r/longform

Background [OC]: The late Yale Anthropologist David Graeber (an anarchist whose father was in the anti-fascist anarcho-syndicalist 1936 Spanish revolution) was one of the lead organizers of the 2011 Occupy Wall Street protests against the influence of money in politics. The protests occurred in the same year as the Citizens United landmark Supreme Court ruling that lifted limitations on campaign financing.

During the protests, and during other anti-globalist protests beginning roughly in the early 21st century (starting with the 1999 WTO anti-globalization protests in Seattle), there was a development in "black bloc" tactics among protesters, where protesters wore black clothing and personal protective equipment (like respirators and goggles) to make them harder to differentiate, to make them harder to identify, and for protection against riot control tactics.

Chris Hedges is a Christian socialist who criticized the use of the tactic in a Truthdig column called "The Cancer in Occupy", where he censured black bloc tactics. He characterized protesters who use the tactic as "anarchists" seeking physical confrontations with police; destroying property; resulting in uninvolved nonviolent protests being shut down; hijacking movements and destroying their moral authority; of being "criminal" and hypermasuline"; of provoking police to use riot control methods; and doing "what our oppressors want." His associate, activist Derrick Jensen, accused black blockers of destroying movements and using nonviolent protesters as "human shields"; said they "hate the left more than they hate capitalists"; said they are "nonstrategic" and "stupid"; and said "we have to go through the process of trying to work with the system and getting screwed. It is only then that we get to move beyond it."

Graeber's essay you are about to read is in objection to anti-black bloc arguments like these. I hope everyone enjoys the read!