White Supremacists
and the (Pan-)Ethnic Imperative:
On "European-Americans"
and "White Student Unions"
Working from literatures on the social construction of ethnicity and on white
ethnic identity, I explore contemporary white supremacist discourse aimed at
presenting whites as a "pan-ethnic" community of European descendants, whose
ethnicity is equivalent to that of established ethnic and minority communities.
First, I look at how white supremacists struggle with uniting all "whites",
negotiate the meaning and boundaries of "whiteness" and "European American",
and conceptualize their putative ethnicity as lamentable. Second, I look at
discourse on efforts to organize "White Student Unions." The use of the
hyphenated-American strategy and the development of white student unions both
reflect tactical breaks with the past and are part of a "new racist" focus on putting
forth a more presentable image for white supremacy, and presenting whites as an
ethnic/minority group, with ethnic-like concerns and traits. If indeed there is an
emergent pan-ethnic phenomenon among "European-Americans" then it may
prove important to recognize when this phenomenon is rooted in white
supremacy and when it is not.
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