If it wasn't so arrogant and sad it would be hilarious how European (White) movement experts are falling all over each other in order to validate White militia leader Ammon Bundy's call for solidarity with Standing Rock Water Protectors, anti-police terrorism activism, etc. If you don't know, Bundy was acquitted in federal court last week in the case against him and other White militia members for the invasion and occupation of the Malheur Bird Refuge in Southeast Oregon earlier this year. We want to make sure you White activists and experts understand that we really aren't trying to hear your broke down analysis about solidarity. The reason I say this is because we have been telling European working class people that we are not your enemies and that your enemy is the power structure for hundreds of years, literally. You can go and check speeches by people like Paul Cuffee, Edward Blyden, Ida B. Wells, and Frederick Douglass to see that. And, during the 1990s, people reacted with complete antagonism when Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael) said repeatedly that the "white right" had evolved from being the government's front-line troops against the African liberation movement into being the government's number one attacker. Despite the always dependable arrogance from far too many within the White community (whether left or right), Kwame was clearly on to something when he discussed how the feds and police either worked with, or turned a blind eye to the KKK's clear fusion with local police departments and its active terror against African people during the 50s and 60s. Kwame's analysis continued to assert that those same groups were no longer just terrorizing us. They were starting to direct their rage against the very government they previously worked hand in hand with against us. Today, his words are prophetic. That same right white movement that carried out terror against us and who formed the FBI supported Guardians of (against) the Oglala Nation (GOONS) at Pine Ridge reservation in the mid 70s, has spent that last 20 years waging war against the U.S. government. You know the examples because unlike the government's terror against our movements, these instances were widely covered. I'm talking about the shootout at Ruby Ridge in 93, the Waco standoff. Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City Federal building bombing in 95. The standoff at Cliven Bundy's ranch in 2014, and of course the Malheur occupation this year. So, we saw and identified the commonalities between our communities long before you did so you can stop with the instant expert analysis on White solidarity.
And, since there is that issue of the White right's historical violence against our movements for justice and their continued white nationalist foundation today, we won't be smoothing over this troubled relationship just because they are sending out a tweet or two expressing solidarity. Plus, I have some personal experience here. Brave rural organizers within the Rural Organizing Project (ROP), want to bolster up the identity and value of rural Oregon by helping local communities create and maintain values based on justice and not white supremacy. By doing this, they have attracted the anger of groups affiliated to the national Patriot Militia movement. These brave ROP souls have been verbally harassed and threatened with death and sexual assault. Their homes have been violated. In response to this, some of us agreed to accompany and secure them on their tour to talk about all of this and so I experienced first hand the antagonism many of these people expressed towards these activists. I experienced the stares and disgust many of these people apparently felt towards me for being an African man who dared to come into their communities without flinching. I experienced attempts at intimidation (unsuccessful), being shot at, and all of the cowardly tactics these people direct at those brave folks who simply want to tell the truth. So, with that backdrop, we cannot just forget all of that just because somebody wake up with a free out of jail card and a sudden realization that it might be a good idea to try and connect with the rest of the reasonable world.
Of course, there's no question that working class people of all nationalities are under attack and that our best chance at defeating those who oppress us is to unite, but a lot has to happen before we can even seriously have that discussion. There can be no uniting with the militia community as long as their beliefs are tied to that racist concept of the U.S. as a free and sovereign state. The U.S. is a settler colony on stolen Indigenous land that was built and is maintained on exploiting Africa and other places around the world. The only thing great about this country is the lie of manifest destiny and white supremacy. Until White people, left or right, accept that and begin to do work to abolish this entire concept of American identity (because remember - American identity equals white supremacy), there won't be any unity. That's why we see Bundy's pledge of solidarity, but we also see that he's expressing support for Standing Rock after staging an extremely disrespectful occupation of Pauite Land. We also haven't forgotten that his father said that the best time for African people was during slavery. Please don't interpret any of this as any type of plea to White militias to change their minds. That happening is so far down on my priority list I would have to say honestly that it most likely isn't on my list. The point here is that genuine European activists should see all of this as a call to action to do the necessary work in their communities to change the conscious level in those communities. The sole reason why these Patriotic Militia folks are gaining so much ground in recruitment is because very few within the White activist circles is beating them to it (outside of a few brave groups like ROP). There are genuine feelings of oppression and isolation among White people. Donald Trump's campaign should be a clear indicator of that. So, you people need to stop talking to us (because we ain't listening anyway) and start talking to each other. Stop reducing the acquittal of Bundy and the others to simple "white privilege." Yes, it is that, but its much more than just that. The water protectors at Standing Rock are engaging in the sacred struggle of the Indigenous people against the empire that has been built on their backs since Columbus's drunk @ss crashed into this hemisphere 500+ years ago. The African movements against police terrorism, acknowledging that police departments evolved out of slave patrols, have been going on since the first Africans were stolen from Africa. This capitalist system is all about exploiting and oppressing brown peoples. So, when we stand up and organize, its a threat against everything this backward system represents so the system always has, and always will, come down hard on us because the power structure understands that when we win, they lose. They have never seriously sought to challenge the KKK and other white supremacists, militias, etc., because none of those groups are doing anything to challenge the U.S. capitalist system. Their ideologies are in concert with the empire. Up to this point, they're just mad that they have been locked out from getting their cut of the booty that is being stolen every day from Indigenous, African, Asian, and other brown peoples.
