Anti-Racist Action

www.aranet.org

Anti-Racist Action was founded in the early 1990s by a group of mostly white people to counteract the KKK and neo-Nazi activity in their communities. Groups were started in Columbus, OH, Minneapolis, and Toronto initially. There are now over 100 chapters in the United States (O'Brien, 2001, p.12). While chapters are autonomous, they must agree to four main principles (these are taken from www.aranet.org):

1) We go where they go: Whenever fascists are organizing or active in public, we're there. We don't believe in ignoring them or staying away from them. Never let the nazis have the street!

2) We don't rely on the cops or courts to do our work for us: This doesn't mean we never go to court. But we must rely on ourselves to protect ourselves and stop the fascists.

3) Non-Sectarian defense of other Anti-Fascists: In ARA, we have lots of different groups and individuals. We don't agree about everything and we have a right to differ openly. But in this movement an attack on one is an attack on us all. We stand behind each other.

4) We support abortion rights and reproductive freedom. ARA intends to do the hard work necessary to build a broad, strong movement against racism, sexism, anti-Semitism, homophobia, discrimination against the disabled, the oldest, the youngest and the most oppressed people. We want a classless society. WE INTEND TO WIN!

As is clear from these core principles, Anti-Racist Action (unlike groups such as the People's Institute) consider the other "isms" just as important as racism. Further, in her study of the organization, O'Brien (2001) found another difference between Anti-Racist Action and many other antiracist organizations: "ARA seems more focused on raising the sheer numbers of ARA members and is not concerned about educating them into any particular framework, provided they agree to the four principles" (p. 136). ARA also tends to put a high value on the idea of "colorblindness," and thus members "recognize how 'racists' use race as a way of dispensing power and privilege but strive not to notice race in their own interactions" (O'Brien, 2001, p. 136). This "colorblindness" is interpreted by many as another form of racism (albeit subtle). See the section "What Whiteness?" on the Models of Whiteness page.

For more information on Anti-Racist Action, see the section "Antiracist White: Standing Against Most Extreme Forms of Racism" on the Models of Whiteness page.

References

O'Brien, Eileen. (2001). Whites Confront Racism: Antiracists and Their Paths to Action. New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.