Beyond Labels

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

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


March 25: Anti-Semitism Today

In recent weeks, there have been claims that elements on both major US political parties have fostered / encouraged / expressed anti-Semitic behavior and views. See Donald Trump on the Republican side and Ilhan Omar for the Democrats.

In my opinion, neither individual, nor their respective parties, are bathing themselves in glory in their handling of this subject. So what’s happening?

  • Is anti-Semitism substantially on the rise?
  • Are the standards by which we “flag” anti-Semitism changing (lots of references to “dog whistles” and “tropes”)?
  • Is the political atmosphere so poisoned that no one wants to listen to any subtlety from the “other side,” and instead will always assume—and assert—the worst?

We’ll discuss on Monday.

March 18: India & Pakistan

With other events capturing the US public’s attention a couple of weeks ago (US-NoKo summit in Hanoi, Cohen testimony before Congress), the US media (and, therefore, public) almost missed a sequence of important events in India and Pakistan—reciprocal incursions into the other’s territory by each of these nuclear-capable countries. It was characterized on NPR as being “the closest the world has come to nuclear war since the Cuban Missile Crisis.”

Here’s a link to a BBC collection/chronology of the events: India-Pakistan Air Strikes. (Or find your own sources.)

We’ll discuss.

  • Subscribe via Email

    Receive email notification of new posts/announcements about our weekly meeting.

    Join 241 other subscribers
  • Recent Posts

  • Recent Comments