Origins, Contemporary Revival, and Uses of Brown Scares

A simple Google search of “Brown Scares” leads one to the following result: “Did you mean Brown Scars?” Yet what if one is really interested in exaggerated state or societal campaigns against “fascists” or excessive fears of the return of fascism or Nazism, also known as “Brown Scares”? In contrast, Google turns up a whopping 294,000,000 results for “Red Scares.” Many of us are familiar with the “Red Scare” of the 1950s, the widespread propaganda and fear with respect to the potential rise of communism or other left-leaning ideologies. Why is there a dearth of academic and even journalistic literature on “Brown Scares”?Fascism was largely defeated as an ideological force in 1945 after the Allied victory against Nazi Germany, pro-Nazi collaborationist regimes, and Fascist Italy. Yet recently, Western politicians, mainstream media outlets, academics, activist groups, and major technology companies have all enthusiastically participated in hyping the return of “fascism.” “Brown Scares”—a term little known by the public compared to “Red Scares”—were “campaigns against domestic fascists,” whether real or imagined, in the prewar and World War II eras, but increasingly they are the order of the day.1 For example, many Western nationalist, anti-immigration, and populist leaders have been inaccurately and abusively tarred with the “fascist” label, including Donald Trump, Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage, Marine Le Pen, Eric Zemmour, Geert Wilders, Viktor Orbán, Matteo Salvini, and Giorgia Meloni, as have been Brexit voters, “deplorable” American voters, “MAGA Republicans,” and many other supporters of patriotic, civic nationalist, and populist parties.2 Even centrist, wholly mainstream Republicans like George W. Bush and Canadian conservative politicians like the People's Party of Canada's Maxime Bernier were labeled by some as “fascists,” and Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau disingenuously stated the following in relation to the main opposition party: “Conservative Party members can stand with people who wave swastikas; they can stand with people who wave the Confederate flag.”3Given the reality that we live in an “anti-imperial” and “antifascist” age,4 all these accusations of “fascism” beg the following questions: Are these aforementioned claims of a revival of fascism accurate? What is fascism? Are right-wing, nationalist and populist leaders really fascists? Is Trump a fascist? Was U.S. President Biden correct to single out MAGA Republicans as “semi-fascists”?5 Or are we in the midst of another Brown Scare? Moreover, if we are in the throes of the latest iteration of a Brown Scare, what are the political uses of fomenting recurrent Brown Scares?The purpose of this article is sevenfold. First, it attempts to define fascism in order to show that many contemporary individuals, movements, or regimes identified as “fascist” have little relationship to historical fascism. Second, it clearly defines Brown Scares and traces the historical origins of Brown Scares and its links to the “isolationist right” in the United States. Third, it demonstrates a little-known historical reality, namely, that the original Brown Scares in the prewar and World War II periods prepared the groundwork for Red Scares in the 1950s. Fourth, it provides contemporary examples of Brown Scares in Canada, the United States, Western European countries, Latin America, and Russia. Fifth, it then shows that although we can legitimately compare Red Scares and Brown Scares in terms of their effects on civil liberties, few in the mass media or academia see them as equivalent, and these people prefer to attack alleged fascists or Nazis and sometimes give a free pass to communist and anarchist excesses. Sixth, the article demonstrates that Brown Scares are, for some scholars, akin to a new “crusade,” “woke religion,” “civil religion,” or “political religion” that uses antifascism as the reigning ideology in order to police political boundaries and limit political dissent. Seventh, the article concludes by examining the various social, psychological, and political functions of Brown Scares.In short, the principal argument herein is that despite the hyping of the fascist threat, fascism is a mostly defeated and largely marginalized force in Brown Scares have to and opposition to contemporary and and Brown Scares are by contemporary in order to their In short, and of civil by the state and they as of of the of state and and their and fascist and political In we have been the the of World War that is as to the of in public fascism been with the the a by in the and then by the propaganda in the of World War and of in and in is the of fascism and to the of the political Yet in reality, fascists as and and fascism is a and and and it was the of the the and the Fascist and Nazi regimes in and Germany, as as pro-Nazi collaborationist regimes, were defeated with the victory of the Allied the of World War that was in its and that it as a of see as a of fascism of its and and that fascism is a of on of the is after a of and another fascism an with attempts to a collaborationist are and by to a is by the of or communist the and of fascism fascist as and as as for or and the of the of the and the of the the of and the of and the and the and of the American and and were all with fascists in a that the of and and on of the of the various are as and the “fascism” an to political a the of “fascism” is and the is to right-wing, nationalist, and In short, if scholars, or accusations of fascism against individuals, movements, political or regimes, they aforementioned or other of fascism. Moreover, we to out the and on the with a fascist or that the of World War II and have and on the and political of Western 1945 and the have or to a mass of Western regimes, to or in and other a on political or a to was in the of the War as they were by of Western is the of to and the of as and to the of fascism In were by Western and Latin American the including the U.S. and the to the a against communist and other mostly that the term “Brown Scare” was by For Brown “campaigns against domestic and World War For “Brown to on members of the and World War “isolationist was a by that U.S. in World War including media and In their of one of the and of the and the “isolationist to the Brown attack on as and their to as the the known of and that although there were with the “isolationist as the reality was that were to Nazi but they were to American in European of the was the was in and in with a of by that U.S. in the in and political as as many for American members the in it is also that a few supporters of the the “isolationist political to a and as and the the of a of the American whether these aforementioned were really was was in a and was the original Brown academics, and like in order to up fears of fascism in the United States. also of the the for to and it the of the and fascism and of it to and fascists and it civil and was a of “Brown and that for civil of Brown Scares as akin to against political and and of the have their origins in the and for was a of the the of the state the major and of alleged fascists in and and the to free the and the the was in the reality is that President the of to campaigns against Nazi in a was to all in and World War II in the of for a some the new Red and the the of or in the United to and of and supporters of and as by in and the Brown Yet the “isolationist and other fascists were clearly as as the and state to its were there and excessive of the in relation to the “isolationist and that the were in the of the and that the In short, the claims that there was Brown Scare, but a and to a was that the of free was for and that were a it is that and the Brown the original Red Scare, who were or were and they were few in of and the was and the the and other like and the to the of the United on the and the United that the Brown to real the as that a Brown are to fascists real but they can some and pro-Nazi in the United the but they were that the in the was the is Yet the reality was that in the of the of in in the anarchist and political in the after World War after World War II the was by the was by the Party of America, and was to in and the was also a in the the “isolationist was a force in American and the and World War Brown to the United and links to Nazi and Nazis to in and in and fascism was also a the pro-Nazi regimes to and to as as in the of European and the was a for fascist the United was a in the the despite the of the it the of fascism. the United World War II in the was in the and fascism was as the of and pro-Nazi as as the “isolationist widespread U.S. fascists as as as other leaders to and fascist groups, were by a for to with the in and in the Brown in was that the to a in the United and with other and Nazi were the of a attack and a was in the of as to and for the of fascism in the United States, in also out that World War the of against in the United and the were with the including Fascist and Nazi Germany, the Brown was with the of of were their and in they were as and “fascists,” or Brown Scares of the prewar and World War II periods the for the Red Scares of the that the Brown Scares for campaigns against as a Brown campaigns to of the and were by as the American and the mainstream the and American was even on whether to the of alleged term “Red Scare” to the as the of Moreover, there were Red Red was after the rise to of the in in and to the with the and civil and the the term “Red Scare” in relation to sometimes and fears the of and communism that in the and and in the of the of in Red after World War II and was in the of the War the United and the Red the that or were to or U.S. and the of the Red was who was with and were to and of U.S. and the Red as that to of civil and of state against and other term “Red Scare” been by the in periods fears the of communism and as the War and the to and on members of the their and the of and groups, as as on with that on their free and other in the and were the to and up fears as as campaigns of alleged domestic real and imagined, in the and was these campaigns against and and as as other American or that to the term “Brown an to the by the Nazi was that some the Brown Scares and Red in terms of the of and the in the state civil in the of or in the of the prewar and Brown Scares the groundwork for the Red in the and Brown of the the Red of the and it the for In the of World War the it to the of its the to the in to the on many with the they to the the in the of the the Brown even a state its and and civil liberties, as as by the mainstream political and civil Brown Scares of ideological and even to the of mostly on the that were as with Fascist and Nazi the Red in the 1950s, after the Brown and Red Scare, can as of was in to the of the and even that the of these in the of political us to them in as the of a state that excessive and a state to a of and of the Brown was a of in the the political the “isolationist and other fascist and Nazi the of the state that the by and and alleged have been U.S. and Brown the in it was a in the of the of civil Brown Scares of the prewar and World War II have been by Brown campaigns against in the campaigns against and as the in the and other the Party to Prime Minister in in the and in relation to U.S. President Trump by various and media after victory in and U.S. President Biden in the of the on that these Brown Scares have been by state and civil including and academics, as was the and after Donald Trump was U.S. Yet Brown Scares have also been to Canada, and various in Western and even Latin who a in the in and President have been and inaccurately as or Giorgia Meloni, the of the nationalist of Prime Minister in as a of return of fascism in and the to the was a that is a fascist that it was to compare Nazi with President People's that Trump, and other leaders were a of fascism inaccurately this after the the in to Nazi of state that was a fascism Donald Trump to in the United and