White Nationalism

Terrorism: The unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims. White Nationalism is a political view that the white race is superior to other races and a white national image should be upheld. White Nationalist groups include Neo Nazis, The Ku Klux Klan, anti-immigrant groups, Skinheads, and Alt-Right activists. Not all, but many of these groups and many in these groups commit what are known as hate crimes. Hate crimes are crimes motivated by racial, sexual, or other prejudice, usually involving violence. Hate speech is used by everyone in these groups to express their distaste for those who do not look like them. Even though it is not expressly stated in the name, many white nationalists also tend to be sexist and discriminatory to people in the LGBT community. White Nationalists are not frequently called, but are by definition, terrorists with the political goal of eliminating non white immigration and oppressing non whites through laws and fear. White Nationalism is possibly the greatest threat facing America today.

While not all White Nationalists are physically violent, there are many that are, and others that choose to be socially violent instead. There are many accounts of physical violence, such as driving cars into crowds, the illegal use of tear gas, rioting, and many cases of police brutality unnecessarily shooting or beating someone of a different race for no justified reason, but what is social violence? Social violence is the use of words or actions to discriminate against or harm mentally and emotionally a person or a group of people. White Nationalists may not choose to break the law but instead may use hate speech to make other races feel unwelcome or unsafe in an area or establishment. Those who promote these ideals and gain followers tend to be especially socially violent as many would choose to follow a preacher rather than a criminal. A charismatic leader can amass a large following very quickly, and with such a large group, mob mentality will inevitably come into play. These socially violent people make way for the physically violent, which puts everyone in danger, including other white people if they do not share the ideals or get caught in the crossfire. No one is safe from this kind of group.

Racism to this degree has existed for a long time all across the world. Other countries with different majorities have also tried to eliminate their minorities, so it is a common thing for the majority to seek control, but it is not the right thing. Many would see this as common ingroup/outgroup bias, a bias naturally ingrained in the brains of humans. The ingroup is those that are like you in whatever way is relevant, the outgroup is everyone else. Any one person may have multiple ingroups and outgroups, and for some people these groups are distinguished by race. This does not mean preferring one’s race over others is inherent, but even if it was, hatred is not. Hatred is learned, whether it be through actions of an individual, or taught by an authority figure. In many places, not just America, children are taught to hate or fear minorities through inaccurate stereotypes, misinformation, and in some cases blatant lies. As seen in history, when this gets out of hand, tragedy strikes. Others also just try to erase the culture and identity of non whites without really wanting to be rid of them, but his is still a form of racism and white nationalism as they seek to live in a nation with a white identity.

Part of the problem is not just the white nationalists, but the people who throw around the term without really knowing what it means or how to use it. There are many liberal progressive movements in the United States including Black Lives Matter and others supporting racial social equality and calling for the end of racism, some of these people however, tend to misuse or overuse the word which causes some others to dismiss when it is used at all, even if the term was used properly. This is a problem with many movements, where a particular group within the movement call those they dislike or who disagree with them the thing they hate so that others may hate them too, but this takes away from the overall movement and makes it easy for the less informed to turn a blind eye to what is going on. Education leads progression, misinformation causes regression. At a point somewhere in between, accurate information and getting it out is as important as ever, especially with harmful stereotypes being the name of the game. To many young liberals, the term “Republican” sparks very negative feelings and they often picture a white man who is racist, sexist, homophobic, and stuck in his ways, and in turn picture a Republican when they here white nationalist. This is of course not accurate, but it causes them to dismiss this kind of person, but everyone needs to be involved to end racism and white supremacy. Stereotypes are a common study in psychology. It has been found that they serve an evolutionary purpose of gathering quick information to see if someone is likely to pose a threat so the person can make a quick reaction. Some stereotypes are accurate, and some are not, but either way they can lead to overgeneralization which is harmful to a social environment. If people are aware of this issue, they can become conscious of it and avoid stereotyping in cases where it is not needed.

While maintaining the fact that racism is racism and is bad in any form, there are different degrees and different types. Some people are not necessarily actively being white nationalists, but may be passively racist and could be prime targets for white nationalists to recruit. Being passively racist means that while a person may not purposely discriminate or make hateful remarks, they may neglect to say or do anything when they see racism or even agree with it when it happens while not starting anything themselves. They may not see racism as a problem or may not believe it exists. While these people are not white nationalists, they are directly related .

White Nationalism is tearing the country apart from the inside out. America is frequently described as a melting pot in reference to all the different peoples there are within the borders and how they mix together. There is no place in a country for racism. All Americans are immigrants unless there is someone 100% Native American. When it comes to this issue, a connection of fear is commonly made to the Holocaust and the horrors it held as an intolerant charismatic person took power and killed approximately 11 million people. Over a third of the US, approximately 38%, is comprised of racial minorities. There are enough outside threats and non human threats such as disease that America cannot stand to have a nation divided by race. “United we stand, divided we fall.”