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It’s a bit troubling to read former educator Gene Orr’s opinion piece (Herald, Dec. 19) where he conflates the current U.S. “Antifa” with various groups who were called “Antifa” in World War II.
“Fascist” was a pejorative in World War II, much as it is a pejorative used by leftists, today. The Nazis called the Communists “fascists” and the Communists called the Nazis “fascists,” as a matter of fact, and various “Antifa” groups worked against both ideological parties.
Both the Nazis and the Communists were violence-prone groups whose origins were from socialism: Communism is an outgrowth of socialism, and the Nazis were the National Socialist German Workers Party (socialists always claim to represent the “workers,” or the “Volk”). “Fascists” often tend to be the authoritarian outgrowth of leftist/socialist governments.
Currently, the anarchist “Antifa” in the U.S. has little to do with the “anti-fascist” groups of the past, other than using the word “fascist” as a pejorative to excuse their acts of violence and law-breaking. As noted, the U.S. group calling itself “Antifa” has been designated a terrorist group and we’ll have to wait and see how that plays out.
The worrisome part about Mr. Orr’s column was the unabashed leftist perspective. Everyone has an opinion, of course, but the ardent leftist perspective of Mr. Orr’s column brings to mind the question of how many left-leaning teachers are populating the schools around La Plata County. Let’s hope that not such direct leftism is used to indoctrinate our students.
Mike Sigman
Durango
