The Modern White Power Movement (2020)

Throughline

NPR

Society & Culture, History, Documentary

4.7 • 15K Ratings

🗓️ 2 June 2022

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The recent shooting in Buffalo, New York, which authorities are investigating as a hate crime, has yet again highlighted the threat posed by domestic terrorism in the U.S. At the center are violent extremists – the most lethal and persistent of whom are white supremacists and anti-government militias. They're part of a deeply interconnected movement which, since the 1980s, has pursued a mission to topple the U.S government with guerrilla warfare. Today, this movement is made up of highly-organized groups with paramilitary capabilities, but it hasn't always been this way. This week, we trace the rise of the modern white power movement.

Transcript

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0:00.0	A quick note to our listeners. This episode contains hate speech and depictions of violence.
0:12.0	Less than a month ago, a white gunman opened fire in a grocery store in Buffalo, New York.
0:17.0	He killed 10 black people and injured three others in what the FBI is investigating as a hate crime.
0:24.0	The gunman was allegedly motivated by a racist conspiracy theory known as the Great Replacement.
0:30.0	Domestic terrorism from groups of armed, mostly white American men has been on the rise.
0:36.0	And the reality is, some of these groups are highly organized.
0:40.0	They have paramilitary capabilities and they are part of a deeply interconnected movement.
0:46.0	In October 2020, the Department of Homeland Security issued a report that said white supremacist groups are the most persistent and lethal threat to domestic security.
0:57.0	Just a few months later, on January 6, 2021, members of white supremacist and militia groups like the Proud Boys and the Oathkeepers were allegedly involved in staging a violent insurrection at the US Capitol building.
1:10.0	They were protesting the certification of President Biden's electoral win.
1:15.0	A House Select Committee has been investigating the January 6 Capitol attack for nearly a year.
1:21.0	This month, they're holding public hearings that are expected to look into the role these groups may have played in the violence that unfolded.
1:30.0	I'm Ronda Abdel Fattah.
1:32.0	I'm Ramteen Adablui.
1:34.0	And on this episode of Thru Line from NPR, the modern white power movement.
1:41.0	The white power movement refers to a new kind of mobilization for white supremacist extremism in the United States.
1:50.0	This is Kathleen Ballou.
1:52.0	I am a assistant professor of history at the University of Chicago.
1:56.0	She's also the author of a book called Bring the War Home, the White Power Movement and Paramilitary America.
2:03.0	What it is is a movement brought together around a common story of government betrayal in the Vietnam War.
2:10.0	This happened in the late 1970s.
2:12.0	And the reason that it's important to call it white power is, first of all, that's what these activists called themselves.
	...

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