Racism can be so confusing!
Consider the case of everyone’s favorite racist dickhead fantasy author, Theodore “Vox Day” Beale. Ever since he discovered, two years ago, that his DNA contained enough Native American blood “to qualify for membership in most Indian tribes,” Beale has been using these DNA results to do a sort of end-run around accusations of racism.
How can he be a racist, much less a white supremacist, if he’s technically a “Person of Color,” specifically “a real Indian, complete with tribe, reservation, casino, and language” (that he of course does not speak). It’s a “gotcha” he loves to pull out every time someone points to any of the incredibly racist things he’s said over the years.
Now this little rhetorical gambit of his is starting to backfire. Turns out Beale’s identification of himself as a “Native American” isn’t exactly endearing him to the hardcore white supremacists of the Alt Right.
And so Beale, who very much wants to be not only a member but a big name in the Alt-Right club, has decided to invent a whole new category of Alt Right for people like him. Or perhaps just him.
In a blog post today, Beale divides the Alt Right into three groups: The Alt-White, the Alt-Lite, and the Alt-West. The Alt-White consists of the unrepentantly white supremacist Daily Stormer crowd. The Alt-Lite is made up of Pepe-posting anime Nazis who, in his mind, don’t really count as serious Alt-Rightists at all.
And then there is the Alt-West, which consists, as far as I can tell, of no one but Beale himself.
Beale tries to explain the details of this particular sorting system, but his efforts really only serve to muddy things further.
Alt-White is for whites only. Alt-West is pan-racial and pan-national, which should not be confused with being multicultural or equalitarian or pro-diversity in the egalitarian sense.
Beale is the only “pan-racialist” I’ve ever run across who not only rails against white women dating black men, but who actually went so far as to mock a “coal burning” white woman who was recently murdered by her black boyfriend. Beale’s take? “Burn de coal, pay de toll.”
Alt-White is primarily concerned with white nationalism, and secondarily concerned with European nationalisms. … While the Alt-West supports white nationalism, that is not its sole concern, as it supports all nationalism, European or otherwise.
Distinction without a difference.
Alt-White is neutral to hostile on Christianity. Alt-West is strongly pro-Christian, as it believes Christianity to be one of the three pillars of Western Civilization aka the historical Christendom.
But don’t worry, aspiring Alt-Westerners! You don’t actually have to do more than pay a vague lip-service to the idea of Christianity!
Pro-Christian includes, but does not require, actually being a Christian.
And then comes what the Nazi types like to call the Jewish Question.
Alt-White is hostile to very hostile to all Jews everywhere. Alt-West is friendly to Israeli Jews while hostile to globalist Jews and anti-nationalist Jews.
So Beale is fine with Jews just so long as they don’t live in his neighborhood. Or his country. Or indeed any country other than Israel.
But perhaps the most revealing bit is Beale’s take on literal Hitler and the literal Nazis.
Alt-White has a romantic view of National Socialism. Alt-West regards it as a suicidally stupid but semiotically useful form of German nationalism.
Er, what?
So Beale’s main criticism of the Nazis is that … they were kind of stupid for invading Russia and dooming themselves to defeat? But, hey, they had the coolest logo?
Aside from these little differences, Beale assures any Alt-Whities reading his post that
Alt-White and Alt-West are largely in accord. … [W]ith the possible exception of Christianity in the long term, there is very little reason for conflict between Alt-White and Alt-West … .
Also, white people are totally awesome!
There are much bigger battles ahead than settling the question of whether Christianity is a necessary component of Western Civilization or not. Because we know the white race is absolutely a necessary component of it, and that is why, whether one is inclined towards the Alt-White or the Alt-West, every member of the Alt-Right who values both whites and the West has immediate and mid-range objectives remain exactly the same.
Mighty white of you, Ted. Mighty white of you.
I’m reminded of the infamous Craig Cobb interview. I could listen to that lady laugh all day…
Nuka-Cola Bigotry
Yeah, I love how these guys don’t like Tumblr identity labels, yet go on to coin even more outlandish ones for themselves.
