White pride
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The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. (August 2024) |

White pride is an expression primarily used by white separatist, white nationalist, fascist, neo-Nazi, and white supremacist organizations in order to signal racist or racialist viewpoints.[2][3] It is also a slogan used by the prominent post–Ku Klux Klan group Stormfront and a term used to make racist/racialist viewpoints more palatable to the general public who may associate historical abuses with the terms white nationalist, neo-Nazi, and white supremacist. It is often used alongside the related term white power.
Provenance
[edit]Sociologists Betty A. Dobratz and Stephanie L. Shanks-Meile identified "White Power! White Pride!" as "a much-used chant of white separatist movement supporters",[4] and sociologist Mitch Berbrier has identified the use of this phrase as part of a "new racist ... frame-transformation and frame-alignment by (a) consciously packaging a 'hate-free' racism, (b) developing strategies of equivalence and reversal–presenting whites as equivalent to ethnic and racial minorities, and (c) deploying ideas about 'love,' 'pride,' and 'heritage-preservation' to evidence both their putative lack of animosity toward others as well as their ethnic credentials."[5] In a social psychology experiment that tested how white participants could be influenced to identify with white pride ideology, social psychologists framed white pride as follows:[6]
[P]eople who openly express White pride seem invariably to be those alienated from the mainstream culture—KKK members, skin-heads, and White supremacists—people trying to grab onto some basis for feeling good about themselves when conventional avenues such as successful careers and relationships are not working well for them. Consequently, the vast majority of people who avow White pride seem also to explicitly avow racism.
Sociologists Monica McDermott and Frank L. Samson documented the rhetorical evolution of white pride movements thus, "Because white pride has historically been predicated upon a denigration of nonwhites, the articulation of the duties and requirements of whiteness reflects a desire to correlate a conscious white identity with positive attributes."[7]
Use as an identity marker
[edit]Political and social scientists commonly argue that the idea of "white pride" is an attempt to provide a clean or more palatable public face for white supremacy or white separatism and that it is an appeal to a larger audience in hopes of inciting more widespread racial violence.[8] According to Joseph T. Roy of the Southern Poverty Law Center, white supremacists often circulate material on the internet and elsewhere that "portrays the groups not as haters, but as simple white pride civic groups concerned with social ills".[9]
Philosopher David Ingram argues that "affirming 'black pride' is not equivalent to affirming 'white pride,' since the former—unlike the latter—is a defensive strategy aimed at rectifying a negative stereotype". By contrast, then, "affirmations of white pride—however thinly cloaked as affirmations of ethnic pride—serve to mask and perpetuate white privilege".[10] In the same vein, Professor of Education at University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Cris Mayo, characterizes white pride as "a politically distasteful goal, given that whiteness is not a personal or community identity, but has been a strategy to maintain inequities of privilege and power."[11]

Political scientists Carol M. Swain and Russell Nieli, in their text on white nationalism, identify the idea of "white pride" as a relatively new phenomenon in the United States. They argue that over the course of the 1990s, "a new white pride, white protest, and white consciousness movement has developed in America". They identify three contributing factors: an immigrant influx during the 1980s and 1990s, resentment over affirmative action policies, and the growth of the Internet as a tool for the expression and mobilization of grievances.[12] According to Janet E. Helms, founding director of Boston College's Institute for the Study and Promotion of Race and Culture, a white person "must become aware of his or her Whiteness, accept it as personally and socially significant ... Not in the sense of Klan members' 'white pride' but in the context of a commitment to a just society."[13] Among people who strongly identify as white, research differentiates between a power cognizant group and a prideful group. The prideful group is more likely to devalue diversity and to show prejudice, while the power cognizant group is more likely to value diversity.[14]
