American Fascism: The Land of the Unfree
Statue of Liberty doing a Nazi salute. Source: Firstpost
By: I’Maya Gibbs
The term “fascism” has historically been associated with Italian dictator Benito Mussolini’s 1925-1943 authoritarian regime. Characterized as a dictatorial, nationalist, and politically oppressive and suppressive government and political ideology, fascism is prevalent within historical discussions of Italy, World War II, and Nazism, but not the United States. America’s history of slavery, racism, lynchings, Jim Crow segregation, and police brutality significantly mirrors the repressive nature of fascism, yet, the country has largely not been considered societally in the same vein. However, exploring oral interviews within The HistoryMakers Digital Archive uncovers elements of fascism within American society.
White nationalists gathering during a demonstration in Charlottesville, Virginia, Saturday, August 12, 2017. Source: WOSU Public Media
For poet and civil rights activist Askia Toure (1938-) fascism within the United States was a serious concern, “I think this whole country is tottering on the brink of fascism and it was almost a fascist coup here with these "elections" or "Supreme Court selections" of the highest office in the land and that we need to be on our guard. It's not over yet; it's some serious people who wouldn't rest to place black people, Latino people, poor people in concentration camps. It was done before … that we can't relax and escape into partying and drugs and buying commodities. We have to be on our toes and we have to really link up, link the generations and do not get involved in Harold Cruse called "historical discontinuity" the one generation doesn't know what the other generation was about and have to reinvent the wheel all over again.” Civil rights activist James Forman (1928 - 2005) also considers fascism in America, “ …I think that we have to really fight through this question of political inequality. You know, I think that black people throughout the United States--We should have to be mobilized, or we should attempt to mobilize…..[President] George [W.] Bush just came out two three days ago in the 'Washington Post' [newspaper] saying that he didn't agree that, you know, that senators should have the right to vote from the District of Columbia. Nor should the people in the [U.S.] House of Representatives. Well I mean why shouldn't we have the--Why shouldn't our people have the same rights? As long as we don't have the same rights, our country is really not a democracy. And we're still living under degrees of feudalism and fascism. And we're trying to fight that through.”
Film director William Greaves (1925 - 2014) when discussing his decision to leave the United States acknowledges the nation’s fascism as a leading factor, “....America has possibilities as a country because it certainly was a, an apartheid nation when I left, you know, McCarthyism [extreme anti-Communist political movement] and all that foolishness. And I said, you know, "If this country isn't careful it's going to make it," you know because it was, as Malcolm X says, you know, "Democracy in racist's society is fascism," and that's what America was, you know, as far as I was concerned. So, I was very happy to leave America in 1952.”
A demonstrator holding up a sign protesting US President Donald Trump on Capital Hill in Washington on Monday, February 17, 2025. Source: France 24
Author and journalist Jill Nelson (1952-) addressed the fascism in America’s political climate during President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, “I mean imagine if just by an accident of birth you were privileged and you were on top of other people, and you were--had been told for years you were supposed to get something, you know. And these people are mad and they feel robbed because those days are over for them, you know, it's not gonna happen. And they've been manipulated by a fascist and his minions, or he's their minion, to believe that he's gonna bring back the good ole days. But you know there--you don't bring anything back. You know, whenever I hear people talking about going back, I'm like back to when, what year, the '50s [1950s], you know. You know, the '20s [1920s] when women couldn't vote, when there was slavery, during Reconstruction, antebellum.”
Book cover of Mark Christian Thompson’s text Black Fascisms. Source: University of Virginia
Lawyer and former mayor of Prichard, Alabama A.J. Cooper, Jr. (1944-) described fascism within a Black American political context, “Black fascism to me is the notion that I'm black, and if you criticize me, you're not black. Black fascism is, I'm black and I got elected, and therefore I get to stay elected without regard to non-pejorative, fair criticism of one's accomplishments, okay. And how do we, as mature members of the body politic, evaluate our performance and the performance of our leaders, and ought not our leaders be evaluated, okay?” Mathemacian William Massey (1956-) also speaks of a Black or “afro-fascism” within the United States, “And so it wasn't--because, well, one thing I find that gets played nowadays because, was certain debates with--a certain impression of our country. It gives me flashbacks to things I really didn't like about the '70s [1970s] in terms of black culture. I call it the "age of," I call, "afro-fascism," okay; that if you do not fit into my narrow, limited conception of what black people are about, then you are not really black."
