Charlottesville: How To Defeat Trump And The Far Right

After eventually condemning racism and the far-right groups that perpetrated the recent murderous violence in Charlottesville, Donald Trump, the ‘alt-right’-friendly US president, then reverted to his initial statement of condemning violence “on many sides”. Outrageously, Trump had earlier described sections of the neo-Nazi torchlight procession in Charlottesville as “very fine people”. Later he was forced to do a u-turn in order to deflect the intense political pressure on the White House. But Trump doesn’t want to distance the alt-right constituency which his campaign had assiduously courted in last year’s presidential election, hence his latest flip. Socialist Alternative (US co-thinkers of the Socialist Party) points out that although Trump’s regime is mired in deep crisis and key parts of his agenda are stalled, he still enjoys higher favourability ratings than the Democrats! As Socialist Alternative argues in the following statement, mass demonstrations and, crucially, a left political alternative, are needed to fight the right.

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Alt-right, white nationalist, and neo-Nazi groups have organised increasingly bold, racist demonstrations since Trump’s election. While still small, the size and confidence of these groups are growing. The hundreds of white nationalists who descended on Charlottesville for the “Unite the Right” convergence clearly aimed to launch their movement onto a higher plane.

With the brutal murder of Heather Heyer by neo-Nazi James Fields still fresh in the headlines, Trump got on national television to condemn the violence and hatred “on many sides.” His failure to specifically condemn the white nationalist and neo-Nazi groups drew immediate outrage from millions, while at least one alt-right website welcomed

Trump’s remarks as “really, really good”.

The sweeping public outcry against this display of violence and bigotry in Charlottesville demonstrates the real balance of forces in the US against the far right. Spontaneous mass protests are erupting in cities across the country. Alongside a plan for nationally coordinated mass protests, wherever necessary the left needs to pull together democratic community/labour defence coalitions to physically defend our movement and communities against attack.

What is increasingly clear, however, is that anti-racist protests alone are not enough to cut across the growth of nationalism and racism in society. A conscious political strategy to isolate the far right is also required.

While most Republican leaders attempt to distance themselves from alt-right groups, in reality their coded bigotry and racist government policies have encouraged the growth of racist and reactionary ideas.

Addressing ‘Trumpism’