White Pride and Nationalism

I’m not exactly sure where these ideas come from. Essentially being born white or in a certain country is nothing more than a genetic lottery. Your parents created you wherever they were at the time. While there is nothing wrong with being proud of who you are and where you are from, many people take it to the extreme. I will examine these people in this article.

White pride is nothing new, it’s been around since we murdered Native Americans, when we tortured and enslaved an entire race of people for our own benefit. It has reached mainstream news in recent years in areas such as Charlottesville, Virginia, Portland, Oregon, and recently Chapel Hill, North Carolina. In Virginia, the “alt-right” was marching with torches and chanting, “You will not replace us!” Many people have gone on record to say that if it weren’t for the antifascist protestors, many people of color would have been harmed. If memory serves me correctly, the next day Heather Heyer was killed when a white supremacist drove a car into a crowd of protesters. This goes back to my previous article in which I wondered why these hate groups aren’t on a terrorist watch list.

Dylann Roof, Jason Kessler, what do they have in common? Both are supporters of white pride and racism. Both terrorize a race of people out of their own fear and ignorance. This has being going on since the time of slavery, up until now. Where does this fear come from? It partially comes from their ignorance. It comes from the idea that minorities might have an uprising, hence the chant, "you will not replace us." If you look at recent events, a lot of them surround the confederate flag and monuments to confederate soldiers. These people believe that by removing them, that means that their history is being erased. I equate this to someone trying to pass common sense gun laws and the fear propaganda that the government wants to take their guns away. History still exists in books, regardless of flags and statues. Maybe these folks should try reading one of these books sometime, besides Mein Kampf.

What is it that brings these fears to life? Is it the fact that we don’t want to talk about slavery? Is it that we took a race of people, took away their identities, cultures, and ways of life? They are still struggling to find that today because of slavery. The white supremacists and nationalists fear that one day the tables may turn, and the white race will no longer be in power. They fear an uprising where they will lose their identity, just as the African American race did when they were enslaved. Ask anyone of these people about the confederacy. As I stated in an earlier article, they are more than happy to take credit for a civil war that happened way before they were born, but yet they had nothing to do with slavery. It makes white people uncomfortable to talk about slavery and the injustices that people of color and other minorities have and still do face each day.

That’s where the pride and nationalism come in. We are too prideful to talk about what mistakes we have made, and how we can do better. They use fear propaganda to tell you that the Middle Eastern man who just worked a 14 hour shift is a terrorists, that letting people come into our country (and I use the word our loosely), will instigate and encourage more terrorists attacks. Hate crimes have been rising ever since Trump was elected president. He has yet to condone the actions of these people, and has continued to encourage their behavior. Sometimes subtly, sometimes not so subtly. People of color remain the highest victims of hate crimes, followed by the Jewish community.

In the bible it states that “When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native born. Love them as you love yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt." While I don’t consider myself spiritual or a Christian, this is still a good thought for life, and maybe we can take something from it. The world could be a better place if we did.