Yesterday’s Blackface, Today’s Pipelines, Racist Cops All Along

Antifa Seven Hills links the racism of neo-Nazi cop Rob Stamm and Virginia governor Ralph Northam with the structural white supremacy of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.

On Monday January 4, 2019, officer Rob Stamm was observed policing at a rally on the Virginia capitol grounds in support of the residents of Union Hill — a historically Black community currently being targeted by Dominion Energy’s Atlantic Coast Pipeline.

The residents of Union Hill want the racist Virginia governor Ralph Northam to resign not only because of his use of black face 30 years ago, but because of his racist policies that are impacting them today.

Virginia Capitol Police were on site during these protests, as they have been all weekend, their presence threatening the use of force against anyone who stepped out of line.

As anti-fascists and anarchists, we oppose the police in the same way we oppose Ralph Northam and all governors, all pipelines and all corporations. We stand against every instance of domination, oppression and exploitation. And we know our history… The Virginia Capitol Police force is the U.S.’s oldest police force, founded in 1618 to enforce violent colonial genocide on behalf of white and European settlers against Indigenous people. In various iterations over the next several centuries, it would serve as the slave patrol, the “protectors of property,” enforcers of indentured servitude contracts against poor European settlers and freedmen. The institutions of power which they serve have not changed. VCP remain a force for colonialism, brutal racism and capitalism.

While we believe policing is, inherently, a white supremacist institution, when the cops are so bold as to make their allegiances open, we seize the opportunity. When they tout their allegiance to overtly fascist groups, we name them and expose their ties. Maybe, from reading this story, others will become more attuned to the racist dog-whistles and white supremacist symbolism that proliferate among white men obsessed with power and European identity. Maybe from this exposure, other overt white supremacists will be discouraged from joining law enforcement, where their violence is even more legitimized as state force. Maybe they will make their symbolism more obscure and keep their allegiances off social media. Regardless of the outcome, our position on the police will not change.

We do not want to provide nazi cops with paid vacation. But one less pig on the streets is one less murderer patrolling around flashing their badge and gun.