Michael Barkun is professor emeritus of political science in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. His books include "A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America"; "Religion and the Racist Right:The Origins of the Christian Identity Movement"; and "Chasing Phantoms: Reality, Imagination, and Homeland Security Since 9/11."
1. What do we do about white supremacy?
What is the sanest, most effective and most rational way to deal with white supremacy, from the point of view of both government and civil society -- that is, if it's a problem to deal with at all? Should white supremacists be left alone, particularly those like Posse Comitatus, whom we might think of more as tax-resisters than white nationalists? Is "hate" a useful concept to attack and pursue? Do you agree with the approach generally taken by the government in the last few decades, to outsource much of the work of identification to watchdog groups and to let them use any and all legal tactics to put white supremacist groups out of business?
Kaplan: This is a key question, and one over which I have spilled too much ink over the years. Long ago I wrote:
America has over the years dealt with oppositional subcultures in three ways. The most successful strategy is, in the present era, no longer much of an option. That is, we had plenty of land and few laws, so virtually any oppositional group, so long as they were reasonably circumspect, could go west and establish their own enclaves. America today has far less available land, and far more laws, and so this is hardly an option.
Second, the option of suppression has been remarkably unsuccessful. By driving a movement underground, we have found that we have increased its virulence without markedly lessening its appeal. In fact, it is the aura of the forbidden which most attracts young people to oppositional movements in the first place!
[Third,] the protections of speech and action as embodied in the First Amendment to the American Constitution seemed to be a far more promising avenue than outlawing speech or nonviolent action.
After the violent confrontations of the 1980s and 1990s, from the decidedly non-white supremacist Branch Davidians at Waco to the virulently racist Covenant, Sword and Arm of the Lord (CSA) and the battle against the Bruder Schweigen, or the Order as they were dubbed in the press, the American government stepped back from suppression and allowed a hundred flowers of racist criticism to bloom. They bloomed in the isolated shade of the internet and white power music, but they bloomed nonetheless.
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