little for that the is in a Fascist academic state that Nazi leaders have Trump and the U.S. President with and have been of Donald academic that Trump was and in reality was a an but a examples in the mainstream and academia are and the and of the aforementioned scholars, attempts to political attempts to Meloni, or Trump “fascists” the and the or to define fascism and fascists and all the leaders in and the but they the that and are the of or the also to the of they and they the fascist ideological of and recently, Brown Scares have to the of some In Canada's Prime Minister Trudeau the is for and in to against then the of that with who wave with the they the of Canadian to against to is a in an that are in the and to the of the Party of media and to inaccurately the to movements, the and other “fascist” supporters of the or who the were and even their A new on Canadian but the were and the people and political were to the after as of the the was by that the was in the and that there were in terms of police been in Brown the on the that was the that the a the President is a who members the and or the right” in the of the President the a against were to the who with the Nazi of the in were to a of other and with Brown to a of against the the of in the of of in and in domestic in and the of of for and and an to the that the state is a by a is the and of for like its is and that it is a fascist short, the potential of a of fascism been exaggerated 1945 the of and with respect to terms like “fascism” and right” or to their and abusively as to their political Moreover, the political and in of contemporary Western are and the by the domestic in order to and who and their was the with of in to the on the of a of Are Canadian Confederate then as to that Canadian a of Canada's was in to right” in the United and by to was as if and who been as they were or been by Brown Scares are new and they have been to and an the of World War even fascists and Nazis were in on the of Western this reality, an of the of the fascist to the by the the Brown is increasingly by political in the to and all of their political all the populist and nationalist that have in and in in the of the the U.S. new attack by or members of whether in or in is as of the rise of fascism scholars, few have to and other to the of is also that many are to the political and by the academic have that and as short, politicians, the mainstream major technology and have mostly Brown Scares in order to and on political political and one is of that real who or of their ideological and by if they or to the of their can that and politicians like Trudeau are to civil the are in of and they are increasingly to that to on the of people that they are to this all and academics, and in civil including the and even in the have that we are the of of the Brown we the of but also the by Trudeau and other Western European who are increasingly and the civil of their in the of against a mostly that Brown Scares are by the but also by the conservative ideology is increasingly in Western state the mass and that in to the of all of and the media and is of U.S. for the the of its and the state as the fascism. media on the conservative and as and have their by the Party and and President of “fascist” they the of the their some are and a and of the Scares and Red Scares were campaigns by groups, the mass and the state to the public fascist or communist in the United States. it is that there were real and and and of American supporters the United and World War the political were excessive the real and as Nazi Germany, Fascist and In the of real or and after the of the was a in the and of as as and and the of was and Moreover, Brown Scares the to the Biden are the were defeated to and Nazi and Fascist regimes and were to the in their In short, the Brown Scares and the but and members of the there were in the United the War and the state to links communist and the Red Scares the in the or campaigns by the and against the American and with were excessive and is also a in respect of the literature on Red Scares or and Brown Scares or with the to a few like and and and also the of in the and is also to we have the original Brown and we to the Red to with the and the public have the Brown this it is to out that despite their ideological Red and and the Brown and their alleged Brown and Red to the of state of of the despite these in the of is that the Red and the Brown were of the to the these have other even if we are as to whether the were in their or whether the by have the of public were to state in in periods of in and them the public were although the of the in their and and the were can we compare Brown Scares and Red the of were by the state and they of in relation to the historical Brown in the and and the Red in the 1950s. of Scares the of political and the of the political in historical in relation to all of political it is that in American public there is for the of the Brown compared to the Red Red an on American Brown to In the Red was up to an that were to that a was an it as an fear and and it of and of and of of the of and civil a a of is that the Red was the term by the but terms by the as “Red and have on with the public and few the term Brown Scare, but they that they are campaigns against real it can a political to even or Red Scares and Brown the as or even you a fascist Moreover, is in terms of the effects of Red Scares or Brown Scares on many people their in terms of the of the on and its communist and fascist Are they are What were the effects of the or campaigns against alleged fascists in the or in the fascists and are few and fascism in in real in an of and increasingly Brown Scares are by political and and fears of a of fascism and even Nazism, are as the of to a antifascism in the what the of fascism a religion” and it and is for a political that antifascism is of in the contemporary and a Brown Scares have been in various historical and in of this to the and and in the as the of fascist Moreover, it is that antifascism