BOSTON, November 18—A thousand anti-racist protestors rallied to stop a gathering of 50 fascists at the Boston Common. This follows a similar rally in August, when 40,000 people marched from up and down the East Coast to oppose neo-Nazis like the Oath Keepers, Patriotic Prayer, and other white-supremacist militias. As part of a new generation of gutter racist organizations, emboldened by the brazenly racist Trump presidency, these groups openly advocate “white nationalism” and anti-immigrant racism. They have sent armed vigilantes to intimidate people demonstrating against police killings of Black workers.
This time the fascists were denied a permit. They came anyway, saying they had the right to assemble on the Boston Common, a large and historic park open to all. Though the rally was illegal, liberal Boston Mayor Marty Walsh showed he was squarely on the fascists’ side. Several hundred Boston police, state police and other cops came to protect the fascists. Once again, we saw how the capitalist bosses serve their own racist interests in deciding when and where to enforce their laws. Without the cops, the fascists couldn’t organize!
Death to Fascism, Power to the Workers
Members and friends of Progressive Labor Party arrived in downtown Boston just as the kkkops were leading the fascists Tremont Street to the Boston Common. We held a bullhorn rally right there on the sidewalk, just across from the “alt right” and its armed cop guard. Although we lacked the forces to physically confront both the fascists and the cops, we had a successful 30-minute rally. We were joined by people off the street, including one who stayed to the end. We distributed CHALLENGE and a leaflet titled: “Learn From History – Destroy Fascism Now!” We unfurled our anti-fascist banner and spoke on the bullhorn to receptive passersby and those on their way to protest.
Then we decided to approach the Parkman Bandstand within 100 feet of where the fascists were assembled. As we walked into the Common, we found ourselves in an armed camp, with police stationed everywhere. The bandstand was barricaded to protect the fascists from righteous working-class anger. As we arrived, and the fascists began spewing their racist lies, we raised our banner and took up our bullhorn once again to drown them out. Finally the cops led the cowards out and simultaneously cordoned off most of the protesters so that we couldn’t follow. We chanted as loudly as we could: “Hitler rose, Hitler fell, Nazi scum can go to hell!” and “Death, death, death to the fascists, power, power, power to the workers!”
Before we left, we distributed more than 500 leaflets and close to 50 CHALLENGEs. We reached many people with our militant, anti-capitalist ideas on the need to smash fascist movements before they grow. At the same time, this experience showed us that we need to build up our anti-fascist forces.
Ruling Class Crises Lead to World War
As we explained at the rally, capitalist rulers from Turkey to Saudi Araba to China to the U.S. are disciplining their own ranks because their system is in crisis and they can no longer rule in the old way. The dominant bosses, like finance capital in the U.S., use fascist groups to help them consolidate power and attempt to divide and intimidate the international working class. We made it clear that rising fascism is an essential step toward global inter-imperialist war. Capitalism cannot be reformed to stop fascism. Only communist revolution can smash the lethal profit system and end fascism and imperialist war forever.
What we must learn from history: world events today are similar to what occurred in Europe in the 1930s. In both England and Germany, large fascist movements were backed by big capitalist financiers. In England, working people crushed the black-shirt fascists in the streets. In Germany, they fought the Nazis but lost the street battles. The German Communist Party relied on the electoral process and the dangerous illusion that fascism could be stopped by an alliance with “progressive” capitlists. That grave mistake ultimately cost the lives of 6 million Jewish people and tens of millions of others.
Today the fascists and their backers are clear in their intentions: subjugate Black, Latin, Asian, and immigrant workers; suppress and divide our class; defend the U.S. profit empire. Allowing fascists to organize has consequences. Enough is enough! As we have learned from the horrors of history, we need to stop this scum now, along with the sick capitalist system that finances and protects them! We will continue our struggle in Boston and around the world!