Thread by @kateneuropsych

@Aaron_Kon @Fuckoffanddiev1 @MollyJongFast @DrRobThompson Here's the problem with historical roots being the mold that one uses to identify a theoretical lineage, that defines a current groups inclinations, purpose, or in assuming history has anything to do with a groups current actions position, identity &/or label. 1/x

@Aaron_Kon @Fuckoffanddiev1 @MollyJongFast @DrRobThompson I'll cite an example first. The roots of the Southern Democratic party were indeed DOMINATED BY MAJORITY CADRE OF WEALTHY WHITE MEN & WOMEN WHO WERE JIM CROW RACIST AF, however, time and events, as is often the case, resulted in MONUMENTAL CHANGES:
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@Aaron_Kon @Fuckoffanddiev1 @MollyJongFast @DrRobThompson 1) with the passage of civil rights in t/1960s those very same wealthy Jim Crow racist AF Southern White Democrat WM& WW FLED North joining the Republican party, leaving behind THE NOW MAJORITY Af-Am, POC & progressive activist WW Democratic party that exists today....
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@Aaron_Kon @Fuckoffanddiev1 @MollyJongFast @DrRobThompson 2) To say that TODAYS DEMOCRATIC PARTY is the product of it's roots is to ignore the fact that that tree was torn asunder.
3)To say that today's Democratic party is anywhere close to being the same Jim Crow racist AF Southern White 4/x

@Aaron_Kon @Fuckoffanddiev1 @MollyJongFast @DrRobThompson Democratic party that existed prior CR/VRA is to lie & lie bigly.

4) That doesn't mean there haven't been and still are racial and gender disparities within the DEM party or policies they support(ed) BUT WORKING THROUGH THAT IS PART OF CHALLENGE OF CIVIL SOCIETY.
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@Aaron_Kon @Fuckoffanddiev1 @MollyJongFast @DrRobThompson 5) The point here is that: Post Civil Rights DEM Party SELF RECONSTRUCTED and is in no way equivalent to or responsible for Southern DEMS OF THE PAST..
6) Further today's DEMS are in no way equivalent to the GOPs long employed covertly coded dog whistle racist misogynistic 6/x

@Aaron_Kon @Fuckoffanddiev1 @MollyJongFast @DrRobThompson economic policies & tactics, that began, immediately following the passage of CR/VRA when they absorbed large numbers of Wealthy W Southern Dems & their money, which has continued up through today; only now with Trump championing HATE GOP/MAGA openly declare their 7/x

@Aaron_Kon @Fuckoffanddiev1 @MollyJongFast @DrRobThompson racist misogynistic xenophobic LGBTQphobic HATE and construct policies & positions constituting CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY with pride.

The only shared root here is White power & privilege but to say that todays DEMS are the same KKK Southern White DEM
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@Aaron_Kon @Fuckoffanddiev1 @MollyJongFast @DrRobThompson party is misleading AF (the value of an education is in understanding the facts and connecting the dots)

The example is significant and relevant to assumptions about the roots OF AMERICAN ANTIFA MOVEMENT which BTW has no unifying body and the label ANTIFA is largely used 9/x

@Aaron_Kon @Fuckoffanddiev1 @MollyJongFast @DrRobThompson to characterize counter protesters which works because when you have no unifying body, anyone can conveniently be assumed a member if they don't agree with dominate societies systematic structural oppression.
Locally, most Antifa folks self organize and join others with 10/x

@Aaron_Kon @Fuckoffanddiev1 @MollyJongFast @DrRobThompson the goal of standing against FASCISM and in-between WS/WN in all their adaptive continuously morphing various guises, platforms and groups (and there are many) who aggressively & violently target Af-Am, POC, Immigrants, Women (especially feminist educated women) Muslims, 11/x

@Aaron_Kon @Fuckoffanddiev1 @MollyJongFast @DrRobThompson Jewish & LGBTQ folks. While some Antifa folks have at times employed underhanded tactics, its been rooted in the reality of POWER DIFFERENTIALS and the willingness of highly aggressive and frankly abusive WS/WN who easily break laws as they ARE positioned within society 12/x

@Aaron_Kon @Fuckoffanddiev1 @MollyJongFast @DrRobThompson with the power and privilege to do so with little consequence. Antifa has also extended to protesting against police corruption & brutality.
To get a better grip some basic truths are required: America was founded on a set of laws & institutions designed to 13/x

@Aaron_Kon @Fuckoffanddiev1 @MollyJongFast @DrRobThompson confer power & privilege to WM and to protect (read cover up, excuse, mitigate responsibility for) them in large part from the consequences of their actions while demanding strict adherence to the smallest of transgressions of all others. Thus we have today a society whose 14/x

@Aaron_Kon @Fuckoffanddiev1 @MollyJongFast @DrRobThompson structural institutional and cultural racism & misogyny is the norm resulting in both a society and a system of justice that is not only 2-tiered, but which targets Af-Ams, immigrants, communities of color and women.

What would eventually emerge as the American 15/x

@Aaron_Kon @Fuckoffanddiev1 @MollyJongFast @DrRobThompson version of Antifa began in Europe in the1960s. By the1970s it had roots in the US. The main tenants revolved around the idea of PREVENTION meaning; if people in mass, had more aggressively organized & protested Hitler, Nazi GERMANY & the Holocaust would never have happened. 16/x

@Aaron_Kon @Fuckoffanddiev1 @MollyJongFast @DrRobThompson Most American Antifa members who show up to counter protest or oppose white supremacist at public events are peaceful demonstrators who are focused on preventing violence and are composed of a coalition of folks. It is also true that Antifa groups have been infiltrated 17/x

@Aaron_Kon @Fuckoffanddiev1 @MollyJongFast @DrRobThompson by alt-right folks posing as "progressives" who agitate for violence to discredit the entire movement and as always there have been a few unstable folks. Because Antifa are more or less mysterious relative to mainstream groups....lots of BS goes around, most of it right 18/x

@Aaron_Kon @Fuckoffanddiev1 @MollyJongFast @DrRobThompson wing propaganda.Bottom line: Todays American Antifa have little to do with Mussolini, they have defined themselves based on America's unique landscape. If you want to know more, follow @RVAwonk
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@Aaron_Kon @Fuckoffanddiev1 @MollyJongFast @DrRobThompson @RVAwonk @threadreaderapp please unroll