The Coalition for Human Dignity is a defunct anti-fascist organization that operated in Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington in the 1980s and 1990s to combat white supremacy and anti-Semitism. ¹ It was a precursor organization to what would become more broadly known as the Anti-Fascist Movement, or Antifa. ²

Scot Nakagawa was the founding member and director of the Coalition for Human Dignity. He has since become a leader in left-of-center activism and political nonviolence, leading efforts in anti-fascist movements, LGBT advocacy, and anti-racist organizations. ^{1 3}

Background and Activism

Although its published founding date was in 1988, Portland city records show meeting minutes and a mission statement for the Coalition for Human Dignity originating from 1978 with support from and connection to Portland city officials. ⁴ The Coalition for Human Dignity was founded to respond to the racist murder of Ethiopian immigrant Mulugeta Seraw by neo-Nazi skinheads in Portland. ⁵

The Coalition for Human Dignity responded to what it considered a growing white supremacist and Christian nationalist militancy among right-wing paramilitary groups in the Pacific Northwest. One such group that the Coalition for Human Dignity opposed was the Christian Covenant Community in Idaho. This group was led by former Populist Party presidential candidate James “Bo” Grits, who purchased hundreds of acres in Northern Idaho to create a white Christian haven to resist the American government and promote alleged neo-Nazi, white supremacist beliefs. ^{6 7} In response to the mounting political violence from both radical-left and extreme-right groups, the Coalition for Human Dignity became an advocacy and research group for nonviolence and left-wing racial progress to combat alleged right-wing extremism. ⁸

Scot Nakagawa

Scot Nakagawa has been an organizer and left-of-center social change advocate since 1979. Since 1988, Nakagawa has become an authority on the alleged rise of authoritarian movements and of political violence in the name of ethnic and racial nationalism. In addition to helping found the Coalition for Human Dignity, Nakagawa has also worked with the National Anti-Klan Network, the National LGBTQ Task Force, the Highlander Research and Education Center, and several political campaigns to limit the power and influence of alleged racist, antisemitic, patriarchal, and religious fundamentalist leaders and groups. ¹

Nakagawa is also the co-founder and past senior partner of ChangeLab, an Asian American think tank and action organization addressing issues of left-wing social change and Asian American leadership. He is a past Open Society Foundations fellow, and a senior fellow on nationalism, authoritarianism, and race at Race Forward: The Center for Racial Justice Innovation. He is a writer who writes essays on authoritarianism and resistance on his personal Substack, “The Anti-Authoritarian Playbook.” Nakagawa is also the co-host of the Anti-Authoritarian Podcast. ¹

In November 2024, Nakagawa was featured on Race Forward’s webinar event entitled, “#RaceAnd the Way Forward: Racial Justice After the 2024 Elections” which sought to “explore implications and next steps for the racial justice movement in light of” Donald Trump’s election to a second term in the White House. ¹ Nakagawa has expressed his belief that President Trump and his political coalition represent an authoritarian and fascist threat to American democracy, although Nakagawa does not endorse political violence against Trump. ³

Other Notable Members

Jonathan Mozzochi is a former organizer and research director for the Coalition for Human Dignity. In a 1995 interview, Mozzochi detailed the organization’s fight against what he called the far right. Mozzochi blamed left-wing activists for not understanding the far right’s tactics and combating them sufficiently. He spoke against right-wing paramilitary groups that were forming in the Pacific Northwest that were neo-Nazis who opposed the American government. Mozzochi argued that although “Black power” groups from the 1960s used similar tactics as right-wing militia groups, there are no parallels between the two types of groups because the Black liberation movement was justified, whereas right-wing groups are not. ⁹

Jon Bair is a former member of the broader anti-fascist movement of which Coalition for Human Dignity was a key organization in the 1980s and 1990s. Bair was a member of the broader radical-left “skinhead” movement against the neo-Nazi skinheads who existed in Portland, Oregon and other areas in the Pacific Northwest. Bair killed one such neo-Nazi skinhead in 1993 in Portland, Oregon, pleading guilty to a manslaughter charge in the case. After serving his sentence, Bair later became an active member in the defund the police movement. ²

1. “#RaceAnd the Way Forward: Racial Justice After the 2024 Elections.” Eventbrite. November 13, 2024. Accessed November 24, 2024. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/raceand-the-way-forward-racial-justice-after-the-2024-elections-tickets-1054532628479
2. Wilson, Conrad. “Jon Bair killed a neo-Nazi 28 years ago, and he has a message for Portland.” OPB. October 8, 2021. Accessed November 24, 2024. https://www.opb.org/article/2021/10/08/portland-oregon-history-political-violence-skinheads-antifa-murder/
3. Bergamin, Alessandra. “Participation is our biggest advantage in the fight against authoritarianism.” Waging Nonviolence. August 7, 2024. Accessed November 24, 2024. https://wagingnonviolence.org/2024/08/anti-authoritarian-organizer-scot-nakagawa-participation-advantage-confronting-political-violence/
4. “Coalition for Human Dignity / Coalition for Racial and Cultural Freedom.” Portland City Auditor. August 16, 1978. Accessed November 24, 2024. https://efiles.portlandoregon.gov/Record/5087625
5. Herron, Elise. “Here’s What Happened the Night Mulugeta Seraw Was Murdered—and Afterward.” Willamette Week. October 31, 2018. Accessed November 24, 2024. https://www.wweek.com/news/2018/10/31/heres-what-happened-the-night-mulugeta-seraw-was-murdered-and-afterward/
6. Sahagun, Louis. “Paramilitary Figure Developing Communities in Idaho : Land use: Neighbors are troubled by work of former Populist Party presidential candidate James (Bo) Gritz. He says he is preparing for Armageddon in 1996.” LA Times. September 6, 1994. Accessed November 24, 2024. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-09-06-mn-35306-story.html
7. “KAMIAH LAND PURCHASE COALITION FOR HUMAN DIGNITY DISPUTES GRITZ CHARGE…” The Lewiston Tribune. March 9, 1994. Accessed November 24, 2024. https://www.lmtribune.com/sites/www.lmtribune.com/stories/kamiah-land-purchase-coalit-ion-for-human-dignity-disputes-gritz-charges-spokesman-says-support-for-gay-rights-is-only-one-of-his-groups-interestsddc24d57
8. Ward, Eric K. “Skin in the Game: How Antisemitism Animates White Nationalism.” Political Research Associates. June 29, 2017. Accessed November 24, 2024. https://politicalresearch.org/2017/06/29/skin-in-the-game-how-antisemitism-animates-white-nationalism
9. “Fighting the Far Right — interview with Jonathan Mozzochi.” Marxists.org. July/August 1995. Accessed November 24, 2024. https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/newspape/atc/2636.html