- Mar 11, 2015
- 76,526
- 33,190
- 2,330
White supremacist groups exist right now and you know it. It's time to stop lying. According to most here there is no racism except against whites. And that is exactly the premise white nationalists and supremacists argue.
Since the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) first formed in 1865, white supremacist groups in the United States have propagated racism, hatred, and violence. Individuals belonging to these groups have been charged with a range of crimes, including civil rights violations, racketeering, solicitation to commit crimes of violence, firearms and explosives violations, and witness tampering.* Nonetheless, white supremacist groups––and their extremist ideologies––persist in the United States today. A February 2017 Southern Poverty Law Center report identified 100 active white nationalist and 99 active neo-Nazi groups in the country.*
The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) has identified eight especially virulent white supremacist groups, which principally espouse white ethno-nationalism and/or National Socialism (neo-Nazi). Neo-Nazi groups, such as the National Socialist Movement (NSM), Hammerskin Nation, and Atomwaffen Division (AWD), generally make no effort to hide their belief that the white race is superior to others. Their ideologies also usually include anti-Semitic and homophobic components that are in line with Nazi dogma. In contrast, groups such as the League of the South and Identity Evropa propagate their radical stances under the guise of white ethno-nationalism, which seeks to highlight the distinctiveness––rather than the superiority––of the white identity. Furthermore, it claims that the white identity is under threat from minorities or immigrants that seek to replace its culture. For example, Identity Evropa’s chant, “You will not replace us,” insinuates that growing minority populations threaten to overtake whites of European heritage in American society.* Members of this new generation of white supremacists, such as former Traditionalist Worker Party (TWP) leader Matthew Heimbach, have decried the traditional supremacist narrative of the inferiority of non-white races. Heimbach and his contemporaries have instead focused on racial separation rather than racial superiority, promoting the idea that all races are better served by remaining separate.*
Spurred by the rise of these younger ethno-nationalist leaders and organizations, some overtly racist groups have attempted to soften their radical images. In late 2016, the NSM abandoned its use of the swastika in order to “appear more integrated and more mainstream,” according to NSM leader Jeff Schoep.* Despite the cosmetic change, the NSM’s ideology and rhetoric have largely remained unchanged, while groups like the Hammerskins have thoroughly rejected the attempt at rebranding.
In a further effort to gain popular support and acceptance for their radical platforms, most of the groups profiled in this resource have officially renounced violence and instead rely on demonstrations and propaganda to sway public opinion. Nonetheless, many affiliated individuals have still been involved in violent altercations spurred by ideologies that encourage racial elitism. Furthermore, violence plays a defining role for groups like Atomwaffen Division, which projects the image of a heavily armed militia preparing for an impending race war.*
Groups like Identity Evropa—which shut down in March 2019 as its leaders created the American Identity Movement (AIM)—officially reject violence but their identitarian ideology has directly inspired it. Identitarians—including those based in non-European countries such as the United States and Australia—associate their Western identity as European. Identitarians subscribe to a theory known as the Great Replacement, in which non-European migrants threaten to replace the dominant white European culture.* The March 15, 2019, attack on two New Zealand mosques that left at least 50 dead was a direct manifestation of the identitarian ideology to which Identity Evropa and AIM subscribe. Alleged attacker Brenton Tarrant entitled his manifesto “The Great Replacement” and wrote about the “crisis of mass immigration … that, if not combated, will ultimately result in the complete racial and cultural replacement of the European people.”* Like Identity Evropa, Tarrant identified a broader white European ethnic identity prevalent in the Western world that transcended national borders.
Most of the groups profiled are comprised of a younger demographic of individuals in their 20s and 30s, and primarily target youth for recruitment through social media and other means. Groups like Identity Evropa, AWD, and Vanguard America have actually spread their propaganda on college campuses, and groups such as the National Socialist Movement and League of the South have created youth wings and student memberships.* In recent years, social media and the Internet have also provided new outlets for white supremacists to spread their messages and recruit supporters. The founders of AWD met and organized on the now-defunct fascist online forum IronMarch and created a cult-like subculture on social media through which they have further propagated their ideology.* After the February 2020 arrest of several AWD leaders, a group of former AWD leaders who were not arrested reorganized online in July 2020 as National Socialist Order.* Stormfront, America’s oldest and most notorious neo-Nazi online forum founded in 1995, was removed by its Internet host in August 2017, but simply resurfaced months later.* Other forums, like the Daily Stormer, have moved their operations to the Dark Web, which is accessible only through encrypted software.* Websites like American Renaissance—which is easily accessible on the surface web—act as online media outlets, displaying links to pseudo-intellectual articles, videos, and podcasts that attempt to present white supremacy as a legitimate social science.
CEP’s U.S. White Supremacy Groups report provides an overview of the history, propaganda, violent activities, and notable rhetoric of the most active and virulent white supremacist groups in the United States, as well as several prominent white supremacist media outlets.
www.counterextremism.com
The time has come for racists. No longer do you get to deny or look for reasons to deny white supremacy.
