54 lines
2.7 KiB
Markdown
54 lines
2.7 KiB
Markdown
**Redneck Revolt** is an
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[anarcho-communist](Anarcho-Communism "wikilink") and
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[anti-fascist](Anti-Fascism "wikilink") [network of gun
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clubs](List_of_Libertarian_Socialist_Organizations "wikilink") and
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[mutual aid](Mutual_Aid "wikilink") groups based in the Southern [United
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States](United_States_of_America "wikilink") that specialises in
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training people in safe firearm usage, first aid and gardening. They
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also help provide [food](food "wikilink"), clothing and needle exchanges
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to poor communities.
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## History
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### Precursor Organisations
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Redneck Revolt was founded in 2009, in part in response to the perceived
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contradictions of the Tea Party movement, as an offshoot of the **John
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Brown Gun Club**, a firearms training and community defense project that
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was itself founded in Lawrence, Kansas in 2004. Founding member Dave
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Strano was previously part of the Kansas Mutual Aid Network, which was
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involved in organizing protests against the Republican National
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Convention in 2004, in relation to which he and others began to train
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with firearms and engage in Second Amendment advocacy. In the early
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2000s, John Brown Gun Club members operated anti-racist stalls at gun
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shows in Kansas. The John Brown Gun Club sought to "demystify" firearms,
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and to distinguish their commitment to community self-defense from
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clandestine groups that advocated guerrilla warfare. Its first major
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mobilization was a protest against the 2005 national conference of the
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Minuteman Project.
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### Name
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The group attributes their use of the word "redneck" to the time of the
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[Coal Wars](Coal_Wars_\(USA\) "wikilink"), a series of labor disputes in
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the United States occurring from around [1890 to around
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1930](Timeline_of_Libertarian_Socialism_in_North_America "wikilink"),
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when the word became popular among coalminers. The use of the term is
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also intended as a form of subversion or reappropriation. The group's
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name also refers to the [Battle of Blair
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Mountain](Battle_of_Blair_Mountain "wikilink"), and the red bandanas
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worn by members emulate those worn by striking coalminers during that
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conflict. A member has said that the group tries "to acknowledge the
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ways we've made mistakes and bought into [white
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supremacy](White_Supremacy "wikilink") and
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[capitalism](capitalism "wikilink"), but also give ourselves an
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environment in which it's OK to celebrate redneck culture".
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## Activities
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As of December 2017, there were 45 local chapters across 30 US states
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affiliated with Redneck Revolt. The groupp is active in spaces such as
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country music concerts, flea markets, gun shows, NASCAR events, rodeos
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and state fairs. Chapters provide firearms and first aid training, food
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and clothing programs, and community gardens, and host needle exchanges,
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potlucks, and educational events. |