By Zach Reynosa

Fascism is becoming an increasingly dangerous threat in modern-day America.

With recent remarks from Joe Biden, the United States president has been able to acknowledge the ever growing “semi-fascist” ideology that is being embraced by a dangerously high number of Americans.

Recent downturns in the American standard of living, due to policies from both political parties, have made people turn to these right-wing ideologies as a way to express their anger towards a system they believe has deserted them.

With that belief in mind, many of these right-wing individuals have made their way into the halls of Congress where they can effectively take their authoritarian ideology and do what they deem is “Saving America.”

This, of course, is a lie.

What the right ends up doing is endangering the lives of those who already face hardships day by day and encouraging an “us vs. them” mentality that creates political instability not only within the Republican Party but throughout the country.

The effects can be seen all over with an alarming rise in domestic terrorism throughout the US and a rapidly expanding polorized political climate.

This has caused a backward social decline in America as there has been an ever growing dismantlement of rights for women, LGBTQIA2+ members and people of color due to right-wing policies enacted by these elected officials.

Many more of these fascists have started to become more “mask off” with their bigotry, mostly due to recent conservative victories such as the reversal of Roe v. Wade, causing the right to actively dismantle progress that has taken decades of grassroots struggle to achieve.

For example, a recent Pride event in Riverside, which hasn’t been held since 2009, was met with fascist protesters from the local Southern California area donning shirts and signs with designs that attributed members of the LGBTQIA2+ community with being child groomers.

Their presence was met with anger from event-goers and was also met by Antifa counter-protesters who were able to scare the protesters away after brief brawls between each other. 

The presence of these right-wing demonstrations shows a willingness to spew hate to a crowd of people who are only there to celebrate the love between human beings. 

This unprovoked attack on a historically disenfranchised group of people is only perpetuated by elected officials who have the power to end these demonstrations of hate and protect the community they are meant to serve.

Officials like Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco do nothing to aid the ever-growing fascist threat to public safety and even receives campaign money from right-wing political action committees such as the American Matters PAC as an elected official whose seat should have no partisan bias.

Accepting money from fascists is one offense, but speaking at right-wing fundraisers is another, which is one of the many ways Bianco has helped the right-wing movement grow.

In April of this year, Bianco attended a political fundraiser for another far-right PAC called the Inland Empire Family PAC, which wishes to “restore parental rights taken away by the State” claiming that California’s education system is pushing “critical-race theory” and “forced LGBT+ acceptance” onto its students. 

Bianco was one of the three speakers of the night alongside right-wing British political commentator Katie Hopkins who is staunchly anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant.

With no video or transcript of what Chad Bianco said to the crowd of donors that night, one can only believe that it was nothing but encouraging his followers to keep on with their bigotry.

They’re in our own backyards.

So what can we do?

These right-wingers must be met with resistance at every turn because letting them continue operating as “business as usual” only advances the worst-case scenario.

Educate, Agitate, Organize.

Educate one another about social issues to lend an eye into worlds one is unfamiliar with and to understand that our struggles are not so different from each other. 

Agitate the fascists so that they show their true colors to the people. This agitation could come in the forms of protest or even something as simple as a poster on a wall. 

Finally, Organize.

There is no greater factor in any successful movement than the organization of the people within it. Even if we have differences in how we see certain issues, we must all understand, unite and show solidarity against the ever-increasing threat of fascism not only in our community but wherever oppressed peoples may be.