 | |
| Predecessor | John Brown Gun Club |
|---|---|
| Formation | 2009; 17 years ago (2009) |
| Founded at | Kansas, United States |
| Legal status | Disbanded in 2019 |
| Location |
|
| Methods | Direct action, firearms and first aid training,open carry, outreach, food and clothing programs,community gardens,needle exchanges,potlucks, educational events, protests, security and medical assistance at protests |
| Website | RedneckRevolt.org |
Redneck Revolt was an American political group[1][2][3] that organized predominantly amongworking-class people. The group supportedgun rights and members oftenopenly carried firearms. Its political positions wereanti-capitalist,anti-racist andanti-fascist. Founded inKansas in 2009, members were present at severalprotests against Donald Trump and against thefar-right in 2017. According to its official website, the organization disbanded in 2019.[4]
Redneck Revolt was founded in 2009,[1][5][6] partly in response to the perceived contradictions of theTea Party movement,[1] as an offshoot of theJohn Brown Gun Club, a firearms training and community defense project that was itself founded inLawrence, Kansas, in 2004.[1][5][6][7] Founding member Dave Strano was previously part of the Kansas Mutual Aid Network which was involved in organizingprotests against the Republican National Convention in 2004, in relation to which he and others began to train with firearms and engage inSecond Amendment advocacy.[7][8] In the early 2000s, John Brown Gun Club members operated anti-racist stalls atgun shows in Kansas.[9] The John Brown Gun Club sought to "demystify" firearms and to distinguish their commitment to community self-defense from clandestine groups that advocatedguerrilla warfare.[7] Its first major mobilization was a protest against the 2005 national conference of theMinuteman Project.[10]
Following a hiatus, the group was re-formed as a national organization in summer 2016,[6][7] using both the Redneck Revolt and John Brown Gun Club names,[5] with the intention of responding to the growth ofright-wing populism, particularly among rural, working-classwhite people.[7]
The group attributes their use of the word "redneck" to the time of theCoal Wars, a series of labor disputes in the United States occurring from around 1890 to around 1930, when the word became popular among coal-miners.[11] The use of the term is also intended as a form of subversion orreappropriation.[8] The group's name also refers to the 1921Battle of Blair Mountain[12] and the red bandanas worn by members emulate those worn by striking coal-miners during that conflict.[13] A member has said that the group tries "to acknowledge the ways we've made mistakes and bought intowhite supremacy andcapitalism, but also give ourselves an environment in which it's OK to celebrate redneck culture".[1]
Their political influences include the 19th-century abolitionistJohn Brown,[14] theYoung Patriots Organization[1][6][15][16] theDeacons for Defense and Justice[8] and theRainbow Coalition, an alliance formed inChicago in the 1960s between theBlack Panther Party,Young Lords and the Young Patriots.[17][18] The group sees itself as part of a tradition of white working-class "rebellion against tyranny and oppression".[14]
- We stand against white supremacy
- We believe in true liberty for all people
- We stand for organized defense of our communities
- We are working class and poor people
- We are an aboveground militant formation
- We stand against the nation-state and its forces which protect the bosses and the rich (police and military)
- We stand against capitalism
- We stand against the wars of the rich
- We stand against patriarchy
- We believe in the right of militant resistance
- We believe in the need for revolution
Redneck Revolt was ananti-capitalist,[18]anti-racist[18] andanti-fascist group[6][21] that usesdirect action tactics.[14][15][21] Redneck Revolt supported the rights ofMuslims, immigrants andLGBT people and opposed toeconomic inequality.[22] The group's literature did not argue for prioritizing economic injustice over racism or vice versa, but rather argued that both should be fought simultaneously.[23] Members also supported theBlack Lives Matter movement.[1]
The group's website included statements in opposition to capitalism, thenation state, white supremacy and "the wars of the rich" and advocates a "right of militant resistance".[13][18] They advanced a critique of white supremacy which they described as "a system of violence and power that ensures that political, economic, and social power is withheld from people who aren't white".[10] They described their purpose as follows:[10]
We hope to incite a movement amongst working people that works toward the total liberation of all working people, regardless of skin color, religious background, sexual orientation, gender, country of birth, or any other division that bosses and politicians have used to fragment movements for social, political, and economic freedom.
