Book Review of McAleer, Tony. (2019). The Cure for Hate: A Former White Supremacist’s Journey from Violent Extremism to Radical Compassion. Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press.

Right-wing extremist violence represents “the oldest and most persistent form of terrorism in the United States and surprisingly the deadliest form of extremism in the US since 9/11. In fact, since 9/11 right-wing extremists have killed more Americans on US soil than jihadi extremists by almost two-to-one.” A joint bulletin from the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security reported that the number of homicides committed by white supremacists from 2000 to 2016 was “more than any other domestic extremist movement.” The latest FBI report shows that, for the third year in a row, hate crimes are increasing, with a 17% increase from 2016-2017. Violence committed by white supremacists is also growing, making 2017 the fifth deadliest year for extremists violence since 1970. How is the growth within white supremacist groups able to occur when they are such a significant threat to our public’s safety? A few of the major causes are: the government’s refusal to label white supremacists as terrorists, the protection the courts have placed on first amendment rights at the cost of others safety, the spread of recruitment and visibility of these extremist groups on social media, and the lack of awareness of the public due to the inaccurate stereotyping and description of the threats and violence propagated by the media by labelling it as mental illness and not as terrorism. These factors insulate white supremacists from real consequences, stigmatizes minority groups, provides a false narrative to the public about the threat to their safety, allows white supremacists to recruit more individuals online with ease, protects their hate speech and propaganda, and stops government departments from utilizing resources that would prevent future attacks. The government and media must stop blaming acts of domestic terrorism by white supremacists as being committed due to mental illness, and instead call it domestic terrorism and place regulations on social media companies that are negligently allowing white supremacist groups to recruit online and incite violence. In the past months, we have seen The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Economist, and Time magazine run issues on the threat of white supremacy in the US and how the media and government have allowed this growth to occur. It is a recognized problem, however, there is little legal research that analyzes the real threats and consequences on the U.S. This paper addresses the issue as a whole. It analyzes the personality of those recruited by white supremacist groups, including the first psychological profile of the alt-right, the influence media has had on the growth and visibility of white supremacists, how the media and government blame the attacks on mental illness, how the courts and government protect white supremacists, the lack of an independent federal crime for domestic terrorism, and the necessary steps the government must take to raise awareness of this threat to the public by calling these attacks terrorism and the need to regulate social media platforms that allow these extremist groups to recruit, grow in visibility, and plan attacks on their platforms. This paper calls for accountability and presents evidence that refutes any dismissal of white supremacists not being a significant threat to the U.S.

Contrary to its popular use to refer to racially violent extremism, white supremacy in the tradition of critical race studies describes the normalized ideologies, structures, and conventions through which whiteness is constructed as biologically, intellectually, culturally, and morally superior. This socially constituted racial hierarchy was developed through European colonialism to justify the acts of genocide and slavery that extracted resources from “non-white” lands and bodies to enrich “white” elites. Despite prevailing myths that colonialism and racism are artifacts of the past, the cultural hegemony of white power and privilege remain enduring pillars of contemporary business and society. White supremacy inextricably shapes business practices. Indeed, our current practices of business administration and management are themselves modeled on slavery—the possession, extraction, and control of human “resources.” White supremacist ideologies and structures can also be found in the highly romanticized discourses of leadership that continue to rely on imperialist myths that white people are more fit to govern. They likewise surface in entrepreneurship and innovation where white people are overwhelmingly cast in the glorified roles of geniuses and pioneers. Even diversity management, which purports to nurture inclusive organizations, ironically reinforces white supremacy, treating workers of color as commodities to exploit. Within liberal logics of multicultural tolerance, workers of color are often tokenistically hired, expected to assimilate to white structures and cultures, and used as alibis against racism. White supremacy is an integral (and often invisible) dimension of work, organizations, society, and everyday life. Challenging white supremacy requires that we engage in frank, honest conversations about race and racism, and the brutal legacy of European colonialism that maintains these constructs and practices. The path ahead requires the relinquishment of beliefs that race is an immutable, primordial essence and recognize it instead as a socially constructed and politically contested identification that has been used for white gain. Two ways that white supremacy may be dismantled in our cultures include redoing whiteness and abolishing whiteness. Redoing whiteness requires collectively understanding the mundane cultural practices of whiteness and choosing to do otherwise. Abolishing whiteness calls for a more absolute rejection of whiteness and what it has come to represent in various cultures. Antiracist resistance demands people of all racial identifications to commit to thinking, doing, and being beyond the existing racial hierarchy.

This article explores how pre-service and secondary teachers in New Zealand have responded to the themes of white supremacy and terrorism in the aftermath of the Christchurch Mosque attacks on 15 March 2019. The research questions focus on teachers’ views on the role of schools and teachers in addressing white supremacy and violent extremism. The study utilises a mixed-methods approach drawing on a survey of social sciences secondary teachers nationwide and first-hand accounts from pre-service teachers during the attacks. While the immediate responses of New Zealand politicians, police officers, firefighters, and the Muslim community garnered significant attention, this research aims to fill a crucial gap by shedding light on how teachers responded to the events related to white supremacy and terrorism and continue to address these topics in their classrooms.

