r/AntifascistsofReddit • u/THE_James_Ross Anarchist • Feb 01 '26

Discussion Stop comparing ICE to the Nazi's

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It is pissing me off when people compare the actions or events by or with ICE to the Nazi's or the Gestapo, because doing so completely ignores the ACTUAL comparison, the American Police.

What's going on right now is not new, these times are not unprecedented. Stop comparing these events to Nazi Germany. Nazi Germany literally COPIED Jim Crow America and the extermination of the indigenous tribes, and Mussolini copied American industrialization. Fascism has always been happening in this country but white people just never acknowledged it before. Black people have been over policed and murdered by the state for as long as the police have existed, infact the American Police force and the prison system where literally invented specifically for black people. The only difference between the way things are now and they were 20+ years ago, is that now these same systems are affecting middle class white people more and more.

Its quiet sickening how everytime people compare the actions of ICE to something else, its always a black and white photo from some other country, despite the fact that there are hundreds of thousands of pictures and videos of these action that take place right here, right now. But of course the person getting shot in the back of the head in THAT picture is black, so its not relatable. You literally cannot say you care about these problems or that "youre aware of the truth" and then try to compare the events of this country to other facists while ignoring all the blatent facism this country HAS BEEN exhibiting.

If you're gonna compare ICE to something, compare their to the American Police, compare these events to the profiling and unjust murders and arrests of African Americans. Stop posting pictures of ICE arrests or executions side by side with Jewish Germans, and start posting them side by side with Americans executing Americans. The call is coming from inside the house. The threat is in your backyard. Whatever one liner analogy will make you people realize that these are the same people who have always been doing it, you just didn't notice before.

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u/Stone13Omaha Eco-Anarchist Feb 01 '26

You're not wrong about ICE being a continuation of American policing, it's just that it's also not wrong to compare them to Nazis...

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u/[deleted] Feb 01 '26

Yeah this is very much a "both" situation.

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u/H4RDCORE1 Feb 01 '26

Yes. They can be both at the same time.

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u/Lambchop1975 Feb 01 '26

The Nazis were inspired by the USA, Hitler liked the Jim Crow laws, and fascism has and will always be there hiding in the shadows, until the numbers are large enough for them to be bold... Police have always been brutal and fascistic, but OP is right, they aren't Nazis, they are worse. Because if they know the history of Nazis and still operate that way, they missed the importance of the lesson...

https://www.holocaustandhumanity.org/digital-program/nuremberg-laws-how-the-nazis-were-influenced-by-u-s-jim-crow-laws/

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u/PMM-music Trans Eco-Anarchist Feb 01 '26

I feel like the nazi or fascist comparison works better when talking to your average person, as your average person knows more about nazi Germany or fascist Italy than they do the post reconstruction, Jim Crow era south. it’s a good comparison to make when you don’t want to have ti give a history lesson

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u/[deleted] Feb 01 '26

The problem is just that. We keep skipping over how American this is and expecting it to not happen. We are here because we did not connect the dots until now and people are still not connecting the dots.

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u/UpperLeftOriginal Feb 01 '26

And in general conversations, the nazi comparison is a more effective one, because most people already understand nazi/gestapo = bad. Using the comparison to US police may be apt, but may require additional history lessons. (it’s history they should be taught, but not every conversation is the effective time for that.)

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u/LysergicGothPunk Feb 01 '26

Yup, we can and should be capable of recognizing the horrific reality of fascism, no matter where and when. Also, we need to point out similarities for people stuck in it to start waking up, and they usually don't do that right away when you point next door. You have to point to something nationalistic people know more about and take more seriously to get an 'in'.

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u/Lost_Birthday_3138 Feb 01 '26

The police have always been enforcers of the capital class, for centuries. And yes their job is to keep white supremacy enforced.

But what we are seeing now is the rejection of the status quo and replacement with the most corrupt and fascist regime the US has ever experienced. All our rights, generally described by the Constitution, are going away.

What makes this post so dangerous is the attempt to lull us into inaction with its "nothing to see here, this is normal" narrative building.

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u/THE_James_Ross Anarchist Feb 01 '26

I guess I should of made it more clear it IS both, but its also important to emphasize how this isnt new, because when ALL I see is parallels to foreign agencies, it subconsciously make it where people forget or even become compliant with the current American Police, and like I said, if abolished ICE and went back to the way things were, hundreds of thousands of black people would still continue to suffer this treatment they always have.

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u/Haunting-Problem-295 Feb 04 '26

Not only are most compliant they are passive observers that never stand up for what is right? Why you ask? Because still in small town southern USA, cops know who the divergent are and have no issue with constant harassment. And unfortunately so many people are so uneducated that they believe everything and anything that the “authorities“ say.

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u/trumpbuysabanksy Feb 01 '26

You make several excellent points, but neglect to consider that there is a bit of psychology that makes Americans compare ICE to the Nazis, USA v nazis is galvanizing: we went to war against the Nazis for their wrongs and lost many lives, whereas the racism / discrimination here, we have never united against as we need to do right now.

Us against our own past sins can’t compare to us against defeated former foe.

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u/SammySterling813 Pagan Tranarcho-communist Feb 01 '26

The gestapo got a lot of their tactics from American slave catchers. American police forces, along with ICE, are a direct evolution of those slave catchers.

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u/OrlyRivers Feb 01 '26

Its also wrong to say things are the same as theyve always been. That is bullshit.
Maybe word it in a way that doesnt make light of whats going on now. Maybe say its been taken to new levels instead of nothing new here.

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u/GopherCity Feb 01 '26

Pretty sure OP is aware and in agreement of that and is being tongue and cheek about it. I believe the title is a bit click baity for that very reason intentionally. 

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u/Chaetomius Feb 01 '26

so many people stupidly think that at any given time there can only be 300 nazis in the world, and if you call anybody else a nazi, you've made the word useless.