The group did not identify itself as part of thepolitical left,[22] nor as politicallyliberal.[1] A spokesperson for thePhoenix, Arizona John Brown Gun Club said in April 2017 that the group includedanarchists,communists,libertarians andRepublicans.[13] The geographer Levi van Sant argued that the group's ideology was a form oflibertarian socialism.[10] The website argued for the necessity ofrevolution.[18] Redneck Revolt doesnot have leaders[13] and does not offer a detailed blueprint for political action. In June 2017, a spokesperson said that "[w]e don't have some grand plan for how we want to remake the world. We're tackling a specific problem, which is white supremacy, which we find to be built into capitalism".[18]
They also did not consider themselves anantifa group.[16] Although their goals were similar, Redneck Revolt members did not cover their faces and sought to be "as upfront about who [they] are and what [they]'re doing as possible".[24]
The group supportedgun rights[1][17][25] and ran firearms training events.[15][18] Members viewed theright to bear arms as connected to the necessity ofoverthrowing the state.[26] Members often viewed the practice ofopenly carrying guns as a political statement that intimidates opponents and affirms gun rights.[1] In a May 2017 interview, a member said the group uses guns only in self-defense and in "response to a rise in politically motivated violence and intimidation against vulnerable communities".[22] In September 2017, a member said: "It's not about seizing thegun culture or becoming obsessed about guns. It's only recognizing it's useful to know how tofield strip and clean a rifle as much as it is to know how to fix wiring in your house and use a circular saw".[5] The increased visibility of Redneck Revolt in 2017 sparked debate among activists over the effects of armed protest and the possibility that the use of guns may lead to heightened violence.[27]
In May 2017, a member said that Redneck Revolt had reached out to groups such as the3 Percenters, a predominantly right-wing group, with whom they have some common ground.[22] The practice of openly carrying firearms and a shared interest in guns has led to dialogs with right-wingmilitias.[8][12] Van Sant wrote in March 2018 that "[t]hrough patient dialogue and popular education, several Redneck Revolt chapters have been able to challenge thewhite nationalist ideologies of theseright-wing libertarian militias and flip them away from anti-immigrant and pro-capitalist positions".[10]
The group argued that the white working-class have more in common with working-classpeople of color than with the wealthy.[5] Dave Strano, a former founding member, argued:[1]
The history of the whiteworking class has been a history of being an exploited people. However, we've been an exploited people that further exploits other exploited people. While we've been living in tenements and slums for centuries, we've also been used by the rich to attack our neighbors, coworkers, and friends of different colors, religions and nationalities.
Redneck Revolt was a national network.[13] Local groups use both the Redneck Revolt and John Brown Gun Club names.[8] There was no official count of the number of chapters,[27] but in December 2017, the group had around 45 such local chapters across more than 30 U.S. states.[25] The group's membership grew during the2016 presidential election[9] and following the August 2017Unite the Right rally inCharlottesville, Virginia.[27] In 2018, local groups inShelby, North Carolina,Portland, Oregon, andAsheville andBoone, North Carolina, disaffiliated from the national network.[8]
The group focused on anti-racist organizing among white poor and working-class people,[1][15][18] although members were not exclusively white.[1] For instance, around 30 percent were people of color.[24] In May 2018, a member said that at least one third of the group's membership were women, people of color ornon-binary people.[12] Administrative and communications activities were divided equally along lines of gender.[23] Speaking to Mark Bray, author ofAntifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook, one of Redneck Revolt's co-founders said the group's membership included veterans, former Republicans and former members of the 3 Percenters.[24]
Redneck Revolt was active in spaces in which white supremacist groups also often recruit, includingcountry music concerts,flea markets, gun shows,NASCAR events,rodeos andstate fairs.[9][18][25][10][23] Chapters provided firearms and first aid training,[28] food and clothing programs[18] andcommunity gardens[16][18][28] and hostedneedle exchanges,[18]potlucks[16] and educational events.[28] Activities aroundracial justice andtransgender rights were predominantly oriented toward rural white people, while firearms training events were oriented toward women and people of color.[23] In a September 2017 interview, a member said that the group was exploring ways to respond to health care challenges and food shortages.[5] Some of the group's activities were modeled after theSurvival Programs pursued by theBlack Panther Party and theYoung Patriots Organization in the 1960s.[8]
