HTP - Volume 3, Issue 4 - April / May 1998Anti-Racist Action
This is how Mohamed Abbas, a member of the Toronto chapter of Anti-Racist Action (ARA) replied when asked about group's reputation as violent extremists, making up nothing more than a "reverse" hate group. There are hundreds of ARA groups across North America, and although they are not officially affiliated with one another they share the common purpose of opposing racism and fascism.
I asked Mohamed about the commonly held view that racism in Canada is only represented by a tiny, marginalized fringe of extremists. "The problem with this assumption is that it only looks at one form of racism, organised hate, and not the more insidious forms." he replied. "At the moment, hate groups are marginalized and small in Canada. But the potential recruitment pool is still in the millions. How can this be? We all grew up in a society that regards European culture as the norm and disregards the experiences and histories of the other groups." In Mohamed's opinion, racial acceptance is far more fragile then we would like to think it is. He points to commonly held views, such as First Nations peoples having "more rights than white Canadians", or that Asians "take too many jobs away from us." For those who think that Canada is too tolerant to ever have serious racial problems, Mohamed points out that "around 1925, Germany elected a Jewish president and the Nazis were a marginal group of thugs and street kids."
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"When someone can point out six million innocent victims of Anti-racists, burned or demolished churches throughout
the Southern United States, lynched racists, bombed abortion clinics, bombed day care centres and mass graves, then they
can talk about the anti-racists being similar to the racists."
Contrary to popular belief, the main activity of the ARA is not simply beating up or harassing Nazis and White
Supremacists. While Mohamed admits that some members of his group do get involved in "street confrontations" with
neo-Nazis, he says that the ARA's main roles are far more peaceful. The group organises anti-racist demonstrations, puts
on "Rock against Racism" shows, monitors racists groups, runs a radio show on a local station, and writes articles for
anti-racist publications.
Increasingly the suburbs are becoming popular with neo-Nazi groups, according to Mohamed. "There is a trend for the
past three years that boneheads are congregating in suburbs." he explains "The reason is that they could not withstand the
resistance from multi-cultural cities like Toronto. They seek to move to places where there is lots of indifference!"
According to the ARA, there are a number of reasons why young people turn to racist groups. Some have been raised in
a culture of hate, while others have become disillusioned with their own failures and seek a scapegoat (i.e. I wasn't hired
because I wasn't Chinese). Most young people who join racist groups though are simply alienated "losers" searching for a
place where they fit in. Part of the ARA's strategy is to recruit these alienated young people away from the risk of joining
hate groups and into the anti-racist scene, where they find "friends, an identity and places to hang out."
Another controversial aspect of the ARA, beyond their reputation for violence, is their view on free speech. Does the
ARA feel that racists such as Ernst Zuendel have the right to free speech? "Yes." said Mohamed, but then added "Do I
think that Holocaust denial is 'free-speech'? No, we don't. Free speech is the open exchange of ideas. It is not 'extortion'
or 'fraud' or 'instigation of violence'. These things are not ideas." Mohamed recognised Zuendel's right to hate Jews, and
to express this hatred, but said that by denying the Holocaust, Zuendel was intentionally misinforming people with the
intent of spreading hatred. "Just as a society has the duty to protect its members against fraudulent claims in the matter of
finance and medicine it also has the duty to protect against historical and political fraud," Mohamed said.