#169: Omens of a race war

It was amusing to listen to Sam so unwilling to distinguish between white nationalists and white supremacists. He really didn't have much energy for Kathleen Belew's thesis that "white supremacy" is not a useful identifier because it describes most of the world: she thinks the entire structure of western civilization is built around the oppression and exploitation of the non-white races. And one gets the sense that she is not exactly an extremist compared to the rest of academia, where she works.

I have to acknowledge that as a white person it may be too easy for me to dismiss that point. And maybe Sam is just as unwoke as I am. But it may also be that I'm taking a more woke and not less woke position: I say that western civilization is structured around the oppression and exploitation of all races, whites included. I think the one-percenters--those doing all the oppressing and exploiting--really don't give a fig what your race is, so long as they can milk you of your cash and your labor.

Sam and I share another blind spot: we were both uneducated about the role that the white nationalist movement played in Timothy McVeigh's terrorist attack on the federal building in Oklahoma City. But Kathleen does make a compelling case for the circumstantial evidence that adds weight to that role, even if McVeigh never explicitly admitted to it.

One other eye-opening aspect of this conversation was the lackadaisical history of the FBI in investigating and prosecuting white-power terrorist groups. One only wonders if the growing antipathy between the FBI and the kooks who are being taught to fear the "deep state" will ultimately lead the FBI to take a more serious interest in these kinds of movements.