“Defining white supremacy as extremist in its racism often has the result of absolving the mainstream population of its racism, portraying white supremacists as the racist fringe in contrast to some nonracist majority." This quote from Abby Ferber's book
Obviously Machado's actions were extreme. But because he acted without any affiliation to a racist organization, does it reduce the extremity of the crime? This also brings up the question are all members of white supremacist groups extreme? In the video above, members of the Aryan Nation are protesting and calling for a revolution at the Gettysburg Civil War Battlefield. The video shows several members of the Aryan Nation speaking, some calling for action in the revolution and saying, "resistance need not be armed or violent at first, but it will be." Again, this call to action states that extreme measures will be taken by some members if necessary. Later, another member is asked if he is calling for violence against minorities and he responds with "no, they [his compatriots] may but I don't." This quote blurs the line of dividing the mainstream and extreme due to the fact that a known member of the Aryan Nation is not going to take extreme violence, something that only people not affiliated with these organizations, would do. As Ferber states, by portraying the majority of the population as non-racist or mainstream, members of the Aryan Nation and other white nationalist groups are portrayed as extreme. However, the notion of mainstream and extreme is clearly subjective and cannot easily be defined.
White Man Falling: Race, Gender and White Supremacy, states that because white supremacist groups like the Aryan Nation are seen as taking extreme action in racism, the rest of the population is portrayed as being mainstream because their actions are less radical compared to those of the white supremacists. The idea that white supremacists are the extreme compared to a majority of the "mainstream, non-racist population" may not seem to be too far from the truth but what actions do we consider to be extreme? Are only actions of violence related to race extreme actions? If the "mainstream" never acts extreme, according to this definition, then why are people who are not associated with white supremacist groups taking on extreme acts of violence against other races? What I mean by this is if citizen(s) considered to be part of the "mainstream"carry out a violent act, like Richard Machado hate mail to some Asian American students at University of California, Irvine, when does it switch from being "mainstream" to "extreme?"
What does this reveal about the interface between mainstream-extreme? What is misleading about the idea of "THE extreme"
ReplyDeleteThis brings up an interesting topic. There is a fine line between the two, mainstream and extreme. There's always the blatant case of murdering someone because they are black, obviously this is extreme. And although I'd hate to call it "mainstream", because I still think it's rogue, but posting something online that doesn't directly affect someone could be considered so. However you raise a good point of how you define the in between? What makes something extreme? I wonder, from a member of the Aryan Nation, if they find anything to be "too extreme"?
ReplyDeleteI feel like the be considered extreme, an act or idea needs to have a sort of shock-and-awe effect on others. In the case of Machado, I feel that there is some debate behind whether his actions would be considered mainstream or extreme based on how disturbing others find them. This, then, brings up the idea of the extreme and mainstream having different levels. Do you think this is case is on a certain level of extreme/mainstream?
ReplyDeleteIn relating Machado to white nationalist movements Daniels discusses how Machado despite being a Mexican American has adopted this "white racial frame". When you speak about the intersection between extreme and mainstream how do you think that relates to the white racial frame discussed by Daniels? Does the mere adoption of the white racial frame label you as extreme or must one act on those beliefs to be qualified as "extreme"?
ReplyDelete