User:Arms & Hearts/Redneck Revolt

Redneck Revolt is an American anti-capitalist, anti-racist and anti-fascist group.

Background
Redneck Revolt was founded in 2009 as an offshoot of the John Brown Gun Club, a Kansas-based firearms training project. The group was founded in part in response to the perceived contradictions of the Tea Party movement.

The group attributes their use of the word "redneck" to the the time of the Coal Wars, a series of labor disputes in the United States occurring from around 1890 to around 1930, when the word became popular among coalminers. The red bandanas worn by members emulate those worn by striking coalminers during the 1921 Battle of Blair Mountain. A member has said that the group tries "to acknowledge the ways we've made mistakes and bought into white supremacy and capitalism, but also give ourselves an environment in which it's OK to celebrate redneck culture."

Their political influences include the 19th-century abolitionist John Brown, the Young Patriots Organization and the Rainbow Coalition, an alliance formed in Chicago in the 1960s between the Black Panthers, Young Lords and the Young Patriots. The group sees itself as part of a tradition of white working-class "rebellion against tyranny and oppression".

Views
Redneck Revolt is an anti-capitalist, anti-racist and anti-fascist group, and uses direct action tactics. Redneck Revolt supports the rights of Muslims, immigrants and LGBT people and is opposed to economic inequality. Members also support the Black Lives Matter movement.

The group's website includes statements in opposition to capitalism, the nation state, white supremacy and "the wars of the rich," and advocates a "right of militant resistance". The website also argues for the necessity of revolution. A spokesperson for the Phoenix, Arizona John Brown Gun Club said in April 2017 that the group includes anarchists, communists, libertarians and Republicans. The group does not identify itself as part of the political left, nor as politically liberal. Redneck Revolt does not have leaders, and does not offer a detailed blueprint for political action: a spokesperson said in June 2017 that "We don’t have some grand plan for how we want to remake the world. We're tackling a specific problem, which is white supremacy, which we find to be built into capitalism".

The group supports gun rights and runs firearms training events. Members often view the practice of openly carrying guns as a political statement that intimidates opponents and affirms gun rights. In a May 2017 interview a member said the group uses guns only in self-defense and in "response to a rise in politically motivated violence and intimidation against vulnerable communities". The same member said that Redneck Revolt had reached out to groups such as the 3 Percenters, a predominantly right-wing group, with whom they have some common ground.

Dave Strano, a founding member, has argued that "The history of the white working class has been a history of being an exploited people. However, we’ve been an exploited people that further exploits other exploited people. While we've been living in tenements and slums for centuries, we've also been used by the rich to attack our neighbors, coworkers, and friends of different colors, religions and nationalities."

Activities
Redneck Revolt is a national network comprising local groups known as John Brown Gun Clubs. As of May 2017 the group had more than 33 such local chapters across 20 U.S. states.

The group focuses on anti-racist organizing among white poor and working-class people,  though members are not exclusively white. Redneck Revolt is active in spaces in which white supremacist groups also often recruit, including country music concerts, flea markets, gun shows and NASCAR events. Chapters in Appalachia also provide food and clothing programs, community gardens and needle exchanges in rural communities.

The Phoenix, Arizona chapter of Redneck Revolt openly carried firearms outside of the Arizona State Legislature on the day of the inauguration of Donald Trump in January 2017. They declared support for those opposing Trump, including immigrants, LGBTQ people and Muslims.

In April 2017 members attended a counter-protest against groups including the League of the South, the Traditionalist Worker's Party and the National Socialist Movement in Pikeville, Kentucky. Later in April members hosted a barbecue in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where Trump was marking his 100th day in office.

Silver Valley Redneck Revolt, a local chapter, organized a counter-demonstration against a Ku Klux Klan rally in Asheboro, North Carolina in May 2017. In a Facebook post the group said "We need to let the Klan know that if they leave their enclaves there will be a broad response from the community ... This event is to publicly denounce the Klan, their beliefs, and show that we will not back down."

A local chapter of Redneck Revolt was part of a counter-protest against a June 2017 rally in support of Trump in Portland, Oregon. Also in June, members were part of a protest against the Christian conservative organization Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs, Colorado, which coincided with a speech by Mike Pence to celebrate the group's fortieth anniversary. On June 23 armed members of Redneck Revolt attended a protest in Kalkaska, Michigan in response to anti-Muslim comments made by Jeff Sieting, the village president. Members carried a banner in support of Muslims and said they were there to protect the protesters from counter-protesters supporting Sieting.