George Watts Hill: Anti-Fascist

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donbosco

donbosco

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This New Yorker is among my Top Ten Tar Heel Anti-Fascists. Modern imaginings might cause one to take a look at his photo portrait and think Right-Winger but that would be a dead wrong reckoning. George Watts Hill was raised in money and key institutions in N.C. like The Carolina Inn, UNC Press, Watts Hospital, Hill Hall at UNC, and The George Watts Hill Alumni Center have associations with his family. Born in 1901 he graduated UNC IN 1921 and earned a law degree in 1924. Observing the rise of fascism around the world in the late 1930s into the ‘40s, Hill, worked to spur an isolationist USA to recognize the dire threat of Nazism and Mussolini’s Italy as well as homegrown rightists like the America First Committee in this country. Past combat age as the US entered WWII in 1941, Hill nevertheless served in intelligence gathering with the group that would develop into the OSS.

IMG_5390.jpegAfter his service fighting the rising tide of fascism in Europe Hill opposed similar views at home with his strong opposition to the N.C. General Assembly’s Speaker Ban, a railroaded-in law meant to shutdown Free Speech on the campuses of UNC System schools and otherwise squelch anything but Patriotically Correct instruction, writing, and research at Carolina. An anti-fascist dedication to racial justice led to his early advocacy of desegregation in public accommodations. Hill also supported the creation and expansion of education for children with learning disabilities. (There are two links at the conclusion here where you can learn more)


#OTD in 1901 George Watts Hill was born in NYC to a prosperous family with deep North Carolina roots. A UNC Undergraduate and Law Graduate, he came early to the fight against fascism and was a key officer in The Office of Strategic Services. Later he stood vs the Speaker Ban and Segregation. The Alumni Center @UNC bears his name.


www.ncdcr.gov

George Watts Hill, Tar Heel in Cloak

On October 27, 1901, George Watts Hill was born to a prosperous family in Durham. The newborn would inherit wealth, commanding a fortune earned in banking, and over time would demonstrate an abiding sense of devotion to his country.
www.ncdcr.gov www.ncdcr.gov


A Tar Heel in Cloak: George Watts Hill, Interventionism, and the Shadow War Against Hitler - North Carolina History. (And yes-I know the provenance of this site -I find irony in this)


Vote like George Watts Hill was your mentor.
 
UNCatTech said:
I believe half the country doesn't understand what fascism is or what it could mean to our future.
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The saddest part to me is that so many see it and like it.

I was just revisiting “The Political and Social Doctrine of Fascism” published by Mussolini in 1935. He lays out 7 key elements of the ideology (by my personal estimate -- I have distilled them below) of which he was the initial architect. Here is a link to the original article (which Mussolini wrote with a lot of help from one of his sidekicks named Giovanni Gentile): https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1467-923X.1933.tb02289.x
Fascism

1. The Fascist repudiates the doctrine of pacifism.

2. The Fascist loves his neighbor, but neighbor is not a vague or undefined concept.

3. The Fascist believes in the opposite of scientific or Marxist Socialism, i.e., materialist concept, the dialectic, as this does not explain history adequately.

4. The Fascist believes in holiness and heroism, actions influenced by no economic motive.

5. The Fascist denies the existence of class-war/conflict.

6. The Fascist repudiates the concept of economic ‘happiness’ as this is not a materialist state of being.

7. The Fascist “denies that the majority, by the simple fact that it is a majority can direct human society; it denies that numbers alone can govern by means of a periodic consultation, and it affirms the immutable, beneficial, and fruitful inequality of mankind, which can never be permanently leveled through the mere operation of a mechanical process such as universal suffrage.”
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We’ve taught American exceptionalism for so long and failed to teach the actual lessons of WWII to our kids.

Most people that know generally about fascism think it can never happen here. They think blood and soil nationalism is exclusive to Europe. They think a genocide like the Holocaust was singular in history and happened because of vague evil.
 
My mistake- George Watts Hill's house no longer exists- It is the John Sprunt Hill house (originally next door) that I like. It is currently the Durham Women's Club.
 
I have no idea why the strikethrough occurred below...


Certainly, trumpist fascism is unique in certain ways and there are some very American things about it but a "charismatic demagogue [who] manipulate incensed, vengeful masses" is a common theme across the board. Michael Roberto (retired from NC A&T) wrote, The Coming of the American Behemoth: The Origins of Fascism in the United States, 1920–1940 and it is an instructive read. Roberto asserts that "the driving force of American fascism comes, not from reactionary movements below, but from the top, namely, Big Business and the power of finance capital. More subtle than its earlier European counterparts, writes Roberto, fascist America’s racist, top-down quashing of individual liberties masqueraded as 'real democracy,' 'upholding the Constitution,' and the pressure to be '100 Percent American.'” That's a lot to take in but I think it is worth the try. Monthly Review | The Coming of the American Behemoth: The Origins of Fascism in the United States, 1920–1940 ER][/ISPOILER]

Roberto brings to light some interesting points that help to make the bridge between homegrown fascism and the type that the Allies put down in World War II.

In “The Political and Social Doctrine of Fascism” published by Mussolini in 1935, he lays out 7 key elements of the ideology (by my personal estimate -- I have distilled them below) of which he was the initial architect. Here is a link to the original article (which Mussolini wrote with a lot of help from one of his sidekicks, Giovanni Gentile): https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1467-923X.1933.tb02289.x

Fascism distilled...with notes on trumpist fascism.

1. The Fascist repudiates the doctrine of pacifism. Trumpism finds this expression, I would argue, in isolationism on one hand, and the admiration of Putinesque figures on the other.

2. The Fascist loves his neighbor, but neighbor is not a vague or undefined concept. (Most people are NOT the fascist's neighbor, but rather the other, especially if a POC)

3. The Fascist believes in the opposite of scientific or Marxist Socialism, i.e., materialist concept, the dialectic, as this does not explain history adequately. Clearly opposition to anything Left-of-Center falls here for trumpists

4. The Fascist believes in holiness and heroism, actions influenced by no economic motive. This one I have a harder time aligning with trumpism

5. The Fascist denies the existence of class-war/conflict. This is an absolute MUST BELIEF

6. The Fascist repudiates the concept of economic ‘happiness’ as this is not a materialist state of being. Subtly speaking this would be why Tony Ray and #DeepChatham David feel no envy whatsoever for the trumps and Musks and their empires

7. The Fascist “denies that the majority, by the simple fact that it is a majority can direct human society; it denies that numbers alone can govern by means of a periodic consultation, and it affirms the immutable, beneficial, and fruitful inequality of mankind, which can never be permanently leveled through the mere operation of a mechanical process such as universal suffrage.”In a nutshell this is why elections and democratic republicanism is so troublesome and essentially worthless in the eyes of trumpists
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