Joel A Lewis Youth Against Fascism.pdf

NATIONALISM
Political liberty is essential to Citizenship. Citizenship is an equal balance between receiving
and exercising rights and giving service and duty to the Community. It is when
the rights disappear or are "sacrificed" and only service remains that Citizenship becomes
a mockery. That is what happens to it under fascism. 54
Fascism destroyed traditional concepts of democratic citizenship, positing a biological
concept of national civic inclusion dependant upon individual submission to the authoritarian
state. The YCL contended true democratic citizenship was linked with service to
the community, civil liberties and the right to political dissent.
The YCL's citizenship rhetoric challenged youth to change the perceived pro-fascist
leadership of Britain. The YCL argued, "There are many ways in which youth can help
but perhaps the greatest is through the medium of citizenship." 55 Initiatives like the
British Youth Parliament and the British Youth Peace Assembly were supported by the
YCL because they reflected "a growing realisation of the need for training in citizenship."
56 Though the YCL kept a critical view about the limitations of "bourgeois democracy,"
they recognized that a youth movement engaged in active citizenship could
influence the politics of the nation. The YCL discovered they could best serve internationalist
obligations by strengthening their position with the framework of the nation.
The transformation of YCL nationalist literature in the United States developed slower
than in Britain. The YCLUSA did not cease publication of The Young Worker until
April, 1936. Up until their last issue, the YCL openly declared its status as the American
section of the Young Communist International. 57 Nevertheless, transitions began to be
implemented in the content of articles in 1935.
The Young Worker retained much of its previous form throughout 1935, but began
adopting certain elements of nationalist propaganda. Articles on American history
slowly began appearing at the end of 1935 that portrayed the YCL as the inheritor of
American national traditions. In November, 1935 the YCL published an article comparing
the philosophies of Lincoln and Lenin, asserting that a parallel dynamic existed in
their revolutionary ideologies and their experiences of leading a nation in Civil War. (See
Appendix) 58 An article in December, 1935 attacked the "patriotism" of William
Randolph Hearst, declaring him a "20 th Century Benedict Arnold," asserting that the YCL
was composed of "real Americans" and young citizens "who really love America." 59 This
trend was accentuated in 1936 with the 160 year anniversary of the American Republic.
In a March, 1936 article entitled "Dear Mr. Browder: The Spirit of '76 is Not Dead," the
YCL regularly used phrases like "our forefathers," contrasting the traditions of the
American Revolution to the political realities youth were facing in 1936. The image
from the article showed a portrayal of an American Revolutionary War military drum
corps, showing a parallel with the forward march of the American YCL. (See Appendix)
60 Though much of the internationalist class form of The Young Worker remained
until its end, the nationalist content of its articles changed dramatically during its last year
of publication.
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