A prime goal of far-left Antifa is to rid America of “whiteness” as a race, according to a handbook written by a historian who helped organize the anarchist “Occupy Wall Street” movement in 2011.
Anti-capitalist author Mark Bray rejects “exterminating” whites. Instead, he proposes to remove it as a race and thus terminate its high standing while creating a “classless society” that would naturally do away with crime.
“This does not mean exterminating people who are currently categorized as white, but abolishing the classificatory scheme that renders them so,” he writes in the 2017 “Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook.”
Mr. Bray has an extensive list of targets to abolish that include “ableism, heteronormativity, patriarchy, nationalism, transphobia, class rule….”
Attorney General William Barr on Saturday identified Antifa street warriors as the main culprits in promoting the nationwide burning, looting and general destruction of American cities. President Trump says he plans to designated Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization, opening them up to immediate arrest on terrorism charges.
Antifa has become notorious in this country for its hooded and masked street bullies shouting down conservative speakers. They have also been filmed as mobs physically attacking conservative activists and destroying personal property.
In 2018, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison posted a photo of himself online holding and endorsing the “Anti-Fascist Handbook.” His son said he is a proud Antifa backer.
After Mr. Trump labeled Antifa a terror group, the Washington Post gave Mr. Bray op-ed space to defend the violent group.
Antifa has a broad definition of “fascists,” giving the title to prominent conservative voices such as Anne Coulter, who it has a right, it says, to shut down. Ms. Coulter canceled a speaking engagement at Berkeley in 2017 after receiving death threats.
A Los Angeles Times story later said, “Violence over this weekend by left-wing ’antifa’ activists in Berkeley has opened another chapter in the debate at the birthplace of the Free Speech Movement over UC Berkeley’s plan to host several conservative firebrands next month.”
The heart of Antifa’s battle is to rid America of “whiteness.”
Mr. Bray quotes a like-minded author as saying, “The preeminent position of whiteness atop the racial hierarchy that birthed it makes it an identity of a very different sort from blackness, for example, which was the direct result of the destruction of the identities of kidnapped Africans who were placed on the bottom of the hierarchy.”
Mr. Bray’s anti-white strategy: “My Jewish and Irish ancestors were not considered ’white’ when they first arrived in this country in the early twentieth century, but over time they were gradually welcomed into what Joel Olson terms ’white democracy.’ The meaning and boundaries of such social constructs shift over time, but we have the power to strike back at the racial hierarchy that underpins the very essence of whiteness. This does not mean adopting a conservative ’color-blind’ outlook, but rather targeting sources of white privilege and struggling in solidarity with the disinherited of the world.”
The book adds: “The only long-term solution to the fascist menace is to undermine its pillars of strength in society grounded not only in white supremacy but also in ableism, heteronormativity, patriarchy, nationalism, transphobia, class rule, and many others. This long-term goal points to the tensions that exist in defining anti-fascism, because at a certain point destroying fascism is really about promoting a revolutionary socialist alternative….”
Mr. Bray says Antifa also wants America to stop funding police departments and a military.
“By not devoting resources to prisons, police, and the military, such a post-capitalist society would be able to put far more into supporting education, the arts, and collective expression and inquiry,” he writes. “While the creation of a classless society would eliminate the majority of crime stemming from capitalist antagonisms, antifa argue that methods of restorative justice should replace police and prisons in addressing conflicts that persist.”
On free speech, he quotes an Antifa loyalist:
“As Joe from the Raleigh-Durham [General Defense Committee] argued, ’the idea that freedom of speech is the most important thing that we can protect can only be held by someone who thinks that life is analogous to a debate hall. In my opinion ’no platforming’ fascists often infringes upon their speech, but this infringement is justified for its role in the political struggle against fascism.”
• Rowan Scarborough can be reached at rscarborough@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.