Kentucky: We confronted the Klan & spread communist ideas

KENTUCKY, June 24—When the Ku Klux Klan tried to intimate antisexist protesters with a gun, we didn’t back down. Progressive Labor Party joined with an LBGTQ+ rally to fight the racist, sexist Klan and share communist politics.

The Klansmen were creeping around the parking lot with guns but fled once they were spotted. But then more Klansmen walked to the rally site. Since we had the permit, they weren’t able to counter-protest on the parallel sidewalk, so they were just shouting at us from way down the block.

The uniformed and undercover cops were there—but only to prevent violence in front of local businesses. It’s evident who the kkkops protect. The cops, the state, the ku klux klan—all are part of the bosses’ plan.
The small fascists and their racist and sexist taunts were pitiful and unintelligible. In the end they cowardly slinked away. Our bold protest showed that nothing can stop antiracists, antisexists, and communists from standing our ground, advancing the struggle, and generating mass support for communist politics.

How it started
On TikTok, comrades learned of a confrontation with Klansmen at an LGBTQ+ organizer rally in early June. The rally was protesting the state’s anti-trans sexist legislation (Senate Bill 150) that legalizes discrimination against transgender youth in schools and healthcare. SB 150 misgender students, require doctors to deny gender-affirming care for working-class youth, and prohibit discussions on topics like sexual orientation.

In this early June rally, the cardcarying members of small fascist scum from the town of London had shown up at the park handing out membership cards. They waved membership cards in the face of protestors.

One organizer smacked the card out of the Klansman’s hand. That;s when the fascist vermin drew a handgun.
The kkkops made him put the gun down and berated “both sides.'' Both the cops and klan are foot soldiers for capitalism, using terror to defend this virulent racist, sexist system.

When the PLP members saw this, they got in touch with the LBGTQ+ group and participated in their follow-up protest today. Why? Because injustice to one is injustice to all.

How it’s going
At today’s rally, fighters in the crowd chanted antiracist, antisexist slogans like, "K-K-Cowards!" and "Gay Workers! Trans Workers! All Workers!"  

A PLP member had sketched up a PLP poster that said “Smash sexism. Smash fascism. Smash capitalism.”
Another PL’er talked about our Party to others. They spread revolutionary ideas throughout this action, handing out CHALLENGE, making connections, and stressing the need for workers to organize our forces. During the protest and march, one young woman even asked us how to unionize!

Fight the Fascists, Big and Small
According to The New Republic (7/12),  the KKK has been posting flyers all over Kentucky. They have been emboldened by the Small Fascists (see box). But we also cannot let the closeted racists—the Big Fascists— get off scot-free. The different factions of the ruling class are fighting, but the working class cannot fall into the trap of picking a side.

To end these attacks on workers we need to smash the racist and sexist system that breeds fascism, kkkops, and the klan with communist revolution.

A bigger fascist danger
The entire U.S. ruling class is flailing—economically, politically, and militarily—as China rises and the U.S. hegemony is under siege (see editorial, page 2). There are two main camps: the Small Fascists and the Big Fascists. It is important to expose both.

The Republican lawmakers controlled by Small Fascists (billionaires whose capital is concentrated in domestic oil, tech, etc.), across the country are ramping up their sexist attacks on gay and trans youth.
Meanwhile, the Big Fascists (billionaires whose wealth is concentrated in global finance capital and oil), who claim to be on our side, are the ones who birthed and bred this racist, sexist system to begin with.

The Big Fascists are the biggest danger for the working class in the U.S. because their liberal, friendly-sounding jargon is pacifying millions by building the illusion that they can create a “nicer capitalism.” In reality they are attempting to win us to patriotically fight and die in the name of U.S. imperialism. We need to expose the hypocrisy of the liberal bosses. Historically, they layed the foundation on which these Small Fascists attacks are possible.