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Right now, activists for Black Lives are rightfully arguing for police accountability and the end to police violence.
But not enough attention has been given to a national call to address white supremacist paramilitary groups that are fomenting violence. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/as-clashes-between-armed-groups-and-leftist-protesters-turn-deadly-police-face-complaints-of-tolerating-vigilantes/2020/08/30/d2c36c20-e952-11ea-a414-8422fa3e4116_story.html
But not enough attention has been given to a national call to address white supremacist paramilitary groups that are fomenting violence. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/as-clashes-between-armed-groups-and-leftist-protesters-turn-deadly-police-face-complaints-of-tolerating-vigilantes/2020/08/30/d2c36c20-e952-11ea-a414-8422fa3e4116_story.html
The Washington Post article does an excellent job of recounting the multiple instances of armed white supremacist paramilitary groups and their actions over the past year or so.
We are not just facing legalized state violence, but the additional violence of paramilitary groups.
We are not just facing legalized state violence, but the additional violence of paramilitary groups.
Many have argued that fascism is on the rise in America.
I think this is misguided because the fear is of an autocrat. But American history shows that white supremacist paramilitaries are the threat that have risen & unleashed violence: the KKK, Red Coats, the White League, etc.
I think this is misguided because the fear is of an autocrat. But American history shows that white supremacist paramilitaries are the threat that have risen & unleashed violence: the KKK, Red Coats, the White League, etc.
I've said this often, because most Americans don't understand the politics of Reconstruction, they don't understand what's happening in America.
But works by Douglas Egerton and W.E.B. Du Bois reveal the actual impulse that's driving the current moment.
But works by Douglas Egerton and W.E.B. Du Bois reveal the actual impulse that's driving the current moment.
One of America's greatest scholars Kimberlé Crenshaw also nailed it in her essay Fear of a Black Uprising.
She wrote about how policing is only part of the equation, the other part is vigilantes that work with police to suppress a Black uprising. https://newrepublic.com/article/158725/fear-black-uprising-confronting-racist-policing
She wrote about how policing is only part of the equation, the other part is vigilantes that work with police to suppress a Black uprising. https://newrepublic.com/article/158725/fear-black-uprising-confronting-racist-policing
Crenshaw elaborates on the police-vigilante 1-2 combo:
"In post-slaveryâand postâpolicing-of-slaveryâAmerica, racist policing in the American slavocracy was also tied to partnerships with the private violence of organizations like the Ku Klux Klan."
Public-private partnership.
"In post-slaveryâand postâpolicing-of-slaveryâAmerica, racist policing in the American slavocracy was also tied to partnerships with the private violence of organizations like the Ku Klux Klan."
Public-private partnership.
Du Bois also does a masterful job at highlighting this history and the psychology underpinning it in his book Black Reconstruction.
All of this is playing out right now, but so many people on the left are misreading the threat as either police alone or the rise of fascism.
All of this is playing out right now, but so many people on the left are misreading the threat as either police alone or the rise of fascism.
Check out Du Bois here in Black Reconstruction. He breaks down classes among White people in the South. He then shows how the "mass of the white laborers" ... "constituted the police patrol."
And that's the key, it's not just police. The everyday laborer could join in policING.
And that's the key, it's not just police. The everyday laborer could join in policING.
This is what is playing out folks. Not fascism. Not the police as sole actors harming Black Lives.
It's a broad spectrum. It's the fear of a Black uprising. It's police AND vigilantes, from the KKK to Red Shirts, from COINTELPRO to boogaloos. It's a public-private arrangement.
It's a broad spectrum. It's the fear of a Black uprising. It's police AND vigilantes, from the KKK to Red Shirts, from COINTELPRO to boogaloos. It's a public-private arrangement.
The playbook we are seeing now is the same one that was deployed to undermine Black Reconstruction in 1866 in Louisiana and across the Deep South.
It's the same playbook to overthrow the fusion government in Wilmington, NC in 1898.
Cheat at the polls and vigilante violence.
It's the same playbook to overthrow the fusion government in Wilmington, NC in 1898.
Cheat at the polls and vigilante violence.
Remember all that time spent on Russia and even the Ukraine? I tried warning folks in 2017 and 2018 that the real threat was Black voter suppression.
Democrats wasted precious time that should have been laser focused on securing voting rights and expanding voter access.
Democrats wasted precious time that should have been laser focused on securing voting rights and expanding voter access.
CNN contributor Frida Ghitis also gets it:
âThe White House wanted to amplify and publicize the strife as much as possible, according to officials. "It was about getting viral online content," an administration official admitted to the Washington Post.â https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/31/opinions/trump-reelection-plan-kenosha-portland-ghitis/index.html
âThe White House wanted to amplify and publicize the strife as much as possible, according to officials. "It was about getting viral online content," an administration official admitted to the Washington Post.â https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/31/opinions/trump-reelection-plan-kenosha-portland-ghitis/index.html
âTrump's most radical supporters seemed to also understand the strategy and were on the case. The ultra-extremist Boogaloo members, with their trademark Hawaiian shirts and assault rifles, popped up across the country. Violence was all too predictable.â https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/31/opinions/trump-reelection-plan-kenosha-portland-ghitis/index.html
