What is white supremacy? It is a term that has been used a lot in recent context, sometimes without much explanation or elaboration on its context and meaning. white supremacy, simply put, is the ideological belief that white people are inherently superior to people of color and therefore, should be allowed to be in a position of power over them. It also refers to the social, political, economic and cultural advantages that white people gain through the structural existence of white supremacy.

The United States, in and of itself as a country, was built upon and thrives from white supremacy. Just by a simple analysis of the historical development of this country reveals a racist history of violence, rape, displacement, slavery and genocide. All with the specific goal of empowering those with white skin and to degrade those without. Such is the reality of white supremacy. Such is the reality that we face today, in the United States.

As a white individual, I inherently benefit from the systemic perpetuation of white supremacy. These “benefits” are multifaceted and numerous. Too numerous to properly sort and discuss each instance and example of the social advantages that are attained as a white person in a white supremacist society. One example of this is that I, as a white person, am less likely to be pulled over by a police officer than a black person is.1 On top of that, black people are incarcerated at six times the rate of white people, even though black people and Hispanic people combined only make up about a quarter of the United States population.2 This clear racial disparity against black people and people of color in general, shows that there is a clear objective, whether specifically stated or not, to target and harass people of color. Now in what way do I benefit from this as a white person? Simply put, I do not face the same degree of violence and degradation that people of color do simply on the basis of my being white. I am able to avoid an entire context of systemic oppression simply on the basis of the color of my skin.

White supremacy isn’t simply just treating people of color as inferiors, but also requires that white people be glorified in conjuncture to it. Take the invasion of Afghanistan for example. After the September 11 terrorist attacks, the Bush Administration took it as an ample opportunity to invade Afghanistan, based in the crude logic of “fighting terrorism”. This logic is not only an extremely broad, and therefore hopeless goal, but is also centered in the idea that the United States in and of itself is in the position to decide what is and isn’t just. That is to say, any retaliation against the white supremacist imperialism of the United States is considered unjust, regardless of the violence and degradation that people of color face abroad at the hands of the U.S. military. Now I’m not going to say that I am a supporter of Jihadist Terrorist groups. However, it is important to understand the context of why such attacks occur in the first place, rather than ignoring their root causes. white supremacy does not want you to understand the oppression of people of color, rather, it prefers that you see it as justified and necessary.

Now what does this all mean to the white, working class individual? Does this entail an inherent responsibility to promote and protect this privilege of the skin? Some on the far right seem to believe this to be the case and actively act upon such a belief. However, there are those of us, among the white working class, whom have chosen to reject the notion of white supremacy, actively choosing to combat and oppose it. These individuals choose to peer through the veil of racist rhetoric in order to see the lines of solidarity between themselves and their fellow oppressed people of color, in order to unite against the white supremacist power structures that both oppress and cause disunity amongst the people.

One particular individual who lived in the hectic pre-civil war years, sought to create and promote a slave uprising that would ultimately lead to the abolition of slavery as a whole. This individual was John Brown, whom along with eighteen fugitive/free black and white individuals assaulted harpers ferry, Virginia, with the hopes of seizing arms from the federal armory that was stationed there. Ultimately, John Browns raid would end in a miserable failure. John would be hung on December 2nd 1859. However, the spirit of the raid would not die with John Brown and his raiders.

Fifty seven years after John Browns raid, in 1917, the Green Corn Rebellion would kick off in rural Oklahoma. On August 3rd, 1917, the militant WCU (Working Class Union) launched a rebellion against the draft during WWI. This rebellion, while largely populated by poor white tenant farmers, included black and native American individuals in their ranks as well. In fact, their constitution states that anyone over the age of 18 may join regardless of their “race, sex, color or occupation.”i This rebellion too would be crushed under the boot of the government and state forces, resulting in the arrest of 450 participants. The green corn rebellion acted as a boon for pro-war and white supremacist groups to gain traction during the time, throwing fire onto what would be the death of the organized labor movement at the time. However, the ferocity of the response against the green corn rebels and their ideological compatriots, shows that there exists a fear of the potential of the working class when they are organized together, against the systemic exploitation of Capitalism, rather than allowing the ideology of racism to divide them against one another.

During the 60’s and 70’s, revolutionary political movements like the Black Panthers and the Young Lords were organizing within their own communities, addressing issues like housing, health, food and police brutality. Along with such actions, these organizations took a critical stance against the oppression and exploitation of racism, Capitalism and imperialism that they faced in their own time. In facing these threats, forming a larger coalition of radical, revolutionary organizations seemed to be an appropriate response. Among these organizations was the Young Patriots Organization.ii

Based in the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago, the Young Patriots sought to organize poor white workers against Capitalism, as well as to counter racist organizing efforts by groups such as the KKK, who held a strong presence in the area. The Young Patriots sought to see the white working class peoples organize along their own self determined lines, against those of the oppressive institutions of Capitalism or the “pig power structure”. Rather than simply taking a stance of a passive ally, the Young Patriots saw that the best way to support their comrades in neighboring communities with p.o.c. was by actively organizing around anti-racism, anti-capitalism and anti-imperialism in their own neighborhoods.

Sadly, due to the intense and at times violent efforts of COINTELPRO, those groups associated with the Rainbow Coalition, including the Young Patriots, would sadly be brought to an abrupt and bloody end in the early 1970’s. The Rainbow Coalition represented a particularly intimidating concept to White Supremacy and Capitalism. Almost acting as a culmination of all those previously fought battles and lessons of struggle against oppression being put into a radical attempt at creating self organized systems that went beyond racial divides, to fight back against the oppressions that we faced as individual communities, as well as those that we all faced together.

We now live in a time in which the radical organizations of the past have crumbled away. While the lessons and struggles before us provide important visions of how we might approach our own today, we are in many ways having to construct a completely new sort of “radical movement” however vague a concept that may be. If there is one lesson that is certainly prevalent to take away in regards to our current discussion, it is that we, as white people, may ultimately benefit from the systemic perpetuation of White Supremacy and Capitalism, we also face just as many injustices and oppressions, some of which we share in kind with people of color. It is when we learn to organize within our own white communities to address the economic, social and political issues, as well as to organize in solidarity with communities of color in facing theirs, that we may begin to work together against the very structures that oppress all of us.

This is the exact sort of thinking that the group Redneck Revolt has taken to heart. Founded in 2009, then revitalizing after a hiatus in 2016 due to the upsurge in right-wing and racist ideology spurred on by the Trump campaign, Redneck Revolt has chosen to confront the issue of white supremacy head on. On their Facebook page, a portion of a brief description of the organization reads “White supremacy is a system that white working people have helped protect, but it is also a tool against us. Our allegiance to a politics of white racism has allowed the rich to continue to hold onto power.If we, as white working class people, want to see a reality of political, social, and economic freedom, REAL freedom, then we must directly contribute to a struggle against all oppression, especially white supremacy.”iii

Redneck Revolt represents an important step in a direction towards anti-racist, anti-capitalist and anti-state organizing efforts. Rather than choosing to act as passive allies, riddled with a pointless sense of “white guilt”, they have chosen to acknowledge the context that the white working class has played in protecting and perpetuating white supremacy, while also seeking ways in which we have, and can, resist white supremacy in solidarity with fellow oppressed people of color. While we may not share the same forms of oppression, it is important that we not only address the issues in our own communities but to also support and act in solidarity with other communities fighting against theirs as well. It is only when we learn to fight for ourselves, as well as each other, that we may truly learn to unite against our oppressors, so that we may work towards building a liberated, free society. One not built on the foundations of racism and indifference, but solidarity and unity.