Red-baiting

Red-baiting is the act of accusing, denouncing, attacking or persecuting an individual or group as communist,socialist, or anarchist, or sympathetic toward communism, socialism, or anarchism. In the United States the term "red-baiting" dates from at least 1927. In 1928, black-listing by the Daughters of the American Revolution was characterized as a "red-baiting relic". It is a term commonly used in the United States, and in United States history, red-baiting is most often associated with McCarthyism, which originated in the two historic Red Scare periods of the 1920s (First Red Scare) and 1950s (Second Red Scare). In the 21st century, red-baiting does not have quite the same effect it previously did due to the fall of Soviet-style Communism, but some pundits have argued that notable events in current American politics indicates a resurgence of red-baiting consistent with the 1950s.

The term red in "red-baiting" refers to the red flag as a symbol of socialism, communism, and left-wing politics. The term baiting refers to persecution, torment or harassment, as in dog-baiting.

Red-baiting was employed in opposition to anarchists in the United States as early as the late 1870s when businessmen, religious leaders and editorial writers tried to rally middle class workers to oppose dissident railroad workers and again during the Haymarket affair in the mid-1880s. Red-baiting was well established in the U.S. during the decade before World War I. In the post-war period of 1919-1921 the U.S. government employed it as a central tactic in dealing with labor radicals, anarchists, communists, and foreign agents. These actions in reaction to the First Red Scare and the concurrent Red terror, served as part of the organizing principle shaping counter-revolutionary policies and serving to institutionalize anti-communism as a force in American politics.

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