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White nationalism

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White nationalism advocates a racial definition of national identity, as opposed to multiculturalism. The contemporary movement is a reaction to a perceived decline in white demographics, politics and culture.[1] According to Samuel Francis, it is "a movement that rejects equality as an ideal and insists on an enduring core of human nature transmitted by heredity."[2]

Supporters see themselves defending the legitimate civil rights of white people against society's racial double standards.[3] Jared Taylor, another key writer in the movement, says their racial views were held by mainstream American leaders before the 1950s.[4]

According to Samuel Huntington, the modern movement is increasingly cultured, intellectual and academically-trained.[5] Rather than espouse violence, they use statistics and social science data to argue for a self-conscious white identity.[6] They say a natural hierarchy should triumph over the "false promise of egalitarianism"[7] - and that the downfall of white dominance spells doom for representative government, the rule of law and freedom of speech.

Supporters say they stand for racial self-preservation and claim culture itself is a product of race.[8] As a result, according to Huntington, they say the demographic shift in the US towards non-whites brings a new culture that is intellectually and morally inferior.[9] With it comes affirmative action, immigrant ghettos and declining educational standards.[10] By challenging established policy on immigration, civil rights and racial integration, they seek to build bridges with moderately conservative white citizens.

Contents

Development

White nationalism has a long tradition in English-speaking countries. According to one view, it is a product of the modern centralised state's emergence in the West, like all nationalisms.[11] The term originated as a self-description by some groups, primarily in the United States, to describe their belief in a racially defined collective identity of white or Caucasian people. In the past so-called xenophobic ethnic policies may be seen as congruent to white nationalism.

By the 1830s, the Declaration of Independence was widely seen as a manifesto for white freedom and white separatism in a white nation. In the 19th and early 20th century racial definitions of the American nation were common, resulting in race-specific immigration restrictions, such as the Chinese Exclusion Act. The 1915 film Birth of a Nation was an allegorical invocation of white nationalism, for example.

Also, the 'White Australia' ideal was semi-official policy in Australia for many decades. In South Africa, it was championed by the New National Party, starting in 1948, as the struggle over apartheid heated up. In recent years, the Internet has quietly multiplied white nationalism's public influence.

White nationalism in the US combines elements of American racial nationalism and a race-based identity politics. Starting in the 1960s, it grew as the conservative movement developed in mainstream society. Samuel Huntington argues that it developed as a reaction to a perceived decline in the essence of American identity as European, Anglo-Protestant and English-speaking. Some American white nationalists, for example, say immigration must be restricted to selected people of European ancestry.

Identity

White nationalists say every nationality feels a natural affection for its own kind. Thus they believe in a common identity, common interests, and common political action for 'White people'. This identity is valid for the entire White population, but not an obligation for others. This worldview is often influenced by late 19th-century romantic racial nationalism.

Most supporters see 'White nationalism' refers to political activities within an existing country. They have not necessarily rejected their existing national identity and allegiance, nor that they seek to destroy existing states. They see as themselves patriotic preservers of European history and culture. In other words, their racial identity coincides with this patriotism: for them, everything that is good about their homeland is White.

The present form of American White nationalism, inclusive of Caucasian immigrant groups, is relatively recent. Conversely, "White nationalism" in Europe normally indicates a racial variant of an existing ethnic nationalism. For example, the British National Party opposes large-scale immigration of Russians and Poles, even though they are White. They see the true British nation as consisting of only White British people.

Some White nationalists support a territorially defined White separatism, the belief that White and non-White people should reside in separate territories (and not just lead separate social lives). Like the Volksstaat proposal, it would require migration of whites to a remote and thinly-populated location. However, some other forms of white separatism proposed by white nationalists take the form of far-reaching racial segregation, within an existing nation-state.

Definition of "White"

White nationalists define 'White' in restricted way. In the United States, it implies European ancestry, self-identification with European culture and European ethnicity. Likewise, the neologism European-American is a contrast with Asian-American and African-American.

Europe has a uniform racial population, many think that it was uniformed after the Ice Age, when the Old Continent was re-inhabitated by a small group of survivors who readily spread across the lands.

There are some debates whether or not to consider Armenians, [[Georgia|Georgians] and other populations from Caucasus as white. As for their culture they survived muslim invasions and maintained Christian religion and researches about their intelligence shows higher results than those of the neighbors Iranians and Turks.

