Rage in the Heartland

“His fascist ideal, he said, would resemble the early days in the United States, when power was reserved for landowners.”

Many readers of the widely recognized vanguard of journalism (including me) were surprised, and in some instances outraged, by the NYT portrayal of Hovater as just another regular American among an increasingly accepted movement of White nationalists.

Some thought the article appeared disturbingly sympathetic to a blatantly unapologetic racist. Others viewed the profile as problematically ambivalent towards Hovater’s ardent and unabashed White supremacist views.

The article prompted a tidal wave of reaction from the political, cultural and religious spectrum. Many readers lambasted the NYT reporter, Richard Fausset, as well as the newspaper’s editorial staff for publishing such an uncritical assessment.

That’s mainly because Hovater is not racially discreet — far from it.

To the contrary, he harbors deep racial and religious hatred, despite his empty denials. He strongly advocates for a nation where people are segregated based on racial pigmentation.

The New York Times editors believed Fausset’s article fell short of the esteemed newspaper’s centuries-old journalistic standards, to which the besieged reporter ultimately conceded.

Readers Accuse Us of Normalizing a Nazi Sympathizer; We Respond

We have asked our national editor, Marc Lacey, to respond to feedback on our recent profile of a white nationalist.Readers Accuse Us of Normalizing a Nazi Sympathizer; We Respond

We have asked our national editor, Marc Lacey, to respond to feedback on our recent profile of a white nationalist.

Winds of Intolerance

As a society, we have evolved to a level where views that would have been seen as socially acceptable as late as the 1950s, or even early to mid-1960s, are no longer embraced by most people — at least in the public sphere.

That being said, we have witnessed ugly changes on this front as the Trump presidency has continued to trample on the morals, values and norms of liberal and progressive America.

Indeed, the winds of intolerance have been blowing dangerously hard.

However, the unfortunate truth about Whites for many people of color is obvious, especially for Black Americans like me:

We know all too well that hidden racism and biases of Whites are always bubbling just beneath the surface.

In our dealings with many White people, even those with generally good intentions, the forces of White denial, White fragility and, yes, White supremacy tend to surface unrelentingly.

The fact is that more than a few Whites, including some who identify as liberal or progressive, harbor negative or ambivalent attitudes about Blacks and other non-Whites.

What is more troubling is that many liberals — particularly those of the supposedly racially progressive persuasion — too often overlook, excuse or normalize White supremacy while, at the same time, passionately denying that they possess such racist attitudes.

The racial hypocrisy of Whites remains extremely troubling.

Admissions field still coming to terms with Varsity Blues scandal.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — More than six months after the Varsity Blues scandal broke, those who work in college admissions are…

www.insidehighered.com

Sobering Reality

It’s sadly ironic that some of the same Whites who don’t hesitate to utilize all the advantages inherent with being White — as evidenced, for example, by the “Varsity Blues Scandal” (article above) — are reluctant to call out or acknowledge deeply embedded systemic racism.

The article, by Inside Higher Education, describes, “An admissions system that many outside of the academy’s ivory towers have come to believe locks in inequities and denies underprivileged students the opportunities that are lavished upon the wealthy and powerful.”

This systematic racism has deeply pernicious effects on the lives of many people of color and often results in forced gentrification, police brutality, subprime lending, failing educational systems, deplorably inadequate health care, shorter life expectancy, and other social maladies.

These are often the same supposedly enlightened White people who usually remain silent when a relative, neighbor or co-worker makes a disparaging remark about a certain ethnic or religious group.

These are the same White men and women who read the New York Times article cited above, then revel in shock and disgust while simultaneously failing to realize that they share similar attitudes.

The sobering reality is that it’s crucial, in fact imperative, to acknowledge the fact that White supremacy can be varied and multifaceted.

White supremacy can be subtle, sly, seductive, reductive and unsuspecting to those possessed with it.

White supremacists represent all walks of life, including: