Bash Back! Statement of Support To Those Who Evicted the RCP

they issued an apology and published a leaflet describing the mistakes and self-criticism that they went through. As a radical and an ally, I welcome the RCP self criticism.

The democrats have also reversed their position on "homosexuality"

30 years of demonizing queer people, even through the white night riots and the various AIDS uprisings , and you expect us to be happy with an official RCP apology?

You clearly dont know shit about queer history.

Instead of welcoming those who change and want to unite with us in our struggle we attack them. The RCP has been very vocal in organizing opposition to the ban on gay marriage. This statement is just white liberalism at its best.

umm, gay marrige seems like a very liberal issue, supported mainly by middle class whites.
hell, it's one of the very few things i have seen people in places like Walnut Creek hold protests over.

bash back! is opposed to gay marriage and the struggle for it. so using marriage as an example of how the RCP supports gay liberation, doesnt really help your argument. Also describing us as white liberals shows how ridiculous you really are, when we are neither white nor liberal

I know enough to know that we will not destroy this system of patriarchy and capitalism if we just attack anyone who tries to unite against the real enemy; your statement is childish (and represents nothing more then second wave feminism and white liberalism). It feels like you know nothing about the history of struggle and opposition in general, and in particular the struggle of third world liberation movements.

sure, gay marriage are an issue that represents a middle class political line and supports an institution of oppression. But then again, how do we unite with people who are trying to fight that ban? Do we throw buckets of water at their table? Do we denounce them as capitalists and “statist”?

...if they belong to a Statist, communist organization that has historically waged propaganda campaigns against queer people during a time like the seventies and eighties...than yes we do throw buckets of water on them...

I really don't understand the confusion here. Anarchists are anti-authoritarians. Maoists are authoritarians. The RCP represents everything that anarchists hate. Why exactly would we play nice with authoritarians? Why should we? How could we?

Every single time they have had the opportunity, bolshiveks have slaughtered anarchists wholesale. These lying backstabbers are the mortal enemies, not just of anarchists, but of everything that is good, decent and true in this world. Down with them all, no exceptions.

So they were wrong 20 years ago and that means they can never be right again? I don't care what happened in the 80's. This is just as annoying as Baby Boomers who won't shut up about what they were doing in the 60's. The RCP has since changed their mind on queer issues. Can we move on from stuff that you have to 40 or 50 to even remember?

"I really don't understand the confusion here. Anarchists are anti-authoritarians. Maoists are authoritarians. The RCP represents everything that anarchists hate. Why exactly would we play nice with authoritarians? Why should we? How could we?"

The problem here is that you're seeing this strictly in black and white terms, which is not an accurate reflection of the present social context in the real world. For example, have you stopped to think about how dumping water on a bunch of books, in a climate that is increasingly repressive of everybody's freedom of speech, looks like the anarchists who are voicing their valid fears of authoritarian maoists are the fascistic ones, and the RCP are the ones who are being victimized? This is all the more true because this happened in a highly visible, open to the public event - the ABF is not a closed affinity group meeting. Assuming that people are going to be able to decypher historical tendencies from such volatile acts assumes that people have a working knowledge and history of not only the RCP, but of authoritarian communism at its worst in general. Your average person in the US doesn't know Kronstadt or the Barcelona Telephone Exchange from a hole in the ground; if anything, it sounds like you're beating a long-dead horse.

Further, promoting an ideology that stands for freedom, liberty and the absence of repressive structures doesn't mean much to people who may have only known anarchists (as best they know, anyway) from the crap they see on TV. If anything, it speaks to people's overall emotional and intellectual health to judge more by actions than by assertions -- look at how much total fascist thugs like Cheney and Bush wrap themselves in the flags and talk about freedoms and "our way of life" and so on.

Where our job lies in all this, as I see it, is to promote anarchism in practice, not just in words or even book fairs; anything that works against that is doing a profound disservice to both the legacy and present practices of our movement.

