White nationalism

White nationalism is a political ideology which advocates a racial definition (or redefinition) of national identity for white people, in opposition to multiculturalism. The contemporary white nationalist movement in the United States is a reaction to the decline (based on US census projections) in white demographics, politics and culture.cite web|url=http://www.firstthings.com/article.php3?id_article=2047 |title=The New White Nationalism in America |first=Scott |last=McConnell |authorlink=Scott McConnell |publisher="First Things" |date=August/September 2002] According to Samuel Francis, a key white nationalist writer, it is "a movement that rejects equality as an ideal and insists on an enduring core of human nature transmitted by heredity." [White Nationalists Seek Respectability in Meeting of 'Uptown Bad Guys' Newhouse News Service April 4, 2000] Anti-racist organizations generally have argued that ideas such as white pride and white nationalism exist merely to provide a sanitized public face for white supremacy. [Moriz, Justin J. [http://www.adversity.net/USPTO/ethnic_pride/ "Case 45: 'White Pride' vs. U.S. Patents and Trademarks Office"] . Adversity.net for Victims of Reverse Discrimination. 2005. accessed September 10, 2006.]

The goal of white nationalism is to appeal to a larger audience. Most are nonviolent groups working for separatism. [cite book |title= The New White Nationalism in America: Its Challenge to Integration |last=Swain |first=Carol M. |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=2002 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=0521808863 |pages=16 ] However, some white nationalists argue for mass genocide of those deemed to be "non-white."

Supporters see themselves defending the legitimate civil rights of white people against society's alleged racial double standards.cite web|url=http://www.vanderbilt.edu/news/releases/2003/4/11/interviews_offer_unprecedented_look_into_the_world_and_words_of_the_new_white_nationalism |title=Interviews offer unprecedented look into the world and words of the new white nationalism |first=Carol M. |last=Swain |publisher=Vanderbilt University |date=2003-04-11] Jared Taylor, another key writer in the movement, claims similar racial views were held by many mainstream American leaders before the 1950s. [White Nationalists Seek Respectability in Meeting of 'Uptown Bad Guys' Newhouse News Service April 4, 2000] Opponents accuse them of hatred, racial bigotry and destructive identity politics. [http://www.zmag.org/Sustainers/content/2002-12/16wise.cfm Znet: December 16, 2002, Making Nice With Racists: David Horowitz and The Soft Pedaling Of White Supremacy, by Tim Wise]

According to Samuel P. Huntington, the modern movement is increasingly cultured, intellectual and academically trained. [The Hispanic challenge. Foreign Policy March 1, 2004] Rather than espouse violence, they use statistics and social science data to argue for a self-conscious white identity. [Despite new leaders, and with them new tactics and new ideas, the goal of white separatists remains to convince Americans that racial separation is the only way to survive. National Public Radio (NPR) August 14, 2003 Thursday] They say a natural hierarchy should triumph over the "false promise of egalitarianism" [White Nationalists Seek Respectability in Meeting of 'Uptown Bad Guys' Newhouse News Service April 4, 2000] and that the downfall of white dominance spells doom for representative government, the rule of law and freedom of speech. [Jared Taylor, A Racist In The Guise Of 'Expert', Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Pennsylvania), January 23, 2005]

Supporters say they stand for racial self-preservation and claim culture itself is a product of race. [The Hispanic challenge. Foreign Policy March 1, 2004] As a result, according to Huntington, they say the demographic shift in the US towards non-whites brings a new culture that is intellectually and morally inferior. [The Hispanic challenge. Foreign Policy March 1, 2004] With it comes affirmative action, immigrant ghettos and declining educational standards. [Despite new leaders, and with them new tactics and new ideas, the goal of white separatists remains to convince Americans that racial separation is the only way to survive. National Public Radio (NPR) August 14, 2003 Thursday] By challenging established policy on immigration, civil rights and racial integration, they seek to build bridges with moderately conservative white citizens. [ [http://chronicle.com/free/v48/i45/45a01201.htm Can We Improve Race Relations by Giving Racists Some of What They Want?] The Chronicle of Higher Education July 19, 2002]

White separatism and supremacism are two smaller subgroups within white nationalism. The former seek a separate white nation-state, while the latter add ideas from social Darwinism and Nazism to their ideology. Some white nationalists deny they are in either category. Both schools of thought generally avoid the term "supremacy", saying it has negative connotations. [The New Nativism; The alarming overlap between white nationalists and mainstream anti-immigrant forces. The American Prospect November, 2005]

Development

White nationalism has a long tradition in English-speaking countries. According to one view, it is a product of the modern centralized state's emergence in the West, like all nationalisms. [Can Nationalism studies and ethnic, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies July 1, 2004] The term originated as a self-description by some groups, primarily in the United States, to describe their belief in a racially defined collective identity of white or Caucasian people. In the past, xenophobic ethnic policies may be seen as congruent to white nationalism.