Some White nationalists hope that population genetics will provide clear criteria for 'white'. Some have adopted a definition based on the Y-chromosome haplogroup R1b. This marker is prevalent in most Western European populations, possibly reflecting the re-expansion into Europe of a smaller human population in Southern Europe, after the last ice age.

Historical Precedents for White Nationalism

White nationalists in the United States may appeal to historical precedents for their beliefs. Many past Americans held views about race that would now be considered taboo. Legislation reflected this definition of the American nation in openly racial terms. For example, the early United States limited naturalisation to whites:

That any alien, being a free white person, who shall have resided within the limits and under the jurisdiction of the United States for the term of two years, may be admitted to become a citizen thereof, on application to any common law court of record, in any one of the States wherein he shall have resided for the term of one year at least, and making proof to the satisfaction of such court, that he is a person of good character, and taking the oath or affirmation prescribed by law, to support the Constitution of the United States, which oath or affirmation such court shall administer; and the clerk of such court shall record such application, and the proceedings thereon; and thereupon such person shall be considered as a citizen of the United States. And the children of such persons so naturalized, dwelling within the United States, being under the age of twenty-one years at the time of such naturalization, shall also be considered as citizens of the United States. And the children of citizens of the United States, that may be born beyond sea, or out of the limits of the United States, shall be considered as natural born citizens: Provided, that the right of citizenship shall not descend to persons whose fathers have never been resident in the United States. Act of March 26, 1790 (1 Stat 103-104) [1]

Open discussion of racial separation was also common: desegregation only began in the 1950s. Abraham Lincoln, 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. [2]

White Nationalist Groups

American Renaissance, Council of Conservative Citizens [3], and the National Alliance [4] and are three leading examples in the United States, also Stormfront web forums show great support for white nationalism.

In Europe, nationalist parties such as France's Front National, Germany's National Democratic Party and the Italian Northern League promote nationalism and oppose immigration, but do not describe themselves as "white nationalist". In most European nation-states, the nation is traditionally defined by ancestry and long-term association of a single ethnic group with the national homeland. If that ethnic groups is already 'white' - as for instance with the Germans in Germany - then additional definition as 'white' is superfluous. In countries with a longer history of mass immigration, as in Britain, some definitions of the national identity now include immigrants. It is when this redefinition is disputed, that ethnic or racial limits on the composition of the nation become a political issue.

List of Prominent White Nationalists

See Also

Nationalism index

Nationalism around the World Portal - List of Nationalist Parties - List of National Socialist Parties - List of White Nationalists

Categories
Nationalism - Organizations - Political parties - Nationalists
Types of Nationalism
White Nationalism - National Anarchism - National Socialism

External link

Part of this article consists of modified text from Wikipedia, and the article is therefore licensed under GFDL.

References

  1. ↑ The New White Nationalism in America, by Scott McConnell, First Things (August/September 2002).
  2. ↑ White Nationalists Seek Respectability in Meeting of 'Uptown Bad Guys' Newhouse News Service April 4, 2000
  3. ↑ http://www.vanderbilt.edu/news/releases/2003/4/11/interviews_offer_unprecedented_look_into_the_world_and_words_of_the_new_white_nationalism Interviews offer unprecedented look into the world and words of the new white nationalism 4-11-2003, News from Vanderbilt University
  4. ↑ White Nationalists Seek Respectability in Meeting of 'Uptown Bad Guys' Newhouse News Service April 4, 2000
  5. ↑ The Hispanic challenge. Foreign Policy March 1, 2004
  6. ↑ Despite new leaders, and with them new tactics and new ideas, the goal of white separatists remains to convince Americans that racial separation is the only way to survive National Public Radio (NPR) August 14, 2003 Thursday
  7. ↑ White Nationalists Seek Respectability in Meeting of 'Uptown Bad Guys' Newhouse News Service April 4, 2000
  8. ↑ The Hispanic challenge. Foreign Policy March 1, 2004
  9. ↑ The Hispanic challenge. Foreign Policy March 1, 2004
  10. ↑ Despite new leaders, and with them new tactics and new ideas, the goal of white separatists remains to convince Americans that racial separation is the only way to survive National Public Radio (NPR) August 14, 2003 Thursday
  11. ↑ Can Nationalism studies and ethnic, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies July 1, 2004
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