SOLEDAD: ACCORDING TO THE
ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE, WHITE
SUPREMACISTS KILLED 18 PEOPLE IN
2017, MORE THAN HALF OF ALL
EXTREMIST KILLINGS IN THE UNITED
STATES LAST YEAR.
ONE OF THOSE KILLINGS HAPPENED
IN CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA
DURING THE UNITE THE RIGHT RALLY
WHEN COUNTERPROTESTERS FACED OFF
AGAINST WHITE NATIONALISTS WHO
WERE DEMONSTRATING AGAINST THE
REMOVAL OF CONFEDERATE
MONUMENTS.
32-YEAR-OLD HEATHER HEYER DIED
WHEN JAMES NEAL’S JUNIOR, A MAN
DESCRIBED AS A NOT SEE
SYMPATHIZER, WAS ACCUSED OF
RAMMING HIS CAR INTO A CROWD.
ORGANIZATIONS LIKE THE SOUTHERN
POVERTY LAW CENTER, WHICH TRACKS
THE RISE OF HATE GROUPS, SAY THE
FAR RIGHT HAS BEEN EMBOLDENED BY
PRESIDENT TRUMP.
WHITE POWER ACTIVISM IN AMERICA
ISN’T NEW.
IT’S BEEN AROUND FOR CENTURIES.
ACCORDING TO A NEW BOOK CALLED
"BRING THE WAR HOME," THIS
MODERN MOVEMENT CAN TRACE ITS
ROOTS BACK TO THE VIETNAM WAR.
AUTHOR KATHLEEN BALLOU IS AT THE
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO.
THANKS FOR JOINING US.
YOU CALLED THE BOOK "BRING THE
WAR HOME."
WHERE DID THAT COME FROM?
KATHLEEN: IT COMES FROM AN ESSAY
WRITTEN BY THE LEADER OF A
MOVEMENT.
THE VIETNAM WAR REPRESENTS A
PROFOUND BETRAYAL OF ACTIVISTS
IN THIS MOVEMENT BY THE U.S.
GOVERNMENT AND THAT THE RESPONSE
TO SUCH BETRAYAL SHOULD BE TO
EXTEND THE VIOLENT ACTIVISM OF
WARFARE ON THE HOME FRONT.
SOLEDAD: I THINK WHEN YOU COME
TO LOOK AT THOSE MODERN
CONVERSATIONS TODAY, THIS IDEA
OF THE GOVERNMENT IS BETRAYING
US, OR THEY WANT TO REPLACE US,
ALL OF THOSE THINGS SEEM TO
REFLECT THAT SAME SENSE ABOUT
SOMETHING LOST AND SOMETHING
BEING TAKEN AWAY BY A FAR
GREATER FORCE, WHICH
RATIONALIZES WHY THEY ARE IN
THIS WHITE POWER MOVEMENT.
KATHLEEN: MANY SOCIAL MOVEMENTS
TAKEN UP BY WHITE POWER IN THE
PERIOD OF MY STUDY, INCLUDING
ANTI-IMMIGRATION, ANTI-WELFARE,
ANTI-INTERRACIAL MARRIAGE,
SUPPORT OF FREE ASSOCIATION,
WHICH IS SEGREGATION UNDER A NEW
LANGUAGE, ALL OF THOSE ARE
UNDERSTOOD BY WHITE POWER
ACTIVISTS TO BE ABOUT PROTECTING
THE FUTURE OF THE WHITE RACE
ITSELF.
THERE’S THIS IDEA OF RACIAL
ANNIHILATION AND A SENSE OF
EMERGENCY THAT TOGETHER CREATE A
SENSE OF URGENCY THAT FOMENTS A
REAL PLAN FOR RACE WAR.
SOLEDAD: HOW COME WE DON’T HAVE
CONVERSATIONS THAT TALK ABOUT
PEOPLE IN THAT MOVEMENT AS
TERRORISTS?
KATHLEEN: THE PEOPLE THAT I’M
WRITING ABOUT ARE NOT LONE
WOLVES.
THEY ARE BANDED TOGETHER DEEPLY
BY SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS.
THEY ARE IN ALL REGIONS OF THE
COUNTRY.
THEY REPRESENT PEOPLE OF ALL
EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUNDS.
IT ALSO HAS TO DO WITH A
STRATEGY PIONEERED IN 1983 AND
SPREAD THROUGH THE MOVEMENT
FORWARD CALLED LEADERLESS
RESISTANCE.
IT’S THE IDEA THAT A SMALL GROUP
OF PEOPLE CAN FOMENT  VIOLENT
ACTIVISM IN COMMON CAUSE IN A
WAY THAT CAN NOT LATER BE
PROSECUTED IN COURT.
YOU CAN THINK, FOR INSTANCE, OF
THE OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING THAT
WAS THE LARGEST DELIBERATE MASS
CASUALTY IN THE UNITED STATES
BETWEEN PEARL HARBOR AND 9/11,
AND WE STILL THINK OF THAT EVENT
AS THE WORK OF ONE OR A FEUD
DISCONNECTED MADMEN.
IN FACT, IT WAS THE PRODUCT OF
DECADES OF ORGANIZING BY THE
WHITE POWER MOVEMENT.
SOLEDAD: WHO RADICALIZE IS THESE
FOLKS, AND WHAT IS THE ROLE OF
WHAT I WOULD CONSIDER TO BE OLD
GUARD, KKK, THE DAVID DUKES OF
THE WORLD IN THIS
RADICALIZATION?
KATHLEEN: WE HAVE HAD A SPATE OF
REPORTING ON NEW ACTIVISM OF
GROUPS OF THAT MAY OR MAY NOT BE
SHOWN TO LATER BE PART OF THE
WHITE POWER MOVEMENT PROPER, BUT
GROUPS WE THINK OF AS ALT-RIGHT,
WHAT WE HAVE TO BE AWARE OF IS
ACTIVISTS IN THE PRESENT ARE
DRAWING ON A LONG HISTORY OF
MOVEMENT ORGANIZATIONAL
STRATEGIES AND A LONG REPERTOIRE
OF ACTIONS TESTED BY PEOPLE LIKE
DAVID DUKE IN EARLIER MOVEMENTS.
SOLEDAD: THE BOOK IS CALLED
"BRING THE WAR HOME."
IT IS FASCINATING AND RIVETING,
AND THAT ARCHIVE IS INCREDIBLE
