All too often are we as Brown Berets misguidedly referred to by our detractors as the “Brown KKK, Brown Nazi’s,” etc. This term has been blasted out not only by Anglo-Americans, but also by our own gente.
I’m not sure of the origins of labeling us the “Brown KKK,” etc., but it certainly poses as a sheer propaganda effort as there haven’t been ANY discernible documents or findings that the Brown Berets take a stance of racial, ethnic, or national superiority over others. One would hard pressed to see the Brown Berets listed as a hate group with any reputable research institutions or with the press – the LEGITIMATE press, as in journalists.
The Brown Berets differ a lot from the KKK. For one, there lies no record the Brown Berets have lynched anybody, dragged anyone to their death by being dragged from a pick up truck, or burned crosses in anyone’s property. We can with absolute certainty however point to historical evidence of Chicano’s being lynched, as seen in the book, “500 Anos del Pueblo Chicano. 500 Years of Chicano History in pictures.
Why then would the Brown Berets be accused of being a “Brown KKK?” It’s simple: Propaganda. All too often in the United States (and elsewhere) when mminorities, or the oppressed band together, and affirm they rights – insist on their rights, they make the establishment and the mainstream very nervous. In America in particular, the is a call to homogenize, or “Americanize” people into one culture. That prevailing culture seems to be the one that stems from Anglo/Germanic cultures, mixed with Abrahamic religions from Middle Eastern deserts, and idyllic Norman Rockwell paintings.
When a minority or oppressed group not only bands together, but decides to affirm and insist on their rights and self determination, and they elect to do this by organizing in a militia-style fashion, they are called other things as well. The Brown Berets have been called “Brown Nazi’s,” for instance. But what about other “militia” groups? The Ruby Ridge types, or the Hutaree (radical Christian militia accused of plotting assaults at certain funerals), what about the “Minuteman Project?”
The Brown Berets chose to organize militarily simply because that level of regimented order is required to protect themselves and others. There is a huge difference than the Brown Berets and the Minutemen. For instance, when addressing problems with the community, the Brown Berets work multilaterally with other non-profits and seek ways to SERVE their communities. The Minutemen blame all of their problems on one ethnic group, and seek to drive it out by force. There is a huge difference between working within the framework of one’s community, and seeking to “push out” beyond the borders of it.
In summation, it is not only wrong to refer to the Brown Berets as the “Brown KKK,” or as “Brown Nazi’s,” but it is also insulting, and ignorant. Calling us names such as these is what I refer to as “reverse race-baiting,” like when a racist calls a minority a racist. We saw this during the 2008 and 2012 Presidential Election cycles, when many angry anglo tea baggers would shout that Obama was a socialist/national socialist, and so were the nazi’s so therefore he is one, or when they had signs depicting him as a nazi. This is a new right-wing technique to call your enemy what you are, or to somehow append your weaknesses to the opposition. Its like reverse, reverse racism – it’s like racism in a spin cycle.
Don’t believe what the moronic dolts shout out, calling us the “Brown KKK, Brown Nazi’s,” etc. They’re liars, and they’re too lazy to figure out how to solve their problems and would rather play the blame game.