A new pro-Trump demonstration is scheduled for Saturday, September 26 in Portland, at the initiative of the far-right group, the Proud Boys. The far left organizations are planning to hold a counter-demonstration at the same time. Three weeks ago, the clash between extremist factions left two dead, one in each camp. Randy Blazak, sociologist, professor at the University of Portland, is the chairman of the Coalition Against Hate Crimes (“Hate crimes”) from Oregon, a group that includes representatives of civil society and law enforcement. Known for his investigations “Undercover” in skinhead circles, he looks back on the extremist movements that agitate the northwest of the United States.
Why so much extremism in a semi-rural state of 4.2 million inhabitants?
There is a historical dimension. Oregon was built as a “white” state. Blacks were excluded from it, by virtue of the Constitution itself. The Ku Klux Klan was very powerful there. The tradition of white supremacy continued into the XXe century. Then came movements fundamentally hostile to the federal government, neo-Nazis like Aryan Nations, and now ” hate groups ” (“Hate propaganda groups”) very organized.
On the far left, there is a radical tradition in the Pacific Northwest, created by Marxists, socialists. This neighborhood we are in (Alberta Street) had more anarchists than anywhere else. 1er-May is an important date in Portland, with big demonstrations. The city has always had this white, educated, progressive middle class, a kind of radical intelligentsia. John Reed, author of 10 days that shook the world [1919], was born in Portland. Here, it was the white activists who carried the flag of anti-racism while in other cities, especially in the South, it was more voices from the struggle for civil rights.
Then came the skinheads …
Portland has always known this vendetta between radicals on the right and the left. In the 1990s, we saw the arrival of racist skinheads but also anti-racist skinheads: the Sharp, acronym for “Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice”. These were the most violent: they were trying to drive racists out of town. Their clash resulted in one death on the 1er January 1993, when the frontman of the supremacist group Bound for Glory, Eric Banks, was killed by anti-racists. After, the Sharp evolved. These are the “antifas” of today. In fact, some of those we see in the current protests are themselves former skinheads.
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