white supremacy

In this new TC Indymedia video, we give a new look (in HD!) at the now-infamous Robert Erickson Tea Party punk with added footage of crowd reactions and interactions with counter-protesters.  Erickson's speech exposed the hypocrisy of the white supremacist, racist and xenophobic rhetoric of right-wing extremists, who use dangerous imagery to frame the immigration debate.  It also drew attention to the plight of the Dakota people, who currently control .006% of their original land base, which was stolen via fraudulent treaties, genocide and ethnic cleansing.

Video and editing by Twin Cities IMC with additional footage from Bluestem Prairie and I Don't Hate America. (6:06)

Article: Anti-Racists Steal the Show at White Supremacist "Tea Party Against Amnesty" | Robert Erickson Fans on Facebook & Twitter | Youtube | Blip.TV | Related Event: An Evening of Reparations Dec. 6

Austin, Minnesota (Updated 8pm Sunday)--It was fifty facing off four: fifty activists from southern Minnesota-based Centro Campesino, Anti-Racist Action, Bash Back--Twin Cities and other Minnesota activist organizations across from four members of the National Socialist Movement.  As they do every so often, the neo-nazis rallied on Saturday at the Veterans' Memorial in Austin's quiet downtown, across the street from popular local restaurant El Mariachi.

In this town of 25,000 about two hours south of the Twin Cities, it's hard to find someone who doesn't have experience in the meatpacking industry.  The legacy of the contentious 1985-6 Hormel strike, combined with Bush-era rhetoric targeting undocumented immigrants and the divide-and-conquer strategy of right-wing bosses has led to animosity from some white residents.  They say Latina/o workers are lowering wages and taking their jobs.  In this context, overt white supremacists have begun to gain public acceptance.

After neo-nazi speeches were drowned out by the screams of the anti-racist crowd on Saturday afternoon, police protection from three different agencies arrived for the NSM.  Three people were arrested while others were sprayed with mace.  What led to this scene, and what lessons were learned?

This is Part 1 of a two-part article on Saturday's events.  Check back to TCIMC later for Part 2.  Related: Neo-nazis Repelled from YWCA in Minneapolis | Photos below

"Nazis...I hate those guys."  -Indiana Jones

There's a really great workshop scheduled at the YWCA this saturday. October 3rd (10am-5pm) about dealing with white priviledge and white supremacy. This is useful, important and, frankly, long overdue for many in the twin cities. White folks should definitely try to be there.

The Nazis are coming out as well. Having heard about the event, the National Socialist Movement has announced plans to protest the workshop.

Certainly, this world doesn't need more words written by people like me - which is part of why, at the end of this note, I reproduce a more thoughtful, enduring essay than this one.   But here and now, I nonetheless write as a white, male-bodied, self-identified anarchist, understanding to the best of my ability the irony of using this medium to say to my male-bodied comrades who fight, rage, love, cry and struggle for social justice in the Twin Cities:

Please, wake up and shut up.