this post was submitted on 08 Jun 2020
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Just a public service announcement.

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[–] muesli@lemmy.ml 3 points 4 years ago (2 children)

I don't understand how being anti-racist can possibly be controversial in any way... and if it is for you, then I'm not sure what that says about you.

[–] cipherpunk@lemmy.ml -1 points 4 years ago* (last edited 4 years ago)

I can't see which post you're replying to. These thread lines are an optical illusion.

Antifa's method of activism is controversial

While there is nothing controversial about being anti-racist, Antifa is not simply anti-racist. It's the style of activism that's controversial. From wikipedia:

Antifa is an anti-fascist political movement in the United States[2][3][4][5] comprising a diverse[6][7] array of autonomous groups that aim to achieve their objectives through the use of both non-violent and violent direct action rather than through policy reform.[8][9][10][11] Antifa political activists engage in protest tactics such as digital activism and militancy,[11][12] sometimes involving property damage, physical violence and harassment, against fascists, racists and the far-right

Petitioning for policy reform is relatively non-controversial. But that's not Antifa. Obviously some of the more extreme actions (e.g. violence and property destruction) are controversial - and Antifa is open to them.

Antifa's ideology is controversial

Components of Antifa ideology:

  • anti-racism (non-controversial of course)
  • anti-capitalism (obviously controversial and IMO unpopular)
  • anarchy (obviously controversial and IMO unpopular)

I can't even get my head around how it's possible to be both anti-capitalist and anarchist at the same time. Anarchy is also favored by the extreme right, and obviously anarchy is a recipe for pure uncontrolled capitalism -- most oppressive form of capitalism. What am I missing?

Lemmy censorship

In the case of lemmy.ml leadership, what we see is extreme censorship. We're not just talking censorship of trashy messages. I recently posted a thread on the status of the cock.li email servers, and it was censored because the word "cock" appeared in the domain name. (proof). Obviously it's essential to mention the domain name of the service we're talking about.

No one will care if racist msgs get censored, but any post that's incompatible with an anti-capitalist or anti-government viewpoint is also likely to be censored when you see how fast and loose they are with the censor trigger.

[–] Defcon1@lemmy.ml -1 points 4 years ago (2 children)

So am I racist because I'm not an antifa nor a fascist? Do I need to be an antifa to be anti-racist?

[–] nutomic@lemmy.ml 3 points 4 years ago (1 children)

Fascism and racism have a large overlap, because they both target the same minorities. So yes, I think anti-racism needs to include anti-fascism.

[–] Defcon1@lemmy.ml -1 points 4 years ago

So that makes me a half racist, good to know

[–] muesli@lemmy.ml 2 points 4 years ago

It's not a group you sign up for. If you're not a racist, then yes, your most natural stance is being against fascism: antifa.