There is a great deal of information available about White nationalist groups. This post compiles some sources that profile the different groups and personalities among today’s White nationalists and also several sources that discuss how these groups operate on the Internet, including Internet trolls. (Trolls are people who make hostile comments on other people’s web sites for the purpose of disrupting or taking over conversations.)
Southern Poverty Law Center list of White Nationalist groups gives the names of important white nationalist groups and where they operate. The SPLC has also compiled profiles of extremist individuals, a list of some of the most important players in America’s racist social movements.
What White Nationalism Gets Right About American History This New York Times article, written by a reformed white nationalist activist (you can get the SPLC profile of his father here), sheds some light on the ideals of the many groups within the movement and how the President’s actions and words legitimize the worst of America.
Kathleen Blee interviewed women in White racist groups in the 1990s and published her book Inside Organized Racism: Women in the Hate Movement on them in 2002. This New York Times article form 2002 summarizes her research. The key take-aways are that the women were not particularly racist before they joined the groups, they learned racism in the groups, and they were even more anti-Jewish than anti-Black. She also found that most of the groups were small and violent. A more recent popular magazine article cites Blee’s work and includes interviews with some current White nationalist women and updated information about groups, including the way violence is part of group life, which is the topic of another news article citing Blee as explaining why racists kill.
Unite the Right, the violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, explained This informative article from Vox details the different organizations within the Alt-Right movement and those that attended the “unite the right” rallies in Charlottesville. The involvement of internet troll culture in the Alt-Right and the addition of traditional hate groups are all outlined.
White Supremacist Networks on the Internet This academic article was written in 2000, but it is surprising how relative the subject matter is to this day. The piece describes the relationships between different hate groups (the KKK, Skinheads, Neo-Nazis, White Christian Identity organizations, etc.) and how they use their social networks and the internet to operate. The article is incredibly informative and useful, even 17 years later.
BURRIS, VAL, et al. “WHITE SUPREMACIST NETWORKS ON THE INTERNET.” Sociological Focus, vol. 33, no. 2, 2000, pp. 215–235. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/20832076.
Indiana white nationalist called ‘the next David Duke’ isn’t stopping with Charlottesville This local Indiana article showcases one of the more popular leaders among the alt-right and white nationalist movements, and the willingness to use organized violence by many members.
Neo-Nazis, white nationalists, and internet trolls: who’s who in the far right This article on the Guardian lists the relationship between different forms of white supremacy in the U.S. and the formation of newer, internet-oriented hate groups and internet trolls.
How the Trolls Stole Washington This NYT article dives more into the background of internet trolls and how they influenced the recent presidential election.
The Alt-Right’s Newest Ploy? Trolling With False Symbols This interesting WIRED article describes strategies and goals used by alt-right internet trolls, and how the media’s response can make matters worse.
The events in Charlottesville August 11-12, 2017, attracted widespread attention to neo-Nazi White supremacist movements and provoked debates about responses to them. There were extensive debates about whether the police had acted appropriately to prevent violence and about “antifa” (short for Anti-Fascist) who came prepared to do battle with the neo-Nazis. Here are just two of the many articles that address these issues.
As White Nationalist in Charlottesvile Fired, Police ‘Never Moved’ This New York Times article shows a captured video among the protests and counter-protests in Charlottesville, where a white nationalist pointed a gun at a crowd of counter-protesters and fired into the ground near them, showing the willingness to use deadly force, while police stood by and failed to act.
What is ‘antifa?’ Virginia Clashes Bring Attention to Anti-Fascist Movement The Chicago Tribune describes one of the more controversial movements that has worked to oppose white supremacy and other fascist movements due to their less-than-peaceful tactics and militant attitude.
