The Red Guards were a Chinese American

Chinese American

Chinese Americans represent Americans of Chinese descent. Chinese Americans constitute one group of overseas Chinese and also a subgroup of East Asian Americans, which is further a subgroup of Asian Americans...

 civil rights

Civil rights

Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...

 group active from 1967 to 1971. The movement drew inspiration from a variety of sources including the Boxer Rebellion

Boxer Rebellion

The Boxer Rebellion, also called the Boxer Uprising by some historians or the Righteous Harmony Society Movement in northern China, was a proto-nationalist movement by the "Righteous Harmony Society" , or "Righteous Fists of Harmony" or "Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists" , in China between...

, the Red Guards

Red Guards (China)

Red Guards were a mass movement of civilians, mostly students and other young people in the People's Republic of China , who were mobilized by Mao Zedong in 1966 and 1967, during the Cultural Revolution.-Origins:...

 in China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

, and the Black Panthers. The I Wor Kuen

I Wor Kuen

The I Wor Kuen were a radical Asian American group originally based in New York City named after the Boxers and influenced by the Black Panther Party and the Young Lords Party...

 were a similar group originally based in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 named after the Boxers and influenced by the Black Panther Party and the Young Lords

Young Lords

The Young Lords, later Young Lords Organization and in New York , Young Lords Party, was a Puerto Rican nationalist group in several United States cities, notably New York City and Chicago.-Founding:...

. In 1972 the two organizations merged to form a single national revolutionary organization under the name I Wor Kuen. The newly formed national party was affiliated with the New Communist Movement

New Communist Movement

The New Communist Movement ' was a Marxist-Leninist political movement of the 1970s and 1980s in the United States. The term refers to a specific trend in the U.S. New Left which sought inspiration in the experience of the Russian Revolution of 1917, the Chinese Revolution, and the Cuban...

 and was ideologically aligned with Marxism-Leninism

Marxism-Leninism

Marxism–Leninism is a communist ideology, officially based upon the theories of Marxism and Vladimir Lenin, that promotes the development and creation of a international communist society through the leadership of a vanguard party over a revolutionary socialist state that represents a dictatorship...

-Mao Zedong Thought

Maoism

Maoism, also known as the Mao Zedong Thought , is claimed by Maoists as an anti-Revisionist form of Marxist communist theory, derived from the teachings of the Chinese political leader Mao Zedong . Developed during the 1950s and 1960s, it was widely applied as the political and military guiding...

.

"San Francisco’s Red Guard was patterned closely after the Black Panther Party. In 1969, the federal government wanted to shut down a Tuberculosis testing center located in San Francisco’s Chinese community. At the time, Chinatown had the highest TB rate in the country. The young Asians in the
Red Guard organized the community and staged successful protest demonstrations to keep that TB testing center open. Through these protests and the programs that the Red Guard initiated, Chinatown’s citizens were enlightened and became open to more progressive politics. In 1970, members of the Red Guard were part of a delegation that was invited to join Eldridge Cleaver and they accompanied him in a visit to China, North Korea, and North Vietnam. After about two and a half years, due to political and police repression, such as office raids, arrests without warrants, false arrest, and armed stand-offs with police, the organization collapsed."