This article analyses what the disavowal of abject forms of white supremacy reveals about the racial logic of the global preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE) agenda. We argue that the global P/CVE agenda is built on racialised concepts such as prevention, radicalisation and community – concepts that render it incommensurate with the newly identified problem of white supremacist violent extremism or domestic terrorism. Through analysis of interviews with experts and practitioners working within the broad field of P/CVE, we discursively analyse how the enmeshment of the agenda within the development and peacebuilding space exposes the agenda’s primary intent to manage presumably ungovernable populations in or from the so-called Global South. Taking the theoretical insights culled from textual analysis of practitioner interviews, we then consider the inclusion of right-wing extremism, and specifically white supremacy, within Western states’ domestic P/CVE agendas, primarily in the US. Our argument – that the move to consider far-right extremism within domestic CVE policy reveals rather than disrupts the P/CVE agenda’s racist foundations and intentions – contributes to a growing body of research that insists on attending to race, racialisation and racism within security studies and international relations, and which includes an emphasis on whiteness as an organising principle.

The Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR) created its Research Capacity and Development Committee in 2017 to build research capacity across the careers of social work scholars. The committee has initiated multiple conferences and webinar sessions that have increasingly focused on antiracist and antioppressive (ARAO) research, including "Mentorship for Antiracist and Inclusive Research" and "Strategies for Supporting Antiracist Pedagogy & Scholarship: Reimagining Institutional Systems & Structures." This commentary integrates themes from these sessions and other discussions among committee members about strategies to advance ARAO research. Although SSWR board members reviewed and approved this submission, it is not an official statement of SSWR or its board of directors.

One of the most tragic examples of extreme racial violence occurred in Greensboro, North Carolina, on November 3, 1979, when the multi-racial Communist Workers Party (CWP) planned a demonstration to protest against the notorious Ku Klux Klan (KKK). As protestors gathered for the “Death to Klan” march, a group of Nazis and Klansmen drove through the protest site in a nine-car caravan. The Nazis and Klansmen unloaded eighty-eight seconds of gunfire into the crowd killing five Communist Workers Party members. That same hatred and violence in Greensboro perpetuated by neo-fascists appeared again on August 12th, 2017, in an eerily identical fashion when Heather Heyer, a thirty-two-year-old, White woman, was killed in Charlottesville, Virginia. Heyer lost her life after white supremacist, James Fields, Jr., plowed his car into demonstrators protesting at a “Unite the Right” rally that had been orchestrated by white nationalists. In an instant following Heather Heyer’s murder, Charlottesville became reminiscent of Greensboro and 2017 blatantly mirrored the dawn of the 1980s, a troubling period of racial conflict and frayed politics. The case study of Morningside Homes illuminated a disregard and invisibility that black communities often suffered at the hands of law enforcement, city officials, white supremacists and other community members. The tragedy of Charlottesville illustrated not only the continuation of that invisibility, but also the traditional hindering of political organizing as a result of trauma, fear, and distrust of those sworn to protect the communities in which they serve. Despite how progressive America attempts to position itself, local histories continue to reflect national divisions of race and politics that relentingly facilitate rage, violence, and white supremacy in an alleged Post-Racial Society.

There is growing recognition about the similarities between generic criminality and violent extremism. Using data derived from a unique set of in-depth life history interviews with 40 former U.S. white supremacists, as well as previous studies of criminal desistance, we examine the emotional valence that characterizes actors' descriptions of the disengagement process. More specifically, results suggest that negative emotions (i.e., anger and frustration) directed toward the extremist group and oneself function as a catalyst for disengagement. Negative emotions become a source of motivation in re-evaluating the relative importance of the group as it relates to the individual. Ultimately, the reevaluation of the group is essential to the decision to disengage from violent extremism.

In an era of social media, the lines between physical and virtual realities have become blurred. This is especially evident in recruitment activities by violent extremists. This article compares five case studies from the white power and militia movements to learn how extremists attract new members. The findings suggest that recruitment occurs through iterative interactions in virtual and physical spaces. These spaces are not isolated to a single movement; individuals instead move between them. The findings did not reveal a divergence between civilian vs military recruits. Nevertheless, more research is needed on the extent to which veterans recruit their peers.

This Comment critiques the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) surveillance policies against Black activism following changes in the FBI’s threat terminology from “Black Identity Extremism” (BIE) in 2017 to “Racially Motivated Violent Extremism” (RMVE) in 2020. RMVE is a facially race-neutral category that includes both Black activists protesting racist violence and white supremacists who commit it. This change allowed the FBI to escape criticism of the BIE designation; however, the FBI’s narrative that Black activism is dangerous persists, and its surveillance power over Black activists has only increased. To justify this move, the FBI has engaged in the novel practice of “counter-profiling.” This entails grouping white supremacists and Black activists, then citing the rising threat of white supremacist violence to justify increased surveillance of all RMVEs, including Black activists—even though there is no reliable evidence of a violent extremist threat from Black activism. These FBI practices perpetuate a long history of racialized surveillance violating the Fourteenth Amendment because they demonstrate a racially discriminatory intent and use a racial classification that cannot survive strict scrutiny.

