Bookish Bits: Proud of Our Boy

NinaIllingworth November 10, 2022 Amerikan Musik, Andy Campbell, antifa, antifascism, Book Blog, Bookish Bits, Books, chicken coup, corporate media, crowdfunded fascism, dark money, Donald Trump, Enrique Tarrio, FA1, fascism, fascism and antifascism are NOT the same, fascist psyop, fascist street gangs, Gavin McInnes, GOP, January 6th, January 6th coup attempt, Media, Mike Nordean, MP6, Nina Illingworth, political violence, Politics, Pork Reich, Portland, Proud Boys, Proud of Our Boy, Republicans, Reviews, right wing terrorism, Roger Stone, ST2, Theory, Trumpism, We Are Proud Boys

Editor’s note: Bookish Bits is a regular literary writing column on Can’t You Read. Featuring both traditional book reviews, and expanded essays, this book blog encompasses all of my writing about the volumes in my extensive library.

Review: We Are Proud Boys: How a Right-Wing Street Gang Ushered In a New Era of American Extremism, by Andy Campbell, from Hatchett Books.

To be completely honest with you, I didn’t even want to read this book. In my opinion a book about the Proud Boys, published at this moment in Pig Empire history, could go one of two ways; it could be a serious work of antifascist scholarship, or it could be a true crime story full of reactionary sensationalism and ultimately portraying a fascist street gang as antiheros. I’d ordered the book sight unseen, and when I saw it was titled “We Are Proud Boys” and the front cover featured a far-too coy little cartoon of right wing terrorists hoisting up a US flag ala the U.S. Marine corps atop Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima; I became concerned.

After actually reading We Are Proud Boys however, I’m happy to report that this appears to be a marketing fail by Hatchett Books; because Campbell’s work here is actually a fine example of how to write about fascism in our modern Pig Empire. A journalistic work at heart, the pacing in We Are Proud Boys is crisp, Andy doesn’t try to both sides the rise of organized reactionary political violence, and most importantly he correctly calls the Proud Boys fascist a lot; which longtime readers will know I consider extremely relevant here in the Pork Reich era.

On review, the book is divided into two sections. In the first half, Campbell offers up a detailed history of the gang; including its origins, its numerous acts of political violence, and the path by which the Proud Boys were able to become part of mainstream “conservative” politics. Exploring national figures like Gavin McInnes, or Enrique Tarrio, as well as regional leaders like Mike Nordean, the who, what, and how is all laid out perfectly in We Are Proud Boys; with a heavy focus on the fascist struggle to literally invade and overwhelm the nominally liberal government of Portland, as well as the Proud Boys rarely-reported involvement in the January 6th, 2021 fascist coup attempt on Capital Hill.

If, like many folks, your only exposure to the Proud Boys is very poor mainstream media reporting, the first half of the book is a vital read. Although this is definitely a history of the gang, it’s not just a summary. Andy’s book also does a great job of demonstrating the explicitly political nature of Proud Boy terrorism, and doesn’t pull any punches about how easily these guys duped a complicit American media into spreading their propaganda. While this is all high quality work, the fact is most of the reporting in this first section is already available in the public sphere; including numerous Huffington Post articles published by Campbell himself on the subject.

It is however in the second half of We Are Proud Boys, where Campbell’s analysis really shines. Taking everything we learned earlier, Andy meticulously exposes the direct connections between the Proud Boys, fascist political violence, and the mainstream American right; including Trump, the GOP, and much of the proto-fascist right wing media ecosphere. Reading the author’s work, it’s quickly apparent that the Proud Boys are not a violent entity operating outside the public political right, but rather a violent expression of, and a useful tool for, the fascist movement that has become the mainstream American right. The calls are coming from inside the house; funded by both conservative wealth and small dollar donations by the volk.

In a refreshing change of pace, Campbell also does a great job of covering antifascist protest honestly and accurately. We Are Proud Boys contains an entire chapter on “antifa” and the fascist right’s attempts to conjure up a left wing terrorist organization to justify all this fascist repression, around the term. You can tell Andy has spent a lot of time on the ground in this fight however, because he immediately rejects this framing and portrays antifascists protestors as they are – totally normal people who don’t want their communities and civil rights imploded by nazi street gangs. It says something about American journalism that this is worthy of applause, but Andy doesn’t let his readers, or the truth, down here.

Perhaps as importantly, We Are Proud Boys goes beyond the realm of exposé to examine the real ways the Proud Boys have changed politics in America forever; and not for the better. The chapter where Campbell discusses the now-ubiquitous presence of an armed, openly fascist counter-protest at every democratic or progressive protest action in America was particularly insightful, and chilling to read. As our author notes, this isn’t just about the Proud Boys themselves anymore either; the gang has created a blueprint for organized fascist political terrorism that can be, and is being, copied by other reactionaries as we speak. The modern American “shirt group” is here to stay; and working to overthrow liberal democratic society out in the open.

Frankly speaking, most of my complaints about We Are Proud Boys are stylistic. Campbell still writes like a journalist; he tends to lay out the facts, put them in context, and draw conclusions, pretty much in that order. Although his work isn’t dry, I can’t say he’s mastered the art of narrative; with the caveat that this also means he’s not distorting the facts to fit his own preferred story. I also think he lets noted fascist propagandist Roger Stone off a little light by portraying him as merely an influential ally linking the Proud Boys to the mainstream American right. In reality, Stone is clearly helping to politically steer numerous “grass roots” fascist movements online and in the streets.

In the final analysis, We Are Proud Boys is an excellent book. Timely, insightful, and explicitly antifascist, there honestly might not be a better examination of organized fascist political violence on the mainstream market. This unquestionably makes it the best mass-market book about the Proud Boys, if not the best mass-market book about fascism in the Trump era as a whole. I’d happily recommend Andy’s book to my friends and family; people who can actually seek reprisal for a bad recommendation. Campbell may write like a liberal crime and justice reporter, but he’s no fool for reactionary power; I’m delighted to give “We Are Proud Boys” four and a half stars.