Another, even more egregious example: look up Matthew Heimbach. Heimbach is a proponent of “Identitarian Christianity”, which means he believes a person’s ethnicity should be inseparable from his religion. Thus he frowns on religions that primarily grow via conversion, in favor of those in which affiliation is inherited from one’s parents and/or dictated by the state.
There’s only one problem: Heimbach is himself a convert (to Eastern Orthodoxy, which he claims agrees with his racial views, although it doesn’t). Not only that, he belongs to an ethnicity that wasn’t historically Orthodox (unless, perhaps, you go back before 1054. However there were some Northern European peoples who remained pagan even after that).
How does he rationalize this obvious double standard? Easy; he created a new ethnicity (“Avalonian”) and identifies with THAT. An “Avalonian”, according to him, is an Eastern Orthodox of North-Western European racial background who agrees with his “identitarian” views. He has plans to eventually start a Kingdom of Avalon (complete with knights and its own Avalonian Orthodox Church) on some part of the current territory of the US. No word on if he’s a Roxy Music fan or not.
And people thought the Rachel Dolezal thing was bizarre! Heimbach might not be okay with gay or transgender people, but he’s certainly okay with being trans-Avalonian.
@Hu’s on first
So he’s claiming that he’s trans ethnic?
HOW THE FUCK DOES THIS BULLSHIT EVEN WORK???
And on a related note, I’m struck once more by the ironic hilarity of those who claim to be a “master race” being so ugly and stupid.
Gives me an excuse to post this again:
White supremacy
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HgM0FOHhmTU/Un-jSYQy1kI/AAAAAAAAP_A/Dldsp4-3ncI/s1600/moran.jpg
Yeah, white man, who is this ‘Morans’ you speak of? *facepalm*
Also, re: the presumptive indigenous heritage, I just came up with a little poem:
No matter what his bloody quantum,
I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t want ‘im.
I mean, could anybody be LESS desirable than he? In any sense of the word?
Some Native American tribes have somewhat lenient criteria for membership in terms of DNA. But that’s intended to accommodate people who culturally identify as Native American even if they could easily pass as white. Tribal membership usually involves identifying with a tribe’s goals. There’s been some controversy surrounding people who identify as Native American without proof of ancestry (e.g., Ward Churchill).
In Vox’s case, he passes as white except when it’s convenient for him and he doesn’t seem interested in serving a tribal community. Maybe it’s true he can’t be racist if you’re letting literal Nazis decide who counts as a “racist.”
At which point Arthur would wake up and smack him around the continent like an uppity Saxon.
@WWTH
http://www.whatamimissinghere.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Govnt-Keep-Ur-Hands-of-my-Medicare.jpg
Hi, resident Israeli Jew here, and I would like to say to Beale: “Go fuck yourself with a pitchfork[*]; I have no use for your so-called friendliness, you horrible racist turd”.
(Didn’t read through the rest of the thread here, because I was upset enough to just want to post the above, so this might have been said elsewhere – but I suspect him being okay with Israel is not just about having Jews away from him, but also because the current Israel is fairly right-wing, and is seen as a force to fight Islam, both literally by fighting the Palestinians and on a diplomatic scale by speaking against it. That’s why there are a bunch of racist, nationalist, sometimes actually neo-Nazi folks who come here to buddy-buddy with Israeli right-wing groups/parties. Said right-wing folks like them because they’re anti-Islam, and Nazi tendencies be damned. Jorg Haider is a name that springs to mind, but he’s far from the only one.)
[*] What? He doesn’t have to use the pointy end. It just sounds better like this, for some reason.
@WWTH & Axe
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3555/3462246191_6f68ffa6dc.jpg
Yes, but patriotic is the last refug of a scrandel! Or is it the last refuse of a scandal? The past centrifuge of a sandal? In any case, I know it’s true, ’cause Samuel L. Jackson wrote it in his dictionary.