Conspiracy theories, and especially antisemitic conspiracy theories, form a core ideological component of right-wing violent extremism in the United States. This article argues that conspiracy narratives and their psychological antecedents are key to understanding the ideological appeal of right-wing extremist formations such as white supremacist and Christian Identity movements, providing insight into the motivations and behaviors of those individual participants who become sufficiently radicalized to carry out terrorist actions. It is further proposed that standard radicalization models can be enhanced for applications specific to right-wing extremism through an understanding of conspiracy thinking (both antisemitic and otherwise), and that this understanding can assist in addressing the motivated roots of the ideologies that sustain this particular type of violent extremism through a public health approach to counter-radicalization that aims to “inoculate” the public against the cognitive tendencies exemplified in antisemitic con- spiracy theories and in conspiracist culture more generally. The proposed approach would complement existing efforts in a unique way, as it would have the potential not only to improve public security, but also to provide further societal benefits by countering other negative tendencies associated with conspiracy belief (for example, decreased intention to vaccinate). This would provide an exceptional cost versus benefit ratio while supporting existing counter-radicalization programs and leaving them intact.

As an anecdote to loss and humiliation, radical Islamic militancy offers rebirth, retribution, and honor with the acceptance of tribal affiliation. To White Supremacists, White Supremacy or White Nationalism offers an America that is “Great Again,” meaning White, Christian, and a reversal of liberal values that have characterized America over the last several decades. For both Radical Jihadist Islam and White Supremacy, the percentage of people who will commit acts of extreme violence is small. But the support for their militancy, or some basic aspects of their cause, are often widely held. They, and a much broader group that supports their ideals, are propelled increasingly by internet-based propaganda that develops alternative truths that idealize a rigid alternative reality. Increasingly, these outlets are listened to and read by millions, and despite their basis in falsity and exaggeration, they become the substitute to a legitimate free press, which they call “fake news.” They begin with arguments that seem reasonable, but quickly escalate to hatred toward the outgroup, a deeply felt need to protect the tribe, and a sense of urgency to move toward militancy. Our behavioral genetics energizes talk of the “war on Islam,” and the “war on Christianity” to rapidly transform from a metaphor to a call to armed struggle and violence.

White extremism in the U.S. has not received much attention in the literature, despite scholars arguing that it represents the most sustained form of terrorism in the U.S. While much of the research on extremist movements has focused on the groups’ violent acts, there has been significantly less attention on the nonviolent activities, such as music. Following a social movement theoretical framework, we set out to understand the role that music plays in constructing the worldview and narrative of white extremists. Using lyrics from 337 white power songs from seven white power bands, we analyzed the linear and interconnected narrative that emerges in the music. What we found is a narrative interwoven throughout the music that presents a clear picture of white societies under threat from immigration, the Jewish-controlled media, and liberalism, with clear directives for extreme violence and vigilante justice. Based on this picture, we discuss the potential counterextremism implications and provide several avenues for future research.

The rise in extremist violence is a global concern, prompting advancements in threat assessment. This study applies machine learning to dissect publicly available texts from violent attackers with white supremacist, incel, and political extremist ideologies, as well as from those driven by personal grievances. Through natural language processing, the research identifies specific linguistic patterns and themes inherent to each group and explores the intersections among them. It uncovers shared narratives of disenfranchisement and aggression alongside unique ideological signifiers. Additionally, it identifies themes unique to each group, offering a clear thematic distinction between ideologies. These insights contribute to a more accurate identification of radicalization indicators, supporting the development of intervention strategies tailored to the ideological nuances of each group. Enhanced threat assessment tools informed by this research can improve the precision of prevention efforts by law enforcement and mental health professionals, reflecting the complex realities of extremist motivations and actions.

Domestic far-right groups, many of which are characterized by white supremacist aims, pose the most significant risk of ideological violence in the United States. Our ability to confront this security threat depends, in part, on the public’s willingness to punish perpetrators of such violence. Social Identity Theory suggests that societal responses to various behaviours will be shaped by ‘in-group’ identities and affiliations, with research from across disciplines finding that white and non-white offenders are treated differently. Considering the current national security threat posed by white supremacist violence, we expect that an effective response to this threat will face the twin obstacles of punishing perpetrators who are both white and American citizens. To evaluate the extent of these biases, we examine the public’s willingness to punish acts of violent extremism. Using a survey experiment, we find that ethnicity and citizenship powerfully influence the severity with which people punish extremist violence. White US citizens are punished the least severely compared to Muslim or non-citizen perpetrators for identical acts of violence. Our results indicate that America’s ability to confront the national security threat posed by white supremacy will depend in part on our ability to punish members of their racial and national ‘in-group’.

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