{"id":50732,"date":"2019-07-24T16:46:51","date_gmt":"2019-07-24T16:46:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wagingnonviolence.org\/forusa\/?p=50732"},"modified":"2019-08-08T02:09:41","modified_gmt":"2019-08-08T02:09:41","slug":"tennessee-antifascists-protest-montgomery-bell-white-supremacist-gatherings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wagingnonviolence.org\/forusa\/2019\/07\/tennessee-antifascists-protest-montgomery-bell-white-supremacist-gatherings\/","title":{"rendered":"Tennessee antifascists boldly disrupt, infiltrate and expose annual white supremacist gatherings"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A wooden bridge guarded by two well-armed park rangers was all that separated us from more than 60 of the most infamous national and international white supremacists. It was the last weekend of June, and they had come to Montgomery Bell State Park in Burns, Tennessee for the National Solutions Conference, a gathering of \u201crace realism\u201d organizations from around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the afternoon sun beat down on us \u2014 some 50 or so antifascists \u2014 we sang and chanted in protest to the hate-filled gathering across the lake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knoxville attorney and antifascist Chris Irwin texted me from inside the conference, having somehow registered and paid for entry without detection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI can hear \u2018La Bamba,\u2019\u201d he wrote. \u201cThey can hear you. They\u2019re begging their people not to engage. They know they\u2019ll lose if they do.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there is a theme song for antifascists in Tennessee, it is the beloved Mexican folk song \u201cLa Bamba.\u201d We received some attention<\/a> for it a couple years ago \u2014 when we drowned out and ultimately shut down a white supremacist rally \u2014 and since then we haven’t missed a chance to play our favorite song for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I read Irwin\u2019s message over the microphone to the crowd that had marched to the water\u2019s edge \u2014 the closest we were permitted to get \u2014 cheers erupted and the music got louder. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the next few hours we continued to heckle and taunt them from across the lake. At one point, we got on a boat to get closer to their side, unfurling a banner with the words \u201cWhite Supremacy Kills.\u201d Although they never engaged us, we knew \u2014 thanks to Irwin \u2014 that our presence had made an impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNone of the Nazis could escape it,\u201d he texted me later. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was important to find out because \u2014 over the eight years we\u2019ve been protesting these gatherings in the park \u2014 our ability to mount any kind of opposition has been severely weakened by a state government that\u2019s all too keen on welcoming and defending white supremacists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not only was a resolution denouncing white supremacy<\/a> killed by legislators in 2018, but Gov. Bill Lee recently signed a proclamation<\/a> declaring July 13 a day of celebration for slave trader and war criminal Nathan Bedford Forrest. To make matters worse, antifascists in Tennessee are routinely met with militarized police and barricades, whenever we show up to protest a white supremacist gathering. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Protesters on boats unfurling a banner with the words \u201cWhite Supremacy Kills.\u201d (WNV\/Alvine)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It should not be surprising then that \u2014 according to the Anti-Defamation League<\/a> \u2014 one in every five white supremacist gatherings in the United States takes place in Tennessee. It\u2019s become a safe place for them to spread their ideologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite these challenges, we continue to do our best to disrupt white supremacist gatherings. If we don’t, they look stronger \u2014 making it more likely that those on the fringes (usually young, white men) will be attracted to join their ranks. What’s more, those among us who are white (myself included) feel a particular responsibility to speak out. Plus, it is just safer for us to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, disruption is only part of our goal. We also think it is urgent to find out who attends these gatherings and what they are organizing. After all, it was at a 2017 conference in Montgomery Bell that Richard Spencer announced the deadly \u201cUnite the Right\u201d rally, which took place weeks later in Charlottesville, Virginia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In short, having Irwin on the inside was about more than finding out how much our protest got to them \u2014 it was about getting hours of video depicting the inner workings of the National Solutions Conference, its most virulent followers and leaders like former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard David Duke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Montgomery Bell<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

White supremacists started coming to Montgomery Bell State Park in 2012. They wanted to hold their gatherings somewhere far away from big cities like Washington, D.C. and Charlotte, North Carolina, where protesters were effective at pressuring private hotels into canceling reservations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

American Renaissance<\/a>, or AmRen \u2014 the 30-year-old white supremacist publication put out by the New Century Foundation<\/a> \u2014 was the first to come to Montgomery Bell. While there have been different sponsors over the years, it\u2019s always a mix of the same hate groups and participants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a while, there was only one conference per year. Then, starting in 2018 \u2014 around the time the Tennessee legislature killed that resolution denouncing white supremacy \u2014 it became a twice per summer affair. Not coincidentally, this is also when protesting started to get a lot harder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to that, protesters moved freely about the park. We chatted with the park rangers, ate meals in the restaurant and used the public restrooms in the State Park Inn & Conference Center \u2014 where the gatherings take place. We also reserved pavilions and held anti-racist teach-ins that brought everyone from church groups to the local NAACP out to protest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2018, the state denied our usual permit to access the public restrooms and have pop-up tents and tables where we had gathered in the past. When we arrived, we were met with barricades, a \u201cprotest pen\u201d and dozens of armed officers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Antifascists encourage white people to speak out against white supremacy. (WNV\/Alvine)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Nashville attorney Will York called the denial of the permit a reflection of Tennessee\u2019s racist history, comparing it to \u201cthe 1950s sit-ins, when the state protected white business owners wanting to keep people of color from certain establishments. These conferences are virulently racist, and the state is complicit in effectively banning all people of color from the lunch counter in our publicly-funded state park.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ultimately, the state\u2019s actions had the desired effect. Our numbers dropped to less than 20 people at the second conference in 2018. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, we returned to the park in May to protest another AmRen conference. This time, we had a group of about 50 activists ranging from individuals aligned with antifa to those with a deep commitment to nonviolence. Despite differences in beliefs and tactics, all agreed to act together \u2014 something made possible by years of relationship building and an overall mutual respect for the core work of anti-racism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our march was met by a police line on the road to the inn, preventing us from approaching the front of it. At this point, we didn’t know about the spot by the lake that we would use a month later. So, we hunkered down for a standoff with the police. After a few hours in the hot sun, someone squeezed a plastic bottle, shooting a stream of water into the air. Whether it was an accident or a harmless act of frustration is unclear, but it was all it took to get the police \u2014 some mounted on horses \u2014 to attack the protesters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four people were arrested and held in jail under cash-only bonds, an unusually harsh penalty for Dickson County. One protester was charged with felony aggravated assault because of the water. Another is still recovering from seven broken ribs, a broken nose and a displaced heart defibrillator. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Naturally, we expected more of the same when we returned to Montgomery Bell in June to protest the National Solutions Conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Protesters range from individuals aligned with antifa to those with a deep commitment to nonviolence. (WNV\/Alvine)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This time, however, the police had set up the barricade in such a way that we were funneled down a road we hadn’t noticed before. At first, we assumed it would take us further away from the conference center, but much to our surprise we found ourselves by the edge of the lake \u2014 facing the back of the inn. We weren’t more than a stone\u2019s throw away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part of me believes that this was a smart change in strategy by the police. They got what they wanted (the protesters in an area separate from the white supremacists that they could control) and we got what we wanted (a spot close enough to make our presence known). That said, it was likely just dumb luck on both of our parts. Looking back, the police probably expected us to stop at the barricade and for there to be another standoff. Regardless, if it was strategy or luck, for the first time in four conferences, the white supremacists could see and hear us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What most of them didn’t realize, however, is that we could also see and hear them. Irwin was on the inside, and he was recording everything. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Organize, organize, organize<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite being well known throughout Tennessee for showing up at white supremacist events to heckle participants, Irwin was able to walk in the front door and pay his entry fee like everyone else attending the National Solutions Conference. No one stopped him and \u2014 unlike most people there \u2014 he made no effort to conceal his identity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At one point, Irwin even found himself sitting next to David Duke. So, he introduced himself and told the former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard that he was an antifascist. There was no response from Duke or other conference-goers as they learned Irwin\u2019s identity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think they knew what to do with me,\u201d he said. \u201cBut by the end of the second day they were getting some ideas.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, that’s not what frightened Irwin the most. It was the organizing he saw. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere were tables laden with propaganda \u2014 talk about alternative financial networks. I heard some crazy stuff, but I saw organization. They\u2019re talking about brothers not fighting brothers anymore because they have one enemy. They\u2019re flying fascists in to participate from around the world. These guys are serious. They can come up with large amounts of cash.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Irwin said he didn\u2019t see that kind of organization \u2014 or desire to work together \u2014 among antifascists and anti-racists. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGood anarchists and activists are always fighting with one another. We\u2019ve benefited for decades with them fighting each other, but they\u2019re starting to put the knives down. We\u2019re not.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Irwin, they\u2019re creating structures and frameworks for when climatic or economic collapse occurs, and they have a network that crosses the nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just on the internet. We\u2019ve abandoned that ground. We\u2019re one economic collapse away. We\u2019re not prepared. They are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Irwin said that the first step toward building an antifascist movement that can effectively respond in the present and future is to organize at the community level, face to face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to lose if it comes down to violence,\u201d Irwin said. \u201cIf this becomes about violence, they\u2019re going to beat us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite their efforts at organizing, Irwin noted that it’s not their strength.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey\u2019re worried about organizing. They know that\u2019s where they\u2019ll get beat. If it comes down to punching it out with them, that\u2019s fighting on their ground. They\u2019d love it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Tennessee activists are planning to do more organizing throughout the year, and not just in Montgomery Bell State Park. (WNV\/Alvine)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While those of us organizing around Montgomery Bell were already thinking along these lines, Irwin\u2019s undercover work confirmed our intuition. Now more than ever, we realize our organizing can’t be confined to the conference and the week leading up to it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Going forward, we’ll be organizing in Burns and the surrounding communities in the months before and between the conferences. We want to do our own flyering and chalking, and we want to meet with local congregations and organizations to talk about what is happening in their own backyard. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s what it means to fight on our ground. What’s more, it\u2019s something most of us are already doing on a daily basis. If we can do it more consciously and in unison, then we can create an antifascist movement that\u2019s able to respond in the present, as well as in the future, leaving little space for violent and hateful ideologies to spread.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Despite mounting challenges from a state keen on welcoming white supremacists, antifascist activists are learning that deep organizing is the way they win.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":590,"featured_media":50733,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,77],"tags":[16,44,63,74,76,96],"region":[66],"series":[],"article_type":[],"class_list":["post-50732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history","category-racial-justice","tag-civil-rights-movement","tag-humor","tag-music","tag-police","tag-protests","tag-united-states","region-north-america"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTennessee antifascists boldy protest annual white supremacist gatherings<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Despite mounting challenges from a state keen on welcoming white supremacists, antifascist activists are learning that deep 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