have a in an American few people the and of antifascism a ideological in the and this antifascism is in a and in a real fascists have been have also that antifascism as an of the “woke religion” of of the following original in the to people who who to by original the to or known of to that the to people of or and people to as in the mass and major technology companies see the original in the rise of or even and Western are with the of fascism by the contemporary movements, and the nationalist and populist the to a and of and regimes, as as the that fascists are the of are the and as as and sometimes and the that fascism is on the the that fascism is as as as as in the and of a fascism political to the of the are that regimes have as many or compared to regimes, or that contemporary is of a alleged “fascist” is that antifascism is a or that the of the fascists they correct and public for the rise of fascism. and Fascist also to the to Brown Scares that in the on a the American and in the For the of these the of and the of and of can various including the of the to a or to an or communist the in the United and “civil and the as Nazi or the “political “civil with other and respect the “political are a of ideological and the of the and to its we of contemporary Brown we also of a of the of and the these Brown Scares in political to “civil but they increasingly on the of “political is the in campaigns and the mass media that the and the of the of a political whether or is a and contemporary is one of can to in are to their on of the its and the that the of is a it is of and that and define the and of by the of and to a or we to of public but we have in and a civil or political or of and a of and and even you see antifascism as a religion,” a “crusade,” a “woke religion,” a “civil religion,” or a “political religion,” the reality is that fascism and antifascism as that the on the and this article mostly Brown Scares by the against and alleged have their “fascists,” to the their on the in order to their that against the of the and to their and in the to define or to for movements, political or regimes have been have the of the the the and the conservative Brown Scares a real to the historical of Fascist and Nazi these Brown Scares have social, psychological, and political Brown Scares the political for rise of the latest of antifascism with the of the and political as in the regimes define against what they are and this to against define against in the War the was and and and reality is that the little in the political of contemporary but for the the against fascists is as as in the fascism its rise and of the another they are to contemporary they can all to or Brown Scares the ideological and of the state to an political and as as of that have media to on the Scares attack and the civil of all to a of and of Brown Scares are the state is and and individuals, movements, and political in reality for it the Scares are and and public are the of “fascists,” or as or like and the of the state as an of the and few the of the state to fascist Scares and in is it to that or who and is the of the that you can Eric of by mass contemporary on the against fascism it is a that the of a the of in a including nationalist, and these aforementioned ideological alleged fascists or to the mostly the then and after other political if one is an ideological even is the potential of on the and the of the Brown Scares can in by political have in various historical and after World War II and are of in or in order to police boundaries of political one can and and of a people and that the can the “woke religion” and the of following its is to that this that the a in in the War II In the War in the to the mass were and by Western and Latin American to the a against and other and in in the including the in people In in and as and as as the real for individuals, and and are of mass and they and for or Yet are a of and political In short, and Brown Scares against with that are but even political leaders Trudeau to Biden have been to that and have and on the and tarred them all with the fascist article to define fascism in order to show that many contemporary individuals, movements, or regimes identified as “fascist” have little relationship to historical fascism. Second, it Brown Scares and the historical origins of Brown Scares and its links to the “isolationist right” in the United States. Third, it to an and little-known historical that the original Brown Scares in the prewar and World War II periods prepared the groundwork for Red Scares in the 1950s. Fourth, it contemporary of Brown including in America, and Latin Fifth, it we can legitimately compare Red Scares and Brown Scares in terms of their effects on civil liberties, and we give a free pass to of political whether fascist or Sixth, the article for some Brown Scares are akin to a religion,” “crusade,” “woke religion,” “civil religion,” or “political religion” that uses antifascism as the reigning ideology in order to police political boundaries and limit political dissent. Seventh, the article by examining the social, psychological, and political functions of Brown of the fascist fascism is a and largely marginalized force in Brown Scares are for some new with all the of a “woke religion” to and opposition to contemporary and historical is that and even of civil by the state and as of of the of state and and their fascist and political the who is with the Brown was a and the original Brown Scares excessive in relation to civil that the antifascism and that of the the to civil was of the left-leaning of to the and is on in that were for and inaccurately U.S. President a also to the of the to see the of the U.S. Brown Scares in terms of the of civil and the academic in of Brown Scares and Red domestic of the and been to the War Red the of that it the political against and is what with the Red was the Brown that the for the Red Brown Scares after World War mainstream in are Brown Scares have a

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