In the 19th and early 20th century racial definitions of the American nation were common, resulting in race-specific immigration restrictions, such as the Chinese Exclusion Act. The 1915 film "Birth of a Nation" is an example of an allegorical invocation of white nationalism during this time.In its darkness, 'Kong' shows the human heart. Newsday (New York) December 15, 2005]

The White Australia ideal was semi-official policy in Australia for many decades, while in South Africa, white nationalism was championed by the New National Party [Apartheid-era party is ending its existence, The International Herald Tribune August 9, 2004] starting in 1948, as the struggle over apartheid heated up. [Kani explores a post-apartheid world on stage. ABC Transcripts (Australia) May 11, 2005] In recent years, the Internet has provided an expansion of audiences for white nationalism. [Patriotism in Black and White The American Prospect January 13, 2003]

White nationalism in the US combines elements of American racial nationalism and race-based identity politics. Starting in the 1960s, it grew as the conservative movement developed in mainstream society. [Black politics are in a black hole, Newsday (New York), January 14, 2005] Samuel Huntington argues that it developed as a reaction to a perceived decline in the essence of American identity as European, Anglo-Protestant and English-speaking. [Bush and Kerry show opposing faces of two different Americas. Business Day (South Africa) October 21, 2004] Some American white nationalists, for example, say immigration should be restricted to selected people of European ancestry. [Dating the White Way Newsweek August 9, 2004]

Identity

White nationalists say every nationality feels a natural affection for its own kind. Thus they believe in a common identity, common interests, and common political action for white people. This identity is valid for the entire white population, but not an obligation for others.

Most supporters say 'white nationalism' refers to political activities "within" an existing country. They have not necessarily rejected their existing national identity and allegiance, nor that they seek to destroy existing states. They see themselves as patriotic preservers of European history and culture. In other words, their racial identity coincides with this patriotism: For them, everything that is good about their homeland is white.

The present form of American white nationalism, inclusive of Caucasian immigrant groups, is relatively recent. Conversely, "white nationalism" in Europe normally indicates a racial variant of an existing ethnic nationalism. For example, the British National Party opposes large-scale immigration of Russians and Poles, even though they are white.

Their mission statement states that "The British National Party exists to secure a future for the indigenous peoples of these islands in the North Atlantic which have been our homeland for millennia. We use the term indigenous to describe the people whose ancestors were the earliest settlers here after the last great Ice Age and which have been complemented by the historic migrations from mainland Europe.The migrations of the Celts, Anglo-Saxons, Danes, Norse and closely related kindred peoples have been, over the past few thousands years, instrumental in defining the character of our family of nations." [ [http://www.bnp.org.uk/mission-statement/ The BNP Mission Statement] ] uire migration of whites to a remote and thinly populated location. However, some other forms of white separatism proposed by white nationalists take the form of far-reaching racial segregation within an existing nation-state.—

Definition of "white"

White nationalists define 'white' in a restricted way. In the United States, it implies European ancestry, self-identification with European culture and European ethnicity. Likewise, the neologism European-American is a contrast with Asian-American and African-American.

There is no corresponding 'European' ethnicity in Europe itself. In fact, some opponents of the European Union question its legitimacy, precisely because there is no corresponding ethnic or cultural group. [See: [http://www.arena.uio.no/publications/wp99_4.htm] ] Despite their self-definition as 'European', many American white nationalists would not regard "all" descendants of European immigrants as "white". For an acceptable definition, white nationalists draw primarily on 19th-century racial taxonomy, which neither reached a consensus on racial categories nor is accepted by geneticists. (For example, geneticist Neil Risch classifies racial groups in a way that few white nationalists would accept; Jews, Germans and Pakistanis are all Caucasoid.) [New York Times: "Race Is Seen as Real Guide to Track Roots of Disease", 2002. [http://web.mit.edu/racescience/in_media/race_disease_nyt_july2002.htm] ]

Different variants of racial-origin theories, such as Nordicism and Germanism, define different groups as 'white', both excluding some Southern and Eastern Europeans because of perceived racial taint [http://www.white-history.com/refuting_rm/] . Pan Aryanism — itself originally a component of Nazi race theories — defines most Europeans as Aryan-origin whites. Some white nationalists use the term 'Pan-Europeanism' for a definition including all European ethnic groups.

Other white nationalists hope that population genetics will provide clear criteria for 'white'. Some have adopted a definition based on the Y-chromosome haplogroup R1b. This marker is prevalent in most Western European populations, possibly reflecting the re-expansion into Europe of a smaller human population in Southern Europe, after the last ice age.

Opposition

Opponents to white nationalism charge that white nationalists are in fact white supremacists, Ku Klux Klan members or white power skinheads, and that white nationalists are not so much interested in their own 'white heritage' as in power over non-whites. It is unclear what, if any, white organization would not be deemed such by opposition. White nationalism is sometimes described as a reaction by whites who believe they are disenfranchised by the rise of liberal multicultural ideologies based on tolerance and multiculturalism, as well as the gains of other racial and ethnic groups against the majority white population in many Western nations.

