Rose City Antifa – Official Background
Rose City Antifa (RCA) was founded in Portland, Oregon in October of 2007. RCA was formed after a coalition of local people and organizations formed the ‘Ad-Hoc Coalition Against Racism and Fascism’ in order to shut down a neo-Nazi skinhead festival called Hammerfest. RCA continues the work of that Ad-Hoc Coalition and countless others who have worked to oppose racial prejudice, bigotry and fascism in our communities in Portland, Oregon, and the Pacific Northwest more broadly.
Rose City Antifa opposes fascist organizing through direct action, education, and through solidarity with leftist spaces, activists, and organizations.
Direct Action is any work that prevents fascist organizing, and when that is not possible, provides consequences to fascist organizers. This is supported by researching and tracking fascist organizations.
Education helps us give our communities the information they need to recognize and oppose fascism. Fascists often hide their ideas and try to co-opt other movements, like environmentalism, anti-captialism, and anti-globalism. Sometimes they may even claim to be feminists. It is important that our community is able to see and understand what fascism is, what gives it power, and how to stop it.
Solidarity helps us model the kind of world we want to live in: a classless society, free from all forms of oppression. We ally ourselves with other groups that have similar values, and support them in their organizing. Through this solidarity, we hope to create radical spaces that can not only grow these movements, but also act as a viable alternative to those that seek community and may be preyed on by fasicsts who provide false solutions to problems of class and alienation in our society.
Rose City Antifa: “Abolish police now!”
On June 10, 2020 Rose City Antifa posted on its official Facebook page:
We are opposed to the police, a violent institution of the white supremacist state founded with the explicit intent of patrolling enslaved African people, and today continues to target, harm, and murder Black people, POC, poor people, and other oppressed groups. We stand in solidarity with all those who call for the defunding, disarming, and complete abolition of the police and prison systems. As antifascists we know that our fight is not just against organized fascism, but also against the capitalist state, and the police that protect it. Another world is possible! Justice for Breonna Taylor and all victims of police terror: Abolish police now!