Class 3: Fascism and the U.S. police state

For this class, we focus specifically on the relationship between fascism and the U.S.’s racist police state. How has fascism functioned in the U.S., and how has the Empire contributed to its growth internationally? What were the forces operative behind the so-called Business Plot in 1934, a planned fascist seizure of state power, and what light does this shed on the present moment? What lessons can we as organizers learn from projects like the CIA’s Operation Gladio, which established an international network of Nazis and fascists, who committed acts of terrorism that were then blamed on communists? How does all of this history relate to the current state of American politics and the events of January 6, 2021? Class materials: George Seldes, Facts and fascism (New York: In Fact, 1943), 11-15; 68-79; 277-286. Gabriel Rockhill, “Fascist plots in the U.S.: Contemporary lessons from the 1934 “Business Plot” https://liberationschool.org/fascist-plots-in-the-u-s-contemporary-lessons-from-the-1934-business-plot/ Sarah Churchwell, “American fascism: It has happened here” https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2020/06/22/american-fascism-it-has-happened-here/