Most everyone has heard by now that European (white) militia folks have descended upon Eastern Oregon to express their lack of recognition and respect for how the U.S. government enforces its land management policies. These militia people appear to have occupied a federal bird watching sanctuary about 30 minutes from the town of Burns, Oregon, which is about five hours east of Portland. This so-called protest is heaped in the false ideal of "true American patriotism" with the American flag and proclamations of the "will of God" being prominently featured by the militia and their supporters. Of course, all of these folks are the typical characters e.g. European, mostly older, right wing in ideology, and vastly confused about the difference between fiction and reality. Many of you know these people well because they are your father, brother, son, sister, mother, husband, wife, etc. So, there's no purpose in spending time breaking down the motives of these people. Its not difficult to figure that out. They are entitled Europeans who are experiencing/ interpreting their very first taste of forced oppression, something we have experienced consistently from the federal government for centuries. So, the reaction of these folks is no surprise or disappointment. What is tiresome and irritating is how our so-called European partners/allies consistently respond to the actions of their right wing relatives, neighbors, and community members.
Since this latest militia action in Eastern Oregon, social media is ablaze with responses from so-called conscious white people. The best this fine element of white society can produce in response to this scenario is to compare the white militias to anti-police terrorism protests within the African community. I suppose these "allies" believe they are sincere when they consistently make the point that we would be killed by federal authorities if we took the same stance as the white militias, as if we would have absolutely nothing to say about that. And, that's the strongest element of this white left analysis. The other focus is on doing everything they can to marginalize the white militias in an effort to make it clear that they have no connection and nothing to do with their white brothers/sisters who are carrying out this militia action.
None of this is new nor is it rocket science. The lands the militias are occupying are the ancient lands of the Paiute Indigenous people who were removed by force from those lands decades ago. These Indigenous people are still alive and functioning on reservations in the Burns area today. The white militias are nothing more than the latest version of invaders and settlers onto Native lands. And, their agenda to challenge the U.S. government is nothing more than European class struggle to decide which white people will occupy the position of ruler over Indigenous lands and the masses of exploited labor under the capitalist system. The fact one of the identified leaders of this militia group is a man named Ammon Bundy - the son of that cave man white supremacist Cliven Bundy who hosted a similar white militia action in Nevada - and another participant is white anti-Islam activist Jon Ritzheimer, confirms the foundation of ideological white supremacy within this militia movement. So, white people, we don't need you to flood social media with statements about how we would be slaughtered were we to take up arms against the government. We understand those contradictions better on our worse day than you ever could. What we wish you would do is recognize that these are your people joining and participating in these militias. Instead of posting "f - - k the militias" on Face Book, it would be great if you could finally sit down and develop a comprehensive strategy to try and organize your kinfolk. Someone needs to educate them to the fact their fight is actually against the capitalist system, the same system that oppresses the masses of African and Indigenous people. Someone needs to explain to them that their grievances are no different than the protests we have against the government for its agents shooting us down in the streets. Someone needs to help them understand that the day they can stand in solid support with our struggle is the day we can end this oppression (because we have always stood in solidarity with the suffering of poor European folks). At the very least, if your intention is to use the comparison to us to educate other white people, you need to do a much better job at utilizing that information.
Creating this critically important link is the responsibility of the white left. You can make this happen. We can't because these people have been programmed to distrust us, but these are your relatives. Your neighbors. Your co-workers and friends. You can talk to them in the language they understand. You can influence them. You can organize them. So, why don't you do it? We are organizing our people against the capitalist system, but we recognize that we cannot do our work in isolation because history is full of examples of how the capitalist system uses the European working poor as foot soldiers against the African masses and other just struggles. This is why the membership of the kkk and neo-nazi groups has always been working class. This is why the majority of this militia movement is working class white people. The problem is there is no active and ongoing political education to raise the consciousness of these people. In other words, you so-called progressive white people are not doing your work. So, just so you know, when we see these occurrences happen, the first thing we think about is how you are failing. For every right wing militia member, its confirmation of how much you are continuing to skirt your responsibility. We can't blame a dog for chasing a cat, so we can't expect these militia folks to do anything besides what they are doing. We can blame you because you claim to know better. In fact, we can't get a word in edgewise with you present because you are so clear about the contradictions. So, get to work with your family members before it becomes too difficult for us to tell the difference between you all.
Since this latest militia action in Eastern Oregon, social media is ablaze with responses from so-called conscious white people. The best this fine element of white society can produce in response to this scenario is to compare the white militias to anti-police terrorism protests within the African community. I suppose these "allies" believe they are sincere when they consistently make the point that we would be killed by federal authorities if we took the same stance as the white militias, as if we would have absolutely nothing to say about that. And, that's the strongest element of this white left analysis. The other focus is on doing everything they can to marginalize the white militias in an effort to make it clear that they have no connection and nothing to do with their white brothers/sisters who are carrying out this militia action.
None of this is new nor is it rocket science. The lands the militias are occupying are the ancient lands of the Paiute Indigenous people who were removed by force from those lands decades ago. These Indigenous people are still alive and functioning on reservations in the Burns area today. The white militias are nothing more than the latest version of invaders and settlers onto Native lands. And, their agenda to challenge the U.S. government is nothing more than European class struggle to decide which white people will occupy the position of ruler over Indigenous lands and the masses of exploited labor under the capitalist system. The fact one of the identified leaders of this militia group is a man named Ammon Bundy - the son of that cave man white supremacist Cliven Bundy who hosted a similar white militia action in Nevada - and another participant is white anti-Islam activist Jon Ritzheimer, confirms the foundation of ideological white supremacy within this militia movement. So, white people, we don't need you to flood social media with statements about how we would be slaughtered were we to take up arms against the government. We understand those contradictions better on our worse day than you ever could. What we wish you would do is recognize that these are your people joining and participating in these militias. Instead of posting "f - - k the militias" on Face Book, it would be great if you could finally sit down and develop a comprehensive strategy to try and organize your kinfolk. Someone needs to educate them to the fact their fight is actually against the capitalist system, the same system that oppresses the masses of African and Indigenous people. Someone needs to explain to them that their grievances are no different than the protests we have against the government for its agents shooting us down in the streets. Someone needs to help them understand that the day they can stand in solid support with our struggle is the day we can end this oppression (because we have always stood in solidarity with the suffering of poor European folks). At the very least, if your intention is to use the comparison to us to educate other white people, you need to do a much better job at utilizing that information.
Creating this critically important link is the responsibility of the white left. You can make this happen. We can't because these people have been programmed to distrust us, but these are your relatives. Your neighbors. Your co-workers and friends. You can talk to them in the language they understand. You can influence them. You can organize them. So, why don't you do it? We are organizing our people against the capitalist system, but we recognize that we cannot do our work in isolation because history is full of examples of how the capitalist system uses the European working poor as foot soldiers against the African masses and other just struggles. This is why the membership of the kkk and neo-nazi groups has always been working class. This is why the majority of this militia movement is working class white people. The problem is there is no active and ongoing political education to raise the consciousness of these people. In other words, you so-called progressive white people are not doing your work. So, just so you know, when we see these occurrences happen, the first thing we think about is how you are failing. For every right wing militia member, its confirmation of how much you are continuing to skirt your responsibility. We can't blame a dog for chasing a cat, so we can't expect these militia folks to do anything besides what they are doing. We can blame you because you claim to know better. In fact, we can't get a word in edgewise with you present because you are so clear about the contradictions. So, get to work with your family members before it becomes too difficult for us to tell the difference between you all.
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