#title Solidarity & Mutual Aid
#subtitle Issue intro
#author Fifth Estate Collective
#SORTauthors Fifth Estate Collective;
#date 2017
#source [[https://www.fifthestate.org/archive/399-fall-2017/solidarity-mutual-aid]]
#lang en
#pubdate 2017-11-10
#notes Fifth Estate #399, Fall, 2017
Solidarity and Mutual Aid, two anarchist bedrock principles, are being tested in the real world with the rise of the fascist right.
Although small in numbers, they have gained social and political space as the result of the election of Donald Trump.
We, like many others, pledge they will find no home, no safe haven from which to spread their toxic message of racism and authoritarianism. We will also defend ourselves and at-risk populations from the physical and political threat they pose.
As serious as openly expressed fascism is, it is not the most virulent and damaging form of white supremacy. Killer cops murder more black men in a year than the Klan has in a generation.
The racism advocated by neo-Nazis pales when compared to that which is embedded in every institution of this society.
Fascists display violent behavior and odious slogans in Charlottesville and other places. At the same time in Detroit, tens of thousands of African Americans’ homes are stolen by city tax foreclosures, and similar numbers have their water shut off.
We need to confront the fascists at every point where they raise their poisonous heads, but without losing sight of where the font of oppression lies—in capitalism and the state.
Fifth Estate
Radical Publishing since 1965
Vol. 52, No. 2, #399, Fall 2017
The Fifth Estate is an anti-profit, anarchist project published by a volunteer collective of friends and comrades. www.FifthEstate.org
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