White Supremacy Groups in the United States

By The Counter Extremism Project (CEP)

Key Points: • Some modern white supremacist groups, such as The Base, Hammerskin Nation, National Socialist Order (formerly Atomwaffen Division), and Nationalist Social Club subscribe to a National Socialist (neo-Nazi) ideology. These groups generally make no effort to hide their overt racist belief that the white race is superior to others. • Other modern white supremacist groups, however, propagate their radical stances under the guise of white ethno-nationalism, which falsely seeks to highlight the distinctiveness– –rather than the outright superiority––of the white identity. Such groups, like the League of the South and Patriot Front, usually claim that white identity is under threat from minorities or immigrants that seek to replace its culture, and seek to promote white ethnonationalism as a legitimate ideology that belongs in mainstream political spheres. • Many modern white supremacist groups eschew violent tactics in favor of using demonstrations and propaganda to sway public opinion and portray their ideologies as legitimate. However, their racial elitist ideologies have nonetheless spurred affiliated individuals to become involved in violent altercations. • White supremacist groups often target youth for recruitment through propaganda campaigns on university campuses and social media platforms. White supremacists have long utilized Internet forums and websites to connect, organize, and propagate their extremist messages.

New York; London; Etc.: Counter-Terrorism Project, 2018. 101p.