Anti-Racist Action

Anti-Racist Action

Abbreviation	ARA
Formation	January 14, 1989; 35 years ago (1989-01-14) (as Anti-Racist Action) December 14, 2013; 10 years ago (2013-12-14) (as Torch Network)
Founders	Kieran Frazier Knutson[1] Mic Crenshaw
Founded at	Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Type	Anti-racism Anti-fascism Internal factions Anarchism (majority)[2] Trotskyism (minority)[2] Maoism (minority)[2]
Location	United States and Canada
Methods	Political violence Direct action Doxxing
Affiliations	One People's Project IWW General Defense Committee Anarchist Black Cross Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice Support Prisoner Resistance International Anti-Fascist Defence Fund
Website	Anti-RacistAction.org (no longer updated)

Anti-Racist Action (ARA), also known as the Anti-Racist Action Network, is a decentralized network of militant far-left political cells in the United States and Canada. The ARA network originated in the late 1980s to engage in direct action (including political violence) and doxxing against rival political organizations on the hard right (mainly violent groups of neo-Nazi skinheads) to dissuade them from further involvement in political activities. Anti-Racist Action described such groups as racist or fascist, or both. Most ARA members have been anarchists,^[3] but some have been Trotskyists and Maoists.^[2]

The network originated among the hardcore punk skinhead scene in Minnesota among a group known as the Minneapolis Baldies which had been founded in 1987.^[1] The network grew and spread throughout North America. The Midwestern United States, particularly Minneapolis, Chicago and Columbus, were the main hotspot for activity, but notable chapters existed in Portland, Los Angeles, Toronto and elsewhere. In the early 1990s, the Anti-Racist Action Network began to organize an annual conference, attended by representatives of the various official chapters, along with prospective members. These events often feature guest speakers and hardcore punk bands. In the late 1990s, the network was affiliated with a short-lived international grouping which called itself the Militant Anti-Fascist Network and consisted of mostly Europe-based groups such as the UK-based Anti-Fascist Action and various German Antifa factions among others.

Politically, the network has always stated that anti-racism and anti-fascism are its main goals, adopting a non-sectarian approach to party affiliation for chapter members, and there is no pre-requisite to adhere to any particular party line outside of the five "Points of Unity."