Red Guards (United States): Difference between revisions
Saula Wenger (talk | contribs) |
mNo edit summary |
||
| (3 intermediate revisions by 2 users not shown) | |||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{Infobox guerilla organization|name=Red Guards|image=USA Red Guard symbol.png|active=2015-2018<ref group="lower-alpha">Certain Red Guard collectives maintained activity until 2020.</ref>|ideology=[[Maoism|Marxism–Leninism–Maoism]]<br>|status=Inactive|motives=Initiation of a [[protracted people's war]] in the United States.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Red Guards Austin|title=DON’T VOTE, REVOLT!|date=2016-9-7|url=https://redguardsaustin.wordpress.com/2016/09/07/dont-vote-revolt/|retrieved=2022-9-10}}</ref>| | {{Infobox guerilla organization|name=Red Guards|image=USA Red Guard symbol.png|active=2015-2018<ref group="lower-alpha">Certain Red Guard collectives maintained activity until 2020.</ref>|ideology=[[Maoism|Marxism–Leninism–Maoism]]<br>|status=Inactive|motives=Initiation of a [[protracted people's war]] in the United States.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Red Guards Austin|title=DON’T VOTE, REVOLT!|date=2016-9-7|url=https://redguardsaustin.wordpress.com/2016/09/07/dont-vote-revolt/|retrieved=2022-9-10}}</ref> | ||
opponents=[[Democratic Socialists of America]]<br>[[Party for Socialism and Liberation]]<br>Other local | |opponents=[[Democratic Socialists of America]]<br>[[Party for Socialism and Liberation]]<br>Other local opportunist nominally "Socialist" organizations|size=~200|merged_into=[[Committee to Reconstitute CPUSA]]}} | ||
The '''Red Guards''' in the [[United States of America|United States]] were a collection of nominally decentralized [[Marxism-Leninism-Maoism|Marxist-Leninist-Maoist]] organizations. | The '''Red Guards''' in the [[United States of America|United States]] were a collection of nominally decentralized [[Marxism-Leninism-Maoism|Marxist-Leninist-Maoist]] organizations. | ||
| Line 33: | Line 33: | ||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
* [[Sunbelt thesis]] | |||
*[[Communist Party of Peru]] | *[[Communist Party of Peru]] | ||
*[[Red Guard Party]] | *[[Red Guard Party]] | ||
Latest revision as of 18:10, 1 December 2025
| Red Guards | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Dates of operation | 2015-2018[a] |
| Merged into | Committee to Reconstitute CPUSA |
| Motives | Initiation of a protracted people's war in the United States.[1] |
| Ideology |
Marxism–Leninism–Maoism |
| Status | Inactive |
| Size | ~200 |
| Opponents |
Democratic Socialists of America Party for Socialism and Liberation Other local opportunist nominally "Socialist" organizations |
The Red Guards in the United States were a collection of nominally decentralized Marxist-Leninist-Maoist organizations.
The priorities of the US Red Guards included a strong opposition to reformism, and eventual initiation of a protracted people's war against the government.[2] The group took up violent approaches against local members of organizations such as the Democratic Socialists of America and the Party for Socialism and Liberation, leading to violent attacks on their gatherings which were done in the name of anti-revisionism.[3]
History
Formation
The Red Guard movement in the United States first originated in the city of Austin, Texas, when in 2015, communists that were previously participating in an effort to form a communist party based around Marxist-Leninist-Maoist ideology split, and instead organized into a smaller group of Maoist cadres, known as the Austin Red Guards, whose activities were largely limited to charity and small-scale protests in favor of the LGBTQ+ community, which were commonly done under the slogan "serve the people."
Later on, the Austin Red Guards were able to gain popularity among other Maoists for their vocal denouncement of the widely-disliked Trotskyist party, the International Socialist Organization, among other infamous groups. The Austin Red Guards exploited this popularity that was created from their polemical attacks against opportunists to create similar Maoist Red Guard collectives (which largely functioned as merely front organizations) in other parts of the United States. These Red Guard organizations were allegedly created through coercively splitting rival Maoist collectives or, if that tactic failed, eliminating them as an effective organization entirely.[4]
Anti-electoralism during the 2016 election
At around the time of the 2016 election in the United States, the Red Guards began to escalate both their rhetoric and tactics, with Red Guards beginning to take militant action against Trump supporters, and calling on voters to boycott the presidential election and instead take revolutionary actions against the bourgeois democracy.
Also at this time, the Red Guards would attempt to attract support from protestors from Black Lives Matter as well as feminist and transgender movements, with one notable Red Guard cell renaming itself to the Popular Women’s Movement. However, these efforts were not met with notable success, with the Red Guards later refuting the Black Lives Matter movement as liberal and reformist[5] and even embracing quasi-transphobic tendencies.[4]
Later activities
After the conclusion of the presidential election, and in the immediate years following it, the Red Guards would largely maintain their anti-reformist rhetoric and anti-fascist stance, with the Austin Red Guards publishing a statement which called on other collectives to begin "militarization," and declaring that "the war is not coming, it is here and now."[6] At this time, the Red Guards further intensified their attempts at creating and expanding aligned-cells. However, also at this point, the Red Guards would soon begin to direct criticism and even take forceful action against organizations which failed to adhere to a similar Maoist line, which included reformist socialists and even other communists, with their tactics beginning to encapsulate what has been described as "street gang tactics."
Their actions at this time reportedly included disrupting tenant organizing efforts due to their location being within what Red Guards had claimed was their "turf," threatening rival Maoists by harassing them or leaving dead animal remains on their doorsteps,[4] attempting to attack Democratic Socialists of America gatherings,[7] and even physically assaulting a Democratic Socialist congressional candidate.[8]
Statements of dissolution
Following increasing controversy over alleged attacks on DSA and other organizations by Red Guards, along with other reasons, on December 17, 2018, a Red Guards Austin (RGA) WordPress account published the statement, "this project has reached its conclusion, we are no more."[9] A Red Guards Los Angeles (RGLA) WordPress published a similar statement on May 17, 2019, stating, "Red Guards Los Angeles, as of today, is no more."[10]
With the largest and most influential Red Guard collectives disbanded, most other Red Guards followed suit and dispersed, with many collectives likely suffering from a lack of discipline, collective leadership and democratic centralism, and internal unity.[11]
Reception
Cult allegations
The website maoistcultexposed.wordpress.com was established in late 2023 and made various claims against the Red Guards and Committee to Reconstitute CPUSA, including physical and verbal assault, forced sleep deprivation, stalking and isolation, and death threats. The claims of cult-like behavior would be countered by the Committee to Reconstitute CPUSA and International Communist League as being the result of "snitching and police work."[12]
Further reading
- If You Don’t Dare to Struggle, You Don’t Deserve to Win, by the Tampa Maoist Collective
See also
External links
Notes
- ↑ Certain Red Guard collectives maintained activity until 2020.