In polite society, no one writes essays with titles like this, because one of the rules of polite society is “You are not a white nationalist.”
But this is impolite society, so who knows? Maybe I am.
Well, I’m not, but before I say why, I should mention that WN’s, in my limited, internet-only experience, have some fairly good points. Certainly I’m more sympathetic to them than your garden-variety progressive. Nor am I blind to the media’s manifest untrustworthiness when it comes to anything possibly relevant to race.
For that matter, I’m generally more comfortable around white people, and I’m OK with that. I’m pretty sure it’s the norm for everyone to feel more at ease around others like them.
What weirds me out, however, is that WN’s seem to sometimes turn “whiteness” into a virtue elevated above others. This strikes me as just…weird. There are good people who are white. But…there’s also human filth that’s white. A philosophy so focused on race that it puts Trump and Washington on an equal level is a philosophy that’s got some splainin’ to do.
WN’s make an appeal that I think is very important, to group loyalty. Loyalty is, basically, discrimination, and I think it’s an important, necessary part of life. Loyalty is what makes a man bring food home to his kids rather than give it to some other kids. It’s important to love what you are, and those close to you.
But that is not the same thing as implying that you, or those like you, are perfect, or ideals of virtue. To an extent, loving others is about seeing what they could be, and urging them on.
I do not get the sense that white nationalism, as a whole, makes either self-improvement, or encouragement of others, a priority. A movement like that would probably trying to fight meth, or start co-op farms. Poor whites are in trouble, and it’s a shame that not much is being done for them, but I don’t get the sense that WN is that interested in helping them. I’m not sure it’s interested in doing anything, really.
The final, more visceral reason I’m not a white nationalist, is an almost nastily racist one: race nationalists are losers. BLM gets airtime and “space to destroy,” but none of their sound and fury will make the inner city safer. Every Mexican flag held up outside a Trump rally is another person who won’t really enjoy the Captain America movies. BLM members and black traders at Goldman Sachs are not the same people. And white nationalists…well, yeah, The Force Awakens was really stupid about how it just rehashed A New Hope, but John Boyega did a good job. I like him in the role. It’d be a shame to spoil your enjoyment of the film over something like ideology.
Calculated Bravery 