John Whitehead's Commentary
Online Racism Threatens Young People
But Alex Curtis isn't just another young white guy. He's one of the leading figures in the hate movement in the United States, the publisher of whiteracist.com and a person who believes that the two most important issues facing America are promoting racial separation and removing all influence of Western governments over the white race.
In a compelling and tragic new documentary, Hate.com, HBO spotlights the burgeoning racist movement in our country. In a comprehensive look at the spread of the hate message, particularly via the Internet, the HBO series illustrates how young men go from disaffected youths to "lone wolves," who often take out their hatred on blacks, Jews, homosexuals and any other targeted class that happens to cross their path at the wrong time.
The series focuses on how the propaganda of hate has found a home on the World Wide Web. Even more than a home, hate groups have found the crucial ingredient necessary to keep them alive--new blood. Teenagers and preteens are flocking to hate sites in astonishing numbers. Today, more than 2,000 sites promoting the racist message of white supremacy have staked out territory online.
Alex Curtis is one of the most visible faces in this gallery. But there are certainly others. In a recent report on the activity of hate groups in Ohio, the Columbus Dispatch told the story of James Roesch. Just 18, Roesch is the leader of the most active KKK group in the state, the Ohio Realm of the Knights of the White Kamellia. Roesch told reporters that his Internet site spreads his message to young people everywhere, resulting in up to 200 e-mails per day and about 300 letters per week--mostly from young people.
In addition, HBO tells the story of a leader in the white supremacy movement--whose junior high son has started his own website for other eighth-grade racists.
Some websites attract kids by featuring links to racist recording artists or computer games with racist themes. One site featured by HBO provided a game based on the popular Doom title--but instead of blowing the heads off bad guys, the object of the game was to shoot as many African-Americans as possible.
External factors suggest that the hate problem will only get worse. In the next couple of years, whites will become the minority in California. Between now and the middle of this century, other states will follow suit. Hate groups are sure to use this new reality as ammunition to a devastating effect among disaffected young white males.
Given this gloomy scenario, is there any hope on the horizon? One reason for optimism is that the younger generations are among the most racially tolerant of any in American history. While the hate groups grab the headlines, many other young people are living and working side by side with peers from every ethnic and racial background imaginable.
Plus, while young people can find racism on the Internet, the Web is also the tool by which they can be exposed to cultures from around the world--and through this unique virtual education become more tolerant of ideas and people who may be different than their limited real space experience.
Hate has always been with us, in one form or another. From the Romans who fed Christians to the lions to the Nazis who fed Jews to the gas chambers, evil has always lurked on the edges of civilization. But the real story of history is the ultimate victory of charity and community.
So while the young people of this age face new challenges in the form of evolving technology, it is up to us, those responsible for leading them into adulthood, to make sure they learn those lessons of history.
ABOUT JOHN W. WHITEHEAD
Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. His most recent books are the best-selling Battlefield America: The War on the American People, the award-winning A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State, and a debut dystopian fiction novel, The Erik Blair Diaries. Whitehead can be contacted at staff@rutherford.org. Nisha Whitehead is the Executive Director of The Rutherford Institute. Information about The Rutherford Institute is available at www.rutherford.org.
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