Not long after the ugly turn of events which took place at the "Unite the Right" march in Charlottesville, Virginia on Saturday, many Republicans, led by President Donald Trump, attempted to deflect blame to the far-left group antifa and depict the marchers as alt-right in their ideology and not emblematic of the Republican Party as a whole. Regardless of these attempts at spin, however, there's a stark difference between the two groups and their relation to the Democrat and Republican parties, respectively.
First off, for those who aren't familiar with the terms "alt-right" and "antifa," allow me to define them for you.
Alt-right is short for "alternative right," which is, as reported by the Associated Press, "a name currently embraced by some white supremacists and white nationalists to refer to themselves and their ideology, which emphasizes preserving and protecting the white race in the United States in addition to, or over, other traditional conservative positions such as limited government, low taxes and strict law-and-order. The movement has been described as a mix of racism, white nationalism and populism ... criticizes 'multiculturalism' and more rights for non-whites, women, Jews, Muslims, gays, immigrants and other minorities. Its members reject the American democratic ideal that all should have equality under the law regardless of creed, gender, ethnic origin or race."
Antifa is short for "anti fascist, which is "a fascist movement of autonomous anti-fascist groups in the United States. Since antifa is heavily composed of anarchists, its activists place little faith in the state, which they consider complicit in fascism and racism. They prefer direct action: They pressure venues to deny white supremacists space to meet. They pressure employers to fire them and landlords to evict them. And when people they deem racists and fascists manage to assemble, antifa's partisans try to break up their gatherings, including by force."
Make no mistake about it, both groups have been responsible for violence and destruction in recent months, yet there's a stark difference between the two. While antifa's fascist anti-fascist philosophy runs contrary to most self-described Democrats, the alt-right's philosophy coincides with a majority of Republicans.
There's a reason why David Duke, the KKK, and other white supremacists were so giddy about the prospect of a President Donald Trump. There's a reason why such individuals and other Trump supporters loudly chanted that they were going to take their country back during their candidate's campaign. Whether all of them will admit it or not, what they meant when uttering that phrase was that whites were going to take the United States back, that Donald Trump was going to make America great again for whites. For those who refuse to believe that this represents the modern-day Republican Party as a whole, polls suggest otherwise:
- More Republicans believe Barack Obama wasn't born in this country than believe he was born here. Not only that, but more believe he's Muslim, which he's vehemently denied, than believe he's Christian.
- Nearly three-quarters of Republicans are in favor of a border wall to prevent Latin Americans from entering this country.
- Over four-fifths of Republicans agree with Trump's Muslim travel ban.
- Only one in five Republicans support the Black Lives Matter movement.
- Between three-fifths and two-thirds of Republicans believe Islam to be a violent religion, full of extremists, in conflict with democracy, and to not have a place in American society.
- Only two in five Republicans believe in marriage equality for the LGBT community.
- Approximately two-thirds of Republicans believe women shouldn't be permitted to have abortions.
- A little over two in five Republicans disapprove of the transgender bathroom bills.
- Close to two in three Republicans support defunding Planned Parenthood.
- A majority of Republicans don't believe that a police officer is more likely to kill a black person than a white person.
Look at those poll results again. This is today's Republican Party, folks. The right has become obsolete, as they're now so outnumbered by the alt-right, the alt-right has essentially become the right. Read those poll results and then the definition of alt-right:
"...a name currently embraced by some white supremacists and white nationalists to refer to themselves and their ideology, which emphasizes preserving and protecting the white race in the United States in addition to, or over, other traditional conservative positions such as limited government, low taxes and strict law-and-order. The movement has been described as a mix of racism, white nationalism and populism ... criticizes 'multiculturalism' and more rights for non-whites, women, Jews, Muslims, gays, immigrants and other minorities. Its members reject the American democratic ideal that all should have equality under the law regardless of creed, gender, ethnic origin or race."