White nationalists respond that they are simply organizing in ways similar to organizations such as the NAACP and other groups that are generally not seen as controversial, and that to accuse white-nationalist groups of racism while approving of, or tolerating, other racially oriented groups is hypocritical and racist towards white people. Kofi Buenor Hadjor responds by stating that black nationalism is rather the response to white nationalism, while white nationalism is the expression of white supremacy. [cite book |title=Another America: The Politics of Race and Blame |last=Hadjor |first=Kofi Buenor |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=1995 |publisher=Haymarket Books |location= |isbn=1931859345 |pages=100 ] Some white nationalists respond to the accusation of white supremacism by saying that they are white separatists, and that separation precludes domination of one group by another.

Criticswho? point out that while posturing as civil rights groups advocating the interests of their ethnic or racial group, white nationalist groups frequently draw on the nativist traditions of the American Ku Klux Klan and the British National Front. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title= BNP: A party on the fringe |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1507680.stm |work= |publisher=BBC News |date=August 24, 2001 |accessdate=2008-02-14 ]

The term "white nationalist" has been used by neo-Nazi, white supremacist, and Christian Identity groups, which have differing ideologies but share an identification with the white race.

Notable organisations

The American Renaissance [cite web |url=http://www.adl.org/learn/Ext_US/amren.asp?&&MSHiC=1252&L |title=New Century Foundation (American Renaissance) |accessdate=2008-02-14 |author= |date=2005 |work= |publisher=Anti-Defamation League] , Council of Conservative Citizens [cite web |url=http://www.adl.org/learn/ext_us/CCCitizens.asp?xpicked=3&item=12 |title=Council of Conservative Citizens |accessdate=2008-02-14 |author= |date=2005 |work= |publisher=Anti-Defamation League] [cite web |url=http://www.splcenter.org/intel/news/item.jsp?aid=13 |title=Nazis, racists join Minuteman Project |accessdate=2008-02-14 |author= |date=April 22, 2005 |work= |publisher=Southern Poverty Law Center] , the National Alliance [cite web |url=http://www.adl.org/learn/Ext_US/N_Alliance.asp |title=National Alliance |accessdate=2008-02-14 |author= |date=2005 |work= |publisher=Anti-Defamation League] [cite web |url=http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?sid=175 |title=Anti-Immigration Groups |accessdate=2008-02-14 |author= |date= |work= |publisher=Southern Poverty Law Center] and National Vanguard [cite web |url=http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=790 |title=White Nationalism |accessdate=2008-02-14 |author= |date= |work= |publisher=Southern Poverty Law Center] are four examples of groups in the United States that self-identify as white nationalist, but have been categorized as white supremacist and racist groups by such organizations as the SPLC and the ADL.

In Europe, nationalist parties such as France's Front National, Germany's National Democratic Party and Belgium's Vlaams Belang promote nationalism and oppose immigration (especially non-white immigration), but do not describe themselves as "white nationalist". In most European nation-states, the nation is traditionally defined by ancestry and long-term association of a single ethnic group with the national homeland. If that ethnic group is already 'white' - as for instance with the Germans in Germany - then additional definition as 'white' is superfluous. It is when this redefinition is disputed, that ethnic or racial limits on the composition of the nation become a political issue.

Citations and notes

Notes

References

* cite book
author = Josey, Charles Conant
title = The Philosophy of Nationalism
location= Washington, DC | publisher= Cliveden Press
year = 1983 [1923]
pages =
id = ISBN 1-87846-510-4

* cite book
author = Levin, Michael E.
title = Why Race Matters: Race Differences and What They Mean
location= Westport, CT | publisher= Praeger Publishers
year = 1997
pages =
id = ISBN 0-27595-789-6

* cite book
author = McDaniel, George (ed.)
title = A Race Against Time: Racial Heresies for the 21st Century
location= Oakton, VA | publisher= New Century Foundation
year = 2003
* cite book
author = Ankerl, Guy
title = Coexisting Contemporary Civilizations,
location = Geneva, INUPRESS
Id= ISBN 2-88155-004-5
Year = 2000
Pages = 150-156
id = ISBN 0-96563-832-4

* cite book
author = Robertson, Wilmot
title = The Dispossessed Majority
location= Cape Canaveral, FL | publisher= Howard Allen
year = 1981
pages =
id = ISBN 0-91457-615-1

* cite book
author = Robertson, Wilmot
title = The Ethnostate
location= Cape Canaveral, FL | publisher= Howard Allen
year = 1993
pages =
id = ISBN 0-91457-622-4

* cite book
author = Swain, Carol M.
title = Contemporary Voices of White Nationalism in America
location= New York, NY | publisher= Cambridge University Press
year = 2003
pages = 312 pages
id = ISBN 0-52101-693-2

ee also

* Ethnic nationalism
* Know Nothing
* "The Passing of the Great Race"