Due to the heightened hysteria surrounding terrorists from Islamic states, the U.S. has failed to recognize the terrorists dwelling on our own land: white nationalists. Interestingly enough, alt-right white supremacists pose a greater threat to American safety than foreign terrorists, yet the government will not call them terrorists.
First, let’s see why white nationalists should be referred to as terrorists. According to the English Oxford Dictionary, “A [terrorist is a] person who uses unlawful violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims.”
This group definitely has the unlawful violence and intimidation down. Heidi Beirich, director of the Intelligence Project at the Southern Poverty Law Center which tracks extremist groups, noted that white supremacists advocate for ethnic cleansing and genocide of all nonwhites. If that isn’t disturbing enough, there is a book called “The Turner Diaries” written by a white supremacist, and it is a fictional account of an underground white supremacist army that overthrows the U.S. government. There is also a chapter in it called “The Day of the Rope” that entails the mass lynching of thousands of nonwhites.
They envision a world where the political power is in the hands of white people, and where all civil rights are stripped from anyone not caucasian. It’s also difficult to see where women fall in this vision. White supremacists are overwhelmingly male.
They are politically motivated. These supremacists aim to end non-white immigration in an attempt to attain and keep their racial dominance. A common frame of thought for them is paleoconservatism: an anti-interventionist branch of libertarianism that strives to restrict immigration, disassemble social welfare programs, reverse multicultural programs and limit the government.
There are terrorist acts committed by white supremacists that clearly fall into the category of terrorism. To name a few violent acts, in 2017, these terrorists fatally stabbed two men that were defending a 16 year old Muslim in Oregon. A black student was stabbed at the University of Maryland, and a 66 year old black man was stabbed in New York.
According to NBC News, 18 out of the 34 U.S. extremist-related deaths in 2017 were committed by white supremacists, and only 9 out of 34 were from Islamic extremists. American citizens pose a greater threat to the public rather than foreigners.
Nobody wants to hear that it’s their own people that pose the greatest threat, but it’s true. The definition of a terrorist doesn’t correspond to a particular race and/or religion. Let’s actually analyze what makes a terrorist based off of its definition. White supremacists are terrorists— the U.S. government must consider them as such.