Musical poster that depicts the Mammy stereotype Source: The Atlantic
Photographer Donald Camp (1940-) conceptualized fascism as a cultural phenomenon within American media, “There was just a tremendous resistance to changing what the image was of the African American community or any community that was non-white. So, I don't think it's so much….. a…..stereotype thing but it really is who did the newspaper cover. And I challenged people sometime with the……--multicultural workshop that I did after that, after Vietnam. And I said--I'd give them newspapers and I would assign them each a race, say, you're Asian, you're African American, you're white, and…. you're a woman, you're Asian, you're Indian [Native American]. Okay, find yourself in the newspaper. It's very interesting. Indians always come up with nobody (laughter), okay. It's like there's nothing on the Indians. Asians, maybe one or two, women, had a little bit more. When I started… they were almost like the Asians. Whites, white men, white men, "Oh! oh! Here we go," you know, (laughter) it's like the whole thing you see………And it wasn't because they were ignorant of it, it was because they had no desire to move any further than that. And, that was dangerous. See, to me--and I think the thing is just too many--and it's not just when you ignore a culture but it's when you exemplify one segment as being premier. That's dangerous. That, that's cultural fascism.”
Music composer Jeffrey Mumford (1955-) considered how the American educational system can propel the nation into a fascist society, “My daughter's [Josephine Blythe Coleman-Mumford] a wonderfully creative, brilliant, sensitive child who learns in various ways. Viscerally she learns by, she learns by this force of her imagination, by doing things, you know. And to force her and other students, creative students like her into a mold where you sit in a row, and you learn this. And you have the sheet in front of you. You write these things down, based on what a teacher is barking at you. And you have this arbitrary systems established there to justify a basic antieducational philosophy, which would, of course, have you--any Fascist society would like to stay a Fascist society by--continuing ignorance and into population. And the first thing to go in a society is the artists and the intellectuals. And if you cease to have a foundation that fosters creativity and, and intellectual pursuit and the sense of discovery, you get what you get, and you get a society that allows what happens in 2000 and 2004 to happen as opposed to what happened in the Ukraine, where there's 98 percent literacy rate.”
References:
Askia Toure' (The HistoryMakers A2007.131), interviewed by Larry Crowe, April 10, 2007, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 9, story 4, Askia Toure describes his hopes and concerns for the African American community
James Forman (The HistoryMakers A2001.033), interviewed by Julieanna L. Richardson, April 26, 2001, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 5, story 4, James Forman comments about progress toward racial equality after the Civil Rights Movement
William Greaves (The HistoryMakers A2003.082), interviewed by Larry Crowe, April 17, 2003, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 3, story 1, William Greaves discusses his return to the United States from Canada and his filmmaking career
Jill Nelson (The HistoryMakers A2016.085), interviewed by Harriette Cole, November 11, 2016, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 5, story 5, Jill Nelson talks about President Donald John Trump's campaign
The Honorable A. J. Cooper, Jr. (The HistoryMakers A2005.140), interviewed by Larry Crowe, June 21, 2005, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 5, story 3, A. J. Cooper, Jr. talks about political concerns in the African American community
William Massey (The HistoryMakers A2013.065), interviewed by Larry Crowe, March 8, 2013, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 3, story 5, William Massey describes his experience at Princeton University
Donald Camp (The HistoryMakers A2014.144), interviewed by Larry Crowe, June 11, 2014, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 5, story 7, Donald Camp describes the lack of diversity in the newspaper industry
Jeffrey Mumford (The HistoryMakers A2005.011), interviewed by Regennia Williams, January 12, 2005, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 3, story 10, Jeffrey Mumford details his views of President George W. Bush's educational policy
My Clips Playlist: https://da.thehistorymakers.org/stories/6;IDList=290479%2C659117%2C146287%2C25991%2C228332%2C7210%2C7826%2C665913;ListTitle=I'Maya%20Gibbs%20Fascism%20Blog%20Post%20Playlist
Search Terms:
“Fascism” 25 Stories
“Fascist” 24 Stories
“Fasciste” 1 Story
“Benito Mussolini” 15 Stories
“Mussolini” 16 Stories
“United States + fascism” 6 Stories