8 Modes of Resistance for These Times

The natural response to seeing video or photos of an angry mob carrying torches and shouting racist, anti-Semitic and anti-gay slogans is a sense of revulsion, and perhaps even panic. These are people who are the philosophical descendants of the folks who killed six million “unacceptable” people. And most of us know that we and/or people we love are amongst the unacceptable. We feel threatened, because we are threatened.

And when we feel threatened, our natural response is fight or flight. Our guts tell us to run away or to engage in combat. That’s our native, instinctual response. But you know who else is operating out of an instinctual response? These white men who feel a loss of power and privilege in our increasingly diverse society and fight back with a testosterone-filled fury against the perceived threats to their “right” to power and privilege. They are, of course, horrifically wrong, but they are going with their guts.

We need to respond, but we need to respond with the full weight of our minds and hearts and spirits as well as our guts. What does that look like? Well, by thinking through what exactly we hope to accomplish with our actions, so that we can be as effective as possible in reaching our goals. Here are some goals and strategies as I see them — I’m sure it’s a far from comprehensive list both in terms of goals and strategies, and I’d love to hear further input.

1. Tell the world that we abhor everything these people stand for.
   We do that any time we publicly embrace love, generosity, welcome, and diversity. We do that any time we acknowledge our own privilege and work to extend that privilege to others. We can do that in rallies wherever we live, or in concerts, or interfaith prayer circles. We do that in tangible efforts in support of the rights of people of color, LGBT folk, people with disabilities, immigrants and everyone that the neo-Nazis would “cleanse” our society of. We can do it on social media and one on one and through events that are orchestrated to draw attention from the media.
2. Show people who are politically to the right of us the consequences of their choices.
   The president has basically drawn a moral equivalence between the alt-right and the counter-protesters who opposed them. He is, of course, utterly and offensively wrong. But the more people who tend toward sympathy with the president see videos of violent encounters between neo-Nazis and counter-protesters, the more likely they are to believe his false equivalency. The more they see images of counter-protesters engaged in non-violent acts like prayer and singing, the sharper the contrast and the more likely they are to disavow the side that looks really ugly.
3. Protect people who are physically threatened by the presence of neo-Nazis rallying near where they live.
   This is important, but also tricky, since what it might look like depends entirely on the location. But one possibility is making sure that any vulnerable people have somewhere else comfortable and welcoming to be while the alt-right is rallying in their area. But won’t leaving just make the alt-right feel powerful and in control of the area? Different question about a different goal. If the question is how to keep people safe, find your most effective answer to keeping people safe.
4. Convince the alt-right that they are wrong.
   Yeah. Good luck. There are, in fact, great stories of people who have, through personal contact and connection, done just that. But it has, to the best of my knowledge, never happened because enough people yelled loud enough.
5. Hold the alt-right accountable for their actions.
   This is happening with web hosts refusing to provide service for hate groups and with folks on social media pointing out the names and locations of people who are participating in these rallies. The fact that the government guarantees a right to free speech does not mean that employers have to tolerate this kind of behavior. You can support the Southern Poverty Law Center, which has a long history of holding hate groups accountable.
6. Physically overpower them, meeting violence with violence.
   Well, these are people who are conspicuously armed and avowedly open to using violence. So if you are going to engage on this level you should be prepared to win. Coming at people who are carrying assault rifles when you are carrying a stick or a bottle seems like a very bad plan — it invites the move into violence while pretty much assuring that you will lose and they will win. You cede moral authority without achieving physical control. If they are eager to use violence and you are doing so only reluctantly I would say they have a considerable upper hand. So if you are going to use violence you pretty much need to be better armed, better trained and more willing to do damage than they are. I don’t know about you, but I am not that person, and I don’t want to be.
7. Combat white supremacy.
   There are lots of ways to do that that don’t involve directly combating white supremacists (h/t Ijeoma Oluo).
8. Build a sense of power, connection, joy, and resilience in anti-racist communities.
   Listen. Speak from your heart. Listen more. Sing together. Laugh together. Eat together. Take a deep breath when your feelings are hurt and listen deeper. Learn when to speak up and when to step back. Do it wrong and apologize. Share lists of your favorite books and movies. Share recipes. Write songs. Teach your children (they are all our children) about the horrors that have taken place, and about the heroes of every age who have stood up for justice and freedom and equality. Remind them — and yourself — that we are all, in many different ways, called to be heroes.

Originally published at Quest for Meaning.