redbaiters
Anti-leftist accusers
Redbaiters are people who accuse others of being communists or communist sympathizers, typically to discredit or persecute them.
The term evokes McCarthyism and the mid-twentieth-century practice of labeling political opponents as Soviet agents or fellow travelers: The redbaiters ruined careers with unsubstantiated accusations.
The singular is redbaiter; the verb is redbait.
Persecution of supposed subversives
- blacklistRecord of prohibited entities
- HUACRed Scare congressional committee
- loyalty oathSworn commitment to faithfulness
- un-AmericanContrary to national ideals
anticommunist · Cold War · subversive · purge · political repression · fearmongering · paranoia · persecution
Advocates for fundamental change
- subversivesThose undermining established systems
- dissidentsPolitical objectors
- leftistsPolitical progressives collectively
- socialistsAdvocates of shared ownership
union organizers · progressives · liberals · intellectuals · artists · screenwriters · academics · activists
Formally marking for rejection
- ostracismBanishment from a group
- unemploymentBeing without paid work
- exileBanishment from homeland
- suicideVoluntary death by oneself
imprisonment · deportation · silencing · censorship · self-censorship · chilling effect · hearings · testimony
Spread or defame
- accusationClaim someone did wrong
- innuendoOblique disparaging remark
- slanderSpoken false defamation
- vilificationAbusive condemnation of someone
defamation · denunciation · labeling · mudslinging · character assassination · insinuation · rumor · exposure
witch-hunt
Persecution of supposed subversives
- blacklistRecord of prohibited entities
- HUACRed Scare congressional committee
- loyalty oathSworn commitment to faithfulness
un-American · anticommunist · Cold War · subversive · purge · political repression · fearmongering · paranoia · persecution · conformity
radicals
Advocates for fundamental change
- subversivesThose undermining established systems
- dissidentsPolitical objectors
- leftistsPolitical progressives collectively
socialists · union organizers · progressives · liberals · intellectuals · artists · screenwriters · academics · activists · sympathizers
blacklisting
Formally marking for rejection
- ostracismBanishment from a group
- unemploymentBeing without paid work
- exileBanishment from homeland
suicide · imprisonment · deportation · silencing · censorship · self-censorship · chilling effect · hearings · testimony · informing
smear
Spread or defame
- accusationClaim someone did wrong
- innuendoOblique disparaging remark
- slanderSpoken false defamation
vilification · defamation · denunciation · labeling · mudslinging · character assassination · insinuation · rumor · exposure · outing
redbaitersfellow travelers
Sympathizers without official membership
Marxists · pinkos · socialists · progressives
redbaiterscommunists
Collective ownership advocates
Marxists · socialists · leftists · radicals · progressives