Since the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) first formed in 1865, white supremacist groups in the United States have propagated racism, hatred, and violence. Individuals belonging to these groups have been charged with a range of crimes, including civil rights violations, racketeering, solicitation to commit crimes of violence, firearms and explosives violations, and witness tampering.* Nonetheless, white supremacist groups––and their extremist ideologies––persist in the United States today. A February 2017 Southern Poverty Law Center report identified 100 active white nationalist and 99 active neo-Nazi groups in the country.*
The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) has identified eight especially virulent white supremacist groups, which principally espouse white ethno-nationalism and/or National Socialism (neo-Nazi). Neo-Nazi groups, such as the National Socialist Movement (NSM), Hammerskin Nation, and Atomwaffen Division (AWD), generally make no effort to hide their belief that the white race is superior to others. Their ideologies also usually include anti-Semitic and homophobic components that are in line with Nazi dogma. In contrast, groups such as the League of the South and Identity Evropa propagate their radical stances under the guise of white ethno-nationalism, which seeks to highlight the distinctiveness––rather than the superiority––of the white identity. Furthermore, it claims that the white identity is under threat from minorities or immigrants that seek to replace its culture. For example, Identity Evropa’s chant, “You will not replace us,” insinuates that growing minority populations threaten to overtake whites of European heritage in American society.* Members of this new generation of white supremacists, such as former Traditionalist Worker Party (TWP) leader Matthew Heimbach, have decried the traditional supremacist narrative of the inferiority of non-white races. Heimbach and his contemporaries have instead focused on racial separation rather than racial superiority, promoting the idea that all races are better served by remaining separate.*
Spurred by the rise of these younger ethno-nationalist leaders and organizations, some overtly racist groups have attempted to soften their radical images. In late 2016, the NSM abandoned its use of the swastika in order to “appear more integrated and more mainstream,” according to NSM leader Jeff Schoep.* Despite the cosmetic change, the NSM’s ideology and rhetoric have largely remained unchanged, while groups like the Hammerskins have thoroughly rejected the attempt at rebranding.
In a further effort to gain popular support and acceptance for their radical platforms, most of the groups profiled in this resource have officially renounced violence and instead rely on demonstrations and propaganda to sway public opinion. Nonetheless, many affiliated individuals have still been involved in violent altercations spurred by ideologies that encourage racial elitism. Furthermore, violence plays a defining role for groups like Atomwaffen Division, which projects the image of a heavily armed militia preparing for an impending race war.*
Groups like Identity Evropa—which shut down in March 2019 as its leaders created the American Identity Movement (AIM)—officially reject violence but their identitarian ideology has directly inspired it. Identitarians—including those based in non-European countries such as the United States and Australia—associate their Western identity as European. Identitarians subscribe to a theory known as the Great Replacement, in which non-European migrants threaten to replace the dominant white European culture.* The March 15, 2019, attack on two New Zealand mosques that left at least 50 dead was a direct manifestation of the identitarian ideology to which Identity Evropa and AIM subscribe. Alleged attacker Brenton Tarrant entitled his manifesto “The Great Replacement” and wrote about the “crisis of mass immigration … that, if not combated, will ultimately result in the complete racial and cultural replacement of the European people.”* Like Identity Evropa, Tarrant identified a broader white European ethnic identity prevalent in the Western world that transcended national borders.
Most of the groups profiled are comprised of a younger demographic of individuals in their 20s and 30s, and primarily target youth for recruitment through social media and other means. Groups like Identity Evropa, AWD, and Vanguard America have actually spread their propaganda on college campuses, and groups such as the National Socialist Movement and League of the South have created youth wings and student memberships.* In recent years, social media and the Internet have also provided new outlets for white supremacists to spread their messages and recruit supporters. The founders of AWD met and organized on the now-defunct fascist online forum IronMarch and created a cult-like subculture on social media through which they have further propagated their ideology.* After the February 2020 arrest of several AWD leaders, a group of former AWD leaders who were not arrested reorganized online in July 2020 as National Socialist Order.* Stormfront, America’s oldest and most notorious neo-Nazi online forum founded in 1995, was removed by its Internet host in August 2017, but simply resurfaced months later.* Other forums, like the Daily Stormer, have moved their operations to the Dark Web, which is accessible only through encrypted software.* Websites like American Renaissance—which is easily accessible on the surface web—act as online media outlets, displaying links to pseudo-intellectual articles, videos, and podcasts that attempt to present white supremacy as a legitimate social science.
CEP’s U.S. White Supremacy Groups report provides an overview of the history, propaganda, violent activities, and notable rhetoric of the most active and virulent white supremacist groups in the United States, as well as several prominent white supremacist media outlets.
White Supremacy Groups in the United States
This resource provides an overview of the history, propaganda, violent activities, and notable rhetoric of the most active and virulent white supremacist groups in the United States, as well as several prominent white supremacist media outlets.
The time has come for racists. No longer do you get to deny or look for reasons to deny white supremacy.
