US War Department Anti Fascism Video
This Video From 1943 Breaks Down Why Americans Shouldn't Let Racist and Fascist Rhetoric Win
As the country faces the aftermath of the neo-Nazi and white supremacist marches and terror that left three dead in Charlottesville, VA, many are quick to point out that the US — and the world — has fought against this hatred and bigotry before. However, since a group of vocal, violent Americans are once again pushing this racist and xenophobic rhetoric, an old clip from the US War Department has gone viral. The clip is from a movie called, "Don't Be a Sucker," and it warns Americans not to give into fascism.
The short video, originally released in 1943 but rereleased in 1947, begins with a man denouncing the changes coming to America. He says phrases like, "I ask you: if we allow this thing to go on, what's going to become of us real Americans?" and suggests that "we'll never be able to call this country our own until it's a country without. . . " and lists black people, immigrants, and Catholics. One man in the audience agrees with him until the man mentions "Freemasons" as a group the US needs to get rid of. He tells the man next to him, "Hey this fellow is taking about me," to which the man responds, "And that makes a difference doesn't it?"
The two men sit down after the speech is done, and one of them explains the damage this kind of talk could do.
"In this country we have no other people. We are American people, us. . . I was born in Hungary, but now I am an American citizen. I have seen what this kind of talk can do. I saw it in Berlin. I heard the same words we have heard today, but I was a fool then. I thought Nazis were crazy people. Stupid fanatics. . . You see they knew they were not strong enough to conquer a unified country. So they split Germany into small groups. They used prejudice as a practical weapon to cripple the nation. . . You see, we human beings are not born with prejudices. Always they are made for us, made by someone who wants something. Remember that when you hear this kind of talk. Somebody is going to get something out of it, and it isn't going to be you."
The clip, which you can watch above, was part of a larger film by the US War Department, which can be viewed online for free. Al Jazeera originally published the clip on Facebook, and it quickly went viral, with more than 100,000 reactions, 371,00 shares, and 3,000 comments. The video is a necessary reminder to Americans that we aren't so far removed from the events of World War II and that we still need to fight against these ideas.
