by Chip Berlet (publiceye@publiceye.org)
Please note that Mr. Berlet (pictured right) does not criticize the federal government’s open ended support of affirmative action, Third World immigration (post 1965), the minority status of white Americans (2043), or the very real existence of anti-white racism. In short Mr. Berlet is blind to even the remotest possibility that sane, rational European Americans–who bear no relationship whatsoever to the tiny subset of costumed loons–just “might” have the same corresponding concerns as do non-whites. This is tangible anti-white supremacy, plain and simple. Drop him a line. –Ed.
The election of Barack Obama has poked the racist beehive, and we canexpect a lot of buzzing around in the months ahead. Rightists, rangingfrom neo-Nazis to mainstream conservatives, are eager to reframe issuesin ways that invoke racialized fears among some white voters:affirmative action, poverty, education, language, taxation, healthcare, immigration, terrorism, and national security all have potential.
The intensity of the racist backlash may depend on the direction theRepublican Party takes. Regional differences are significant whenanalyzing Republican white voters. Of sixteen states where 60 percentor more of white voters picked McCain, almost two-thirds (ten states)were in the secessionist Confederacy. These are also states with alarge number of fundamentalist Christians, raising the issue of whetherit is race or religion or both that guides the voting patterns here.
Pollsters noted that Obama did better with white Protestants thanKerry, but that’s misleading, since Kerry was such a poor candidate.Comparing Obama with 2000 Democratic candidate Al Gore reveals thatboth Gore and Obama picked up 34 percent of the white Protestant vote.In 2000, however, Gore attracted an estimated 30 percent of the whiteevangelical vote, while Obama garnered only 24 percent in 2008.
Precisely predicting the future of race in the Republican Party isfoolish because there are so many competing forces and factionsprodding the giant toppled elephant on the living room floor. Christiannationalists, white nationalists, Rockefeller Republicans, and economiclibertarians are looking for coalition partners to grab power. Somefactions of the political right are engaged in a battle to resuscitatethe Republican Party elephant and drape it with their racing colors.
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Becausethey cannot dispute the factuality and value of our message, theyinstead engage in classic character assassination andguilt-by-association by exhorting the bogeyman of bogeymen to shambleout of his closet.
They call us “neo-Nazis” as though we spy on innocent citizens. But we don’t do that – they do.
They call us “neo-Nazis” as though we try to silence dissenters. But we don’t do that – they do.
Theycall us “neo-Nazis” as though we would disarm the innocent and makethem victims of criminals and government forces. But we don’t do that -they do.
They call us “neo-Nazis” as though we seek to eliminate freedom on the Internet. But we don’t do that – they do.
They call us “neo-Nazis” as though we are targeting innocent people for ruination. But we don’t do that – they do.