At a packed Royal Oak Board of Education meeting last month, parent after parent spoke to oppose granting club status at the local high school to the pro-Trump fascist organization Turning Point USA. Students had already expressed their opposition to Turning Point in October, when hundreds walked out of classes and carried out a sit-in in the school cafeteria.

Founded in 2012 by fascist Charlie Kirk, Turning Point USA is a billionaire-funded organization set up, in its own words, to “combat modern liberalism on college campuses.” In actuality, it works to spread anticommunism, antisemitism, racism and anti-gay bigotry, creating an atmosphere that encourages violence against the youth it targets.

Parents, grandparents, teachers and others addressed the November 13 board meeting to express their concerns. One speaker, Ann Abby, said, “It is about documented patterns of behavior tied to TPUSA that raise legitimate safety concerns for protected student groups, including trans students, students of color, and LBGT youth.”

Alicia Joy, parent of two Royal Oak students, said, “So the board policy is that we cannot deny any club based on their stated purpose. And I understand that. And the stated purpose of the club is fiscal responsibility and limited government. And that sounds great.

“The initial stated purpose of the Nazi party and Hitler was to rebuild roads and unify Germany. And that sounded great too. And by the time the darker purpose had come out, it was harder to stop it the way they could have earlier. So many people had died. So many were hurt.” 

Joy then quoted racist statements made by Kirk, demonstrating the real direction of Turning Point, as opposed to its claims to be fostering “open discussion” of controversial issues.

Jane Baker, a grandmother of three children at Royal Oak schools, expressed her agreement: “The lady that just spoke, I agree with her 100 percent. My family came from Europe. The stones and the clubs that were used in Germany and spread across Europe remind me of Turning Point. What you see in his book looks like it’s a perfect little First Amendment group. But what’s behind it is something else.”

Jennifer Mark, who identified herself as the mother of a trans child, said: “I actually can’t believe that Royal Oak schools are considering allowing an organization like Turning Point that was begun by someone as hateful as Charlie Kirk. The kids there are apparently not feeling safe. You had a whole lot of kids walk out of school because they were offended and worried about having a club like that at our school.”

Phyllis Steele, a retired public school teacher, spoke as a member of the Michigan Educators Rank-and-File Committee, which is affiliated to the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees. She said, “I would like to applaud those students who walked out of Royal Oak High School on October 22 to oppose the establishment of a Turning Point Club USA at their school. Their action expresses a growing determination of young people to stand against fascism, racism, war, and political intimidation.

“Turning Point USA, founded by the late Charlie Kirk, is not a legitimate student organization promoting free speech, as has been eloquently explained, It’s a billionaire funded operation. It’s deeply tied to Trump’s authoritarian movement. It’s dedicated to spreading anti-communism, racism, and anti-LGBTQ+ propaganda among students. It has a professor watch list, a schoolboard watch list, which I’m sure I’m on, but so be it. These are political tools of political surveillance and intimidation against educators and youth who express progressive or socialist views.

“Turning Point has not only been tapped by Trump’s Department of Education to create a patriotic right-wing curriculum for K through 12 schools. It has also provided logistics and builds networks for the fascist right. They chartered buses to DC on January 6, 2021.

“They promote the great replacement theory, the racist conspiracy that claims Jewish elites are replacing white people with immigrants, a doctrine which has inspired mass murderers and white supremacists.

“The administration’s justification for allowing the club under the Equal Access Act of 1984 ignores one essential issue. Fascist organizations are not vehicles for legitimate political discussion, but instruments historically of violence and reaction. Educators and students and families alike have every right to reject and oppose such forces in defense of democratic rights and human equality.

“I’m for the international working class, for young people to have a decent future free of war, free of fascism. I would urge students to establish an International Youth and Students for Social Equality club at their high school.”

James Vega, a supporter of the International Youth and Students for Social Equality. commended the students who showed opposition to Turning Point founding a chapter in Royal Oak. Describing the right-wing group, he said, “They are openly anti-Semitic, racist and homophobic. Many students are searching for answers, are asking how do we fight against fascism? How do we fight against war and social inequality?”

Elizabetth Zupi said that she was in college when Turning Point was created in 2012. “I remember it started as a space to give voice to conservative young people amid globalization, global communication like Twitter, Facebook and MySpace. I know their stated mission is to recruit, educate and train young people to support limited government and the myth of the free market. 

“But we all know that that’s not the whole story. They have said that black women don’t have the brain processing power to be taken seriously. Tell that to my law degree. [They say] that black people prowled the street with criminal intention; that granting people of color the same rights as white people was a mistake; that Jewish people and immigration and the media and trans people are all part of a policy designed at deliberately decreasing the white population;  that gay people want to corrupt your children; that Islamic people are a threat to America and probably more. I circulated a community letter opposing Turning Point and have 353 signatures and comments.”

According to the school administration, if students follow administration guidelines and they do not violate school rules, they can form a club. The school board claims to have no decision-making power on club status, making the public hearing an exercise in allowing people to vent their opposition, while the activities of the fascists continue.

TPUSA is a multimillion-dollar business to promote American capitalism and the interests of the super-rich. Its web site explains that the high-school wing of the group “employs 48 field representatives nationwide who exist to empower each high school chapter in becoming freedom-loving activists within their community.” It sends “activism kits” to students with fliers, stickers, buttons, etc. to promote clubs and organize other activities. It offers financial incentives if students hold meetings at a school and achieve other goals.

The vast majority of voters in Royal Oak rejected Trump in 2024, and the effort to form a fascist pro-Trump club at the local high school is a political provocation. As the walkout at Royal Oak High School and the turnout of parents at the school board meeting showed, there is mass opposition to the fascist politics of Turning Point USA.