Beyond Labels

A 360° Discussion of Foreign, National and Local Policy Issues

Eric Sass

Eric L. Sass (Reston, VA & Sedgwick, ME) most recently served as the Chief Operating Officer and President of Strategic Communications & Learning for Healthy Companies International, an international research and management consulting firm in Arlington, Virginia. Before that he was President and COO of WK Networks, an Internet start-up in Princeton, NJ. Previously, Eric spent 22-years as a senior executive at the PBS TV Network, leading national programming, fundraising, technology development, administration and computer services, human resources, audience research, joint ventures, and business development. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Greater Reston Arts Center and National Urban Leagues, and is currently Chairman of Global Camps Africa. Eric and his wife Eveleen, an artist, have two grown sons and spend as much of their time as possible sailing the Maine coast.

Topic for April 1, 2019

Continuing from this week’s discussion on anti-semitism, next week’s topic is white nationalism.  Is it on the increase?  Are they emboldened by the President?  Are they responsible for hate crimes?  If so, what are the consequences?
(“A hate crime is a prejudice-motivated crime which occurs when a perpetrator targets a victim because of his or her membership (or perceived membership) in a certain social group or race.  Examples of such groups can include and are almost exclusively limited to: sex, ethnicity, disability, language, nationality, physical appearance, religion, gender identity or sexual orientation.”)

Links:
Hate crimes reportedly jumped by 226 percent in counties that hosted Trump campaign rallies: https://www.vox.com/2019/3/24/18279807/trump-hate-crimes-study-white-nationalism

Hate groups nationwide:  https://www.splcenter.org/hate-map

Hate groups in Maine: https://www.splcenter.org/hate-map?state=ME

Hate group count hits 20-year high amid rise in white supremacy, report says:  https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/02/20/hate-groups-white-power-supremacists-southern-poverty-law-center/2918416002/

“Killings committed by individuals and groups associated with far-right extremist groups have risen significantly. Seventy-one percent of the 387 “extremist related fatalities in the United States” from 2008 to 2017 were committed by members of far-right and white-supremacist groups, according the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism. Islamic extremists were responsible for 26 percent.”  : https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/22/opinion/christopher-hasson-extremism.html

White Nationalism’s Deep American Roots:  https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/04/adam-serwer-madison-grant-white-nationalism/583258/

What Trump Supporters Really Believe – The president’s racist base, by the numbers:  https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2017/08/trumps-bigoted-base-by-the-numbers.html

White nationalist leader is plotting to ‘take over the GOP’:  https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/white-nationalist-leader-plotting-take-over-gop-n920826

How white supremacist candidates fared in 2018 – Self-described Nazis did poorly, but candidates linked to white supremacist groups did quite well:  https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/11/7/18064670/white-supremacist-candidates-2018-midterm-elections

Study: 11 million white Americans think like the alt-right – The Unite the Right marchers aren’t alone, according to brand new research:  https://www.vox.com/2018/8/10/17670992/study-white-americans-alt-right-racism-white-nationalists

White Nationalist Groups Increase Recruiting And Propaganda Across The West:  https://www.npr.org/2019/03/19/704586335/white-nationalist-groups-increase-recruiting-and-propaganda-across-the-west

White Nationalist. White nationalist groups espouse white supremacist or white separatist ideologies, often focusing on the alleged inferiority of nonwhites. Groups listed in a variety of other categories – Ku Klux Klan, neo-Confederate, neo-Nazi, racist skinhead, and Christian Identity – could also be fairly described as white nationalist:  https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/ideology/white-nationalist

White supremacy: Are US right-wing groups on the rise?:  https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-40915356

Fact-checking Trump’s notion that white nationalism is not a rising threat:  https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/16/politics/fact-checking-trump-on-threat-of-white-nationalism/index.html


Virginia Politics

Sorry I won’t be abe to attend tomorrow’s discussion, but wanted to share three articles—two from conservative columnists:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/we-need-a-single-standard-for-ralph-northam-justin-fairfax–and-all-the-others/2019/02/06/8148cc1a-2a62-11e9-b2fc-721718903bfc_story.html?utm_term=.d5974567088c

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/02/07/what-virginias-scandals-tell-us/

https://nyti.ms/2UVlsav


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