White Nationalist = White Supremacist and They Got Smarter
How Groups Are Using the Courts to Stop Black Progress
Last week a congressman defended white nationalism; unfortunately, I am not surprised.
While researching America’s changing demographics in 2010, I came across a paper by authors Betty A. Dobratz and Stephanie L. Shanks-Meile titled “The Strategy of White Separatism.” The paper discussed the white supremacist and separatist movements. What surprised me about the paper wasn’t the explanation of the white supremacist ideology; I, like many Americans, understood it. What surprised me was how the authors explained the white supremacist goal was to go mainstream and impact politics. They understood America was becoming more diverse and less tolerant of their movement. They needed to shift their strategy from the skinheads to the boardroom and halls of Washington, DC. They realized they needed to replace the pointy hoods and tattoos with suits, ties, and websites. They needed a more acceptable image to push their agenda and votes to set it.
Now fast forward a decade after Dobratz and Shanks-Meile’s paper, there’s Richard Spencer, a prominent leader of a new-age movement that looks very similar to the white supremacist movement of the past but is now being called white nationalism, and it embodies everything the authors warned was coming. Often seen wearing a suit and tie, Spencer successfully recruited or influenced thousands of disillusioned white men to his cause. He’s pushed an agenda many relate to. As a result, they are even making it more acceptable for politicians to traffic their talking points openly. His movement has arguably influenced the likes of Marjorie Greene, a congresswoman from Georgia, and Stephen Miller, a former advisor to former President Donald Trump. His ideological connections span local, state, and federal politicians to religious leaders and others. He and others like him have successfully pushed white supremacy into the mainstream.
So what does this have to do with the courts?
While many citizens were outraged by the recent US Supreme Court ruling removing Affirmative Action, most are unaware there are 60+ standing lawsuits filed against President Biden’s administration, many targeting policies to improve the livelihood of those in need, especially black people. Three of those policies would have infused billions of dollars and thousands of jobs into the black community over the next decade, and guess whose behind these lawsuits? The folks with ties to white nationalist ideologies! Imagine groups with ideas similar to Adolph Hitler’s with the ability to affect your future. Here are a few examples:
In 2021, the Biden administration’s Restaurant Revitalization Fund, an offset of the coronavirus stimulus package, was to allow early access to $29B in debt relief for struggling minority-owned restaurants recovering from the pandemic. A state attorney named Eric Schmitt stopped the project by filing a lawsuit stating the plan discriminated against non-minorities, aka white people. As a result, many minority-owned restaurants initially approved for the funds had their applications put on hold. Schmitt justified his actions as a need to protect state rights from federalism but keep in mind Schmitt has promoted replacement theory, a favorite among white nationalists. It’s a theory stating the American government is trying to replace white people with immigrants or people of color. This theory has fueled violence against black people by white supremacists, including killing of nine black church parishioners in Charleston, SC, and a massacre in Buffalo, NY, killing ten shoppers.
Another Biden administration plan was to provide black farmers $5B in debt relief; however, a group of white farmers led by Stephen Miller filed a lawsuit stating that the proposed money for black farmers was discriminatory towards white farmers! Yep, Stephen Miller, a known white nationalist advisor to the most powerful person in the world, filed a lawsuit alleging discrimination. Now, despite facing decades of violence from hate groups and discrimination from the US government and banks, which cost them billions of dollars in losses over decades, black farmers are stuck filing counter lawsuits.
Another lawsuit filed by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL), which caucused with alt-right types, prevented the Minority Business Development Agency from providing an earmarked 10% of its transportation funds for minority-owned businesses out of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The funds would be distributed to minority-owned businesses working on transportation projects, amounting to $11B! WILL is the same organization that came under hot water in 2021 when one of their researchers, Noah Diekemper, was photographed doing the subtle “OK” symbol for white power.
We can complain about equality, but there will never be equality without wealth and white nationalists; supremacists understand that. Without wealth, it’s almost impossible to create and safeguard long-term reform. Wealth gives communities access to politicians, the creation of jobs that lower crime, better schools, etc. This is why the court injunctions I cited are essential and white nationalists are doing everything to make it difficult for Black America to obtain wealth. They do not want an equal playing field. Black Americans own less than 1.5% of the wealth in America. According to the Brookings Institute, in 2019, the median white household held $188,200 in wealth — 7.8 times that of the typical Black households, and white households account for 84% of the total wealth in the US!
Blocking the MBDA, COVID-19, and black farmer funds was just the beginning. White nationalists will use more lawsuits to block policies and programs for the black community. This movement’s potential influence on court rulings and laws could be the making of a challenging decade for black folks.
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