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Know your 'Aryans': the real white nationalist threat in America Know your 'Aryans': the real white nationalist threat in America
(6 months later)
Suspicion in the recent murders of Texas prosecutors has turned towards members of the Texas Aryan Brotherhood, a decades-old white prison gang known for its drug dealings and murders. It is a sprawling criminal enterprise, much like Aryan Brotherhood organizations in other states. Despite its name and swastika tattoos, and its belief in the "racial purity of the white race", the Aryan Brotherhood (AB) has little to do with the Aryan Nations or any other outfit that is part of America's sprawling white nationalist movement.Suspicion in the recent murders of Texas prosecutors has turned towards members of the Texas Aryan Brotherhood, a decades-old white prison gang known for its drug dealings and murders. It is a sprawling criminal enterprise, much like Aryan Brotherhood organizations in other states. Despite its name and swastika tattoos, and its belief in the "racial purity of the white race", the Aryan Brotherhood (AB) has little to do with the Aryan Nations or any other outfit that is part of America's sprawling white nationalist movement.
White nationalists who have been sentenced to federal prisons over the past 30 years have not joined the Aryan Brotherhoods. The members of The Order, for example, convicted in 1985 under Rico statues for running a criminal enterprise, shunned the AB once they were imprisoned. In the state prisons, some skinheads, convicted of hate crimes or other offenses, have joined the AB, sometimes thinking that if offers them protection. And a few AB cons have joined white nationalist organizations once they got out.White nationalists who have been sentenced to federal prisons over the past 30 years have not joined the Aryan Brotherhoods. The members of The Order, for example, convicted in 1985 under Rico statues for running a criminal enterprise, shunned the AB once they were imprisoned. In the state prisons, some skinheads, convicted of hate crimes or other offenses, have joined the AB, sometimes thinking that if offers them protection. And a few AB cons have joined white nationalist organizations once they got out.
For the most part, however, highly ideological white cadres tend to stay away from the Aryan Brotherhood.For the most part, however, highly ideological white cadres tend to stay away from the Aryan Brotherhood.
A 2007 discussion of the prison gang on the premier white nationalist website, Stormfront, is typical in this regard. All the posts condemned the prison gang members for their drug dealing and for their narrow self-interested criminal acts. One poster expressed disgust at the burglary, forgery and weapons: "dedicated to disgracing his race," he wrote. Another noted that movement icons Bob Mathews and David Lane did not approve of the Aryan Brotherhood. Another simply lamented, "what a horrible waste of white skin."A 2007 discussion of the prison gang on the premier white nationalist website, Stormfront, is typical in this regard. All the posts condemned the prison gang members for their drug dealing and for their narrow self-interested criminal acts. One poster expressed disgust at the burglary, forgery and weapons: "dedicated to disgracing his race," he wrote. Another noted that movement icons Bob Mathews and David Lane did not approve of the Aryan Brotherhood. Another simply lamented, "what a horrible waste of white skin."
Simply put, to the outside observer, white nationalists and Aryan Brotherhood prisoners seem the same, but they have different values, different organizational affiliations and pursue different goals.Simply put, to the outside observer, white nationalists and Aryan Brotherhood prisoners seem the same, but they have different values, different organizational affiliations and pursue different goals.
White nationalists still make the old false claims that white people are biologically, genetically and in every other way superior to people of color. But unlike the prison gang, they aim at creating a whites-only, or a completely white-dominated United States. Some have given up conquering the whole United States, and are trying to carve out patches of territory and separate themselves from a multiracial America. One and all falsely believe that those they regard as white people (and the definitions of whiteness vary from organization to organization) have been dispossessed in their own land by Jews or immigrants or people of color or all of the above.White nationalists still make the old false claims that white people are biologically, genetically and in every other way superior to people of color. But unlike the prison gang, they aim at creating a whites-only, or a completely white-dominated United States. Some have given up conquering the whole United States, and are trying to carve out patches of territory and separate themselves from a multiracial America. One and all falsely believe that those they regard as white people (and the definitions of whiteness vary from organization to organization) have been dispossessed in their own land by Jews or immigrants or people of color or all of the above.
