On this edition of Your Call, we discuss the significance and impact of far-right extremism in the United States. White nationalist groups have staged demonstrations around the United States this summer. Their rallying cries target a wide range of marginalized communities including immigrants, people of color, LGBTQ folks, Jewish people and other religious minorities. According to the Profiles of Individual Radicalization in the United States (PIRUS) dataset, 90 percent of cases of US terrorists are classified as domestic. Of the domestic extremists, 95 percent are far-right.
White nationalism is not a new phenomenon in the US. So how far back should we go to understand its roots? And as we come up on an election year in 2024, what can be done to end far-right extremist messaging and violence?
Guests:
Charles Postel, professor of history at San Francisco State University, and the author of Equality: An American Dilemma, 1866-1896 and The Populist Vision
Jeff Sharlet, journalist, professor of English and director of creative writing at Dartmouth College, and the author of The Undertow: Scenes from a Slow Civil War
Web Resources:
The Guardian: ‘I see this as a global fascist moment’: author Jeff Sharlet on interviewing far-right Americans
History: How the Nazis Were Inspired by Jim Crow
NPR: 'Active club' hate groups are growing in the U.S. — and making themselves seen
KQED: How an Antisemitic Propaganda Group Started in the Bay
Truthout: A New Wave of Neo-Nazism Has Become Visible in Wake of Jacksonville Shooting
