White nationalism

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White nationalism is a form of ethnic nationalism, advocating a racial definition (or redefinition) of the national group. It is opposed to multiculturalism - but also to a monocultural national identity, if that would include people regarded as 'non-white'. White nationalism is not relevant in nations where the majority is clearly not white, as in most of Africa: there are comparable movements in South Africa, but they are secessionist. Although the term is recent, there is a long tradition of 'white' racial nationalism in English-speaking countries, for instance in the definition of the United States as a White Anglo-Saxon nation, and in the White Australia policy. White nationalism has a generally disreputable image, but its core doctrines are no different from those of the official nationalism underlying nation-states, all of which confer citizenship on a hereditary basis, and limit immigration by some or all non-national ethnic groups.

The term originated as a self-description by some racialist right-wing groups, primarily in the United States (and to a lesser extent in Canada, Britain, and Australia), to describe their belief in a racially defined collective identity of white or Caucasian people. That self-description was inspired by the generic term black nationalism, for movements promoting a ‘Black’ cultural and social identity in the United States in the 1960's and 1970's — later movements emphasised ‘African’ rather than ‘Black’ as an identity reference. 'White nationalism' therefore combines elements of American racial nationalism and a race-based identity politics.

[edit] Relationship to nationalism

All specific manifestations of nationalism refer to a nation in some form. However, although hundreds of millions of people worldwide would describe themselves as white, most do not see that as their national identity. A nation rarely defines itself as equivalent to a race, since races are usually seen as too large and too inclusive for that purpose. (Visible genetic characteristics such as skin colour are often shared by people in neighbouring nations). National identity is usually defined in terms of homeland, culture, ethnicity, history, and descent (shared ancestry), sometimes with perceived 'race' as an additional limiting factor. (Afrikaner nationalism uses language to distinguish Afrikaners from English-speaking whites, and race to distinguish them from Afrikaans-speaking blacks). Within a nation, identity is assumed to be undivided: the degree of personal self-identification in terms of major racial groups ('white' or 'Asian'), within the United States, is exceptional. In many other countries, that would be seen as a rejection of the national identity, and indeed many American conservatives see it that way.

When a nationalist movement does claim to speak on behalf of an entire race, and seeks to form a geopolitical entity for that entire race, it is a racial pan-nationalism. White nationalists do believe in a common identity, common interests, and common political action for 'white people'. As with other nationalist groups, they implicitly or explicitly claim that this identity is valid for the entire white population, and an obligation for its members, although not of course for the 'non-whites', since they do not see them as members of the group. As with other nationalist groups, they see renunciation of this identity - by those they define as 'white' - as a form of treason. This might suggest that white nationalism is a racial pan-nationalism seeking to create a white super-state, with hundreds of millions of inhabitants, but that is rarely the case.

The standard claim of a nationalist movement is that it speaks on behalf of a nation, and claims territory for a sovereign territorial state on the historical national homeland of that nation: a nation-state. That implies a rejection of any existing non-national identity, and a rejection of any other territorial claims, including those of any other nation. Consequently, nationalist movements advocated secession from older larger states, often an empire, which typically controlled the national homeland. Basque nationalism for instance, states that Basques living in Spain and France are not Spanish or French, that they belong to a separate nation with its own Basque language, culture and history. Basque nationalists feel no allegiance to either existing state, and seek to secede from both of them, and form a new nation-state in the historic homeland of the Basques, Euskal Herria. For Spain especially, they usually feel contempt, seeing it as an artificial creation.

Some white nationalists in North America are separatist nationalists in this sense. They no longer feel American or Canadian, and reject their former national loyalty. They seek the establishment of a separate all-white nation, typically in the north-western United States and/or western Canada. (Similar proposals have been made by environmentalists, see Cascadia). That is a classic nationalist demand, but it is not a racial pan-nationalism, since it is not their intention to move all white people there. The proposal is comparable the Volkstaat enclave proposals of Afrikaner nationalists in South Africa, which are similarly intended as a 'refuge' in a country now dominated by non-Afrikaners. However, while the Afrikaners have a recognisable language, culture, and history, the proposed American white homeland does not have a name, and its proposed inhabitants are not a national group comparable to Afrikaners or Basques.