White nationalism is a political and social phenomenon. The danger these demonstrably false notions pose to our society is compounded by the violence that some individuals and groups in this movement perpetrate.White nationalism is a political and social phenomenon. The danger these demonstrably false notions pose to our society is compounded by the violence that some individuals and groups in this movement perpetrate.
Dozens commit crimes of opportunity on a random basis each year, as when a Washington State skinhead executed a multi-state mass-killing designed, in his mind, to purify the white race. Some pick their targets and plan their crimes to prove a point, as when a trio of anti-immigrant vigilantes broke into the home of Raul Flores, murdered him point blank and then killed his nine-year old daughter Brisenia, falsely believing they were "illegal" immigrants. In a similar case, a long-time Klan member was convicted of sending a mail bomb to a diversity officer in Arizona.Dozens commit crimes of opportunity on a random basis each year, as when a Washington State skinhead executed a multi-state mass-killing designed, in his mind, to purify the white race. Some pick their targets and plan their crimes to prove a point, as when a trio of anti-immigrant vigilantes broke into the home of Raul Flores, murdered him point blank and then killed his nine-year old daughter Brisenia, falsely believing they were "illegal" immigrants. In a similar case, a long-time Klan member was convicted of sending a mail bomb to a diversity officer in Arizona.
Crimes like these require law enforcement personnel to be prepared to make quick arrests after a crime has been committed. Or it entails officers ready to break up a plot before anything happens, as when the alleged participants of a skinhead murder conspiracy in Florida involving national guardsmen were arrested last year.Crimes like these require law enforcement personnel to be prepared to make quick arrests after a crime has been committed. Or it entails officers ready to break up a plot before anything happens, as when the alleged participants of a skinhead murder conspiracy in Florida involving national guardsmen were arrested last year.
It also necessitates law enforcement knowing where the line protecting first amendment rights is, and not to cross it – particularly in the case of the white nationalist journals, thinktanks and organizations that pursue the same political goals as the violence-prone, but seek instead to find sophisticated and ingenious ways to spread their message below society's radar.It also necessitates law enforcement knowing where the line protecting first amendment rights is, and not to cross it – particularly in the case of the white nationalist journals, thinktanks and organizations that pursue the same political goals as the violence-prone, but seek instead to find sophisticated and ingenious ways to spread their message below society's radar.
Members of the Council of Conservative Citizens, a lineal descendant of the old white Citizens Councils of the Jim Crow era, have tried to curry favor inside the Tea Party movement, have led anti-immigrant campaigns and worked to preserve Confederate memorials and flags. Indeed, white nationalists, a Holocaust denier and others of their ilk have found homes inside the apparatuses of the nativist far right (as is documented in my book, Blood and Politics).Members of the Council of Conservative Citizens, a lineal descendant of the old white Citizens Councils of the Jim Crow era, have tried to curry favor inside the Tea Party movement, have led anti-immigrant campaigns and worked to preserve Confederate memorials and flags. Indeed, white nationalists, a Holocaust denier and others of their ilk have found homes inside the apparatuses of the nativist far right (as is documented in my book, Blood and Politics).
Here the answer is not to call the cops, but to educate ourselves and our communities on the danger that white nationalist pose to all in American society. Community and religious leaders should be prepared and knowledgeable, and exercise their own first amendment rights to set a moral tone for their constituents and speak out loud and clear against racism and bigotry.Here the answer is not to call the cops, but to educate ourselves and our communities on the danger that white nationalist pose to all in American society. Community and religious leaders should be prepared and knowledgeable, and exercise their own first amendment rights to set a moral tone for their constituents and speak out loud and clear against racism and bigotry.
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