So, if you truly want that solidarity to mean something more than assuaging your White ego into being able to believe you are more than just a descendant of settlers and slave owners, than get to work organizing your people around the values indicated above. I observed many younger people in the militias when out with ROP who are not firmly entrenched in those backward ideologies yet. They are people who are misguided. You can still reach them if you hurry. Then, after you seriously do that work, then come back and engage us. Until then, we have much better things to do than listen to your tired voices.
And, since there is that issue of the White right's historical violence against our movements for justice and their continued white nationalist foundation today, we won't be smoothing over this troubled relationship just because they are sending out a tweet or two expressing solidarity. Plus, I have some personal experience here. Brave rural organizers within the Rural Organizing Project (ROP), want to bolster up the identity and value of rural Oregon by helping local communities create and maintain values based on justice and not white supremacy. By doing this, they have attracted the anger of groups affiliated to the national Patriot Militia movement. These brave ROP souls have been verbally harassed and threatened with death and sexual assault. Their homes have been violated. In response to this, some of us agreed to accompany and secure them on their tour to talk about all of this and so I experienced first hand the antagonism many of these people expressed towards these activists. I experienced the stares and disgust many of these people apparently felt towards me for being an African man who dared to come into their communities without flinching. I experienced attempts at intimidation (unsuccessful), being shot at, and all of the cowardly tactics these people direct at those brave folks who simply want to tell the truth. So, with that backdrop, we cannot just forget all of that just because somebody wake up with a free out of jail card and a sudden realization that it might be a good idea to try and connect with the rest of the reasonable world.
Of course, there's no question that working class people of all nationalities are under attack and that our best chance at defeating those who oppress us is to unite, but a lot has to happen before we can even seriously have that discussion. There can be no uniting with the militia community as long as their beliefs are tied to that racist concept of the U.S. as a free and sovereign state. The U.S. is a settler colony on stolen Indigenous land that was built and is maintained on exploiting Africa and other places around the world. The only thing great about this country is the lie of manifest destiny and white supremacy. Until White people, left or right, accept that and begin to do work to abolish this entire concept of American identity (because remember - American identity equals white supremacy), there won't be any unity. That's why we see Bundy's pledge of solidarity, but we also see that he's expressing support for Standing Rock after staging an extremely disrespectful occupation of Pauite Land. We also haven't forgotten that his father said that the best time for African people was during slavery. Please don't interpret any of this as any type of plea to White militias to change their minds. That happening is so far down on my priority list I would have to say honestly that it most likely isn't on my list. The point here is that genuine European activists should see all of this as a call to action to do the necessary work in their communities to change the conscious level in those communities. The sole reason why these Patriotic Militia folks are gaining so much ground in recruitment is because very few within the White activist circles is beating them to it (outside of a few brave groups like ROP). There are genuine feelings of oppression and isolation among White people. Donald Trump's campaign should be a clear indicator of that. So, you people need to stop talking to us (because we ain't listening anyway) and start talking to each other. Stop reducing the acquittal of Bundy and the others to simple "white privilege." Yes, it is that, but its much more than just that. The water protectors at Standing Rock are engaging in the sacred struggle of the Indigenous people against the empire that has been built on their backs since Columbus's drunk @ss crashed into this hemisphere 500+ years ago. The African movements against police terrorism, acknowledging that police departments evolved out of slave patrols, have been going on since the first Africans were stolen from Africa. This capitalist system is all about exploiting and oppressing brown peoples. So, when we stand up and organize, its a threat against everything this backward system represents so the system always has, and always will, come down hard on us because the power structure understands that when we win, they lose. They have never seriously sought to challenge the KKK and other white supremacists, militias, etc., because none of those groups are doing anything to challenge the U.S. capitalist system. Their ideologies are in concert with the empire. Up to this point, they're just mad that they have been locked out from getting their cut of the booty that is being stolen every day from Indigenous, African, Asian, and other brown peoples.
So, if you truly want that solidarity to mean something more than assuaging your White ego into being able to believe you are more than just a descendant of settlers and slave owners, than get to work organizing your people around the values indicated above. I observed many younger people in the militias when out with ROP who are not firmly entrenched in those backward ideologies yet. They are people who are misguided. You can still reach them if you hurry. Then, after you seriously do that work, then come back and engage us. Until then, we have much better things to do than listen to your tired voices.
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