Horrah for liberalism masquerading as anarchism! All the jabbering about "real enemy" this and "long ago history" that is missing the main point, which was articulated quite well already: Maoists are our enemies, yesterday today and tomorrow. They are not interested in any way in the eradication of oppression, just a change in who does the oppressing. Look at Nepal now that the Maoists are in charge. Look at the way the Sendero Nebuloso acted in Peru: attacking and murdering all those peasants who didn't want to be Maoists. Look at the way the RCP celebrate Lenin, Stalin and Mao, all known mass murderers. No anarchist has ever been a mass murderer, and certainly no anarchist has been a mass murderer of workers and peasants. So read up on some history and then ask a random RCP goon what s/he thinks of what happened at Kronstadt or the Barcelona Telephone Exchange, or the Shangai Commune in 1927. Murdering those whose interests you pretend to represent is some pretty repugnant shit, but you won't find any anarchists doing that--only Leninists, Stalinists and Maoists do that. Deal with it. Some of us already have and act accordingly.

Thank you BB! for recognizing the righteousness of some anarchists who had the guts to confront the RCP scum despite what they knew would be denunciations from their supposed allies among anarchists. Queer is beautiful!

When the two cadres from the RCP trapped me in to talking to them about the 'incident' (which I grudgingly did out of respect for having seen these same two behaving bravely at several demos against the murder of Oscar Grant) I refused to sign their bullshit petition. I told them that their presence at the bookfair--not as individuals, but as the RCP--was a provocation, given the history and nature of their Party, and that trashing their propaganda was an expected and fair response to their provocation. The history of an organization does matter, and whether it is supporting the slaughter of peasants or denying the humanity of queer people, the members are responsible for the history of the organization they signed up for.
After I got tired of all the 'we're all in this together comrade' crap, I finally had to tell them that if their guru Bob ever tried to be my dictator, I'd respond with much more than water on some shitty 'world can't wait' books.
Good work to the comrades who stood up for Anarchism and for humanity. Why the hell would any anarchist knowingly sign anything taking the side of Maoists against Anarchists anyway? Whose side are they on?
Fuck Bob Avakian, and fuck all would-be petty tyrants and cult leaders.

You have a poor interpretation of fascism if you think anarchists taking a stand against authoritarians is fascist. Anarchists are anti-authoritarians, this does NOT mean we are against using force if necessary against reactionaries and counter-revolutionaries. I'm tired of this liberal, hippie, bourgeois "Freedom of speech" bullshit. This action against the Maoists was anarchy in practice. This was an anarchist book fair, not a place for everyone and their grandma to come and discuss all their various ideologies.

At least the RCP still thinks, and in doing so, even changes its mind on important things like queer rights.

Would that more anarchists could say the same thing, rather than just regurgitating century-old talking points.

Wasn't former-elected-official-of-the-state Harry Britt a featured speaker at the "anarchist" bookfair a few years back? I don't seem to remember his forcible-eviction from the premises, despite his Democratic Party affiliations. Hey-- they even have some power, and use it to repress people, unlike the RCP.

Why the double standard, o pure ones?

Are you really claiming that all reds are homophobic, and all anarchists aren't? Then how do you explain the fact that Harry Hay, founder of the Mattachine Society and the Radical Faeries, was a lifelong Marxist, and the fact that you apparently have a neofascist formation in your very midst, calling itself anarchist, and yet y'all can't even seem to detect its presence at your otherwise-pure bookfair?

You might want to step back and cool off a bit, while your efforts at volunteer-vigilantism are only laughable.

I was excited for a minute when I saw the other post about a new bash back being formed, and now this is your first declaration, piling onto 1000 other anti-RCP comments here

how many hours did you waste writing this tripe? how many people were in on its formation?

wouldn't have adding a comment to one of the other posts have sufficed? you could have still signed it as a bash back missive

all of the sudden, I don't expect so much out of the new collective if this type of thing takes a priority for your time

"You have a poor interpretation of fascism if you think anarchists taking a stand against authoritarians is fascist. Anarchists are anti-authoritarians, this does NOT mean we are against using force if necessary against reactionaries and counter-revolutionaries. I'm tired of this liberal, hippie, bourgeois "Freedom of speech" bullshit."

