Understanding the Fears of White Supremacists, Neo-Nazis, the KKK

WHITE MINORITY

We're gonna be a white minority

We won't listen to the majority

We're gonna feel inferiority

We're gonna be white minority

White pride You're an American

I'm gonna hide Anywhere I can

Gonna be a white minority

We don't believe there's a possibility

Well you just wait and see

We're gonna be white minority

White pride You're an American

White pride Anywhere I can?

Gonna be a white minority

There's gonna be large cavity Within my new territory

We're all gonna die

lyrics by Black Flag, 1980

Diego Lee Rot

In conversation about the white supremacists with my son, Diego Lee Rot, he reminded me of one of his 8-tracks by Black Flag Nena and I had thrown away many years ago.  He referred me to the lyrics above in the song White Minority.

The song seems to refer to the fears of poor whites who felt and still feel threatened by minorities and the inevitable day ahead when they themselves will be in the minority.

FEAR!!!!!!!!   

You can see it and hear it if you look and listen carefully.  Poor whites have long been insecurely afraid of the black man taking their jobs, their women and imposing black culture on their kids.  

Nearly simultaneously, upwardly mobile, educated Hispanics are finally getting their share, adding to the insecurity of poor white folk in the rural Old South.

"Boat People" from Viet Nam, 1975

It was the well-to-do, who could actually afford the fare, who emigrated on boats to the U.S. after the fall of Saigon in 1975.  These emigrants, once on U.S. soil, relied on the values and work ethic developed in Viet Nam, emphasizing education and hard work to their children.

Anecdotally, I recall a Vietnamese child winning the state spelling bee in Arkansas 12 years in a row, an accomplishment hard to fathom by Arkansas' native English speakers, albeit poor.

White Supremacists, Charlottesville, VA

The KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists have long fed into those fears. I recall seeing a stack of pamphlets on the back of a gas station commode in El Dorado, Arkansas c. 1974 with a headline in bold type:  "IF YOUR PARENTS HADN'T PRACTICED SEGREGATION, YOU WOULDN'T BE WHITE TODAY!"  

That reasoning may still seem logical to the fearful followers of white supremacist racist groups today. Remember, they are motivated by fear, feelings of inferiority, not simply hate.