Millions In U.S. Support White Supremacy (Racist) Views

On Sunday, the alt-right (white supremacists, racists) tried to hold a rally across from the White House. It was a huge failure. Only a couple of dozen of them showed up for the rally, while thousands of counter-demonstrators came to oppose them. One might get the impression that the white supremacists and racists compose only a very tiny minority in this country.

But don't be fooled. The truth is that many people in the United States support those vile views, even if they do not show up at the rallies or openly profess the views.

After the demonstrations in Charlottesville a year ago (when hundreds of white supremacists and nazis clashed with those who opposed them, and one life was lost), the University of Virginia Institute for Family Studies did a survey to find out just how strong the support for these alt-right people was in this country. They surveyed 3,038 non-Hispanic Whites, asking them three questions to rate on a scale of 1 to five. One meant disagreement and 5 mean agreement. The questions were:

Is your race important to your identity?

Is it important that whites work together to change laws unfair to whites?

Do whites face discrimination in the United States?

The Institute for Family Studies concluded that those people who scored high on all three questions either were involved in white identity (white supremacist) or sympathized with the white supremacist view. How large was that? About 6% of the country's white population. That may not sound like much, but considering the U.S. has a white population of about 198 million, it translates into about 11.9 million people.

That's a frightening number. But it's even worse than that. While they rated only those that scored high on all three questions as having white supremacist views, there were many more that scored highly on one or two of the questions. About 28% scored high on question #1, about 38% scored high on question #2, and 27% scored high on question #3. One would have to conclude that many of these people have at least a latent level of racism.

One thing the study does is show why racism has been so hard to stamp out in this country. It is because millions of citizens cling to those racist views.

The charts above, from the Institute for Family Studies, give a demographic breakdown of the white supremacist sympathizers.

Does The Public Understand What "Alt-Right" Means ?

The charts above reflect information found in a new ABC News / Washington Post Poll -- done between August 16th and 20th of a random national sample of 1,014 adults, with a 3.5 point margin of error.

The top chart doesn't surprise me. It shows that a majority of the public (56%) disapproved of how Donald Trump handled the news from the Charlottesville protests, while 28% approved. That 28% are the true-believers, and would support anything Trump did. He could be filmed punching children in the face to steal their candy, and that 28% would be loyal to him.

But the bottom chart really concerns me. It shows that 50% of Americans say they oppose the "alt-right" movement, while 10% support it and another 41% say they have no opinion about it. Could it really be true that about half of the country either supports the burgeoning hate groups or don't have an opinion on them. Could they be that cavalier about hate?

I certainly hope not. I think it is more likely that too many Americans don't understand the term "alt-right". It does NOT refer to traditional conservative or right-wing ideals. It is a term invented by hate groups to disguise their racist, bigoted, and violent agenda. They want to make their hate more palatable to more people -- and it looks like that may be working.

We must make it clear to more people just what "alt-right" means. It refers specifically to a collection of hate groups (KKK, neo-nazis, white nationalists, white supremacists, etc.). We must not let hate hide behind this rather innocuous sounding terminology.

Associated Press Gives Guidance Of Use Of Term "Alt-Right"

I found this interesting, and thought you might also. It is the guidance the Associated Press (AP) has given to its own writers regarding the use of the term "alt-right".

For reference, here is the whole guidance on this topic, which has been updated to add “anti-Semitism” to the definition and a few other additions:

“alt-right”
A political grouping or tendency mixing racism, white nationalism, anti-Semitism and populism; a name currently embraced by some white supremacists and white nationalists to refer to themselves and their ideology, which emphasizes preserving and protecting the white race in the United States.Avoid using the term generically and without definition, because it is not well-known globally and the term may exist primarily as a public relations device to make its supporters’ actual beliefs less clear and more acceptable to a broader audience. In AP stories discussing what the movement says about itself, the term “alt-right” (quotation marks, hyphen and lowercase) may be used in quotes or modified as in the self-described “alt-right” or so-called alt-right.Depending on the specifics of the situation, such beliefs might be termed racist, white supremacist or neo-Nazi; be sure to describe the specifics. Whenever “alt-right” is used in a story, include a definition: an offshoot of conservatism mixing racism, white nationalism, anti-Semitism and populism, or, more simply, a white nationalist movement.When writing on extreme groups, be precise and provide evidence to support the characterization. Report their actions, associations, history and positions to reveal their actual beliefs and philosophy, as well as how others see them.Some related definitions:racism The broad term for asserting racial or ethnic discrimination or superiority based solely on race, ethnic or religious origins; it can be by any group against any other group.white nationalism A subset of racist beliefs that calls for a separate territory and/or enhanced legal rights and protections for white people. Critics accuse white nationalists of being white supremacists in disguise.white separatism A term sometimes used as a synonym for white nationalism but differs in that it advocates a form of segregation in which races would live apart but in the same general geographic area.white supremacy The racist belief that whites are superior to justify political, economic and social suppression of nonwhite people and other minority groups.neo-Nazism Combines racist and white supremacist beliefs with admiration for an authoritarian, totalitarian style of government such as the German Third Reich to enforce its beliefs.antifa Shorthand for anti-fascists, an umbrella description for the far-left-leaning militant groups that resist neo-Nazis and white supremacists at demonstrations and other events. Until the term becomes better known, include a definition in close proximity to first use of the word.“alt-left” A term that some use to describe far-left factions. See “alt-right” for usage guidelines.