It is difficult to assess support for such options, since white nationalism has no official representatives: the only sources are white nationalist forums and websites, and claims to speak for others are unverifiable. However, there is no indication that the majority of white nationalists have rejected their existing national identity and allegiance, or that they seek to destroy the United States as a nation-state. On the contrary, many white nationalists are patriotic. For them, 'white nationalism' refers to political activities within an existing nation-state, the United States. This form of white nationalism - a racial identity politics - promotes specific policies such as the preservation and teaching of white history and culture. Because of their self-identification as descendants of European immigrants, as European-Americans - these American white nationalists refer to as European history and culture. The history is not the history of Europe, as it would be taught in schools in Europe itself, but a historical mythology, influenced by late 19th-century romantic racial nationalism. Their idea of American history is also specific and selective: to them the United States is a nation built by whites, by the European immigrant population, and American values are the values of European-Americans. In other words, their view of what is white coincides with their patriotism: for them, everything that is good about America is white.

The most accurate description of this form of white nationalism, is that it is a form of American nationalism which advocates a racially defined American nation. The closest comparison is the 'White Australia' ideal, which was semi-official policy in Australia, for many decades. Seen in this way, 'white nationalism' in the United States then corresponds to other many other racial and ethnic nationalisms, such as German and Aryan racial nationalism, or Anglo-Saxonism in 19th-century Britain. This classification is also consistent with the political sympathies of most American 'white nationalists', for xenophobic ethnic-nationalist movements in European nation-states - and with the racist attitudes visible on white-nationalist websites. It also has a historical context in the 'white America' ideal. The present form of American nationalism, inclusive of all immigrant groups, is relatively recent. 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 use of the term 'white nationalism' in Europe also indicates that it is a racial variant of an existing ethnic nationalism. There is a small White Nationalist Party in Britain, but although Germans and Poles are also white, they do not advocate that Britain should be inhabited by Germans and Poles. They see the British nation as consisting of white British people, and since Britain has no indigenous non-white minorities, their nationalism is xenophobic and anti-immigrant in character.

[edit] Nationalism and white separatism

Some white nationalists support a territorially defined white separatism, the belief that white and non-white people should in separate territories (and not just lead separate social lives). Territorial claims are typical of nationalist movements, and the proposal for a new and separate whites-only state (see above) is by definition a form of white separatism. 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.

White majority areas (two darkest tones), US Census 2000. The definition is wider than typical White Nationalist definitions.
Enlarge
White majority areas (two darkest tones), US Census 2000. The definition is wider than typical White Nationalist definitions.

Typically, the proposals suggest that existing white-majority areas of the United States become whites-only areas: the rest would be allocated to the non-whites, and the white "race traitors" who don't want to live in the all-white zones. However, a segregated 'whites-only' zone is not in itself a nation by the standard definitions. If the two zones were entirely sovereign, then the result would be partition of the United States. If the non-white zones were not sovereign, then the proposal amounts to a national segregation policy. There are no historical precedents for a nation-state with territorially segregated "separate but equal" societies. All modern nation-states apply the nationalist core doctrine of 'national unity', and segregation contradicts this. Where segregation has been applied, it was because a minority was not considered part of the nation, and it was a prelude to the expulsion of the minority, or worse. (For this, there are enough historical precedents).

[edit] Definition of "white"

White nationalists define 'white' in a more restricted way than its general use. In the United States, it is also more limited than official usage, for instance in the United States Census. White, for US white nationalists, implies European ancestry, and also usually self-identification with European culture and European ethnicity in the United States. That is itself a recently developed category - the neologism European-American is increasingly used as a common label for the millions in the United States who happily describe themselves as Polish-American, Irish-American, Scottish-American, and so on. It is intended as to contrast with Asian-American and African-American.

