Daanish Ahmad '22
This opinion editorial explores the origin of white supremacy and its role today.
CBS News
"...White Supremacy is gluttonous cancer, not just in American society, but around the world."
White supremacy is caused by fear. Fear of being replaced. Fear of losing jobs. Fear of losing “culture” (which is based around the color of their skin, not their ethnicity like other cultures). Supremacists lash out in anger. Most of the time, these outbursts are online and anonymous, but in recent years we’ve seen more and more hate groups inciting violence in the streets.
Earlier last month, we Americans had to sit and watch, jaws dropped, as domestic terrorists stormed the U.S. Capitol in a cowardly attempt to prevent Joe Biden’s inauguration. Not even a week into 2021 and already the destructively morbid energy of 2020 echoed into the new year. For many, this came as a surprise, but for those who have been paying attention, an incident like this was bound to happen. Let’s start at the turn of the millennium.
Well, it didn’t really start all that smoothly to begin with. Forget about that Y2K nonsense that had folks disconnecting their toasters and throwing their computers out their windows. The events of September 11, 2001, had a butterfly effect that continues to control the way the U.S. acts today. America was vulnerable, and terrified Americans and government officials didn’t like feeling that way. Control was lost, so everyone coped in some way to get it back. Xenophobia skyrocketed after 9/11, as did hate crimes against Muslims, or anyone who looked like one according to Hate Crimes Against Muslims by Deanna Dent. The Federal Government soon after churned out the “Patriot Act,” an initiative that turned regular American citizens into suspects. With the Patriot Act passed, the government could spy on citizens more easily, track their movements through the internet, and monitor phone and email communications. Muslim and Arab communities were directly targeted and monitored despite having no affiliation to terror groups. This is one of the first examples of bigoted policy this millennium.
As the decade waned on, hate crimes became more and more frequent, and eventually, As cited in Reuters, white Supremacy surged when President Barack Obama was elected in 2008. Supremacists felt as though this was the end times, and pressed the gas on their terror tactics and hate crimes. The next few years saw some brutal acts of White Supremacy, one case being the cold-blooded murder of a young woman by Skinheads due to her interracial relationship, from The Republic. White Supremacy isn't exclusive to America either. It never was. As seen in The Guardian, in 2011, one of the most gruesome acts of terror occurred when Anders Behring Breivik killed 77 people in Norway, most of which were teenagers who identified with the Labor Party, a Left-Wing group that supported immigration His motives were political and his actions monstrous. It’s painfully clear that White Supremacy is a problem internationally as well.
Of course, things got kicked into twelfth gear when Donald Trump was elected President of the United States in 2016. He took office despite regularly spouting xenophobic, misogynistic, and racist garbage. While Trump attracted citizens of various colors and creeds, White Supremacists instantly fell in love. His support of many White Supremacist ideals made them feel safer and more emboldened. According to an FBI report from NPR, the number of hate crimes and hate groups formed skyrocketed. Terrorist attacks grew more violent as well. In 2018, a lone gunman killed 11 worshippers in a synagogue in Pittsburgh as stated by ABC News. The next year another gunman in New Zealand slaughtered 51 worshippers in a mosque. As mentioned by AP News, he wrote the names of numerous white supremacists on his weapon.
All things considered, you can’t talk about last year without talking about the pretentiousness of White Supremacists. In response to Black Lives Matter protests, White Supremacy groups launched counter-protests, whose sole purpose was to intimidate and stop the protestors (source). Many were granted special treatment or even aided by law enforcement. Kyle Rittenhouse, a 17-year-old Trump supporter and counter-protestor, insisted that it was his “job” to protect various buildings in the area (source). He definitely wasn’t there to show off his semi-automatic rifle and intimidate protestors. Nope, no chance. He shot three protestors that day, all of whom were unarmed. Days later he was called a hero by Tucker Carlson on Fox News, as cited by CBS News.
By now you can see that White Supremacy is gluttonous cancer, not just in American society, but around the world. White Supremacy isn’t solely manifested through hate crimes though, it can be a lot more subtle than that. It can be a targeted ad on Facebook that your uncle sees. Next thing you know he’s bringing up the “extinction of the white race” at your Thanksgiving dinner (which, admittedly, is rooted in the acceptance of colonialism culture). Recruiters can use the current digital landscape to recruit lonely and lost souls faster than ever. They can be across the country and still indoctrinate thousands on the opposite coast. They’re known to target your insecurities and fears, like if you lost a scholarship to an Asian kid or your ex-girlfriend is now with a black guy. The alt-right has adapted to social media and it should scare everyone.
More dangerously, however, White Supremacy has invaded our politics. I guess invaded is the wrong word for it though. White supremacy has always been a part of our politics: from the Southern Secession, to the period after Reconstruction (1863-1877), to Japanese Internment Camps (1942-1944), to the Jim Crow Era (1877-1962), to the Patriot Act (2001-2020). Recently, however, an entire political party’s integrity has been put at stake. I have no idea what the Republican Party expected when they nominated Donald Trump, but the fallout isn’t looking too good for them. Sure, conservative talking points have always been rooted in fear, from anti-immigration to a lack of gun control. But the Trump administration is arguably the most problematic administration since Nixon’s. The Center for American Progress said Stephen Miller, one of Trump's top and most trusted advisors, had his emails leaked from 2016. They showed support for White Supremacist ideas like eugenics, the Great Replacement theory, and even commended a book that supported genocide--The Camp of the Saints. This is the man talking in Trump’s ear. And when you think about it long enough, the origin of Trump’s pathetic rhetoric starts to make sense.
Finally, I couldn’t write this without talking about the police. I want to get this out of the way, when I say ACAB (All Cops Are Bastards), it’s not personal. The cop could be a “bad apple” or a local town hero. What I mean is that becoming a police officer bastardizes you as an individual and makes you complicit in a system that devalues people of color. This, simply becoming a cop, is White Supremacy. But then if you throw principles aside and let reality set in, you see that more and more cops are literally bastards. When people with biases towards people of color join law enforcement, it can endanger innocent lives. Becoming a cop should take more than a couple of months of training and a high school degree. And when other officers protect bad cops or silence the decent ones, they partake in destruction as well.
The 21st Century has seen a resurgence of White Supremacy that may still well be on the rise. So, what can we do? Arm ourselves for a race war? Run for the hills and book a flight to France or something? No. We stay, and we never stop fighting this war. They want us to feel outnumbered, to feel overwhelmed. I say there’s a lot more of us, those who want this country fair and free, than them. Let’s continue to call out politicians whenever they say something racist. Check on your relatives to make sure their Facebook and Whatsapp feeds aren’t completely propaganda. We have to reform our policing system, and take White Supremacy by the neck and drag it out of the buildings in which we write, approve, and vote on legislation. Only then will we have a fighting chance. Because if we don’t, the cancer will fester, and the next election season will make this one look like a playdate. White Supremacy has no signs of slowing down, so neither should we.
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