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White nationalism

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White nationalism is a political and social movement to advance the social and economic interests of white or Caucasian people. It is generally considered to be a variety of or euphemism for white supremacism.

White nationalist beliefs

White nationalism is the belief that white people have a common identity and common interests, a belief proponents argue is considered uncontroversial when advocated by any other ethnic or racial group. Pursuit of these interests includes the establishment of organisations to promote issues important to white people. Specific policies include the preservation and teaching of European history and culture, and opposition to economic or social discrimination against whites.

White separatism

Some white nationalists also support white separatism, the belief that white people should live separately from non-whites, either in separate all-white nations, in separate white areas of existing nations (see also racial segregation), or in separate anarchist communities (see national anarchism). This version of White nationalism is distinct from other forms that promote segregation, expulsion, or genocide.

The concept of race

The term "race", though held by many geneticists to be of little scientific value, still holds social value for many who (in part or in whole) base their personal identity upon those genetic characteristics that affect outward appearance. In all parts of the world, personal identity reflects the degree of awareness and connectivity to the outside world and foreign cultures, thus "race issues" tend to be seen as related to tribalism, xenophobia, ethnocentrism, and other "culture wars" paradigms. Similar concerns that may be a catalyst for a distinction of personal identity are religion, gender, and language, and differences regarding these issues are often manifested in conflict of one form or another.

See also: Validity of human races

Definition of "white"

The definitions of "white" used by white nationalists, as with many other racially-minded groups, can vary greatly. White Nationalists that follow the ideology of Nordicism and Germanicism only consider Northern European people who are Nordic or Germanic as white, shunning Southern and Eastern Europe. Pan Europeanism is the White nationalist belief that includes all Europeans, which accepts every European from fair skinned Swedes to dark skinned Italians. Then there is Pan Aryanism, that accepts Whites from all of continental Europe and extends it's definition to non-European Whites such as Middle Easterners, North Africans, and Central/West Asians. With regard to acceptance of Middle Easterners from Pan Aryan White nationalists, Syrians, Lebanese, Turks and Iranians are accepted as White, but Saudis and Yemenites are not accepted as White by the Pan Aryanists.

History of white nationalism

White nationalists claim that their beliefs were widely held in the past. For example, they quote Abraham Lincoln, who, addressing the black community, wrote:

There is much to encourage you. For the sake of your race you should sacrifice something of your present comfort for the purpose of being as grand in that respect as the white people...General Washington himself endured greater physical hardships than if he had remained a British subject, yet he was a happy man because he had engaged in benefiting his race, in doing something for the children of his neighbors, having none of his own. The colony of Liberia has been in existence a long time. In a certain sense it is a success. The old President of Liberia, Roberts, has just been with me--the first time I ever saw him. He says they have within the bounds of that colony between three and four hundred thousand people, or more than in some of our old States, such as Rhode Island or Delaware, or in some of our newer States, and less than in some of our larger ones...The question is, if the colored people are persuaded to go anywhere, why not there? Address On Colonization To A Deputation Of Colored Men. Washington, August 14, 1862. [1]

A critical view

White nationalism is more controversial then other forms of ethinic or racial identity politics because it is often allied with ideas of inherent white supremacy; and in many countries it is a backlash movement against gains made by other racial and ethnic groups against the unequal power of privilege of the dominant white population. White nationalists respond that they are simply organizing in ways similar to organisations such as the NAACP and other groups that are generally not seen as controversial.

Many modern white nationalists explicitly deny being racial supremacists, arguing that they merely wish for each group of people with shared heritage, including white people, to be allowed to promote and preserve its heritage, and do not desire to oppress or dominate other races as racial supremacists do.

Viewed in a more critical light, White nationalism is sometimes decribed as a reaction by whites who believe they are disenfranchised against the rise of liberal multicultural ideologies based around tolerance and inclusiveness. While posturing as civil rights groups advocating the interests of their ethnic or racial group, white nationalist groups frequently draw on the racist and nativist traditions of the American Ku Klux Klan and the British National Front [2] cloaking themselves with symbols of patriotism, Christianity and Western civilization. In some cases white nationalism is allied with Neo-Fascism or Neo-Nazism[3].

White Supremacists, Neo-Nazis, etc as pseudo-White Nationalists

The term White Nationalist has been used by Neo-Nazi, White Supremacy, and Christian Identity groups, which have generally overlapping ideologies based on the perceived necessity to maintain whites as a distinct race. Some of these groups have condoned violence in the past, and some have built up strong followings in prisons.

However, these groups are more likely to be trying to link themselves to the more-respectable White Nationalists than anything else.

White nationalist groups

American Renaissance, The Nationalist Movement, Council of Conservative Citizens[4], and National Vanguard[5] are four leading examples in the United States, but antiracist groups such as the Southern Poverty Law Center prefer to call them racist or white supremacist. In Europe, several far right political parties such as the British National Party, France's Front National, and the Austrian Freedom Party have won support based on platforms widely seen as advocating racial separatism, traditional nationalism, and anti-immigrant xenophobia. Some critics of more mainstream conservatism in the United States and the United Kingdom go further and claim an undercurrent of white nationalism exists in right-wing politics (i.e Willie Horton, Pat Buchanan, Pete Wilson, Enoch Powell)- a charge most conservatives contest. White nationalists themselves reject the concept that Republicans like Pat Buchanan are "one of them." According to BNP leader Nick Griffin, Ireland is now the only Western European country without a white nationalist political party, largely due to intimidation of organisers by members of the IRA.

See also

Pro

Con

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