The fight against white nationalism is a long-term commitment.
While the election of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States was an amazing achievement, it was also a critical moment in this country’s race relations for more reasons than most think. True, he was elected the first Black president, something many Black people (ancestors and those living) never thought they would see in their lifetimes. And true, it was a defining moment for us as a country that has subjected Black people for more than 400 years. But it also threatened the psychological safety of many white people and created a significant backlash of white nationalism.
What Is Psychological Safety in Race Relations?
According to Dr. Larry Davis, founder of the Center on Race and Social Problems at the University of Pittsburgh, in his book, “Why Are They Angry With Us? Essays on Race,” recent demographic shifts in America are gradually resulting in a larger non-white population throughout the country. There is a tipping point, Davis says, when non-whites become 30 percent or more of any population, which triggers a fight or flight reaction in whites. This can happen even when non-white people become more visible in the media in ways that defy racial stereotypes of those people. It is difficult, Davis says, for whites to recalibrate their position as the dominant race and adapt to the new reality of not being the majority, even if they still technically are.
Even though whites are the numerical majority, as the visibility of non-whites grows, Davis says, they begin to feel overpowered, and the non-white group takes on the sense of the psychological majority. The result is that non-whites are now in places where they more frequently interact with whites, and they are requesting a greater share of the country’s goods and services, rights, and privileges. To make matters worse, there is a crisis of immigration, with large numbers of non-whites coming to the southern borders and attempting to enter the country. The large numbers of immigrants could shift the demographics of this country permanently and hasten the existing inevitability of whites becoming a minority within the next couple of generations.
This is what happened in 2008 when Obama was elected; the sentiment increased when he was elected to a second term and directly contributed to the rise of white nationalist sentiments — a spark Donald Trump fanned with the rhetoric to “Make America Great Again.” It is clear to see that this need to take America back was a nod to returning to the dominance of whites and the subjugation of non-whites in the country.
The Rise of White Nationalism: Truth or Myth?
In recent months, I have had several conversations with people who don’t believe the rise in white nationalism is real. This is a dangerous place to be, as history has taught us. In early 1930s Germany, Adolf Hitler’s rise to power followed a similar path. A controversial leader was elected to power, promising to create a dictatorship. His goal was to infiltrate all parts of German culture with Nazi propaganda. What followed was a carefully curated message successfully communicated through art, theater, music, books, films, educational materials, and the press. Messages that did not support Nazi propaganda were suppressed. The Nazi government generated messages that encouraged the German people to passively accept the persecution of Jews since the government was establishing “law and order” to protect the German people. Sound familiar?
The world often asks how German citizens stood by and allowed the Holocaust to happen. But it was similar to a frog in boiling water. If you throw a frog into a pot of boiling water, the frog will jump out immediately. But if the water was cool when the frog entered and gradually heated, the frog usually didn’t notice the increase in temperature until it was too late. This is what happens in societies at risk of becoming dictatorships. The rhetoric starts as a simple dream that everyone should be able to agree with: Let’s return to a simpler time when this society was based on values that allowed us all to thrive. Sounds perfect, right? But what exactly are those values, and why do they require that we suppress the histories of entire groups of people, change our education of our children, and ban books that expose people to different ways of thinking?
Across this country, the subtext of this dream is becoming clear: Let’s focus on traditional values (read white, Christian, heterosexual, upper class), and let’s rid ourselves of anything that threatens them. As this rhetoric becomes more mainstream, it has been normalized so that many of us might roll our eyes and shake our heads at it, but we go on with our lives, failing to launch a full, national response. Like the frog, we are slowly boiling in these messages and their accompanying sentiments, going on with our lives, much as the German people did during Hitler’s rise to power. Whether the German people were passive because of fear or a sense of powerlessness or indifferent because they did not care what happened to the Jewish people, they were bystanders to one of the great atrocities of recent history.
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), in 2023, there were 165 active white nationalist hate groups in the U.S. — the highest number ever recorded. These groups, according to SPLC, have been actively organizing on the ground, participating in demonstrations, and working with mainstream right-wing groups, especially around anti-LGBTQ and anti-abortion events. These groups aim to air the grievances of right-leaning white Americans, who feel that they are being replaced by non-whites who don’t have the right to be called Americans.
In late 2023, the FBI released hate crimes data for 2022, showing an increase in hate crimes from 2021 to 2022. Most reported hate crimes are race-based, and anti-Black hate crimes are more than three times higher than the next highest racial or ethnic category. Additionally, hate crimes in the nation’s 10 largest cities surged for the third straight year in 2023. The biggest surge in hate crimes was seen in Houston, with a growth of 193 percent between 2022 and 2023. The report reflects a 23-year trend of increasing hate crimes nationwide due in part to better reporting and data collection from law enforcement.
