Tag Archives: violence

Why #JusticeforGeorge spurred a national movement

Posted on June 14, 2020 by

Certainly the Minneapolis police officer who crushed George Floyd’s neck with his knee, or the three other officers who stood by as it happened, had no sense that they’d face punishment, much less spark a national campaign against racial violence.  … Continue reading →

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Police, provocation, and protest

Posted on May 31, 2020 by

Bad policing poked an old open wound in American life, one that had suffered continual poking and scratching over the past few weeks, months, years, and turned thousands of people out into the streets in protest. Bad policing of the … Continue reading →

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How activists should respond to the racist right: 3. ignore them (sheetcake)

Posted on October 8, 2017 by

The fish that always rises to the bait doesn’t live very long or very well. (Another entry in the series I started a month ago; you can find part 2 and part 1.) The racist right feeds on the (justified) outrage of … Continue reading →

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Politicize this tragedy

Posted on October 2, 2017 by

Gun control supporters need to respond to the awful Las Vegas shooting with the same speed and focus the police showed in response to the shooter. Before the FBI and police have finished conducting their investigations and cleaning up the … Continue reading →

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How activists should respond to the racist right: 2. shut them down (antifa) (?)

Posted on August 31, 2017 by

Standing up to a racist fascist movement when it is still small enough to start seems to make sense. Antifa is an umbrella term uniting people who commit to doing so aggressively, as (at right) in Berkeley in April. Of … Continue reading →

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How activists should respond to the racist right: 1. nonviolent counterdemonstrations

Posted on August 30, 2017 by

Of course it’s heartening to see 40,000 explicitly anti-racist demonstrators turn out in Boston (August 20), dwarfing the assembly they were protesting against. Was it the best approach to countering white nationalist mobilization advancing in response to Trump adminstration policies … Continue reading →

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How Trump encourages and provokes political violence

Posted on August 17, 2017 by

Donald Trump has done great damage to more than his presidency. With his remarks about the tragedy in Charlottesville, Trump dramatically increased the nourishment and encouragement he has been feeding the racist right. Activists respond to signals, and racist right … Continue reading →

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Free speech on campus? Provocation and protest.

Posted on April 27, 2017 by

Berkeley has become the indispensable stop on the right-wing lecture circuit. Antifa (anti-fascist) groups in the Bay Area now reliably turn up on campus to try to make sure offensive ideas don’t pass unchallenged. Oakland Antifa has already announced a … Continue reading →

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Protest in the Trump era, part 1 of….

Posted on January 20, 2017 by

Donald Trump’s opponents didn’t wait for his election, much less his inauguration, to take to the streets.  As candidate and president-elect, Trump has been consistent in provoking organized protest. Over the past few days, activists have staged creative, disruptive, and … Continue reading →

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Hypocrisy is progress

Posted on October 13, 2016 by

After Donald Trump reluctantly apologized for comments he could not deny–they were caught on tape–debate moderator Anderson Cooper forced him to explain whether or not it was just talk. Cooper deserves credit for pressing Trump to answer whether he sexually … Continue reading →

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