In this business, it's easy to get cynical when your in-box suddenly starts filling up with messages that are suspiciously similar. I imagine I'm not the only professional thoughts-giver who has been charged with hypocrisy lately because of perceived softness on the so-called "Antifa" movement.
So let me just take a minute to say this about that: These Antifa dudes sound like some bad hombres.
And, because some of you have no sense of humor, let me follow that up by saying that nobody ought to punch anyone in the throat, regardless of how much they deserve it. (Unless of course they present a clear threat.) While Antifa's heart may be in the right place--as Americans, we all ought to identify as "anti-fascist"--they're doing no one any good by showing up and physically confronting the marching Nazis or Sons of Jubilation T. Cornpone or whatever. The tuba players (as far as I can tell, the trend was started by American Hero Matt Buck) who follow them around playing cartoon music strike me as more effective.
While it's hard to tell exactly how many hard leftist activists identify as Antifa--there's no central organization, no membership rolls, no dues--there are a whole lot more white nationalists who have been around a whole lot longer and who are far more accommodated by the mainstream culture. I don't know anyone who would dress in black and take to the streets to actively disrupt some sort of demonstration. (I do know plenty of folks who'd peacefully counter-demonstrate, and I'm proud to have known a few who practiced civil disobedience during the Civil Rights era.)
I can imagine the typical Antifa warrior as someone young and naive. They want to battle the bad guys. But all I really know is what I've read, which is that there are an estimated 3,000 to 6,000 Antifa out there. That's not a number that I trust given that, as one of my few friends who actually knows people involved with Antifa told me, "Antifa is a philosophy rather than a group, so like any philosophy, different people will approach it differently. Not all Antifa wear black and mask up and not everyone masked up in black is Antifa."
During research for this column--yes, we do research--I developed a few promising leads. Maybe I'll get to talk to an actual Antifa member (if that's the correct term) soon.
On the other hand, I get calls from people who self-identify as white nationalists. If I want to, I can follow their Facebook pages or Twitter feeds, where some of them wish me a slow and agonizing death from AIDS.
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center--which some of you regard as a communist front organization, but they're the best at tracking this sort of thing--there are 917 hate groups in the U.S. While not all of these are white nationalist or neo-Nazi or Christian Identity (the SPLC has identified 193 black separatist hate groups) the overwhelming majority of them are made up of the sort of folks Antifa would like to punch in the throat.
I have written critically of SPLC and its founder Morris Dees in the past, and believe that the SPLC has at times focused too much attention on the pathetic remnants of the Ku Klux Klan and tiny men like Thom Robb for purposes of fundraising and self-aggrandizement. But given how things have played out, with the Trump administration seemingly willing to normalize alt-right doctrine that has its roots in white nationalism, maybe I underestimated the threat.
After all, there are plenty of people who aren't racist or fascist who see nothing curious about living in the shadows of statues erected by the founder of Christian Identity movement Gerald L.K. Smith or at the behest of Lost Cause soreheads. When, a few weeks ago, the New York Times mentioned that Smith's Christ of the Ozarks was one of the nation's biggest tourist attractions, it was surprising how little comment was made on Smith's dark legacy. And those Confederate monuments that have lately become so controversial? Aren't they bizarre when you consider the circumstances under which they were thrown up?
Don't get me wrong--I don't think we ought to tear them down. I do think we ought to know exactly what they are.
And my point isn't that Antifa isn't real. My point is there are a lot more potentially violent Nazis in this country than there are potentially violent black-clad anti-fascists who want to punch them in the throat. And while hate is never a positive force, I think most of us can agree that there's a difference between hating people because of their ethnic origin or religion and hating people because they subscribe to a racialist philosophy.
So all of you who have been screaming "What about Antifa!" these past few weeks should know it's probably a better idea to simply turn your back on the haters. And the next time--which will be the first time--I run into a young person dressed like a ninja ready to jump ugly with a skinhead, I promise to do my best to counsel them to chill.
And the next time that I hear some offhand racist comment, I'll probably roll my eyes and sigh.
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Editorial on 09/17/2017