White Supremacy Before & After the Web

Jessie Daniels, PhD Netroots Nation – July 16, 2016

Twitter: @JessieNYC

<my research>

Before & After the Internet

<1997>

qualitative content analysis

369 pub’s from 5 WS

organizations*

*(COTC, KKK, NAAWP, NSRP, Christian Identity

+ WAR)

Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)

Two main arguments, first:

WS is gendered…

race & masculinity

Second argument:

WS is similar to mainstream rhetoric around race.

Access to Analog Documents Arduous

Started using technology in classes about ‘race’ in

1990s.

First student: typed in KKK.com into a search

engine.

Second student: typed in Martin Luther King into a

search engine.

Both searches led to white supremacist sites on

first page of results.

were my students being “recruited”?

no, but something was going on

my question: how to study this?

<2009>

qualitative content analysis

Registered users: 129,000**(November, 2008)

Registered users: 313,503**(July, 2016)

qualitative content analysis

and

qualitative content analysis

andquasi-

experimental with in-depth interviews

cloaked websites: intentionally disguising authorship in orderto conceal a political agenda

consistently appears on first page of results

evaluate pairs of websites

evaluate pairs of websites

Graphic Design

“This site looks like someone, you know, just

an individual created it. It doesn’t look very

professional.” (study participant, age 17)

“I mean, I don’t think I would disagree with it. I’m sure there are some slaves that were treated

well. So, I can understand their point of view.

There’s always two sides to everything.” (study participant, age 17)

Several arguments,

first: racism is changing

because of digital

technologies

WS rhetoric is easier to access,

global and more

participatory

The key issue is not

“recruitment” but rather

making hard-won moral & legal victories once again up

for debate.

what about the First Amendment?

we largely misunderstand what it protects

As a result, the U.S. is “haven for hate speech.”

In fact, there is“no constitutional protection for a burning cross” (SCOTUS, Virginia v. Black, 2003).

what is a burning cross in the digital era?

<2016>

White Supremacy Still Mainstream

Donald J. Trump, 2016White Aryan Resistance, 1997

Now, Easier to Share

Donald J. Trump, 2016White Aryan Resistance, 1997

Twitter: @JessieNYC

Thank You!