Dude, whatever. Read my post again - I wasn't talking about what I believe, merely about how others may perceive it. If you are righteous enough to think that you and your five friends can spark social insurrection without allies, then by all means, go for it. In my experience though, I've found friends in unexpected places - when I was willing to be a little more flexible and imaginative in my struggles. I am *NOT NOT NOT* saying "don't oppose the RCP for common cause, or in the interests of making nice with liberals", just that people rely on first impressions to make judgments, and as such, being strategic in what tactics you employ may help more than hinder.

In my view, we need to focus on turning potential adversaries -- who also happen to be much more anti-authoritarian in their outlook than your average cadre, said liberals unfortunate at times politics notwithstanding -- into allies rather than pissing people off, which btw we're plenty good at already, if you get my drift. It is possible to build bridges and not compromise on principles, that's all I'm saying. If you gave it a go, you may realize that the liberals that you're going on about are hardly brimming with answers as to why oh why things are so fucked up in the world, and are the last people in the effing soup who would want to make common cause with maoists (i mean, for fuck's sake, think about THAT one for a sec). But like I just said, you and your five friends, fists in the air, baklavas waving in the tempest wind, blah blah.

If your against the RCP because they're (still) a fucked-up authoritarian vanguardist group, more power to you. If you're against them because at one time they were anti-gay, that's bullshit. People change. When their changes are form bad positions to good positions it should be celebrated, no matter how fucked up the rest of their ideas are. We have to accept their changes, and deal with the world the way it is, today. On GLBT rights the RCP is a better organization. Believe it or not, anarchist (and other) persistant criticism helped them to change. It is sadly opportunistic to use the queer issue as extra zing supporting the attack on the authoritarians. And some of the Revolution Club kids are cute, not as cute as most anarchists....

And as bash back acknowledges, attacking this non-powerful cult grouping is not the most important thing in the world today. At the Bookfair, not many even noticed it happening. This has become an internet "event", rather than something important in people's lives and the world.

My other problem with a lot of the back and forth criticism, is we start saying people we disagree with are not anarchists. One of the beauties of anarchism as compared to authoritarian leninist cults like the RCP is we can disagree and still be anarchists. Free speech should be important to anarchists (it is not just a liberal platitude) as should attacking authoritarians. Where those two ideas clash, good anarchists can disagree as to what should happen without being ostracized by being called "so called "Anarchists".

As for the real non-anarchists (the fascist tendency using the name "National Anarchists" or some other garbage), they are not in our midsts. They were nowhere around this weekend (the largest gathering of anarch-types in the Bay Area and North America). They use the term anarchist as a way of glomming onto the real cultural phenomenon we are, as compared to say, socialism. They should be fought and sent back to whatever beerhall they came from, especially when they are attacking Queer events like they did this year at the Folsom Street Fair.

>Harry Hay, founder of the Mattachine Society and the Radical Faeries, was a lifelong Marxist

No, he was not. He converted to anarchism, and spent his final days surrounded by anarchists, who cared for him (and for for his partner John), unlike the bolshies, who abandoned him to his fate.


>On GLBT rights the RCP is a better organization.

And Ernst Röhm was gay. So what? Does that mean we should tolerate Nazis?

The RCP is the enemy of everything anarchists stand for, believe in and practice. They must be judged for the totality of their existence, not for any one aspect. They're against the Klan. So are we. Does that make them our friends? Only in the minds of the cognitively challenged.

How many time must we be deceived by these lying scum and their treacherous rhetoric before we wise up?



>The RCP has since changed their mind on queer issues.

They haven't changed their mind on seizing state power. That alone makes them our enemy. Anyone who attempts to seize state power, or become the boss of workplace, is our enemy by definition.

Every single time bolsheviks have seized state power, anywhere on earth, they have slaughtered anarchists wholesale. There has never been a single exception.

Wise up, people. The RCP is not on our side. All they want from us is the opportunity to use us for thier own ends. When we are no longer useful as tools, pawns and cannon fodder, they put us in front of a wall, every time. no exceptions. Never once have bolsheviks seized power and then failed to murder as many anarchists as they could catch, not once, not ever.


>Can we move on from stuff that you have to 40 or 50 to even remember?

Either we learn from history or we are condemned to repeat it.

So ask yourselves this: Who benefits when we fail to learn from the mistakes of the past?

