I infiltrated Antifa for six months back in 2017-2018, to subvert and sabotage, but also to understand my enemy. I wanted to get inside their heads and the best way to do that is to get them to let their guard down because they think you’re one of them.
At six months, I was at the upper limits of my ability to hold my tongue and blend in while listening to them spew the most retarded bullshit imaginable. Even someone who’s well-read in Marx would laugh at what the average antifascist believes about Marxism and leftwing philosophy.
The modern American version of the movement is a shaky alliance between leftwing anarchists and communists. Hence the black and red colors in their symbolism. They’ve agreed to set their differences aside and sort things out after they’ve overthrown the government. Which is their primary mission, for anyone who thinks it’s something more noble like policy reform. No, it’s about seizing power, plain and simple.
One thing I noticed was that each antifa organization had an unspoken hierarchy. Black
militants would always be in a public-facing leadership position where they could scream through a bullhorn and agitate the rank & file into a frenzy. The organizers were almost always White women and gays. The trans element was usually relegated to being mere foot soldiers, and any straight White guys pretending to be allies in order to fuck the art hoes were at the very bottom.
Being a White guy at their meetings and events felt like how I’d imagine it would feel to be a White guy at a Black Panthers meeting. It’s rarely said aloud, but there’s a not-so-subtle tension…an underlying menace that permeates every interaction with other members, excuse me, “comrades.” You’re not welcome, you are tolerated. But only if you’re useful. Only if you show twice as much enthusiasm. Only if you never speak except to affirm someone else.
Your only purpose is to be a whipping post, to nod along, smile like a jackass and clap the loudest everytime a minority says the dumbest shit you’ve ever heard. And to carry heavy shit. The women and the gays will tell you to carry things anytime something weighs more than five ounces. They don’t ask. They point to whatever needs moved and expect you to volunteer yourself. They do it with a satisfied sneer and a glare of contempt.
This victim hierarchy of women, LGBTs, blacks, latinos, muslims, jews, etc. rules every thought they have. Everything must be dissected, deconstructed and categorized according to the oppressor-oppressed dynamic. This is the lens through which they perceive the world. Nothing exists to them free of its guilt or innocence, a stone isn’t just a stone. It’s an object attached to a label created by the language of the patriarchy.
And for that sin, it must be redeemed. Renamed, baptized into the religion of decolonization and given a new name that doesn’t vibrate the vocal cords the same way as words invented by evil White men.