Why Is White Nationalism So Popular?
White nationalists are great organizers — in many ways, much more efficient and effective than anti-racist organizers. Why? There are many reasons. The white nationalist movement adopted an intensity similar to the civil rights movement. This happens when people feel marginalized — the push to gain (or regain) rights is powerful and seductive. The message of marginalization is intoxicating. It invites people to join together for a common goal, against a common enemy. It gives people place, purpose, and priorities. Place is at rallies, demonstrations, dinner tables, golf courses, and boardrooms where white nationalism is being discussed, normalized, and celebrated. Purpose is the promise of a return to a time when no one had to worry about racism or political correctness, where one’s parents’ and grandparents’ sentiments about the place of non-whites in this society return to the mainstream, and where white people join together to save this country from outsiders who seek to destroy it. Priorities are established among a range of strategies and target educating children on white nationalist values, muting diverse ways of thinking, and restricting programs, speech, writing, and activities that seek to raise non-white people to an equal place in society.
Trump has given white people a sense of belonging, a culture, a way of life. This is easier to understand if we look at history and understand that white Europeans emigrating to the U.S. had to decide between being identified by their culture or being identified as white. As all the privileges that exist for people who are socialized as white became apparent, most Europeans moved away from their cultures, so that little of that culture remains for white Americans. Not all Europeans were willing to make this sacrifice, however. Many Europeans refused to exchange their cultures for whiteness and returned to Europe. But for those who remained, the cost was that deep knowledge of language, music, customs, and food. For many white people, there is some culture available during specific times, like St. Patrick’s Day for the Irish, or some retained culture through food, but the deep knowledge of that culture’s daily way of life for many white people is gone. This is how racism dehumanizes us all, and white people are just as dehumanized by racism as people of color have been.
Social media has made it easy for white nationalists to recruit, despite recent strategies by social media outlets to reduce the spread of hate and harassment on their platforms. Online recruitment through social media sites such as X (formerly known as Twitter) has reversed that progress since Elon Musk became the head of X in late 2022. The hate groups SPLC describes host small gatherings throughout the year to which white people are invited and indoctrinated. The message is that white Americans are being persecuted by anti-white policies and ideas. This message is so powerful that white people, particularly those who are working class, are willing to vote against their own self-interest. For example, in President Obama’s campaign for re-election, many white people voted against him, even though they were on Obamacare and had no other options for health insurance. They were willing to expose their families to the dangers of having no health care rather than vote for the Black president who would provide for them. This brings up the debate of priorities: Does race trump class (no pun intended)?
The Danger Ahead
Many are rejoicing now that another Democratic candidate will face Trump in the upcoming election. As a result, there is renewed energy, sometimes feeling giddy and frenzied, and definitely exciting. But we cannot take our eyes off the prize. Those who immediately pivoted to support Kamala Harris were unlikely to vote for Trump anyway, and while we should not ignore them, those who are sitting on the fence are the ones we should focus on. If someone has bought into the white nationalist values Trump espouses, they will do everything in their power to elect him to the presidency. There need to be multiple active organizing efforts by white people to change the narrative of other white people. This is not work people of color can do. This is work for white people.
In true organizing fashion, every white person who wants to stem the rise of white nationalism has a role to play in the coming election. Whom have you heard espousing white nationalism? Your family members? Neighbors? Colleagues? What is your response? Are you silent, which may be read as agreement? Or do you offer an alternate way of thinking? Who is trying to change the narrative white children hear? As my mentor, Ron Chisom, says, “Who is working with the white children so that they don’t grow up racist?” Every white adult who has a relationship with a young white person can sow and tend seeds that defy the white nationalist messaging.
This is not a sprint but a marathon. There is more at stake than the coming election, but this election could determine this marathon’s route: with support from a leader who will combat white nationalism or from a leader who will enforce a dictatorship. Regardless of who is elected, the rising tide of white nationalism is alarming and cannot be ignored. We cannot breathe any sighs of relief yet. We cannot sit back and assume the work has been done. We will not arrive at the finish line in our lifetimes, but, with our renewed effort, the next generation may be able to.
Wendy Shaia, EdD, MSW, is a clinical associate professor and executive director of the Center for Restorative Change at the University of Maryland School of Social Work.
Disclaimer: Elm Voices & Opinions articles reflect the thoughts or opinions of their individual authors, and may not represent the thoughts or values of UMB as an institution.