Still don't believe me? Look no further than the current face and leader of the Republican Party, Donald Trump, who's essentially said ad nauseum, "Whites are going to take our country back and make it great again for us!"
https://blog.ap.org/behind-the-news/writing-about-the-alt-right
https://www.wired.com/2017/02/neo-nazis-face-new-foe-online-irl-far-left-antifa/
http://www.newsweek.com/what-antifa-anti-fascism-protesters-and-white-power-groups-explained-650232
First off, for those who aren't familiar with the terms "alt-right" and "antifa," allow me to define them for you.
Alt-right is short for "alternative right," which is, as reported by the Associated Press, "a name currently embraced by some white supremacists and white nationalists to refer to themselves and their ideology, which emphasizes preserving and protecting the white race in the United States in addition to, or over, other traditional conservative positions such as limited government, low taxes and strict law-and-order. The movement has been described as a mix of racism, white nationalism and populism ... criticizes 'multiculturalism' and more rights for non-whites, women, Jews, Muslims, gays, immigrants and other minorities. Its members reject the American democratic ideal that all should have equality under the law regardless of creed, gender, ethnic origin or race."
Antifa is short for "anti fascist, which is "a fascist movement of autonomous anti-fascist groups in the United States. Since antifa is heavily composed of anarchists, its activists place little faith in the state, which they consider complicit in fascism and racism. They prefer direct action: They pressure venues to deny white supremacists space to meet. They pressure employers to fire them and landlords to evict them. And when people they deem racists and fascists manage to assemble, antifa's partisans try to break up their gatherings, including by force."
Make no mistake about it, both groups have been responsible for violence and destruction in recent months, yet there's a stark difference between the two. While antifa's fascist anti-fascist philosophy runs contrary to most self-described Democrats, the alt-right's philosophy coincides with a majority of Republicans.
There's a reason why David Duke, the KKK, and other white supremacists were so giddy about the prospect of a President Donald Trump. There's a reason why such individuals and other Trump supporters loudly chanted that they were going to take their country back during their candidate's campaign. Whether all of them will admit it or not, what they meant when uttering that phrase was that whites were going to take the United States back, that Donald Trump was going to make America great again for whites. For those who refuse to believe that this represents the modern-day Republican Party as a whole, polls suggest otherwise:
- More Republicans believe Barack Obama wasn't born in this country than believe he was born here. Not only that, but more believe he's Muslim, which he's vehemently denied, than believe he's Christian.
- Nearly three-quarters of Republicans are in favor of a border wall to prevent Latin Americans from entering this country.
- Over four-fifths of Republicans agree with Trump's Muslim travel ban.
- Only one in five Republicans support the Black Lives Matter movement.
- Between three-fifths and two-thirds of Republicans believe Islam to be a violent religion, full of extremists, in conflict with democracy, and to not have a place in American society.
- Only two in five Republicans believe in marriage equality for the LGBT community.
- Approximately two-thirds of Republicans believe women shouldn't be permitted to have abortions.
- A little over two in five Republicans disapprove of the transgender bathroom bills.
- Close to two in three Republicans support defunding Planned Parenthood.
- A majority of Republicans don't believe that a police officer is more likely to kill a black person than a white person.
Look at those poll results again. This is today's Republican Party, folks. The right has become obsolete, as they're now so outnumbered by the alt-right, the alt-right has essentially become the right. Read those poll results and then the definition of alt-right:
"...a name currently embraced by some white supremacists and white nationalists to refer to themselves and their ideology, which emphasizes preserving and protecting the white race in the United States in addition to, or over, other traditional conservative positions such as limited government, low taxes and strict law-and-order. The movement has been described as a mix of racism, white nationalism and populism ... criticizes 'multiculturalism' and more rights for non-whites, women, Jews, Muslims, gays, immigrants and other minorities. Its members reject the American democratic ideal that all should have equality under the law regardless of creed, gender, ethnic origin or race."
Still don't believe me? Look no further than the current face and leader of the Republican Party, Donald Trump, who's essentially said ad nauseum, "Whites are going to take our country back and make it great again for us!"
https://blog.ap.org/behind-the-news/writing-about-the-alt-right
https://www.wired.com/2017/02/neo-nazis-face-new-foe-online-irl-far-left-antifa/
http://www.newsweek.com/what-antifa-anti-fascism-protesters-and-white-power-groups-explained-650232
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