During theDakota Access Pipeline protests in 2016, Redneck Revolt published a pamphlet addressed to members of right-wing militias that argued there was no reason why "the white working-class ... [should] find solidarity with rich white ranch owners against the government, but not working-class people of color defending their own land and community".[9]
ThePhoenix, Arizona chapter of Redneck Revolt openly carried firearms outside of theArizona State Legislature on the day of theinauguration of Donald Trump in January 2017. They declared support for those opposing Trump, including immigrants,LGBTQ people and Muslims.[17]
In April 2017, members attended a counter-protest against groups including theLeague of the South, theTraditionalist Worker Party and theNational Socialist Movement inPikeville, Kentucky.[1][18] Later in April, members hosted a barbecue inHarrisburg, Pennsylvania, where Trump was marking his100th day in office.[1]
Silver Valley Redneck Revolt, a local chapter, organized a counter-demonstration against aKu Klux Klan rally inAsheboro, North Carolina, in May 2017.[11][17] In aFacebook post, the group said: "We need to let the Klan know that if they leave their enclaves there will be a broad response from the community. ... This event is to publicly denounce the Klan, their beliefs, and show that we will not back down".[29]
A local chapter of Redneck Revolt was part of a counter-protest against a June 2017 rally in support of Trump inPortland, Oregon.[15] Also in June, members were part of a protest against the Christian conservative organizationFocus on the Family inColorado Springs, Colorado, which coincided with a speech byMike Pence to celebrate the group's fortieth anniversary.[30] On June 23, armed members of Redneck Revolt attended a protest inKalkaska, Michigan, in response to anti-Muslim comments made by Jeff Sieting, the village president. Members carried a banner in support of Muslims and said they were there to protect the protesters from counter-protesters supporting Sieting.[31][32]
In August 2017, members participated in protests against Trump's speech in Phoenix, Arizona.[24][33][34] In February 2018, Dwayne E. Dixon, a member of Redneck Revolt and a teaching assistant professor at theUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was found not guilty of misdemeanourgun charges for his role in a protest against a Ku Klux Klan event inDurham, North Carolina, the previous August.[12][35] In September 2017, Redneck Revolt supported theJuggalo March on Washington, a protest byjuggalos against their designation as agang. Redneck Revolt's statement said the march aligned with their "belief in the right to communityself-determination and self-defense".[36]
In October 2017, a branch of Redneck Revolt inSuffolk County, New York, was involved in organizing acandlelight vigil for people suffering fromopioid addiction and families affected by theopioid epidemic.[37]
At theUnite the Right rally inCharlottesville, Virginia, on August 11–12, 2017, several Redneck Revolt chapters provided armed security and medical assistance for counter-protesters.[5][8][12][38][39][40][41][42] Days later, members provided security at a "Hate Is Not Welcome in Lane County" march inEugene, Oregon, in response to the events in Charlottesville.[43][44]
In October 2017, Redneck Revolt was one of a number of groups named as a defendant in a lawsuit filed on behalf of the city of Charlottesville and several Charlottesville-based businesses andneighborhood associations which sought to prohibit militia andparamilitary activity in Virginia.[8][45][46][47][48] The groups and individuals named as defendants which also included thewhite supremacistJason Kessler were accused of unlawful paramilitary activity, falsely assuming the role of law enforcement officers and being apublic nuisance.[42] The lawsuit identified Redneck Revolt and theSocialist Rifle Association, an anti-fascist group that defends working-class people's right to bear arms, as "private militia groups ... [that] helped create and secure a staging area for counter-protestors".[48]
