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I teach a class on film & politics. One week focuses on the rise of the contemporary White Power movement and related political violence. I want to share the main reading and two documentaries we studied, as I think they help illuminate some of the dynamics of this moment. 
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Our main text was Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America, by @kathleen_belew (which I highly recommend). 2/ https://www.amazon.com/Bring-War-Home-Movement-Paramilitary/dp/0674286073
A key insight from the book is that a subset of veterans felt betrayed both by the governmentâs handling of the Vietnam War and by the federal governmentâs commitment to civil rights for Blacks and Asian Americans. 3/
In this worldview, the government either supported White people and their interests or, in a direct threat to White people, was aligned with non-Whites. The ideology is often described as anti-government but itâs actually against a state that doesnât privilege White concerns. 4/
For a more visceral sense of how White Power ideologies can turn into violence, we watched the documentary Oklahoma City. The film traces Timothy McVeighâs path from US soldier to leader of the worst act of domestic terrorism in American history. 5/ https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/oklahoma-city/
Finally, we also watched Frontline: Documenting Hate - Charlottesville, directed by Richard Rowley. @ACinvestigates does a remarkable job reporting on the White supremacists & neo-Nazis involved in the 2017 Charlottesville Unite the Right rally. 6/ https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/documenting-hate-charlottesville/
When far-right activists engage in vigilante violence or domestic terror, the media often describes them as âlone wolves.â @kathleen_belew makes clear thatâs a mistake. White Power is a social movement. When violence erupts, we need to ask âWhere were they radicalized?â /fin
For anyone interested, a few additional texts. This superb history in @tabletmag provides context for the attack on the Tree of Life synagogue. For the contemporary part, skip to âThe modern story of the terrorist far right must focus on one individualâŠâ https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/pennsylvanias-dark-history-of-hate
Arlie Russell Hochschildâs research is not about the White Power movement but does help shed light on some of Trumpâs broader appeal to many Whites who feel like the government is no longer on their side. See what Hochschild calls the âdeep story.â https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/08/trump-white-blue-collar-supporters/
This striking article by @danielduane helps remind us White supremacy was a national project: âBetween 1850 and 1861, California government spent an ~$1.5 million reimbursing bounty hunters and militias for deliberate mass murder of Native Californians.â https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/28/opinion/sunday/surf-racism.html
My research is not about White Power but does speak to the role of state-aligned White vigilante violence in opposition to the civil rights movement. https://twitter.com/owasow/status/1265709670892580869
There have been some great suggestions in response to this thread so Iâm going to extend it with additional crowdsourced readings, films and podcasts. @Saintsman3 recommends the incomparable W.E.B. Du Boisâ The Souls of Black Folk. https://twitter.com/Saintsman3/status/1300238627566428165
My friend Alex recommended Rising Out of Hatred by Eli Saslow. It documents the spread of white-supremacist ideas âthrough the intensely personal saga of one man who eventually disavowed everything he was taught to believe, at tremendous personal cost.â https://bookshop.org/books/rising-out-of-hatred-the-awakening-of-a-former-white-nationalist/9780525434955
A couple people recommended @Deeyah_Khanâs âWhite Right: A Muslim Filmmaker Confronts Members of the New âWhite Rightââ.
. @Whataboutista suggested âAmerican Patriot: Inside the Armed Uprising Against the Federal Governmentâ https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/american-patriot-inside-the-armed-uprising-against-the-federal-government/
. @sivavaid recommends two podcasts:
â Democracy in Danger in which he & @WillHitchUVA interview @kathleen_belew (up second week of Sept) https://twitter.com/sivavaid/status/1300127221873602562
â âthe entire podcast series by @pastpunditryâŠthe gold standard for documentary podcastsâ https://twitter.com/sivavaid/status/1300127619665612800
â Democracy in Danger in which he & @WillHitchUVA interview @kathleen_belew (up second week of Sept) https://twitter.com/sivavaid/status/1300127221873602562
â âthe entire podcast series by @pastpunditryâŠthe gold standard for documentary podcastsâ https://twitter.com/sivavaid/status/1300127619665612800
. @JessicaScott09 recommends James William Gibsonâs Warrior Dreams as well as Leonard Zeskindâs Blood and Politics. https://www.amazon.com/Warrior-Dreams-Violence-Manhood-Post-Vietnam/dp/0809015781
. @e_Rigby71 helpfully offers a few recommendations: âThe Birth of a Movement: How Birth of a Nation Ignited the Battle for Civil Rights, captures the backdrop to this prescient clash between human rights, freedom of speech, and a changing media landscape.â https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/films/birth-of-a-movement/
Also via @e_Rigby71, âThe day after Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed, Jane Elliott, a teacher in a small, all-white Iowa town, divided her third-grade class into blue-eyed and brown-eyed groups and gave them a daring lesson in discrimination.â https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/class-divided/
Last batch of generous suggestions from @e_Rigby71:
â Race: The Power of an Illusion, specifically Episode 3
https://racepowerofanillusion.org/episodes/three
â Welcome to Leith, https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/films/welcome-to-leith/
â Reveal podcast series on hate, https://www.revealnews.org/topic/hate/
â Race: The Power of an Illusion, specifically Episode 3
https://racepowerofanillusion.org/episodes/three
â Welcome to Leith, https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/films/welcome-to-leith/
â Reveal podcast series on hate, https://www.revealnews.org/topic/hate/
. @GeraldineMoriba is the host & producer of a new podcast Sounds Like Hate, âan audio documentary series about the dangers and peril of everyday people who engage in extremism, and ways to disengage them from a life of hatred.â https://soundslikehate.org
A fav of mine: âIn 1965, Rev. James Reeb was murdered in Selma. Three men were tried & acquitted, but no one was ever held to account. Fifty yrs later, two journalists return to city where it happened & expose lies that kept the murder from being solvedâŠâ https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510343/white-lies
