Some one Claiming KC IWW Promotes Platform For The Fascists

An update 10/06/11: 

I, Brianna Holmes-Burton, when making the statement below, was not speaking for the IWW as a whole, nor was I speaking for the Kansas City Branch of the IWW. I have asked other branch members if someone else can manage the Kansas City IWW facebook page and will not be using it except to check for IWW inquiries so that no one is ignored while we are waiting for someone else to volunteer to keep up with the page. I consent to being named publicly as the source of this problem and concede to all points against my statement. I offer no defense for any contested point whatsoever. This is entirely my fault and I should never have posted a personal opinion on the Kansas City IWW page. I did not seek input from my branch or any member of the IWW before making the statement. Also, on a personal note, I do not condone racism or any other similar forms of hate in any way whatsoever. That was not my intent in any shape, form or fashion.  I am so sorry. 
 Please contact me if there is anything else I can do to help fix this

Since the politics of the occupy movement are pretty vague/up in theair at the moment, most of the discussion we have seen has been of thenature of liberal vs. radical/anti-capitalist tug-of-war. However,there is another crew (or handful of crews) that also want in - thefar right. 

This is from a blog entry aboutOccupy KC, where someone posting as the KC IWW on facebook said:

 KansasCity IwwOccupations, please do not fall for divide and conquer tactics! thisis not about partisan politics, this is about class solidarity amongthe 99%. Tea Party members are part of the 99%. If we reject eachother based on political affiliation, we will fail. We need to focuson what we have in common as 99% of the world population who issuffering at the hands of the 1%. Find one demand that we can allembrace. It is there. Find it. Turn no one away. Explain to theracists why race is not the problem, explain to liberals why the TeaParty is not the problem, explain to conservatives why Obama is notthe problem. Tell everyone, the 1% is the problem. We are the 99% 

There are multiple problems with this:

1)"this is not about partisan politics, this is about class solidarityamong the 99%" - Not sure we're down with this 99% thing, as itseems to imply a broad class front that includes everyone but therichest of the rich. There are plenty of people left out of thecategory of the super-rich that I don't want solidarity with, likefascists, white nationalists, police/FBI, politicians, Stalinists, thebourgeoisie and some of the petty bourgeoisie that make up the bossesand landlords that we have so many problems with, etc.

2) "Tea Party members are part of the 99%" - White nationalistsseeking to push the Republican Party back to the days of lynching.Fuck 'em, they may technically be part of the 99%, but they want to bepart of the 1%.

3) "If we reject each other based on political affiliation, we willfail". -  Couldn't disagree more with this.

4) "Find one demand that we can all embrace" - Overly simplistic andclass-reductionist, the 99% is much to diverse for this (especially ifit includes people that are not part of the working-class). Wateringdown our messages/goals is not a good idea. Furthermore, we should not begging for scraps. Attack the root of oppression;capitalism. Do not beg for the improvement of the issues created by it.

5) "Turn no one away" - This is probably our  biggest issue with all ofthis. Within ARA we do anti-fascism from the "No Platform" approach,which means we don't allow fascists (or others on the far right) tohave a public say. To do so is to allow a victory for fascists, asthey get a chance to get their message out to the audience or organizein a community and possibly make some new contacts. We don't preferto peacefully protest, we shut events down or prevent them fromhappening in the first place. This "turn no one away" approach meansa passive approach to neo-nazis, Klansmen, Minutemen, etc., but italso means a passive approach to white nationalists, Tea Partiers,third-positionists, anti-semites, conspiracy theorists, and othershitheads that can pass off their ideas as mainstream and legitimatebecause they don't wear SS uniforms or white sheets.

6) "Explain to the racists why race is not the problem" - This one isalso bullshit. We get what they are going for, but racial oppressionis a major problem in this country and needs to be directly addressedand not pushed to the side. Open discussion of race and whitesupremacy is something that should be at the front of our organizing,just like class, gender, the environment, and other issues that wehave identified.The other example cited was of a 9/11 Truther passing on anti-semiticpropaganda through facebook on a page related to Occupy KC. APennsylvania Tea Party group has already public stated: "Listen upPatriots! We have access to over 50,000 kids on Occupy Together! Goeducate them to the truth". These two examples should be enough toprove our points, but we're sure we are going to see more. It is sort ofsimilar to the way Tea Partiers deny they are racist, but consistentlyattract Nazis, Klansmen, and other white nationalists to their eventsbut don't really seem to have an answer as to why it happens. If theOccupy Movement situation is made repugnant to anyone that would wantto push oppressive ideas, they will be much less likely to participate(or successfully participate) that if we allow them their say.

 The other recent post on OPP details Occupy Boston's creation of ananti-oppression policy early on, which looks like a much better ideathan being tolerant of fascists and white nationalists if they wantthis movement to be liberatory and not just another populist agendathat is divisive on class issues.