Hint: It's not us.


>This is just as annoying as Baby Boomers who won't shut up about what they were doing in the 60's.

What's *really* annoying is people who tell us to keep making the same mistakes over and over. Whose side are they on, anyway?

Hint: It's not ours.

...and, as is apparent, a lot of other stuff too. Why do so many anarchists need to reduce political reality to black-and-white polarities? Leftovers from Protestant-Christian thinking? We all are, after all, products of our cultures, as much or as little as we might resist that. We can, however, change our thinking. Well... at least the RCP can. Can you?

For whatever reason(s), the RCP hierarchs altered their stance on queers. Whether it was from their cadre being challenged wherever they went by conscious queers standing up for themselves, or from a more opportunistic reason (to heal the rift with the MIM, who split from the RCP over the queer question, or to cozy up to queer youth), who cares? Have they apologized or even tried to explain why Maoists all over the world have jailed, tortured and executed anarchists and other anti-state revolutionaries? No, because they're not sorry about that. To me as an anarchist the homophobic past (sorry to say that to my queer sisters and brothers and others) of the RCP is less important than their unalterable position on the state. The RCP has as one of the cornerstones of its policy the seizing state power to implement what they call the dictatorship of the proletariat (which has always meant historically the dictatorship of the Party over the proletariat). Even without the homicidal history of Leninism in power, this stance should be plenty of reason to establish the unending enmity between these scum and anyone identifying with a tradition that rejects the state. The actual history of these goons in power is only the material manifestation of their policy positions.

Are you so insecure about your historiography, that you're unwilling or unable to argue it with people armed with newspapers and pamphlets? Also, if you can just lump all Maoists in with whatever atrocities one might find in the history of anyone ever calling themselves that, then why can't we reduce all anarchists to Mussolinists? After all, sauce for the goose, and all that.

I was there, and my source is Harry Hay himself.

Libertarian Dennis Peron's circle weren't the only ones who knew Hay in the last months of his life-- try as they might have.

"Both men spent thier last days on earth in the loving care of anarchist comrades."

So... not all Marxists are anti-anarchist. And, perhaps, even likewise. Imagine that-- polemic thinking doesn't seem to quite accurately reflect reality.

It's easy to put words into the mouth of a dead man. They also like to retouch photographs.

"He who controls the present, controls the past. He who controls the past, controls the future." -- George Orwell

"It's easy to put words into the mouth of a dead man."

And apparently, even easier to deny them, with a little guilt-by-association ad hominem thrown in.

Just keep shoveling, you may divide the ocean yet. But hurry!

i hear a lot of good points being made, and i'm having a hard time making up my mind. i feel that we should welcome the RCP's change of thought on the issue of gay rights/liberation, whatever. However, our comrades at Bash Back!, however we may sometimes disagree, have every right in the world to not be quick in forgiving them for their decades of bigotry, if ever. they are completely justified in being mad at the RCP. as are all of us who want a free world, and not another tyrant masquerading as the workers' savior (i.e. bob avakian).
I really support the comment about making allies, and how pouring water on the RCP literature may be viewed as unnecessarily hostile (i was speaking to someone today, anarchist-sympathetic, who wasn't exactly upset at the action, but expressed that it was maybe a little too much). It is crucial, as anarchists/horizontalists/etc. to not be viewed as this perpetually angry, oppositionist, friendless, alienating force in the community. Sadly, i have gotten this feeling from several anarchist meetings- lots of anger (even at other comrades) and no real plan for revolutionary change. However, ultimately I have to support the action taken against the RCP (though maybe I wouldn't have gone so far as to pour water on them...but who knows, i wasn't there). I don't need to repeat all the reasons already given, but they are good ones. and no, not all communists are enemies per se, but the RCP is much different. they are Maoists and Stalinists. they support and justify the murder of tens of millions of people (say what you will about george bush, but he didn't put you and me to death for printing anarchist pamphlets....if the RCP was in charge, they certainly would). But here is a personal example for why pouring water on the RCP is, in my view, perfectly fine:
I work in the anti-police brutality movement, and have been working on, among other issues, the Oscar Grant murder and subsequent rebellion. One member of the group i work in is a mother whose son was murdered by police last year. He was mentally ill and unarmed. he was tased, then shot, then tased again. This mother has joined in our organization, marched with us, organized events, and given us endless support. she is perhaps the bravest most inspiring person i know. recently, she was at a demo for Oscar Grant. The RCP organizers found out that she had lost her son, and wanted her to speak. she did not feel like it at this time (as she tells me: "some days i feel like an activist, other days i feel like a grieving mother") and said "no." instead of understanding, the RCP cadre berated her, calling her arrogant, not a "real" activist, and otherwise degrading her for not sharing her story, inevitably so they could it exploit it. Hearing about this woman who i have come to respect so much, who has given everything to this cause and who has suffered and continues to suffer from the brutality and injustice of this police state, be treated this way, makes me angry enough to do much more than just pour some water on these bastards.
the RCP are hacks. authoritarians. and if they ever had the chance...they would be murderers. they will exploit grieving mothers just to promote their party line. for this, not anarchists, nor any decent person, should ever forgive them.

solidarity forever,
carl

The RCP comes to events for one, and only one, reason:

TO RECRUIT!

They do this to PREY ON YOUNG PEOPLE to try to bring them into their Stalinist cult of religious worship their lord and savior, Bob Avakian.

This can not be tolerated. Next bookfair, the RCP will be even more forceably removed. This is a warning.

Really good words. Throughout this back-and-forth, I have never been operating with the intent of going soft on the RCP - as an anarchist, I'm well aware of the problems they pose, and as a human being, I'm more than a little horrified by their behavior and tactics - nevertheless, I have tried to argue for a more nuanced stance than throwing water all over their shit, their despotic tendencies notwithstanding. (Like you though, I wasn't there, so who knows?) Thank you for expressing what I was trying to articulate - a long while back, I heard someone express at an anarchist gathering that anarchists were the most idealistic and most cynical people that they knew, which I think speaks well to the humorless tendencies we can have at times, myself included. It really is possible to make our views known, and to speak to the realities of authoritarianism, without coming off as a macho hardass all the time. It just gets exhausting to be around after a while, and in my view, it helps more than hinders our goals. Thanks again for making the situation a little more gentle, and a lot more real.

"It just gets exhausting to be around after a while, and in my view, it helps more than hinders our goals." make that "hinders more than helps". lol

I already explained myself on two articles, so I won't repeat everything from that, but you can read those for an explanation of why I signed.

I want to apologize to the queer community at large if my signing the RCP's petition was misconstrued as support for them. I didn't like the idea of a small group taking care of the matter rather than what I think would have been more effective: telling everyone the RCP was there and then anyone who wanted to going outside to tell them they had to go. As a community.

I denounce the heterosexism of the RCP (among other things they stand for...) and also denounce the water-throwing incident.

I hope you all can understand.
Sincerely,
Laura

In fact, their policy changed long after their actual opinions did. Of course, you wouldn't know that if you never deigned to talk to any of them. Part of it was them meeting and discussing it with queers in the course of various struggles (like abortion defense and vs police brutality) (you know, like was prevented at the bookfair). Part of it was just changing times, a generational thing-- ust like the culture all around them. For that matter, there are enough homophobic anarchists (whether they say so or not), to say nothing of heterosexists and heteronormatives, that y'all should think twice about your glass house before heaving more stones. Another difference between reality and what some folks here maintain, is that the RCP had a systematic review and revision of their constitution and program, including discussion and decision-making, rather than just flying off in any given trendy direction. They put a hell of a lot more into it than these so called 'Bash Backers' did, and the difference in quality of written product is apparent to any with the eyes to see it.

>This is just as annoying as Baby Boomers who won't shut up about what they were doing in the 60's.

This is pure, undiluted ageism, straight from the mouths of people who claim "class consciousness." It seems they are lying about that, too. Lying may not be what they do best, but it sure is what they do the most often.

So it took y'all a hell of a long time full of wasted energy, time, and money, to come up with another piece of Maoist trash, another piece of paper pushing Chairman Bob as the leader of the brave new vanguard party for the world? All-the-while reinforcing that the RCP is not only homophobic but not at all connected to the Queer community, with no Queer membership, talking about Queer people as outsiders.

