Antifa's Argument Against Racial Profiling In The United States

ANTIFA Some may remember these black-clad agitators from the rioting and violent actions they used to prevent conservative firebrand Milo Yiannopoulos from speaking at UC Berkeley in February of this year. During the violence that preceded his planned talk, groups of people in black smashed windows and hurled Molotov cocktails, causing an estimated $100,000 in property damage. Others may remember them for actively fighting Neo-nazi and white nationalist protesters at the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, VA on August 12. These people were members of Antifa. They had assembled in both locations with one goal: to actively fight ‘fascists’ and those who enable them. Regardless of one’s political affiliations, all Americans should be

While they are associated with and mainly comprised of far-left wing activists, like communists and anarchists, they place more of an emphasis on physically confronting far-right extremism than other advancing left-wing ideologies, according to BBC News and the New York Times. Many Antifa activists wear black hoods (hence the name black bloc) to conceal their identity and often times carry weapons like clubs and chemical mace to fight those they deem as fascist threats to America. And it is this common embrace of violence and extreme methods that unites Antifa members rather than any one, set

Our political system is built upon civil discourse, and the suppression of political speech on the grounds of disagreement is the antithesis of the liberal-democratic rights and freedoms this country was founded upon. In resorting to violence against those they disagree with, Antifa has positioned itself as judge, jury, and executioner and enables the very authoritarianism it seeks to prevent. In a time of increasing division and polarization, those who are truly committed to fighting hate and discrimination must recommit to the liberal-democratic norms of this society and advocate for the political freedoms of all Americans, especially those they disagree most with. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. knew well what he was speaking about when he wrote, “hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” His words should be a light down a path seldom trodden in the wake of the 2016 election; a path of civil discourse and disagreement, but also one of reconciliation and unity around one of the core American beliefs: freedom of