Sociologist Luigi Esposito of Barry University writes that "the emphasis on white pride or white identity resonates with supporters of the alt-right because racial tribalism is regarded as an antidote to the neoliberal emphasis on competitive individualism and self-serving behavior that presumably threatens the interests of whites."[15]
Racist context
[edit]The slogan "White Pride Worldwide" appears on the logo of Stormfront, a website owned and operated by Don Black, who was formerly a Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.[16] The North Georgia White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan describe themselves as "a patriotic, White Christian revival movement dedicated to preserving the maintenance of White Pride and the rights of the White Race".[17] A 2002 study identified white pride as a motivation for racial hate crimes on a US college campus,[18] while in a different study on internet racism, the slogan was identified as being part of an emerging transnationalist trend in white supremacist movements.[19] The slogan was also documented to have been used in hate speech incidents at New York University,[20] Vassar College,[21] Temple University,[22] the University of Oregon,[23] and the University of Tennessee,[24] and it was a slogan used in posters put up by a white supremacist organization at dozens of US colleges.[25]
Certain Denver Nuggets jerseys were named "white pride" by Adidas and were listed as such on the team's website in 2016, after which internet outcry prompted the team to rename the jerseys.[26] Similarly, a fitness room in River Falls, Wisconsin was renamed to avoid the racist connotations of it being referred to as the "White Pride Fitness Room".[27] The slogan was chanted along with "White Power" by up to 100 neo-Nazis rallying in Manchester, United Kingdom in March 2015[28] and was the theme of a March 2016 event in Swansea[29] and a March 2017 event in Edinburgh,[30] all of which were organized by the National Front. In an exposé from The Week, James Poulos warned that "Europe is on track to rediscover what looks to us like a highly unsettling form of white pride."[31]
See also
[edit]- Fourteen Words
- "It's okay to be white", an alt-right slogan
- White genocide conspiracy theory
References
[edit]- ^ Staff (March 21, 2009). "Neo-Nazi group and anti-racism protesters clash in Calgary". The Star. Toronto.
- ^ Van McVey, Sarah (2008). Race, Gender, and the Contemporary White Supremacy Movement: The Intersection of "isms" and Organized Racist Groups.
- ^ Gabriel, John (4 January 2002). Whitewash: Racialized Politics and the Media. Routledge. pp. 5–. ISBN 978-1-134-75016-0.
- ^ Dobratz, Betty A.; Shanks-Meile, Stephanie L. (2001), The White Separatist Movement in the United States: White Power, White Pride, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, p. vii, ISBN 978-0-8018-6537-4
- ^ Berbrier, Mitch (November 1998). "'Half the Battle': Cultural Resonance, Framing Processes, and Ethnic Affectations in Contemporary White Separatist Rhetoric". Social Problems. 45 (4): 431–450. doi:10.2307/3097206. JSTOR 3097206.
- ^ Greenberg, Jeff; Schimel, Jeff; Martens, Andy; Solomon, Sheldon; Pyszcznyski, Tom (2001). "Sympathy for the Devil: Evidence That Reminding Whites of Their Mortality Promotes More Favorable Reactions to White Racists". Motivation and Emotion. 25 (2): 113–133. doi:10.1023/A:1010613909207. S2CID 146201804.
- ^ McDermott, Monica; Samson, Frank L. (2005-01-01). "White Racial and Ethnic Identity in the United States". Annual Review of Sociology. 31: 245–261. doi:10.1146/annurev.soc.31.041304.122322. JSTOR 29737719.
- ^ Swain, Carol M. (2002), The New White Nationalism in America: Its Challenge to Integration, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 16, ISBN 978-0-521-80886-6
- ^ Roy, Joseph T. (September 14, 1999), Statement of Joseph T. Roy, Sr. before the Senate Judiciary Committee, U.S. Senate Committee on The Judiciary, archived from the original on 2008-05-20, retrieved 2015-01-21
- ^ *Ingram, David (2004), Rights, Democracy, and Fulfillment in the Era of Identity Politics: Principled Compromises in a Compromised World, Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, p. 55, ISBN 978-0-7425-3348-6
- ^ Mayo, Cris (2004). "Certain Privilege: Rethinking White Agency". Philosophy of Education. 60: 308–316. doi:10.47925/2004.308. S2CID 143308655.
- ^ *Swain, Carol M.; Nieli, Russell (2003), Contemporary Voices of White Nationalism in America, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 5, ISBN 978-0-521-01693-3.
- ^ Tatum, Beverly Daniel (2017). Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: And Other Conversations About Race. Basic Books. p. 94. ISBN 978-1-5416-1658-5.
- ^ Mendoza-Denton, Rodolfo (26 April 2012). "Does White Pride Lead to Prejudice?". Greater Good.
