Redneck Revolt is an American anti-capitalist, anti-racist and anti-fascist group. Founded in 2009, Redneck Revolt organizes predominantly among white working-class people and has more than 33 local chapters across the United States. The group supports gun rights and members often openly carry firearms. Members have been present at several protests against Donald Trump and against the far right in 2017.
Video Redneck Revolt
Background
Redneck Revolt was founded in 2009 as an offshoot of the John Brown Gun Club, a firearms training and community defense project that was itself founded in Lawrence, Kansas in 2004. The group was founded in part in response to the perceived contradictions of the Tea Party movement. Following a hiatus the group re-emerged in 2016, using both the Redneck Revolt and John Brown Gun Club names.
The group attributes their use of the word "redneck" to the time of the Coal Wars, a series of labor disputes in the United States occurring from around 1890 to around 1930, when the word became popular among coalminers. The red bandanas worn by members emulate those worn by striking coalminers during the 1921 Battle of Blair Mountain. A member has said that the group tries "to acknowledge the ways we've made mistakes and bought into white supremacy and capitalism, but also give ourselves an environment in which it's OK to celebrate redneck culture".
Their political influences include the 19th-century abolitionist John Brown, the Young Patriots Organization and the Rainbow Coalition, an alliance formed in Chicago in the 1960s between the Black Panthers, Young Lords and the Young Patriots. The group sees itself as part of a tradition of white working-class "rebellion against tyranny and oppression".
Maps Redneck Revolt
Views
Redneck Revolt is an anti-capitalist, anti-racist and anti-fascist group, and uses direct action tactics. Redneck Revolt supports the rights of Muslims, immigrants and LGBT people and is opposed to economic inequality. Members also support the Black Lives Matter movement.
The group's website includes statements in opposition to capitalism, the nation state, white supremacy and "the wars of the rich", and advocates a "right of militant resistance". The website also argues for the necessity of revolution. A spokesperson for the Phoenix, Arizona John Brown Gun Club said in April 2017 that the group includes anarchists, communists, libertarians and Republicans. The group does not identify itself as part of the political left, nor as politically liberal. Redneck Revolt does not have leaders, and does not offer a detailed blueprint for political action: a spokesperson said in June 2017 that "We don't have some grand plan for how we want to remake the world. We're tackling a specific problem, which is white supremacy, which we find to be built into capitalism".
The group supports gun rights and runs firearms training events. Members often view the practice of openly carrying guns as a political statement that intimidates opponents and affirms gun rights. In a May 2017 interview a member said the group uses guns only in self-defense and in "response to a rise in politically motivated violence and intimidation against vulnerable communities". The same member said that Redneck Revolt had reached out to groups such as the 3 Percenters, a predominantly right-wing group, with whom they have some common ground. In September 2017 a member said "It's not about seizing the gun culture or becoming obsessed about guns. It's only recognizing it's useful to know how to field strip and clean a rifle as much as it is to know how to fix wiring in your house and use a circular saw." The increased visibility of Redneck Revolt in 2017 has sparked debate among activists over the effects of armed protest and the possibility that the use of guns may lead to heightened violence.
The group argues that the white working-class have more in common with working-class people of color than with the wealthy. Dave Strano, a founding member, has argued that
The history of the white working class has been a history of being an exploited people. However, we've been an exploited people that further exploits other exploited people. While we've been living in tenements and slums for centuries, we've also been used by the rich to attack our neighbors, coworkers, and friends of different colors, religions and nationalities.
Activities
Redneck Revolt is a national network comprising local groups known as John Brown Gun Clubs. There is no official count of the number of chapters, but as of May 2017 the group had more than 33 such local chapters across 20 U.S. states. The group's membership grew significantly following the August 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
The group focuses on anti-racist organizing among white poor and working-class people, though members are not exclusively white. Redneck Revolt is active in spaces in which white supremacist groups also often recruit, including country music concerts, flea markets, gun shows and NASCAR events. Chapters in Appalachia also provide food and clothing programs, community gardens and needle exchanges in rural communities. In a September 2017 interview a member said that the group was exploring ways to respond to health care challenges and food shortages.
The Phoenix, Arizona chapter of Redneck Revolt openly carried firearms outside of the Arizona State Legislature on the day of the inauguration of Donald Trump in January 2017. They declared support for those opposing Trump, including immigrants, LGBTQ people and Muslims.
In April 2017 members attended a counter-protest against groups including the League of the South, the Traditionalist Worker's Party and the National Socialist Movement in Pikeville, Kentucky. Later in April members hosted a barbecue in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where Trump was marking his 100th day in office.
Silver Valley Redneck Revolt, a local chapter, organized a counter-demonstration against a Ku Klux Klan rally in Asheboro, North Carolina in May 2017. In a Facebook post the group said "We need to let the Klan know that if they leave their enclaves there will be a broad response from the community ... This event is to publicly denounce the Klan, their beliefs, and show that we will not back down."
A local chapter of Redneck Revolt was part of a counter-protest against a June 2017 rally in support of Trump in Portland, Oregon. Also in June, members were part of a protest against the Christian conservative organization Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs, Colorado, which coincided with a speech by Mike Pence to celebrate the group's fortieth anniversary. On June 23 armed members of Redneck Revolt attended a protest in Kalkaska, Michigan in response to anti-Muslim comments made by Jeff Sieting, the village president. Members carried a banner in support of Muslims and said they were there to protect the protesters from counter-protesters supporting Sieting.
At the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, several Redneck Revolt chapters provided armed security and medical assistance for counterprotesters. Days later, members provided security at a "Hate Is Not Welcome in Lane County" march in Eugene, Oregon in response to the events in Charlottesville. In October 2017, Redneck Revolt was one of a number of groups named as a defendant in a lawsuit filed on behalf of the city of Charlottesville and several Charlottesville-based businesses and neighborhood associations, which sought to prevent prohibit militia and paramilitary activity in Virginia.
Later in August, members participated in protests against Trump's speech in Phoenix, Arizona. In September 2017, Redneck Revolt supported the Juggalo March on Washington, a protest by juggalos against their designation as a gang. Redneck Revolt's statement said the march aligned with their "belief in the right to community self-determination and self-defense".
In October 2017 a branch of Redneck Revolt in Suffolk County, New York was involved in organizing a candlelight vigil for people suffering from opioid addiction and families effected by the opioid epidemic.
See also
- Antifa (United States), an anti-fascist movement
- Anti-Racist Action, a network of anti-fascists and anti-racists in North America
- Huey P. Newton Gun Club
- Protests against Donald Trump
- Refuse Fascism
References
External links
- Official website
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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