Reading Right: The Western Tradition in White Supremacist Discourse

Abstract

Our paper explores the white supremacist movement's reliance upon the western genre to construct white masculinity. We argue that white supremacist discourse rearticulates both the narrative form and content of the classic western. We first examine the formal and substantive themes of the classic western, and then analyze the publications of a wide variety of contemporary white supremacist organizations, including Klan, neo-Nazi, and Christian Identity groups. We argue that white supremacist discourse draws upon the western genre, and its particular construction of white masculinity, to rearticulate and rationalize race and gender inequality and encourage readers to identify with the values and goals of the white supremacist movement.