- ^ Esposito, Luigi (18 January 2019). "The Alt-Right as a Revolt against Neoliberalism and Political Correctness: the Role of Collective Action Frames". Perspectives on Global Development and Technology. 18 (1–2): 93–110. doi:10.1163/15691497-12341507. S2CID 159077076.
- ^ Faulk, Kent (1997), "White Supremacist Spreads Views over the Internet", The Birmingham News.
- ^ Hilliard, Robert L.; Keith, Michael C. (1999), Waves of Rancor: Tuning in the Radical Right, Amonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, p. 62, ISBN 978-0-7656-0131-5
- ^ Jackson, Ronald L.; Heckman, Susan M. (1 June 2002). "Perceptions of White Identity and White Liability: An Analysis of White Student Responses to a College Campus Racial Hate Crime". Journal of Communication. 52 (2): 434–450. doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.2002.tb02554.x.
- ^ Back, Les; Keith, Michael; Solomos, John (1998). "Racism on the Internet: Mapping Neo-Fascist Subcultures in Cyberspace". In Kaplan, Jeffrey; Bjørgo, Tore (eds.). Nation and race : the developing Euro-American racist subculture. Boston: Northeastern Univ. Press. ISBN 978-1-55553-332-8.
- ^ "NYU's Jewish, Gay Communities Shaken But 'Strong' After Finding Swastika Sticky Notes in Dorm, Campus Rep Says". Algemeiner.com. Retrieved 2017-04-07.
- ^ "Hate speech continues to impact Vassar, United States – The Miscellany News". 29 March 2017. Retrieved 2017-04-06.
- ^ "Temple U. pulls out the stops to find culprit behind 'hateful' white pride stickers - The College Fix". The College Fix. 2017-03-28. Retrieved 2017-04-06.
- ^ Tobin, Michael. "'White Pride' chalk graffiti spotted on campus". Daily Emerald. Archived from the original on 2019-08-10. Retrieved 2019-08-10.
- ^ Ohm, Rachel. "University of Tennessee deletes tweet responding to hate speech on the Rock". Knoxville News Sentinel. Retrieved 2019-08-10.
- ^ "Meet the neo-Nazi coming to put up white pride posters on your campus". The Tab US. 2017-02-15. Retrieved 2017-04-06.
- ^ "Return Of Denver Nuggets' 'White Pride' Uniforms Causes A Stir [PHOTOS]". 2016-10-21. Retrieved 2017-04-06.[clarification needed]
- ^ Paulsen, David (2 February 2016). "'White Pride Fitness' uproar prompts school to change name". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
- ^ O'Leary, Abigail (28 March 2015). "Arrests at White Pride rally in Manchester city centre's Piccadilly Gardens". Manchester Evening News. MEN Media. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
- ^ McCarthy, James (2016-03-26). "Hundreds protest against Swansea White Pride rally". Retrieved 2016-09-03.
- ^ "'Neo-Nazis' plan White Pride march on same day as Sikh religious festival". The Independent. 2017-03-18. Retrieved 2017-04-06.