There is no corresponding 'European' ethnicity in Europe itself: self-definition as 'European-European' would be redundant. In fact, some opponents of the European Union question its legitimacy, precisely because there is no corresponding ethnic or cultural group. [1] Despite their self-definition as 'European', many American white nationalists would not regard all descendants of European immigrants as 'white' - Jews and Muslims, for example. Some white nationalists do not see parts of southern Europe, such as Greece, Spain, Portugal or Italy, as 'white'. [citation needed]Greece, Portugal, most of Spain, and southern Italy, were once Arab or Ottoman ruled.

White nationalists therefore seek a definition of 'white' which is acceptable to them, and preferably also usable as a test of who is white. For that, they have drawn primarily on 19th-century racial taxonomy, which never reached a consensus on racial categories, and is no longer accepted by geneticists. Many geneticists continue to dispute the validity of human races: those who believe it is a valid scientific construct, such as geneticist Neil Risch, classify racial groups in a way that few white nationalists would accept. (For Risch, Jews, Germans and Pakistanis are all Caucasoid). [2] Different variants of racial-origin theories, such as Nordicism and Germanism, define different groups as 'white', both excluding Southern and Eastern Europeans, and sometimes the Modern Celts. Pan Aryanism — itself originally a component of Nazi race theories — defines most Europeans as Aryan-origin whites, but includes some North Africans and Middle Easterners. Some white nationalists use the term 'Pan-Europeanism' for a definition including all European ethnic groups. (The term 'Pan-European' originally refers to advocacy of some form of European geopolitical entity or European confederation, and specifically to the International Paneuropean Union). All these definitions of 'white' would include very large populations, dispersed over wide areas. They can, in theory, be used to re-define an existing nation in racial terms, by excluding those who do not fit the definition.

Because of the lack of objective definitions, 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 associated with early populations in Europe, who may have concentrated in Iberia during the Ice Ages. The 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. However, there is still no scientific definition, let alone a DNA test, which would positively identity 'whites'.

[edit] Historical precedents for white nationalism

White nationalists in the United States may appeal to historical precedents, as a way of indicating that their beliefs are legitimate. These historical precedents are in themselves accurate. In the past, many Americans, and many prominent figures in American history, held views that would now be considered taboo. Definition of the American nation in openly racial terms was very common, and that was reflected in legislation. For example, the early United States legislation on naturalisation limited it to whites (and excluded slaves):

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 1950's. 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]

[edit] A critical view

White nationalism is more controversial than other forms of ethnic or racial identity politics. Many critics charge that all white nationalism is in fact white supremacism, and that white nationalists are not so much interested in their own 'white heritage', as in power over non-whites. White nationalism is sometimes described as a reaction by whites who believe they are disenfranchised by the rise of liberal multicultural ideologies based around tolerance and inclusiveness, as well as the gains of other racial and ethnic groups against the majority white population in many Western nations.

White nationalists respond that they are simply organizing in ways similar to organisations such as the NAACP and other groups that are generally not seen as controversial, and that to accuse white-nationalist groups of racism while approving of, or tolerating, other racially-oriented groups is hypocritical and racist towards white people. Some white nationalists respond to the accusation of white supremacism by saying that they are white separatists, and that separation precludes domination of one group by another.

Critics point out that while posturing as civil rights groups advocating the interests of their ethnic or racial group, white nationalist groups frequently draw on the nativist traditions of the American Ku Klux Klan and the British National Front [3], adopting symbols of patriotism, Christianity and Western civilization.

The term "white nationalist" has been used by neo-Nazi, White supremacy, and Christian Identity groups, which at times have overlapping ideologies based on the perceived necessity to maintain whites as a distinct race. Some of these groups have condoned violence in the past, and some have built up strong followings in prisons. White nationalists try to distance themselves from this sector, but in some cases they are allied with Neo-Fascism or Neo-Nazism.[4]

[edit] White nationalist groups

American Renaissance, Council of Conservative Citizens[5], the National Alliance[6] and National Vanguard[7] are four leading examples in the United States, but antiracist groups such as the Southern Poverty Law Center prefer to call them racist or white supremacist.

In Europe, the term 'white nationalism' is used only by small groups. Nationalist parties such as the British National Party, France's Front National, 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 Poles in Poland - 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.

[edit] List of prominent white nationalists

[edit] See also

[edit] Compare

[edit] External links

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