomy/status/1267162249606705153?s=19
To ignore the history behind these claims is to ignore the voices of IBPOC anarchists and organizers on the front lines asserting their agency and ownership of revolutionary demonstration
The use of the term "antifa" as an extension of "terrorist" only furthers this fucked up narrative https://twitter.com/Ruth_HHopkins/status/1267170440801325056?s=19
And finally, as always, just because this fucked up narrative exists doesn't mean you're free from any accountability when you're in those crowds. https://twitter.com/IAF__FAI/status/1267167576330665984?s=19
Gather knowledge.
Spread joy.
By setting a fire today we light our paths forward.
Spread joy.
By setting a fire today we light our paths forward.