- ^ Poulos, James (13 April 2015). "Europe's shocking and unsettling future: White pride". The Week. Michael Wolfe. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
White pride
View on GrokipediaConceptual Foundations
Definition and Etymology
Reference works and scholarship typically categorize “White pride” as a slogan employed by white nationalist, neo-Nazi, and white supremacist groups to express racist or racialist views.[3][4] The phrase emerged as a distinct slogan in American white separatist and neo-Nazi contexts during the 1970s and 1980s, evolving from earlier “White power” rhetoric of the mid-1960s, which arose in response to the “Black power” movement. Proponents may frame “White pride” as an affirmation of European-descended heritage and cultural identity paralleling movements such as “Black pride” to resist perceived cultural erosion, but this is widely viewed as masking supremacist ideologies and disregarding the historical context of white dominance and privilege, rendering it not equivalent to pride movements among historically oppressed groups.Distinction from Supremacy and Nationalism
Scholars contest claims of distinction between white pride and white supremacy in practice due to shared organizations, rhetoric, and personnel, often interpreting white pride expressions as euphemisms for supremacist ideologies shaped by historical contexts of white power and privilege. While proponents describe white pride as ethnic self-affirmation celebrating European-descended cultural, scientific, and historical contributions—prioritizing preservation and drawing on social identity theory to argue it enhances cohesion without out-group hostility—this framing is viewed as contested and frequently masking hierarchical doctrines, unlike pride in other ethnic groups lacking such dominance histories.[5] For instance, analyses indicate that while conceptual separation exists absent explicit superiority rhetoric, empirical overlaps persist; political scientist Eric Kaufmann notes moderate white identity focused on preservation may avoid derogation per surveys, yet broader scholarly consensus emphasizes non-equivalence due to contextual power imbalances.[6][7][8][1][9] Proponents further distinguish white pride from nationalism by characterizing it as a primarily cultural sentiment rather than a state-oriented political project like white nationalism, which seeks policies such as immigration restrictions to maintain white majorities, but critics highlight rhetorical overlaps and entanglements with nationalist projects despite claims of apolitical heritage appreciation. Expressions of white pride often involve symbols such as the Celtic cross or heritage-themed apparel, circulating within political or nationalist networks. Some advocates invoke kin-based affiliation theories for an apolitical identity, though scholars contest this given frequent political integrations.[10][11]Historical Development
Pre-20th Century European Ethnic Identity


20th Century Emergence and Key Events
A pivotal milestone in the explicit advocacy of white pride occurred in 1959 with the founding of the American Nazi Party by George Lincoln Rockwell, who popularized the "White Power" slogan to promote racial consciousness among white Americans. Rockwell's group influenced later organizations through its emphasis on white unity.[3] By the late 1960s, this rhetoric appeared in more structured forms, such as the National Alliance, founded in 1970 by William Pierce, which distributed literature advocating white heritage and self-determination.[14] The 1970s saw the spread of white pride into subcultures with the rise of white power skinheads in the UK, emerging from working-class youth scenes linked to Oi! music and incorporating neo-Nazi symbols and chants.Post-1960s Evolution
In response to the demographic and policy shifts following mid-1960s legislation, white pride advocates reframed ethnic identity as a defensive stance against multiculturalism and perceived disadvantages to European descendants.[15][16] Expressions shifted toward strategic electoral backlash framing, exemplified by George Wallace's 1968 and 1972 presidential campaigns, which channeled grievances over federal race interventions and integration into broader political mobilization.[17] Subcultures propagated white pride via youth scenes incorporating music and aesthetics, such as the skinhead rock band Skrewdriver, to build militant solidarity under economic strains and expand localized groups into transnational networks.[18] Internet forums emerging in the 1990s, including Stormfront founded by former Klansman Don Black, centralized discussions on heritage preservation and anti-immigration, fostering anonymous user aggregation for global dissemination beyond in-person events.[19] By the 2010s, meme repackaging via digital platforms—like the "It's Okay to Be White" slogan from 4chan—employed irony and critique to sidestep stigma, penetrating mainstream dialogues on identity and demographics through decentralized channels despite restrictions.[20]Usage and Manifestations
As an Identity and Cultural Marker
Proponents describe white pride as an ethnic identity emphasizing shared ancestry, historical narratives, and cultural continuity as a basis for self-identification. Proponents often frame this identity in terms of pride in historical innovations, exploration, and institutional development associated with European forebears. This identity is expressed through self-labeling, apparel, tattoos, online avatars, and slogans that signal affiliation and shared values within communities.[21] Cultural markers include symbols repurposed from European pagan and Christian traditions to signify heritage and resilience, such as the Celtic cross.[22] While anti-extremist organizations like the ADL classify such uses as hate symbols due to associations with neo-Nazi groups, the symbols' pre-modern roots predate modern racial ideologies.[23] Other markers include runes and bindrunes from Norse mythology, used in apparel, tattoos, and digital profiles to evoke cultural motifs. Common slogans such as "White Pride Worldwide" appear on wearables and online, functioning as identifiers of group membership. These markers are displayed at events like Hammerfest and in music genres such as white power rock, where shared anthems and iconography reinforce collective identity. Online platforms further amplify them, allowing individuals to share memes, ancestry visualizations, and slogans to build transnational networks.[21]In Organizations and Media
Organizations, forums, and publications serve as primary channels for disseminating white pride messaging, facilitating recruitment, and distributing propaganda that emphasizes ethnic solidarity, heritage preservation, and opposition to perceived demographic shifts. Stormfront, launched in 1995 by Don Black, a former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard, functions as a longstanding online forum for white nationalist discussions invoking white pride, peaking at hundreds of thousands of registered users and hosting content on European heritage.[19][24] Patriot Front, formed in 2017 by Thomas Rousseau following the Charlottesville Unite the Right rally, organizes marches and propaganda to promote white pride and ethnic unity against multiculturalism, with chapters across the U.S. estimated in the hundreds.[25] Active Clubs, emerging around 2020, combine fitness training with white advocacy to recruit young men via social media, building local networks focused on racial identity and self-defense in at least 30 states by 2023.[26] In publications and media outlets, white pride is advanced through self-published content framing it as legitimate group advocacy comparable to other ethnic movements. American Renaissance, founded by Jared Taylor in 1990, produces articles and hosts conferences that reject supremacy while addressing IQ differences and immigration's effects on Western societies.[27] Distribution efforts, including propaganda tracked by the Anti-Defamation League, involved 6,751 incidents in 2022—doubling from previous years—with stickers, posters, online videos, and slogans like "White Pride Worldwide" aimed at recruitment and normalization.[28]Comparative Analysis
Parallels with Other Ethnic Pride Movements


Double Standards and Equity Arguments
Proponents of white pride argue that societal and institutional treatment of ethnic pride exhibits a clear double standard, wherein pride in non-white identities is normalized and encouraged as empowering or compensatory for historical marginalization, while equivalent expressions of white ethnic identity are reflexively equated with supremacy or bigotry, irrespective of content. This selective affirmation manifests across key domains, such as commemorations, higher education, and demographic framing. For instance, Black History Month, established by presidential proclamation in the United States in 1976 to highlight African American contributions, receives widespread support from schools, governments, and corporations, yet proposals for a White History Month are typically rejected as unnecessary or offensive.[33][34] Similarly, no designated White Pride Month exists, with rationales often invoking redundancy due to the perceived year-round dominance of white cultural narratives or associations with supremacist elements, paralleling rejections of white history observances.[35] Proponents contend that this disparity endures even when empirical evidence shows some minority pride movements incorporating exclusionary elements, such as the Nation of Islam's advocacy for black separatism, which encounters less uniform condemnation than white counterparts.[36] Similarly, in higher education, race-specific student organizations for minorities, such as Black Student Unions at numerous U.S. colleges, are accepted, contrasted with opposition to analogous white student groups, which administrators often cite as risks for promoting exclusion or racism.[37] Furthermore, amid demographic shifts in Western nations—such as non-Hispanic whites projected as a U.S. minority by 2045 per Census projections—institutional inconsistencies persist, including corporate backing of Black Pride events or Indigenous Peoples' Day observances, without equivalent affirmation for white heritage. Equity perspectives argue that such patterns, including the lack of a White Pride Month, underscore calls for consistent recognition to address perceived imbalances in ethnic pride allowances.[38] Equity arguments maintain that allowing white pride equivalent to other ethnic prides upholds formal equality and consistency in identity politics: if pride enhances self-esteem and cohesion for minorities, withholding it from whites widens imbalances. Proponents trace these patterns to post-1960s civil rights paradigms that affirm minority pride compensatorily but impose ongoing stigma on majority groups, overlooking equivalences in human psychology where ethnic identities gain from recognition absent supremacist aims.[36]Arguments Supporting White Pride
Preservation of Heritage and Demographic Realities

Empirical Contributions of European Descendants
Proponents of white pride cite selected historical advancements in science and technology by individuals of European descent as evidence supporting cultural pride, emphasizing types of contributions such as pivotal inventions that facilitated widespread knowledge dissemination and industrialization. These examples are invoked to highlight a tradition of empirical inquiry in European societies.[41][42] Advocates also reference foundational principles in physics and mathematics developed through observation and modeling.[43] Proponents point to quantitative metrics of achievement, such as distributions of Nobel Prizes in scientific fields, alongside early developments in computing, as indicators of priorities on innovation and merit-based inquiry.[44][45]Criticisms and Rebuttals
Associations with Extremism and Racism

