White Supremacy Groups | Introduction
White supremacy groups are changing as members become less traditional and decentralized. Along with the shift in who joins white supremacy organizations is the shift in how these groups operate. Secret meetings at group members’ homes are becoming less popular as hate groups are finding it more convenient to communicate with like-minded individuals all over the world through e-mail and racist websites. The new millennium marks the beginning of the age of the lone wolf terrorist and the terrorist cell. As racist activity shifts from group-centered organizations to isolated acts of terrorism, white supremacy groups are increasingly mimicking the organizational style and actions of radical fundamentalist religious organizations. College educated, technologically savvy members are becoming more prominent in the movement, and female indoctrination into various white supremacy organizations is on the rise.
The lone wolf terrorist
Lone wolf terrorism was affirmed as a viable means to carry out the white supremacist agenda of racial purification by Timothy McVeigh’s bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995. One hundred sixty-eight people were killed, many of whom were children who attended a day care center in the building. McVeigh was reportedly inspired to park his van filled with explosives in front of the building after reading white supremacist leader William Pierce’s, The Turner Diaries. In The Turner Diaries, Pierce outlines how to create layers of secrecy within the white supremacy movement—an essential ingredient in McVeigh’s success—as well as how to make bombs. McVeigh specifically chose the federal building because there were children in it. The message from the lone wolf is clear: “I am willing to kill your children for my cause.” Timothy McVeigh was convicted in 1997 of the deadly attack and subsequently executed in 2001.
Terrorist cells
Terrorist cells, groups of six or seven individuals united to carry out a specific task, are also becoming more prominent as large white supremacy groups come under closer scrutiny by the federal government. Individuals within cells receive instructions from leaders with code names whom they may never meet in person. According to Alex Curtis, who maintains the San Diego–based white supremacy website, whiteracist.com,“The advantage of lone wolf and small cell activity is that it is untraceable and is the best use of our meager resources.” According to Richard Firstman’s May 2001 article in Family PC, Curtis “openly discussed assassination and filled his website with strategies for ‘lone wolves,’ radical racists who act alone or in small groups so as not to jeopardize the larger movement.”
Often, cell members do not meet each other until minutes before an attack, as was the case for many of the nineteen men who carried out the terrorist attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in the United States on September 11, 2001. The hijacking of American airplanes and the substantial loss of lives that occurred as a result of this terrorist attack has become the new model for American white supremacy groups. Billy Roper, of the white supremacy group National Alliance, said of the September 11 attacks, “I wish our members had half as much testicular fortitude.”
The surprising success of the Taliban fundamentalist’s attack against Americans has provided white supremacy groups with strange mentors and allies—radicals of Middle Eastern descent, previously considered by white supremacists as members of the “mud races.” White supremacy groups and members of the Taliban are united in a common cause—hatred of, and violence against, Jews. According to Michelle Cottle, writing for the New Republic, “White supremacists and Islamicists like Osama bin Laden just plain agree on a lot of things—in particular, that globalism and multiculturalism are the uber-enemies, and that separatism and cultural purity are the answer.”
Anonymity within the movement
Anonymity has become a significant element of success in carrying out all kinds of terrorist missions. Traditional ways of doing business, such as openly recruiting, often undermines a mission well before it has begun. Open recruitment—talking to people on the street and posting fliers with meeting information—leaves white supremacy organizations vulnerable to infiltration by law enforcement agencies. Avoiding such easily scrutinized methods can help white supremacy groups avoid being traced by watchdog groups and the FBI. Indeed, white supremacy is difficult to detect and to combat when white hoods are replaced with white business shirts. According to David Ostendorf, writing for the Christian Century, “Standing up to white-sheeted Klansmen is one thing . . . these [neo-Nazi leaders] may be, after all, the folk with whom we work and worship, folk who are not blatantly racist and anti-Semitic, whose stance on government or guns may seem within the realm of mainstream politics.”
Technologically sophisticated communication and recruitment
Anonymity within the white supremacy movement is also made possible with the help of technologically savvy members. Websites such as those hosted by white supremacy organizations Stormfront, Aryan Nations, World Church of the Creator, White Aryan Resistance, and The National Association for the Advancement of White People offer a portal through which lone terrorists may communicate anonymously with one another. Members go online to set up financial backing for a terrorist attack—or to arrange lodging while traveling to research a potential target. These online arrangements do not necessitate face-to-face contact and thus provide a way of conducting white supremacist activity that is more difficult to monitor.
Another sophisticated tool that white supremacy groups use is white power music. White power music is gaining popularity among youth worldwide. There are entire record companies dedicated to the production and promotion of bands that play “hardcore,” racist rock. The allure of the angry-sounding music often entices the loner teenager before he or she recognizes the significance of the lyrics. Sometimes the lyrics themselves are the draw. Teenagers who feel alienated by their peers are most susceptible to hate rock’s message of solidarity and pride in the white race. Bands with names like “RaHoWa,” which stands for “Racial Holy War” repeat the phrase “we will win” in their songs as a battle cry that appeals to both a loner teen’s anger and his or her desire to belong.
The new white supremacist
Further evidence of the changing dynamics of the white supremacy movement is that more women are joining various racist organizations. The traditional role for women within white supremacy circles was as “Aryan breeder.” The Aryan breeder was brought into the organization to marry a virile man and to give birth to (preferably male) children in order to populate the movement from within, as recruiters attempted to populate from without.
Whether a change in social consciousness is responsible or some other factors are at work, more women are moving out of Aryan breeder roles and into positions of power. More college-educated and professional women are being drawn into the movement as well. Although the reasons for this shift are unclear, according to the Anti-Defamation League, which works to ensure fair treatment for all U.S. citizens, “Some female extremists promote women’s performance of domestic tasks to aid the movement, while others encourage women to work and become politically active. However, all are demanding to express their views and agreeing that women have a significant role to play.”
It is clear that the white supremacy movement is changing, but it is difficult to gauge whether these changes will result in more potent white supremacist activity. To be sure, much of the change that has occurred has made such activity more difficult to monitor and stop. The authors in At Issue: White Supremacy Groups present various views on white supremacist activity, including changes taking place within the movement.
