What White Nationalism Gets Right About American History
It’s a message that erases people of color and their essential role in American life, but one
that also appeals to large numbers of white people who would agree with the statement, “I’m not racist, but I don’t want American history dishonored, and this statue of Robert E. Lee shouldn’t be removed.”
I was raised by the leaders of the white nationalist movement with a model of American history
that described a vigorous white supremacist past and once again I find myself observing events in which I once might have participated before I rejected the white nationalist cause several years ago.
My dad often gave me the advice that white nationalists are not looking to recruit people on the fringes of American culture,
but rather the people who start a sentence by saying, “I’m not racist, but …”
The most effective tactics for white nationalists are to associate American history with themselves and to suggest
that the collective efforts to turn away from our white supremacist past are the same as abandoning American culture.
On Tuesday afternoon the president defended the actions of those at the rally, stating, “You also had people
that were very fine people, on both sides.” His words marked possibly the most important moment in the history of the modern white nationalist movement.
I do, however, think it is essential that we recognize
that the white nationalist history embedded in American culture lends itself to white nationalist rallies like the one in Charlottesville.
