By Chauncey DeVega
Salon (8/21/18)

A week ago Sunday, white supremacists gathered in Washington to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the riot in Charlottesville, Virginia, where Heather Heyer was murdered and dozens of other people injured by a racist mob. There was no mass turnout for the “Unite the Right 2” rally. Instead only two dozen or so white supremacists and other members of the “alt-right” were present, vastly outnumbered by at least 1,000 counter-protesters. The racists rapidly skulked off, humiliated and defeated. Their opponents were jubilant.

Given Donald Trump’s unrelenting and largely unabated assault on democracy and human rights it is natural for decent people to celebrate a win. But that hope can also lead to miscalculations. Unite the Right 2 marked a tactical and not a strategic victory in what will be a long struggle against the right-wing forces that installed Donald Trump in the White House.

White supremacists such as those who marched in Washington last weekend, know that they do not need to win at the polls or dominate the streets to continue to gain power and influence.

Given Donald Trump’s unrelenting and largely unabated assault on democracy and human rights it is natural for decent people to celebrate a win. But that hope can also lead to miscalculations. Unite the Right 2 marked a tactical and not a strategic victory in what will be a long struggle against the right-wing forces that installed Donald Trump in the White House.

It remains true that white supremacy is both resurgent and ascendant in America. Both public policy and day-to-day norms are being reoriented by a form of backlash politics that emphasizes an explicitly white-supremacist agenda and blends Christian nationalism, racial authoritarianism, plutocracy, sexism and nativism.

There are many examples. …

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• White Supremacy Has Always Been Mainstream — White supremacy is a language of unease. It does not describe racial domination so much as worry about it. White supremacy connotes many grim and terrifying things, including inequality, exclusion, injustice, and state and vigilante violence. Like whiteness itself, white supremacy arose from the world of Atlantic slavery but survived its demise. Yet while the structures are old, the term “white supremacy” is not. … Read the Rest

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Podcast: The Rise Of Europe’s Far Right Nazi Backlash To Muslim Migration

America Abroad (6/29/18)

“[Populist leaders who] are willing to vilify other people based on their religion and ethnicity are probably not particularly respectful of democratic institutions.”

Link to 52-Minute Audio