Overview

The other week, the underlying racist, colonial mentality that has infested Australian society since its inception once again reared its ugly head. Surprisingly, many expressed shock that this cyclical demonstration of the ugly side of this nation’s racism, xenophobia and colonialism manifested itself in such a manner. 

Across the continent, marches took place under the guise of ‘Aussie pride’ and to ‘march for Australia’. At the same time, those who orchestrated the rally did their best to channel the crowd into overtly racist rhetoric and escalation. The arguments of those on the day centred on ‘stopping the immigration that is tearing at the bonds that hold our communities together’ and other racist rhetoric, some veiled, and some very blatant. Naturally, they didn’t choose to aim their hatred against the billionaires, millionaires, landlords and politicians that aid them who have stripped this country of its services 

The self-appointed leaders of this latest push have attempted to frame themselves as some knights on a righteous quest to protect the community. It must be clearly stated that despite the apologists in mainstream media, those leading these events and attempting to expand this movement are not well-meaning individuals who have ‘had enough’, nor were the crowds simply made up of ‘people of goodwill’. In fact, those behind this movement are a bunch of cowardly dropouts, loners, incels, and insecure gronks that thrive on insecurities, social alienation and toxic masculinity, which they opportunistically seize upon to groom those they view as viable candidates for their racist hooliganism. These are not some brave cultural or upstanding community citizens, but a bunch of c-rate thugs who are too small-minded to see the social, economic and cultural benefits that have come through our multicultural society.   Furthermore, their arguments rest in cherry-picked, manipulated statistics and straight up distorted history that they are too ignorant to truly analyse or understand. In regards to their attacks against bringing in migrants to Australia due to the economic implications, the fact is that the majority of the skilled workers that keep our society and communities functioning are migrants or the children of migrants. They are construction workers building the infrastructure required to keep our buildings operational and streets functioning. They are the healthcare professionals that look after the elderly, the young, the ill and the disabled. They are engineers that have provided us with the modern conveniences and infrastructure that we take for granted. 

Distortion of History

As is the norm with racists in this country, the discussion points at these events centred on distorted and delusional presentations of the history of this nation since invasion. The contradictory and contrarian points were the same as always from ignorant and out-of-touch racists who attempt to lure others into their misinformed beliefs. 

It is the same trend we have seen since 1788. It’s something we saw in the 1800’s with the racists at Lambing Flat who were attacking Chinese workers under a banner they stole and appropriated from the interracial rebels from the Eureka Stockade, made up of Protestants, Catholics, African Americans, Italians. Likewise, a bunch of first or second-generation fascists getting up to twist the legacy of the ‘Anzac spirit’ when they have no connection to the multiracial men and women who suffered death and trauma at the hands of the imperialist ruling class is highly ironic. They refuse to deal with the fact that the Anzacs were made up of First Nations, Arabic, Indian and Asian troops. Billy Sing and Caleb Shang were two of Australia’s most famous soldiers in the First World War, both being half-Chinese men who put more on the line for this country than any of these wannabe toughs. Yet it must be remembered that the majority of these men and women didn’t enlist to fight for a ‘white Australia’ or whatever other bullshit these people were talking about at these events. They went to fight to defend their mates, under distorted reasons that many would regret in later years. 

Harry Newhouse, who landed at Anzac Cove on the 26th of April, lamented some 80 years later in station ‘What was it for? I don’t know. It should never have been’. In regard to the myth of Gallipoli that was being crafted towards the end of his life and which so many have distorted since, he said ‘they think we became a nation, but they killed half the nation’. Similarly, Gallipoli veteran Tom Epps of the 27th Battalion stated just before his death that ‘Remembrance Day and Anzac Day should be lessons to us…they are not days about the glory of war or about nationalism but a lesson in the futility of war. It taught me how stupid the politicians and military can be. They were boneheads. The 1914-1918 war was mass murder. Ninety-nine per cent of war is stupid’. Those who experienced these struggles firsthand and understood the real divide in our society and the source of its ills speak volumes more than the ignorant punks who seek to distort their legacy in the present. Indeed, it is the historical illiteracy and ignorance of the modern racist and fascist that leads them to distort the intersectional and militant history that has been suppressed in contemporary Australia. 