Mary McCord, a former federal prosecutor who played a leading role in the lawsuit, described the decision to include Redneck Revolt among the defendants as "painful" and said: "This case was not conceived of because of Redneck Revolt, that's for sure. They fit the description, so it was pretty hard not to include them".[42] In June 2018, a group of members of clergy asked the city and the other plaintiffs to remove Redneck Revolt from the complaint.[42][49] They argued: "There is a marked difference between the armed white supremacist groups who invaded Charlottesville with the intent to do harm and the armed anti-racist groups who came to Charlottesville to assist in supporting and protecting our most marginalized communities".[49] A lead attorney for the plaintiffs responded as follows: "The basis for this lawsuit is not about motives – it's about engaging in paramilitary activity. That's why Redneck Revolt was named as a defendant, and why they remain in the suit".[49] Redneck Revolt and Kessler signedconsent decrees to end paramilitary activity in Charlottesville to resolve the lawsuit when they were left as the only defendants in early July 2018.[3][50] The consent decree prohibits members from returning to Charlottesville "as part of a unit of two or more persons acting in concert while armed with a firearm, weapon, shield or any item whose purpose is to inflict bodily harm, at any demonstration, rally, protest or march".[3] Redneck Revolt issued a statement saying that it had chosen to end the lawsuit and to "focus our energies on the many important fights ahead".[3]
In September 2017, the historianNoel Ignatiev expressed concern regarding Redneck Revolt's commitment to "defense of our communities". Ignatiev argued that "in this society those who share our material conditions, our neighbors, our family members, our friends, the people working alongside us, usually reflect which race they (and we) are assigned to" and contended that "[t]he goal is not to defend the white community but to abolish it, and along with it all communities defined by racial preference or oppression". He also criticised the group for failing to challenge "institutions that reproduce white supremacy—neither the criminal justice system, nor the schools, nor employment discrimination, nor real estate lending and renting policies" and concluded that "white people organized as whites are dangerous to the working class and to humanity, and white people with guns organized as whites are doubly so—and this is true regardless of the intentions of the organizers".[51]Gabriel Kuhn responded to Ignatiev in a 2018 article. Kuhn argued that "organizations with the aim to primarily mobilize and organize among the white working class ... are mandatory if we don't want to simply abandon this part of the population and hand it to the right on a silver platter".[52]
In March 2018, the geographer Levi van Sant argued:[19]
[T]he Redneck Revolt model ofLibertarian Socialism reveals important things, and should be an important part of theU.S. Left. Of particular importance was theirGramscian effort to read for the 'good sense in the common sense' ofright-wing populism through radical andgrassroots engagement.
Van Sant has also identified three lessons that Redneck Revolt offers to the American left, namely that working-class white people "are not inherently conservative"; that the group's success was drawn from their critique ofmodern American liberalism, including on firearms issues; and that they do not employ the rhetoric ofwhite privilege, diversity or inclusion, but instead "position themselves as part of working class and white rural communities" and "act in solidarity with oppressed peoples".[9] Van Sant concluded that "[t]he case of Redneck Revolt suggests there are promising alternatives toTrumpism emanating from the U.S. countryside too often ignored by the U.S. left".[9]
In 2019 the sociologist Teal Rothschild wrote that "Redneck Revolt brings venerable activist traditions to bear on very contemporary issues, including 21st centuryidentity politics."[53] Rothschild argued that while Redneck Revolt members see both anti-racism and bearing arms as part of a strategy of aiding marginalized people, media representations tend to depict them "as an oxymoron—as if gun carrying and anti-racism are not two positions, but two opposing poles."[26] Rothschild noted that "contemporarysocial movement studies have begun to center groups that span multiple identities and causes, and movements like Redneck Revolt suggest exactly why that matters. ... [Redneck Revolt] reminds us of the capacity for a single organization to hold a multiplicity of meanings, aims, and practices."[23]
Redneck Revolt Disbanded in 2019 We appreciate your interest in our work. Please note that Redneck Revolt officially disbanded in 2019, and there have been no active chapters since that time. We're grateful that the values of community defense and anti-racism still resonate with many today. Thank you for visiting.
