The White Separatist Movement in the United States: "White Power, White Pride!"

by Betty A. Dobratz, Stephanie L. Shanks-Meile

A compelling and disquieting look at America's white separatist movement. Winner of the Scholarly Achievement Award of the North Central Sociological AssociationSelected by Choice Magazine as an Outstanding Academic Title Although the white separatist movement stereotype is that of a Southern phenomenon tied to an uneducated and disenfranchised segment of men, sociologists Betty A. Dobratz and Stephanie L. Shanks-Meile show that the movement is in reality more complex and multifaceted. To compile this study, the authors interviewed more than 125 white separatists, attended rallies, congresses, and other gatherings, and examined many movement-generated documents. The result is a compelling book that chronicles the history, ideology, and strategies of the white separatist movement.

Genres: Nonfiction

384 pages, Paperback

First published November 21, 2000

Reviews

[AC · Rating 3 out of 5]

I looked this one over, and it is kind of interesting. The two authors (Betty Dobratz and Stephanie Shanks-Meile) are sociologists in 3rd rate universities (-- which means they have tenure in a decent enough place). They spent years studying the literature (which is rather sparse) and documentary sources put out by Separatists (which is voluminous), and then did something intersting. They went out and hung out with White Separatiists for an extended period of time, many of whom opened up to them about their true beliefs and feelings. And so, while the authors are themselves Faminists and Leftists, they ended up writing a sympathetic account -- in the sense that they came, at least, to understand their subjects, and not simply them to demonize... (sorry for that ciceronian flip in word order...; it just seemed like a good way to end the cola.)

But the book was published in 1999, and so is dated; and by their own account, the White Separatist movements is ever changing. The neo-nazis of today's Stormfront, are not quite the same as the Tom Metzgers of the 1990's; the David Duke of the 1990's has morphed into what may now be, potentially, a Republican of, at least, plausible standing. Certainly, the posters at Stormfront believe that the role of Trump is, like John the Baptist, to path the way to a "true" white nationalist -- like Duke.

One interesting point that the authors insist on is that the movement does not see itself as a White Supremacist movement, but as a White *Separatist* movement -- they don't want to dominate black folks or Jews, they simply don't want to ever have to smell them.

Of course, fascism being what it is, that would probably end up more as a semantic difference than a real one -- in the unrolling of time.

Anyway, I decided that I didn't have the time to do more than browse through another dated book on the neo-fascist scene. But worth a look for those interested.

[Neal Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the few book-length sociological studies of white power groups to be based on direct observation and interaction, rather than existing records such as court transcripts and social media. It's organized around a four-way classification: the Ku Klux Klan (which itself is not a unified organization nowadays), neo-Nazis, skinheads, and Christian Identity.

Despite their overlapping ideologies, alliances between and within these four strands tend to be ephemeral. There are also divisions in terms of whether or not it's worth engaging with the established political process. The book reproduces a cartoon of David Duke, the onetime KKK leader, which ridicules his attempts to go mainstream. The book also reproduces racist cartoons of black and Jewish people, which (for better or worse) I doubt would be cleared by a university press nowadays.

The authors explain the appeal of white separatism in economic terms: the system is not working for us, so someone must've broken it, and we need to identify the culprits in order to progress. Some white power groups think the system is broken irretrievably, others that it's been corrupted but can be fixed. Either way, their reasoning is largely ahistorical or, at least, ignores or fantasizes historical events such as slavery.

Killings by federal government agencies, in particular at Waco and Ruby Ridge, have foundational importance. Some white power reasoning is hard to engage with, such as: “If you believe the Bible, you are going to be a segregationist”. Since it's problematic in our society to dismiss the Bible, and segregation is unacceptable, the usual solution is to summarily dismiss those who reason this way. Athough an uncomfortable read at times, this book has the courage to get inside the heads of white separatists.

[ael · Rating 4 out of 5]

kind of creepily sympathetic to white supremacists, but really thorough and informative