@Penny Psmith
If I may speculate, I think that the Alt-Right sees in Israel an object lesson in how to revive a once-neglected nationalist sentiment, to build up strong institutions (chief among them being, without question, the IDF) to protect said nation from its enemies and detractors, and in how to persuade (diplomatically or otherwise) the greater international community of, if not the rightness of the enterprise, then at least of the fact that it is a non-negotiable matter.
Basically, they admire Israel for demonstrating that it is possible to reach their ideal end-game; a world in which “their people” have a secure homeland to can call their own, where they can speak their own language, and practice their beliefs without having to bow to anyone else. To be able to punch well beyond their weight class in international affairs, and to have a region-leading military to back itself up with.
Sure, the USA is already a superpower, but (if I read the Alt-Right correctly) it is not as ideologically pure as they see Israel to be; the US is too quick to compromise, to equivocation on their morals, and to allow “foreign” influences to dilute their essential national character. This, in their minds, can only lead to degeneration and annihilation.
Of course, the fact that Islam is regarded as a common enemy is also a useful thing, as is the fact that both of them trace their intellectual pedigree to a Western(-ish) root; I hardly see them lavish such unqualified praise on the People’s Republic of China, for instance.
…Perhaps? That’s a lot of speculation about a lot of stuff I know little about.
But it seems (might be a cognitive bias) that pro-Israel sentiment among European nationalists is relatively new, and strongly linked to anti-Islam sentiment. That’s why I see it as the main reason.
Normally, upon seeing that quality of writing, I’d say “don’t quit your day job” but apparently writing is somehow his day job?
wait wait wait wait…
white supremacists hate christianity?
is that a real thing?
@ brian
Only a few Odinists, really. As far as I know, anyway
Hello.
You means the one who spits on Islam, Judaïsm and almost any other possible descent religion ? I am sadly sure they would still like to burn people on cross if they were allowed to, so…
> Penny Psmith
It is even worse than that, i fear. The French far-right is known to have weaved links with a lot of far-right all across the world, including the Israel one. I think the surface thought is : “I know you want your people in your country, which is mean not in mine, and i am fine with that !”. And the deep though is : “And i hope you will exterminate yourself with your neighbor, urh urh !”
We are speaking of people who do not like or love anything which is not themselves, so do not put a lot of hope on their behavior.
Have a nice day.
“Indian ancestry” ha ha.
My family had a legend that we were descendants of the Cherokee. Lots of other families do too.
What this is often (concealed) code for is African (slave) ancestry.
There was a time when Indians/Native Americans were shat upon, but shat upon a bit less than people of African ancestry. There’s a passage in Frederick Douglass’s autobiography where he’s on a ship and people of color have stay on deck and not below. It’s stormy and wet and one of the crew says that people who are Indian can go below in the dry and most of the black passengers say “I’m Indian” but Douglass doesn’t even though he’s sort of asked “Are you sure you aren’t Indian?”
So anyway, my dad actually believes he has Cherokee ancestry until he takes the genetic test. Turns out some of our ancestors decided it was a bit easier to be part Indian (absolutely no blame, when it comes to your children’s life chances you do what you have to do).
I don’t know about Beale’s DNA profile, but I ain’t getting free chips* at the casino in North Carolina any time soon. I also know that while I’m proud that my ancestry encompasses a broad range of the American story, I’m white for all intents and purposes because that’s what I look like and that’s how I was raised and am seen (except for white supremacist intents and purposes, I guess).
_____
*I don’t think that’s how it actually works.
Betcha that guy with the “descent is the highest form of patriotism” is one of the butthurt “patriots” screeching about Colin Kaepernick.
Looks like he’s not applying for membership, or telling what the “relevant tribe” is. I can imagine two possible reasons for this:
1) He’s not culturally Native, and doesn’t want to be, because it’s all meaningless to him. Therefore it doesn’t occur to him that people might pay attention to tribal specifications. He’s just using his racial background to deflect racism accusations.
2) His claim is made up or exaggerated.
@WWTH, Axe, and SFHC
http://s3.amazonaws.com/liberalamerica/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/juice.jpg