It’s the same with those in the racist camp who would seek to appropriate the imagery and myth of so many different aspects of Australian history, such as that of the bushranger, as some voyeuristic, white male fantasy. Yet, the reality is that most of those who they idolise and mythologise would detest the very underpinnings of their beliefs. Take the Kelly Gang for example - here we have a bunch of exploited children of migrants and rebels who fought against the state on the basis of being anti-imperialist, anti-cop, anti-racist, republicans whose members were able to speak Gaelic and Chinese, and associated with workers from a myriad of backgrounds, and who were assisted in their survival by both Jewish and First Nations peoples. This is not to mention the other queer or First Nations bush rangers that litter Australian history and who do away with the homogenised, sanitised history that revisionist racists seek to distort to suit their agenda. These examples highlight a key lesson that has been lost to many in this country, across all of the political spectrum. This lesson being that despite a long, shameful, sorrowful history of racism in this country, there is also a long and inspiring history of intersectional solidarity and resistance. It is only in analysing and understanding our history in its entirety that we will be able to understand not only how we got here, but what is possible and furthermore, what is required to address our historical hangovers under contemporary capitalism and colonialism.

Weakness of Progressive Forces

Another key takeaway of these recent events is something that has not been heavily touched on by progressive media in the fallout since the rallies were held. Namely, the weakness of organised progressive forces to effectively challenge not only these events, but the views and propaganda underpinning them. Unfortunately, the inadequacy of current approaches has been revealed through this saga. 

For those who have short memories, this is but one more link in a long chain of cyclical far-right, racist flare ups that break out in Australia during times of stress. From the New Guard, to the National Action, from Cronulla through to Reclaim Australia, we should be analysing this trend and the previous materialisations of the fascist and racist movement in this land. This is key if we wish to avoid the same knee-jerk responses that have limited the ability of the working people of this country to properly address the issue, and instead has led to half-hearted initiatives that peter out until the next flare up. Once again, we are witnessing people wanting to run off to gyms, rush to start some program or organise one-off events without a broader strategic plan and which in turn fizzle out once the momentum is lost and interest subsides beyond the initial outrage. 

This is not to say that no response should be taken, nor initiatives launched. Rather, we recognise the importance of being able to challenge the racist crowds and the far-right physically and definitively. But we must keep in mind that these initiatives are only successful when they are undertaken in a sustainable manner that engages, organises and empowers the communities that are most at risk, that unites those who are most capable and most willing to fight back, while at the same time depriving our enemy of a support base. On the other hand, if it is just a bunch of university students in the inner city playing pretend UFC warrior with those from the left bubble rather than organising with the working masses, it will inevitably follow the same doomed route that degrades into irrelevancy and inaction until the next periodic flare up.  

The Need to Educate and Organise

“Always they will promote competition (while they cooperate), division, mistrust, a sense of isolation. The antipodes of love. The Modus Operandi of the fascist arrangement is always to protect the capitalist class by destroying the consciousness, the trust, the unity of the lower classes.”

George Jackson, Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson

The above quote from the famous revolutionary martyr of the 20th century, George Jackson, is one that resonates heavily with what we are experiencing in the country at the moment. In regards to challenging the methods of the fascists and racists, there are two key elements to this struggle. The first is to build up and strengthen our own support base through organisation and outreach. The second is to deprive the enemy of their potential support base through education and outreach. This is the only proven method to effectively combat the fascists and the underlying racism and thinly-veiled stratification of the capitalist and colonialist institutions and culture in this country. 

Those who know the history of our party would know that many of us have been arrested, prosecuted and harassed by the police due to our anti-racist and anti-fascist activity through the years. It is through these lived experiences and our education from those with a greater wealth of knowledge in these intersectional struggles that we are able to understand that to combat those whose agenda is built on division and isolation, we must build and develop solidarity and unity. 

It is worth clarifying that this is not some hippy endeavour to build an open tent forum for anyone under the sun. However, it is the truth in our situation, as with many others throughout history, that we need to ensure that through adventurist stunts and posturing, we are not pushing those who are on the fence further into the arms and ideology of our enemies. Many people in the left-bubble are quick to forget how easy it is for the average person to be duped or misled by the relentless decades of right-wing propaganda that have created the material conditions that lead to events such as those that have occurred lately. Many are quick to dismiss the impacts that sustained alienation and exploitation has had on a large portion of our society, across all demographics. 

Unfortunately, many on the left have instead preferred to wallow in the comfort and smug correctness of their own inner-city echo chambers, where they remain validated and unchallenged by the realities of the majority of people in this country. There is a lack of experience and exposure to what so many are confronting in these trying times, and unfortunately, an unwillingness to go out into our communities and address these traits that create the breeding ground for hate and division.  

A famous list of rules utilised by the landmark unionist Jane McAlevey states ‘Don’t spend your time organizing workers who are already organizing themselves, go to the biggest worst.’ In regards to the community, this means building up strength where the racist, capitalist, colonialist institutions that foster the conditions for fascism have most exploited, alienated and neglected the people in our society. For too long, it has been the trend to neglect those areas and communities that are most at risk to these issues.

There is a purposeful, manufactured lack of education by the mainstream culture and educational systems (and in many cases, miseducation) of people who are, in many cases, disgruntled over legitimate grievances. 
They have been overwhelmed and bombarded by decades of intense propaganda designed to mislead them and demonise select groups or whole demographics to cast blame away from those who are truly responsible. This is not to say that there are not racist gronks present in every corner of our country, nor to be apologists for those who are committed to hateful beliefs. That being said, too often the left bubble plays into these dichotomies that establish false divisions and push people further into the hands of racist organisations and the divisive sentiment and ideology that leads to them.

Instead, we must counter this with and combat it through structured and strategic outreach among the intersectional workers and various alienated elements that make up the contemporary society of this nation. We must work to bring people together in our communities from diverse backgrounds, cultures and faiths, working together to address the material issues we are suffering across intersectional divides. Most importantly, being willing to organise and learn from the areas and communities that are the most at-risk in the modern day.  This is a feasible task that organisations both internationally and domestically have been able to achieve.

Our work must break down the propaganda of the enemy and mainstream culture to highlight who our shared enemies are and the intersectional nature that is the foundation of this within the conditions created by contemporary capitalism and colonialism in this country. We need to do away with the complacency of the major political parties and outdated elitist approaches to politics. Relying on representative figureheads to give a speech to a crowd that already agrees with them is not enough. 

Instead, we must work to build our power base to counter the racists and fascists by directly organising on our streets and in our communities. This is is not a struggle that is going to be won with marches in the CBD or a poster run in the inner city. It is going to be accomplished through strategic and sustained outreach and organising in our suburbs, towns and communities. We need to work together to create opportunities for people to come together across manufactured divides to address our material conditions in ways that are accessible and encourage participation in a diverse manner. It is only through this grueling work that we will be able to develop a militant consciousness that is rooted in solidarity and community unionism that breaks down divides and build intersectional awareness and assistance in our communities. 

This means getting involved in our communities and building relationships with key stakeholders. It means talking to people not only in our workplaces and friendship circles, but in P&C committees, in local sports clubs, recreation groups, places of worship, cultural centres and any other existing community hub. It is through this outreach and organising that we will be able to establish the necessary foundations to challenge them physically. We can no longer pursue initiatives that lack depth but provide a superficial emotional release. If we want to challenge this threat, we must get together, get out in our communities, and organise. 

The Modern Fascist

It is also worth taking a moment to properly unpack the current demographic of the fascist mobilisation in this country. While many are understandably afraid and shaken, we should not assist the propaganda of these grubs any more than we need to. It only takes the slightest bit of analysis of the current fascist groups and their members to understand that they are hiding their weakness behind a thin veneer of tough guy bravado. They are weak, and they are full of fear and insecurity as a result of this. This is why they act under the cover of night and hide their faces and identities. This is why they must hide their idiotic agendas behind an ‘acceptable’ veneer. This is the same reason why they need to attack as a mongrel pack that picks on targets weaker than themselves, as we saw in their assault on Camp Sovereignty. 

However, this does not mean that they are not dangerous. It is always the coward that will attack you with the most savagery when the conditions suit them. It is also worth stating that despite weak attempts at establishing a climate of rule and order, the state and the police will always favour the fascists over those who challenge them. That being said, we should not be dismayed by a group that is made up of cookers who glorify sociopathic child groomers and dignify these weak-gutted maggots or their government-sponsored organisations while they masquerade as rebels. We must build our forces to the point where we aren’t relying on the police to deal with groups that they are more than sympathetic too. At the end of the day, we would rather be calling ambulances to scrape these weak-gutted bastards of the street. 

Conclusion

As many are starting to recognise, we need to organise in light of the fact that there is a war underway in this continent. This is something that First Nations peoples here are more than aware of, and have to experience every day of their lives. It is something that the exploited, the homeless, the displaced, and the refugees who live here are relentlessly confronted with. It is the duty of all organisations and individuals who detest fascism, racism and the division it fosters to build unity and to organise in our communities where we are weak so that we are able to fight this struggle properly. It is not enough to remain in our comfort zones any longer - we have a duty to assist those who are most at risk from the fascists that seek to prey on them. 

Everyone who is able to should attend their local actions on the 13th of September, to demonstrate our strength and solidarity. However, this will not be enough. We cannot fall into the habit of going tit for tat with fleeting mobilisations that do not build the structures nor the culture necessary to combat fascism. We must organise in our communities, talk to our neighbours, disrupt the conditions that provide opportunities to the fascists and the capitalists at every given opportunity. It is only through developing this solidarity and intersectional class consciousness that we will be able to win. In the immortal words of George Jackson: 

“Settle your quarrels, come together, understand the reality of our situation, understand that fascism is already here, that people are already dying who could be saved, that generations more will live poor butchered half-lives if you fail to act. Do what must be done, discover your humanity and your love in revolution.”

― George L. Jackson