Summary
White Supremacist groups in the United States share certain common elements and characteristics. In addition to a view of racial hierarchy, there is usually some form of antisemitism, dualism, apocalypticism, a reliance on conspiracy theories, a masculinist perspective, and antipathy towards gays and lesbians. They also share some common elements with all social movements. At the same time, there are distinctive differences among White Supremacist groups. There are several ways to illustrate these differences. In order to better explain how these groups operate in the public sphere, we separate them into the categories of: political, religious, and youth cultural (racist skinhead, racist gangs, etc.) This typology, proposed by Vysotsky (2004), focuses on how these groups recruit and mobilize supporters around specific ideologies or cultural frames. We also look at several complexities and controversies in the study of White Supremacist organizations.
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Extract
Overview of U.S. White Supremacist Groups*
Organized White Supremacist groups in the United States evolved from their historic base of various predecessor Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazi organizations (Schmaltz 1999; Trelease 1995; Chalmers 1965). Over time, they spread into a wide range of competing forms and ideologies.
These groups and organizations constitute what some have broadly termed the "radical right." While there are some areas where the extreme right White Supremacist movement and right-wing dissident groups (usually listed as being part of the Patriot or armed militia movements) overlap, we do not include the latter in this study because there are important boundaries separating them from White Supremacist race hate groups (Durham 2000).Despite their many differences, there are some common elements across the boundaries of organized white supremacy, or at least a collection from which certain aspects are selected. Gardell describes a "smorgasbord" in the "white-racist counterculture" consisting of the lore of the Ku Klux Klan, national socialism, the culture of White Power music and racist skinheads, the ideal of the heroic warrior, conspiracism, antisemitism, right-wing populism, and White Separatism. He also includes the idea of race as integrated into religion, and two mutually exclusive religious worldviews: Christian Identity and pagan Odinism (2003:78-79). It is in this similarity of worldview that we find the first in a number of common elements to most White Supremacist groups. While individual members of White Supremacist movements may appear to be deviant or engage in criminal activity, they are also rational individuals who are acting in accordance with complex belief systems and responding to their material reality, cultural forces, and the requirements of movement organizations and ideologies.A social movements analysis of White Supremacist groups provides a clear understanding of the complexity of such a varied movement. "The use of this approach presents an alternative view to the deviance perspective," suggest Jipson and Becker, and assumes that White Supremacists "are social movement actors, like mainstream social movement actors and institutions, and are socially, politically, and ideologically constructed" (2000:111). As McVeigh explains, "forms of structural differentiation . . . make the worldview [that is] constructed within racist organizations seem plausible to a critical mass of individuals . . . racial and ethnic heterogeneity, industrial heterogeneity, income inequality, and changes in the economic structure within local communities provide 'evidence' that may appear to be consistent with white supremacists' claims if individuals lack an alternative interpretation" (2004).All social movements develop a common ideology and establish a set of frames through which they view a struggle over power (Zald 1996; Snow, Rochford, Worden, and Benford [1986] 1997; Goffman 1974). Social movements also pick (or create) narratives or stories that teach members and potential members about what is to be admired and what is to be opposed (Davis, 2002; Polletta 1998; Ewick and Silbey 1995). White Supremacist groups are no different (Berlet 2001; Dobratz and Shanks-Meile 2000, 1995). The complexity of framing processes, intellectualization, psychological undercurrents, and mobilizat...See the full content of this document
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