“Us vs Who, again?” — Who Is Antifa?

Ken Lane
Ken Lane
Aug 24, 2017 · 5 min read

I consider myself a fairly non-radical guy when it comes to politics. I’m registered Libertarian and, for the most part, keep my head down when it comes to my political views on social media. One of my pet peeves is when I can tell exactly who shared a political article or posted a status before I see their name purely by the content — on the right or the left. I’m also an observant Jew. While most associate Jews with being very left-leaning, observant Jews (or “religious” Jews) tend to lean to the right in many occasions. That makes this current political climate all the more confusing.

In the wake of the Charlottesville riots, it seemed that everyone was looking at who to blame. While I felt like everyone would quickly lean towards blaming the White Nationalists present, I was pretty shocked that people were having trouble making heads or tails of the situation. It quickly dawn on me — even the most White Nationalist and blatantly racist and anti-Semitic personalities in Charlottesville were actively pro-Trump — clad in MAGA hats and chanting his campaign slogans. David Duke, once the leader of the Ku Klux Klan, was even quoted on video saying that he was in Charlotteville to “fulfill the promises of Donald Trump.” I’m not saying that all Trump supporters are racists, but one could certainly see how coming down hard on those who share some of your political views could be confusing and difficult. Soon after this, when Trump was approached for comments, he came out with a statement saying, “I think there is blame on both sides.” It seemed that as soon as he made this claim of balanced responsibility, the media (both mainstream and social) sought to answer this question:
“Who are the others?” Enter: Antifa.

Even as someone whose political views almost lean Anarcho-Capitalist, I have to admit that if you had asked me out of the blue what “Antifa” meant without any context, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you. And judging by a simple Google Trends search, the same was true for most of the public.

A 2017 Google Trends chart representing inquires for the word “antifa” with the biggest spike happening the day of and day after the vehicular homicide of an “Antifa” protestor.

Who the heck is Antifa? Nobody seemed to have much information at the time. In the meantime, the story of Antifa’s fight against these White Nationalists was spread over not only mainstream media but especially social media. Still, with little to go on, people started sharing their own ideas, such as the following memes.

(Some fun facts about this meme:
1. There is absolutely no way to gauge the number of Antifa members who reside with their parents, making this as rational on the creator’s part as saying “They’re losers, but I can’t quantify what makes a loser.”
2. The individual pictured here is not Antifa, but instead a Black Bloc activist — which IS a group dedicated to rioting and believe vandalism and unprovoked violence to meet their political aim to be the answer.)

While Trump hesitated on calling a spade a spade in naming the primary oppressors for who they were (neo-nazis, white supremacists, anti-Semites, Ku Klux Klan members), I reached out to some of my own community for answers. The responses I received shocked me.

“Make no mistake — Antifa are antisemites, too.”
“Antifa are anti-white.”

Most all of these responses were share with me and accompanied by a picture of a flier that went viral with the people posting it saying it was seen posted around Charlotteville.

I was shocked. Which side of this conflict doesn’t hate Jews? I was looking for a real response. The more I did actual research, the more began to see that where puzzle pieces were missing, people seemed to make their own.

You see, Antifa did not put up that flier. It’s a fake. The National Antifa Front does not even exist. All grassroots “Antifa” organizations have refuted the fliers and have reiterated that any organization which claims to be “Antifa” is not so if they are anti-Semitic, homophobic, racist, or otherwise oppressive to victimized demographics. Also, anyone versed in photo manipulation can see editing done to the picture of flier.

So, who is this Antifa organization anyways? By the way the media reports on Antifa, one would assume that the newspapers and cable news shows would have contacted the head of Antifa for an interview. There’s only one problem with that: “Antifa” in itself, is not an organization. In fact, upon further research, there is no national Antifa organization. There are no leaders. There are only grassroots collectives in cities. The very oldest Antifa collective in the United States, based out of Portland, is only 10 years old.

This brings us to this name: “Antifa.”

What does the Taliban, Al Queda, and Antifa have in common? They sound super scary and the average American has no idea what the name of these organizations entails until it is fully explained to them. “Antifa” is simply a shortening of the expression “Anti-fascist.” Anti-fascism much more of a political persuasion than an organization. To be “Antifa” is to be “anti-fascist.” You’ll even notice on the flag most associated with “Antifa” used at rallies doesn’t say “Antifa” anywhere on it. Most every “Antifa” leaning individual will not call themselves as such, but rather they will state that they are anti-fascist. So, why does the media keep calling this opposition “Antifa”? That leads to a second question: Would we still be debating who was on the correct side of Charlottesville and other moral disputes in the future if instead of “Alt Right vs Antifa”, the sides were called what they truly were — white nationalists vs anti-fascists?

So, what is Antifa? Antifa is not a “thing” or an organization, but it is an idea. It is a political persuasion. It is simply the neutering of the expression “anti-fascist.” Going forward, the sniff test for whether or not an argument against “Antifa” makes legitimate sense is to simply replace the word “Antifa” with “anti-fascism.” If you do this, does it still sound like you are being sold an enemy with every newscast or social media post?


Let me know what you think on Twitter.

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