When I took a step back and decided to re-tool my series on white supremacy in mid-stream the other day, a commenter over at Correntewire asked my why. Basically, I said that I wasn't comfortable with some things I'd planned to say, and felt that I needed more to back them up. But I let her in on what I was looking for. I waited a while to post my theory here, because I felt as though I needed at least a little something to back it up. I've discovered some things since then that seem to confirm my thinking, and I am posting them here as an exclusive for the LiA community. Here's the theory:
I have a theory that these skinheads and klanners are arming up like crazy. I believe I see some institutional architecture that is growing to the point that it might allow a lot of these groups, who most people view as independent actors because of all the fuzzy names, to organize and act in a coordinated fashion under the banner of white nationalism.
Well, here's another piece of the puzzle. I've been banging my head against the wall looking for it since Saturday, and it was right under my nose all along.
My original plan was to write three posts about white supremacy problem, but the more I look into it, the less inclined I am to publish the remaining two-thirds of the original essay I wrote.
I am sure most people who are reading this are aware by now that under the right circumstances, skinheads would make ideal brownshirts, and the KKK would be in a position to proselytize among destitute people by providing necessities and social services the way armed political groups have done in other countries for years. So I see no need to devote entire posts to observations such as those.
I need to focus on the most pressing aspect of this problem first, and then zoom out and take a wider view.
I strongly encourage everyone to read what Sara wrote over at Orcinus on Tuesday about the shooting in Knoxville last year. The guy got life in prison. A very good sign. He was inspired by GOP hate-talkers, and wrote a manifesto explicitly stating that he was committing a hate crime against people like us.
Sara has some excellent advice for dealing with this problem. I don't see how we can avoid an uptick in these incidents, and in public appearances by groups of white supremacists, at least in the short term.
I agree with her assessment that Limbaugh, Hannity, and their ilk are painting targets on us for the lunatic fringe. There are some eerie parallels here to the early stages of some very bad incidents in other countries that I have studied. I'm not saying this to alarm anyone. What I am saying is that forewarned is fore-armed.We can handle this if we stick together and locate some resources to educate ourselves and deal with this like good people. We do not have to lie down and take it.
The Southern Poverty Law Center has been showing an increase in the number of these groups for a quite a while. They are not confined to the Old Confederacy. SPLC hate group map. Current SPLC Intelligence report. 2008 Summary.You can subscribe to the report and search their archives. I recommend.
The two groups that concern me the most are the KKK and Neo-Nazi groups, though they are not the only ones. It looks to me like they are stepping up their recruiting efforts, and read a while back in a trustworthy source that the military has a problem with white supremacists joining up, volunteering for combat units, and then returning to civilian life with those skills. A sort of “train the trainer” from hell. If you just scanned the The Timothy McVeigh Finishing School the first time around, you might want to give it a close read. It’s an important piece of this puzzle.
I want to be clear about what I know versus what I just think, and do my best to avoid fearmongering, so this is going to take a little work.
Isn't that nice? I sure hope the state didn't give this group a tax break to relocate to Alabama.
A church formed by followers of the old neo-Nazi Aryan Nations group in Idaho has ditched swastikas and Hitler worship since moving to Alabama. But members haven't shed the anti-Semitic theology that made their movement infamous.
A leader of the church says the switch away from Nazi symbols was partly to make his message more palatable to would-be members. The change is viewed as troubling by a Jewish group that says it could make hate more attractive. One of the church's key tenets is that white Anglo-Saxons, not Jews, are God's chosen in the Bible.
The anti-Semitism shines right through on the group's website and there are predictable restrictions on women's activities. It's ok for married women to read the mail (not answer it) and organise the catering for church Feasts, though. As for cleaning up their image, the healthy dietary guidelines (garlic, pomegranate extract and a variety of herbs) must be part of that, along with ditching the swastika. Some samples from their website:
Jonathan Williams is the Pastor for "United Church of YHWH", and currently resides in the filthpit known commonly as Atlanta, Georgia. He is a Christian Identity or Orthodox Christian Pastor, teaching that the "True" children of Israel were/ are a remnant of the Caucasion (White) Race here on earth. These teachings are STRICTLY Biblical in sound doctrine, and cannot be refuted.
Those born of the Cain-Satanic seedline are the enemies of Christ! (Those called Jews today)
Those who seek to put things out of their Natural Order, and raise chaos within the confines of polite society are the enemies of Christ!
Pastor Williams has an internet radio show (Unfair and Unbalanced) and welcomes debate from religious leaders and scholars with different points of view, sort of:
But remember, there is NO FCC for Internet radio...therefore don't count on the Jews to edit out any of your stupidity, it will ALL be projected in it's fullest form!
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