One cannot begin to understand the story of Southern resistance without recognizing the role of communism in the struggle.
Originally published in Scalawag Magazine.
On April 17—notably, the anniversary of the failed, anti-communist fueled Bay of Pigs Invasion—Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill requiring K-12 public schools to teach students about "the evils and dangers" of communism. According to DeSantis, an anti-communist education is necessary for grade school children and will serve as a deterrent against radicalization later in life. "It's going to give the students the truth about communism," he said of the new bill. "We might as well tell them the truth when they're in our schools, because [at] a lot of these universities… they're going [to] be told how great communism is."
While many on Twitter reacted to the news by questioning the governor's decision to add communism to the curriculum despite censoring slavery, race, and LGBTQ+ history, DeSantis' political move is not about "favoring" communism over other subjects. It is instead a blatant example of how our education system is so often used as a major tool of indoctrination.
Understanding the history of (anti-)communism, particularly in the American South, reveals just how sinister a tool anti-radical censorship and propaganda has been and continues to be when wielded by the fascist state to quell movements for freedom, justice, and equality.
Ron DeSantis, the State of Florida, and many others in the South continue to lead the nation's further descent into fascism. Southern states and their regional conservative, liberal-centrist, and far-right political leaders work alongside corporate interests and the cultural influencer class to advance regressive legislation and social policy changes. This fascist push has resulted in book bans, classroom and press censorship, repression of mass protests, youth healthcare access bans, reproductive unfreedom, investment in the ever-expanding carceral apparatus, xenophobic anti-migrant policies and the erosion of the progressive civil liberties gained for Black, Indigenous, People of Color, LGBTQ+ folks, and other marginalized groups.
What we in the South know is that studying "truths" about communism also means studying the ugliest parts of Southern history. Doing so sheds a much needed light on how the radical political histories of our freedom struggles are deeply intertwined with communism. So much so that the white supremacist governance structure that has reigned over the South since the antebellum period co-opted the 20th century national struggle against the "Red Menace" as a means to impede the very social justice movements we herald as inherent to the Southern political identity.
There is no Southern culture of resistance without communist politics and struggle, nor is there a greater blueprint for technologies of state repression than the anti-communist strategies advanced by Southern white supremacists to upend radicalism and progressive movements.
Considering these connections brings to mind the lyrics of Southern songstress Nina Simone in her protest anthem, "Mississippi Goddam." Banned from radio stations throughout the South following its release in 1964, the song laid bare the atrocities of anti-Black violence, racial discrimination, and government lies in the South. In one verse, Simone sings:
Picket lines, school boycotts
They try to say it's a communist plot
All I want is equality
For my sister, my brother, my people, and me
Tea S. Troutman (they/them) is an abolitionist, digital propagandist, editor, and critical urban theorist born in Macon, Georgia, and currently calls Atlanta home. Tea is a Ph.D. student in the Geography, Environment, and Society department at the University of Minnesota, and also holds a B.S. in Economics and a Master's of Interdisciplinary Studies in Urban Studies, both from Georgia State University. Tea's work draws heavily on their experience as a long-time community organizer in Atlanta, Georgia, and their research interests broadly consider urbanism and critical urban theory, afropessmism, black geographies, and black cultural studies. Their dissertation project is a critique of Atlanta, "New South Urbanism," Anti-Blackness and the global circulation of the idea of the Black Mecca.
Sherronda (they/she) is a Southern-grown gothic nerd and queermongering gender anarchist. As a versatile creator, they lend their talents to multiple spheres as an essayist, editor, storyteller, creative consultant, and artist. She currently serves as the Editor-in-Chief of Scalawag Magazine and is the author of "Refusing Compulsory Sexuality: A Black Asexual Lens on Our Sex-Obsessed Culture." Alongside queer theory and (a)sexual politics, their writing often focuses on cultural critique and media analysis, especially the horror genre. Sherronda strives to lead our editorial team with empathy and passion to inspire imaginative resistance, radical creativity, and cathartic experience.