# Okay, now it's time to put antifa in the same class as racists **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 28, 2017, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-now-its-time-to-put-antifa-in-the-same-class-as-racists/794922 "2017-08-28T10:38:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2017, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-now-its-time-to-put-antifa-in-the-same-class-as-racists/794922/261 "2017-09-04T16:40:45Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > Personally I can’t stand antifa. My concern isn’t so much putting them on a watch list, which seems fair to a degree. The problem is that I could see Jeff Sessions and other conservatives at the local level using a push on antifa to go after anti-Trump protesters more broadly the way Nixon tried to. It’s possible. But what do you want them to do? Ignore Antifa? Unfortunately, we have to rely on the integrity of the FBI and the vigilance of the press. Elections have consequences, many of them bad. Especially this time. The best way for Antifa to get off the watch list would be to officially renounce violence as a means to their poetical ends, and the live by that. Otherwise, they’re “on the list”, and I don’t think the party of the administration would matter. Antifa might not be so active under a Democratic administration, but it’s difficult to know for sure. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2017, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-now-its-time-to-put-antifa-in-the-same-class-as-racists/794922/262 "2017-09-04T18:40:53Z")
Not that difficult. From the same Politico article **asahi** linked above: _"In their April 2016 assessment, the DHS and FBI said the anarchist groups would likely become more lethal if “fascist, nationalist, racist or anti-immigrant parties obtain greater prominence or local political power in the United States, leading to anti-racist violent backlash from anarchist extremists.”_ ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2017, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-now-its-time-to-put-antifa-in-the-same-class-as-racists/794922/263 "2017-09-04T19:35:10Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > …The best way for Antifa to get off the watch list would be to officially renounce violence… So, if the Central Committee of Antifa issued a directive to all of its membership… Am I the only one who sees a problem with that. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2017, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-now-its-time-to-put-antifa-in-the-same-class-as-racists/794922/264 "2017-09-05T00:45:18Z")
These guys are friggin’ anarchists. They don’t have a “central committee”, a president, a national spokesperson, a headquarters, etc. “Organized anarchists” is almost an oxymoron. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2017, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-now-its-time-to-put-antifa-in-the-same-class-as-racists/794922/265 "2017-09-05T02:09:04Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > “Organized anarchists” is almost an oxymoron. Well, the only collective noun I can come up with, then, would be a _Schrodinger_ of organized anarchists. ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2017, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-now-its-time-to-put-antifa-in-the-same-class-as-racists/794922/266 "2017-09-05T06:33:48Z")
Random side note- i thought it was pronounced “anti-fa” but turns out- it’s “ant-tee-fa.” Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![Latro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a87d85/32.png) [@Latro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Latro)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2017, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-now-its-time-to-put-antifa-in-the-same-class-as-racists/794922/267 "2017-09-05T08:21:47Z")
> [@raventhief](#): > > Random side note- i thought it was pronounced “anti-fa” but turns out- it’s “ant-tee-fa.” > > Carry on. The difference being? You ‘English’ and your queer spelling. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2017, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-now-its-time-to-put-antifa-in-the-same-class-as-racists/794922/268 "2017-09-05T08:37:45Z")
Hah! Anti-antifa (would that just be “fa”?) [get schooled on Orwell](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/infowars-editor-gets-owned-by-historian_us_59aa6035e4b0b5e530fee6c8). ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2017, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-now-its-time-to-put-antifa-in-the-same-class-as-racists/794922/269 "2017-09-05T13:58:02Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Hah! Anti-antifa (would that just be “fa”?) [get schooled on Orwell](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/infowars-editor-gets-owned-by-historian_us_59aa6035e4b0b5e530fee6c8). Let’s go to the quarry and throw stuff down there! That’s hilarious! What the fuck did he think Orwell wrote about? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2017, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-now-its-time-to-put-antifa-in-the-same-class-as-racists/794922/270 "2017-09-05T15:33:27Z")
I don’t think _1984_ or _Animal Farm_ were written to oppose fascism. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2017, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-now-its-time-to-put-antifa-in-the-same-class-as-racists/794922/271 "2017-09-05T15:35:27Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I don’t think _1984_ or _Animal Farm_ were written to oppose fascism. > > Regards, > Shodan It’s almost like Orwell was able to oppose extremism on both sides. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2017, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-now-its-time-to-put-antifa-in-the-same-class-as-racists/794922/272 "2017-09-05T15:37:33Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > So, if the Central Committee of Antifa issued a directive to all of its membership… > > Am I the only one who sees a problem with that. Yep, that’s certainly a problem for them if they want to be taken off the list. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2017, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-now-its-time-to-put-antifa-in-the-same-class-as-racists/794922/273 "2017-09-05T15:59:29Z")
Yet, curiously, not a problem for those who wish to put them _on_ the list. “Look! A herd of cats, let’s arrest the leader!” ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2017, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-now-its-time-to-put-antifa-in-the-same-class-as-racists/794922/274 "2017-09-05T17:37:22Z")
I didn’t read the thread. I think haters hate the people who hate hatred. Is that a fair summary? Is Alex Jones a leader of the Hate Antifa movement? If so [my contribution to the thread is an Alex Jones rant set to music!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWd6XgBVIcg) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2017, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-now-its-time-to-put-antifa-in-the-same-class-as-racists/794922/275 "2017-09-05T17:40:13Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I don’t think _1984_ or _Animal Farm_ were written to oppose fascism. No,\* Homage to Catalonia\* was. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2017, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-now-its-time-to-put-antifa-in-the-same-class-as-racists/794922/276 "2017-09-05T18:20:49Z")
Maybe he was thinking of George Will? Of course, he’s not dead yet, but that never stopped Infowars logic before. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2017, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-now-its-time-to-put-antifa-in-the-same-class-as-racists/794922/277 "2017-09-05T18:48:22Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > No,\* Homage to Catalonia\* was. Then it appears **Steophan** was correct - Orwell opposed all kinds of totalitarian movements. So, antifa is anti-fascist. So was Stalinism. Orwell opposed Stalinism, even though it was anti-fascist. I don’t see how the Infowars editor got it wrong at all. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2017, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-now-its-time-to-put-antifa-in-the-same-class-as-racists/794922/278 "2017-09-05T21:27:02Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > So, antifa is anti-fascist. So was Stalinism. Well, [only](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molotov%E2%80%93Ribbentrop_Pact)when it suited him. And Stalinism was anti- lots of different things, so characterizing it as “antifascist” is disingenuous. But that isn’t even what that idiot got wrong. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2017, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-now-its-time-to-put-antifa-in-the-same-class-as-racists/794922/279 "2017-09-05T21:34:53Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Well, [only](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molotov%E2%80%93Ribbentrop_Pact)when it suited him. And Stalinism was anti- lots of different things, so characterizing it as “antifascist” is disingenuous. But that isn’t even what that idiot got wrong. The entire Allied Forces, the French Resistance, (and the Spanish Royalists) could be called “anti-fascist” too. Whatever? But that idiot (which one, so many) gets most things wrong. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2017, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-now-its-time-to-put-antifa-in-the-same-class-as-racists/794922/280 "2017-09-05T22:13:22Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Yet, curiously, not a problem for those who wish to put them _on_ the list. Yes and no. It’s a problem in the sense of how to infiltrate and foil violent plots, but not so much in putting them on the list. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-now-its-time-to-put-antifa-in-the-same-class-as-racists/794922.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-now-its-time-to-put-antifa-in-the-same-class-as-racists/794922.md?page=15)