I unequivocally defend and advocate for the anti-fascists who defended Professor Cornel West and the clergy with him against the Nazis in Charlottesville. I also think that the removal of Confederate monuments in Baltimore and Durham represent a great aspect of this new civil rights movement since the first days of the #BlackLivesMatter movement in the Ferguson Uprising. I cannot tell you how many white folks I’ve seen on social media either condemning or whitesplaining these actions.

It is clear to me that law and order, or the pretense of such, is more important than direct action against white supremacists, literal Nazis who, when given the chance, will enact genocide against Black folks, Jewish folks, and Natives and all sorts of intersections of marginalized identities. Moreover, there are STILL some who believe that these fascists can be negotiated with. History says otherwise. History says that the death of #HeatherHeyer is only the beginning (nevermind that we told the public for years that Nazis were infiltrating police forces and further mobilizing them against Black communities).

As distasteful as it may be, the actions of the anti-fascists in Charlottesville and the socialists who removed the statue (kudos in particular to Takiya Thompson) in Durham are necessary. They are motivated by that “great feeling of love” towards their community that Che Guevara spoke of. Some of the folks who were arrested in Durham have been thankfully released, but there is still work to be done. As of this writing, the movement to release activists and call to task the COINTELPRO like raids of the Durham DA’s office has overwhelmed their phonelines. You yourself do not necessarily need to be in the streets throwing down with the white supremacists. You can learn first aid for protestors. You can contribute to bail funds. You can circulate *truthful* media instead of the bullcrap CNN or FOX publishes.

When organized and sufficiently prepared, that’s a great resistance tactic. Better tactics are to identify and remove white supremacists from the public sphere, from their jobs. Until there are the numbers to directly confront the State of South Carolina, the one hundred activists in Charleston are on the right path - speaking up, loudly. The Charleston chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America are currently calling for the repeal of the S.C. Heritage Act passed in 2000 that is a constant reminder of our State’s commitment to emboldening white supremacists.

I am uninterested in “non-violence” rhetoric or the “free speech!” defense for white supremacists. Nor am I interested in your revisionist arguments about memorializing slave-owners. Stop talking to white supremacists. Stop boosting their platforms. Don’t ever compromise with family members and “friends” who start spouting Nazi talking points. Shut it down verbally and physically wherever possible.

If you consider yourself to be a white liberal, now is the time to draw battle lines and move Left. Otherwise you’re nothing more than a stumbling block at the least, and a Nazi sympathizer at worst. Don’t take it from me, learn firsthand from the people who suffered because liberals allowed Nazis to rise to power.