Understanding the Alt-Right: Their Language and Their Ideology
American white supremacists have a branding problem, which isn’t actually that big of a problem. When someone has an image problem, the easiest and most effective fix is to simply rebrand.
Consider beer. In 2014, Miller Lite sales had stagnated. While the brew was shipping close to 20 million barrels in its late 80s prime, sales had sunk to 13.4 million and the slide showed no signs of stopping. The solution? A creative rebranding. MillerCoors introduced a new can (a redesign of their classic design) and sales rebounded. While the beer’s market share had dropped as low as 6.2% (amongst 21-to-27-year-olds), the recent resurgence has seen Miller Lite jump back up to 7.5%, all because of a can.
Think of the term “alt-right” as a new can. The product hasn’t changed, but the presentation is key to its reemergence. It’s notable that the term alt-right is one of the white supremacy movement’s own invention. In fact, they have been quick to distance themselves (at least superficially) from previous white nationalist movements like the Ku Klux Klan and the “white power” that George Lincoln Rockwell espoused.
Instead, they’ve disguised themselves as academics, basing most of their ideology off of the roundly and thoroughly criticized book The Bell Curve, and talking about intellectual-sounding ideologies like “race-realism,” “racialism,” and “identitarianism.” They’ve co-opted (a misguided and perverted version of) identity politics to legitimize themselves. In fact, they’ve started using the rhetoric of real identity groups and marginalized peoples in an attempt to justify their bigotry.
The scary thing is that, on the surface, some of their rhetoric seems to make sense. If black groups can advocate for their goals, why can’t white ones? Racist goons like Richard Spencer pretend to be white parallels to W.E.B. DuBois, standing up for the disenfranchised whites. It is a narrative that stands on the edge of gaining mainstream acceptance; according to the Washington Post, the average white American believes that anti-white discrimination is a bigger problem than anti-black discrimination.
The very definition of the word racism is unclear and open to interpretation, and this can be turned against anti-racist activists by their opponents. In a country where racism doesn’t refer to a system of domination based on genetics, but instead a perceived exclusion, the difference between “black lives matter” and “all lives matter” is instructive. In a vacuum, it’s the exact same statement. The difference between the two is not a definitional one, but instead a constructed rhetorical one, based on white American’s feelings of being left out or, even worse, left behind.
These feelings can be legitimate, especially with regards to class. But they remain exploitable by the alt-right, who have created a bizarre opposite day scenario in which oppressed whites have to organize for their rights. The con is almost deceiving, except the alt-right just can’t help themselves. New can, same crappy beer. Look at Richard Spencer declaring “Heil Trump!” to a crowd of seig heiling fans to see where the fiction is revealed. It is a conscious, cynical use of rhetoric to deceive and excuse. Don’t accept them at face value.
