Rise of Nativism?
By: Kwasi Anokye
Issue date: 5/5/09 Section: Opinion
The rise of militant nativism is surprising only when the fruit is divorced from the root - Settler survival. Nativists answer "yes" when asked the question "is America really yours?"
Nativists may be anti-big government but are passionate about protecting the "homeland." To protect the American people, their property and borders, settlers generally aim to control or eliminate "the other." Control naturally meets with corresponding resistance.
Some nativists object to these values. However today's militant nativists see what the celebrated Thomas Jefferson saw. Jefferson predicted white-inflicted atrocities against blacks would "probably never end." He added that "10,000 recollections" of these violations would result in race war.
Many nativist militias and other vigilantes are in the mood for race war. This mind-state intensifies in uncertain times of economic turmoil and social transformation. Some white supremacist websites' servers crashed under new membership traffic overload after a black man was elected president. Remember, the Ku Klux Klan was founded when the racist status-quo was threatened by the abolition of slavery.
Militant nativists' are an active part of a "keeping America safe" nexus. That is why nativists who engaged in lynching and other forms of white terror in the Nadir were hardly prosecuted. Local law enforcement is logistically incapable of containing major social disruptions so vigilantes have historically helped confront "threats."
Today nativist settlers patrol the borders, wary of immigrants. The Minuteman Project, a vigilante border patrol organization, declares on its web homepage, they operate "within the law to support enforcement of the law." Nativists and law enforcement appreciate the synergy between all national security forces.
There was minimal protest when private military contractors were slated to help "enforce the law" in black neighborhoods in Oakland and other locations, while militant nativists stand ready in the wings. Post-Katrina New Orleans left no doubt about the nature of these alliances which resulted in the deaths of innocents. Mercenaries and civilian vigilantes bragged about shooting blacks, yet no one has been prosecuted.
Leftist nativists might view right-wing vigilantes with anger, fear, or embarrassment, yet they share the same interests: the protection of a settler experiment. Settler deterrence sooner or later defers to indigenous and other forces of resistance. Meanwhile, nativists do all they can to delay this inevitability.
Nativists may be anti-big government but are passionate about protecting the "homeland." To protect the American people, their property and borders, settlers generally aim to control or eliminate "the other." Control naturally meets with corresponding resistance.
Some nativists object to these values. However today's militant nativists see what the celebrated Thomas Jefferson saw. Jefferson predicted white-inflicted atrocities against blacks would "probably never end." He added that "10,000 recollections" of these violations would result in race war.
Many nativist militias and other vigilantes are in the mood for race war. This mind-state intensifies in uncertain times of economic turmoil and social transformation. Some white supremacist websites' servers crashed under new membership traffic overload after a black man was elected president. Remember, the Ku Klux Klan was founded when the racist status-quo was threatened by the abolition of slavery.
Militant nativists' are an active part of a "keeping America safe" nexus. That is why nativists who engaged in lynching and other forms of white terror in the Nadir were hardly prosecuted. Local law enforcement is logistically incapable of containing major social disruptions so vigilantes have historically helped confront "threats."
Today nativist settlers patrol the borders, wary of immigrants. The Minuteman Project, a vigilante border patrol organization, declares on its web homepage, they operate "within the law to support enforcement of the law." Nativists and law enforcement appreciate the synergy between all national security forces.
There was minimal protest when private military contractors were slated to help "enforce the law" in black neighborhoods in Oakland and other locations, while militant nativists stand ready in the wings. Post-Katrina New Orleans left no doubt about the nature of these alliances which resulted in the deaths of innocents. Mercenaries and civilian vigilantes bragged about shooting blacks, yet no one has been prosecuted.
Leftist nativists might view right-wing vigilantes with anger, fear, or embarrassment, yet they share the same interests: the protection of a settler experiment. Settler deterrence sooner or later defers to indigenous and other forces of resistance. Meanwhile, nativists do all they can to delay this inevitability.