The Dumbest Meme Ever

There are very few memes that are as dumb and insulting as this one.  It works because people conflate Antifa with being antifascist and therefore being pro-democracy, albeit while having a very hazy notion of what the term democracy means.  An old friend, whom I have known for more than half a century, posted this on their Facebook feed the other day, and I was genuinely shocked, as her father, like mine, was a combat veteran of World War II.  So, I guess it’s time for a quick history review.

Antifa, derived from Antifaschistische Aktion (AA), was launched by the German Communist Party (KPD) in 1932 as a KPD-led “united front” against fascism, under communist leadership. This was not a movement of liberal pluralism. It was a part of the Comintern line that branded the Social Democrats (SPD) and their mass organizations (Reichsbanner/Eiserne Front)  as “social fascists,” a stance that often prioritized fighting liberals over fighting Nazis. This is a fact that the members of the Democratic Socialists of America and others would do well to ponder as they rush to support Antifa. In practice, the KPD organized disruption, beatings, and running street fights aimed at humiliating, scattering, or deterring Social Democratic activists and audiences. 

The violence and disruption caused by Antifa were significant. In 1932, there were systematic attacks on SPD/Eiserne Front events. KPD circulars and AA campaign plans explicitly paired the fight “against the Nazis” with an “attack on the Iron Front” (the SPD-aligned coalition). Police intelligence and party directives from summer 1932 describe AA units being tasked to break up opponents’ meetings, tear down their banners, and confront their stewards, violent “overfalls” (assaults), Berlin police logged in the fall of 1932. 

Street brawls with Reichsbanner and Iron Front patrols. Contemporary reports and scholarship on late-Weimar “street politics” note near-daily scuffles over halls, corners, and marching routes; AA papers even boasted of a “flag war” (ripping down the other side’s symbols) as part of these confrontations. Injuries on both sides were common. 

There was targeted intimidation of SPD canvassers and newspaper sellers. Berlin police summarized “serious assaults on political opponents” during the 1932 campaign; historians of the period use those files alongside KPD/AA leaflets to reconstruct routine beatings and roughings-up of rival activists in working-class districts. 

Framing the SPD itself as a legitimate physical target. AA was conceived and propagated as a “red united front under KPD leadership,” and its internal training materials list agitation against “social-fascist demagogy” (i.e., SPD messaging) among its primary tasks, signaling that SPD speakers, stewards, and gatherings were fair game on the streets. Even SPD’s own press complained in June 1932 that AA was “in reality nothing other than an anti-Social Democratic action.”

What of today’s Antifa?  None of the currently active Marxist movements in America claims Antifa as a front group.  Here’s how each stands in relation to today’s Antifa.

Organization	Stance tag	Notes
Communist Party USA (CPUSA)	Supportive mass-front; not black‑bloc	Backed 2020 racial‑justice protests in broad anti‑fascist framing; emphasizes united fronts, legal/mass tactics.
Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL)	Active organizers; anti‑criminalization	Organized/led many 2020–present street actions; defended arrestees; ongoing anti‑ICE/anti‑repression protests.
Workers World Party (WWP)	Pro‑Antifa movement; cadre‑led	Amplified and joined anti‑fascist counter‑mobilizations; strong anti‑imperialist/anti‑racist framing.
Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO)	Movement‑embedded; militant‑friendly	Deep local roots in Minneapolis and elsewhere; supports militant protest while operating under FRSO banners.
Party of Communists USA (PCUSA)	Low‑visibility; supportive rhetoric	Expresses solidarity with anti‑fascist protests; limited footprint in 2020–25 mobilizations.
Revolutionary Communist Party, USA (RCP/Revcoms)	Highly visible agitational presence	Prominent at marches; vocally defends Antifa against ‘terror’ labels; propaganda‑heavy street agitation.
Socialist Equality Party (SEP, ICFI)	Anti‑repression; critical of Antifa	Opposes state repression/Trumpist targeting; critiques Antifa/BLM as petty‑bourgeois/identity politics.
Socialist Alternative (ISA)	Pro‑protest; institutional leverage	Active in Seattle and other cities; channels street energy into council/ballot wins and labor fights.
Freedom Socialist Party (FSP)	Feminist‑Trotskyist; counter‑protest	Organizes antifascist counter‑rallies; supportive but analytically distinct from anarchist tactics.
Internationalist Group (League for the Fourth International)	Defense‑oriented; orthodox‑Trot	Calls for labor‑based defense against fascists; denounces state targeting; skeptical of reformist fronts.
Left Voice (FT‑CI project)	Agitational media + shop‑floor	Covers and joins pickets/campus actions; critiques anarchist methods while opposing repression.
Revolutionary Communists of America (RCA)	Strike‑first revolutionary line	Supports protests through class‑independent agitation; distinct from anarchist Antifa networks.
Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)	Mass‑org; distance from black‑bloc	Chapters joined BLM/anti‑repression protests; opposes federal crackdowns; avoids black‑bloc tactics.

Oh, you weren’t aware there were thirteen active Marxist political organizations in America?  Now that you are, what are you going to do?  May I suggest voting in your next municipal election, attending the next school board meeting, and voting in the next school board election?  Perhaps seek elected office while you are still free to do so?