Meanwhile, BashBack!, a group of radical queers standing up for themselves, just dowhat they know is right.

And you criticize Bashback!?

You got some problems, hun.

Yay, so RCP has joined the bandwagon and come out in support of "GLBT rights", only decades after other revolutionary groups. This doesn't address the fact that the organization is still top-down, white supremacist, and patriarchal, while enforcing heteronormativity. Where are they on queer liberation or even acknowledging Transfolk? Why are they only using gay rights as a hook issue to recruit more members, while not actively fighting for queer liberation in society or even creating a safe space for queers within the RCP state apparatus? If you want further evidence of RCP's commitment to milk issues solely for their recruitment value, look at the most recent issue of their rag of a journal "Revolution" or even their main website. They use a before/after picture of Rihanna to make the point that only revolution--sorry, only THEIR revolution--will end sexism and patriarchy: "The REAL question is: How long are YOU going to put up with this abuse, degradation, oppression and crippling of HALF OF HUMANITY?" Yet where is the space for women in this organization? Why do they have to wait until AFTER the revolution to be liberated? Why do they have to submit to the patriarchal structure of the RCP and continue to endure this oppression until AFTER the supposed revolution, when the white males are supposedly going to liberate the women for them? And if queers, women, nonwhites, or even workers have criticisms of the pace of their liberation after the revolution--as we've seen from experience, in EACH AND EVERY communist revolution, they will be sent to forced labor camps or executed. Besides the completely idiotic analysis of overthrowing patriarchy, they use photos of a survivor of gender violence, taken without her consent, to try to sell their newspaper and books. This "advertisement" concludes with:

'GET WITH THE REVOLUTION!
Get your hands on the new:
A DECLARATION: FOR WOMEN’S LIBERATION AND THE EMANCIPATION OF ALL HUMANITY
“Women are not breeders. Women are not lesser beings. Women are not objects created for the sexual
pleasure of men. Women are human beings capable of participating fully and equally in every realm of
human endeavor. When women are held down, all of humanity is held back. Women must win
liberation, and they can only be liberated through the revolutionary transformation of the world and the
emancipation of all of humanity, and through being a powerful motive force in that revolution...
“When so few will dare, this declaration is calling for something unseen in generations: an
uncompromising outpouring of women and men the world over who refuse to see women oppressed,
beaten, imprisoned, insulted, raped, abused, harassed, exploited, murdered, spat upon, thrown acid
at, groped, shamed and systematically diminished.”
— Excerpt from A Declaration: For Women’s Liberation and the Emancipation of All Humanity, available online at
revcom.us/a/158/Declaration-en.html and as a special issue of Revolution (#158) available at Revolution Books stores around the country.'


Fucking disgraceful--exploit someone's tragedy for your own political ends. Not even just political ends, but fundraising for the personal enrichment of Chairman Bob Avakian and his underlings. This is the same as what they did with Oscar Grant, Brad Will, and countless others, probably with Tristan too before too long--co-opt their/our suffering and use it for their own selfish ends. Same as with the RNC8--their articles barely make note of all 8 of them, plus MK3 and Texas Two, being anarchists--WE were the ones on the front lines, being tased, shot at, beaten, and arrested. I personally was with one of the 8 when they were grabbed by a snatch squad, went to the houses as they were being raided, spent one night in jail, and stayed up one night doing jail support; where were they? When shit went down in Oaxaca, I and others were there, working with community groups, going to marches, manning the planton and barricades; I had friends go to jail, I was monitored by police, and we all lost Brad and Sali and 25 other brave men and women in the struggle there--again, where were they? They were writing pointed analyses telling Oaxaquenxs what they were doing wrong, while trying to claim ownership over a movement they had no role in.

Fuck the RCP, and fuck everyone that supports them. I'm sure some of you had good reason to sign their bloody petition, but any solidarity with the RCP is solidarity with authoritarianism, patriarchy, queer-bashing, and racism. They leech off our organizing work and are opportunists, and for what ends? To replicate the existing system, only with new bosses. No compromise with oppressors, bosses, and jailers of any kind.