Photo credit: Erik Lacitis / The Seattle Times

It’s Time to 86 White Nationalism

By Cristien Storm, Lindsay Schubiner, and Sami Alloy

In the early hours of Saturday, December 8th, an African American DJ was assaulted by neo-Nazi skinheads at a bar in Lynnwood, Washington. The assailants, who are associated with the racist skinhead group Hammerskin Nation, were in town for an annual rally they call Martyr’s Day, marking the 1984 death on nearby Whidbey Island of a neo-Nazi who led a domestic terrorist group.

The attack came just hours after neo-Nazi James A. Fields was convicted of killing Heather Heyer when he drove his car through a crowd of human rights supporters in Charlottesville last year, and less than two weeks after the home of a Jewish family in West Seattle was targeted with anti-Semitic graffiti.

Hate violence doesn’t just spring up from nowhere, it isn’t random and unpredictable. Instead, it is one of the most visible signs of an emboldened white nationalist movement. Like an iceberg, to understand the big picture, it’s essential to grasp the parts below the water’s surface: the range of groups that inspire and organize people to commit violence, to push for policies that lock children in cages or dehumanize immigrants, women, queer and trans people, and people of color.

Those responsible for the Saturday attack have been arrested, and the FBI is investigating on federal hate crime charges. But the threat that white nationalists pose requires responses that go beyond law enforcement and recognize that these incidents are not isolated events, and tackle organized bigotry as the powerful social movement it is.

It bears repeating: white nationalism is a social movement, one that has as its end goal the creation of an all-white ethnostate. So it’s not surprising that its organizers are showing up in social spaces like music shows, bars, clubs and other venues. These are contested spaces, which white nationalists use to organize, recruit, fundraise, and mobilize. Members of movements for justice and people who are explicitly targeted by white nationalist violence also use these spaces, and are at risk. Hate violence like the assault in Lynnwood serves a purpose for white nationalist groups who use it to build power, gain control of public space, and intimidate their opponents. Once we understand that this violence is not isolated or random, we can begin to create holistic community responses and build an inclusive movement against organized bigotry.

There is a very real and urgent need for communities to contest all forms of bigotry and hate. We must draw clear boundaries that refuse white nationalism in all the spaces they attempt to organize.

In Seattle, a group of club and bar owners, security teams, bartenders, DJ’s, bands, venue staff and music lovers are working together to develop creative strategies to respond to white nationalist activity in our communities. Community members have met with venues to make them aware of local white nationalist events, create action alerts and mobilizing plans, share and disseminate information, and support boundary-setting strategies, such as working together to alert other venues about white nationalist activity. The group is drawing, in part, on the history of The North West Club Coalition, which used cultural and youth organizing strategies in efforts to create vibrant networks that can support wide ranging and diverse strategies for countering white nationalism in various music scenes.

Seattle is hardly the only city facing bigoted organizing in social spaces. In Spokane, Washington, members of the misogynist paramilitary group the Proud Boys have been congregating at bars known to be inclusive meeting places. While the Proud Boys are markedly different from Hammerskin Nation in group composition and tactics, which can demand different response strategies, it has been heartening to see the response of some bar owners. They are recognizing that this is a problem for them — not just for the people of color, women, or queer people who use the space. They are learning about how the Proud Boys function and are committing to speaking out and using their existing tools to keep their spaces free from far-right violence and harassment. Some bar owners have developed a phone tree for immediate notification and support. They are exploring de-escalation trainings for not just staff, but also regulars. And they are using their community roles to think big picture about how to shift culture to reject white nationalism, how to bring people together to have fun, and build a stronger community.

All of us participate in social spaces, and each of us has the responsibility — and the joy — of doing so in a way that strengthens our communities against this threat. DJ’s can host dance against white nationalism nights, each of us can ask our local business to post a sign signaling that bigotry and hate will not be tolerated, artists can host shows supporting targeted communities.

Whatever our life’s work and our position in our community, we have the opportunity to resist white nationalism creatively. We can all be part of building social spaces and movements that are more vibrant, more inclusive, and more fun, than the authoritarian world white nationalists are attempting to create. When violence, abuse and assaults happen, these are moments that demand we take action grounded in our commitments and intentions. Each of us must ask ourselves:

• How can we respond to hate violence incidents in a way that counters the impact on communities most directly affected and prevents the mainstreaming of white nationalism from these events?
• How can our actions embody an effort to disrupt silos and strengthen our coalitions, relationships, and networks?
• In what ways might this be a moment to grow imaginative dreams of the worlds we want?

This is a moment for creativity, for trial and inevitable error, for risk-taking even when the stakes are high. We can’t afford not to. If we want to exist in a world in which we are all free to live and love without fear, we must each commit to working together to create political and cultural responses to white nationalism that leave no room for bigotry.

Authors

Cristien Storm is a co-founder of If You Don’t They Will, a long-time Seattle-based collaboration that provides creative and concrete tools for countering white nationalism through a cultural lens. This includes creating spaces to generate visions, hopes, desires, and dreams for the kinds of worlds we want to live in.

Lindsay Schubiner is the director of the Momentum program at Western States Center and Sami Alloy is the lead researcher/organizer. Momentum is a new program to counter white nationalism by testing novel approaches in training, organizing, and civic engagement.