White supremacists cause fear in their enemies by engaging in a variety of activities that promote their ideas. In this article, although the author states that it has not been easy to understand white-power activists, their actions nowadays, including marching in the streets, have revealed their existence. These supremacists never quit because, even after the Fort Smith trial, 13 pleaded not guilty and were acquitted. One astonishing fact that the author notes is that they received their weapons in the two laundry hampers. Since then, it was clear that there was some collusion between the defendants and two jurors, which made the trial to be flawed from the start. The fight against white power was thought to be almost won, but indeed it never disappeared, it mutated, and it still exists.
White power relocated to the internet after perpetuated crackdowns. The author states that after a string of white-power violent acts, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) started to pursue individual violent offenders. The FBI never wanted to associate these perpetrators to a larger white-power movement. What this policy did was to erase this ideology from public awareness, but its activities shifted to the internet. Belew (2018) claims that there are numerous white power networks online. The white supremacist movement continues to pose a threat to through its penchant for secrecy.
Additionally, over the internet, the white power philosophy continues to be associated with illegal activities and propensity towards violence. Although there have been efforts to quash this dogma, it continues to thrive online. They send extremist content to attract sympathizers over the internet by spreading violet messages. This case is particularly typical for far-right extremists, who turn to fringe sites to propagate their conspiracies. Therefore, although white power is thought to have disappeared, it is thriving online.
Over the internet, those places without string rules are the best ones for white supremacists to thrive. In recent times, YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook seem to have succeeded in removing extremist content from their sites. Other fringe sites continue with what the author calls “subsequent small-scale crackdowns,” which offer this white power movement ample time to proliferate their ideologies (Belew, 2018). There are not enough endeavors to create public awareness regarding this state of affairs to all internet users. All the fringe sites should be informed on the ways to block these ideologies from reaching many people.
In conclusion, white power never disappeared as it is a common misconception in the United States. What happened is that it mutated and relocated to the internet. Over there, there is ample space for the propagation of white power ideologies, primarily through fringe sites that do not have strict rules to block those attempts. Most of these criminals were acquitted and later joined their allies in the propagation of white power and far-right extremists. An example is the offenders of the Fort Smith trial, whose culprits were later handed their weapons. There is a need for an online campaign to sensitive users about extremist ideologies and their effect on society. Therefore, white supremacy mutated from public awareness and moved its activities to the internet, where it now thrives. Without proper efforts to suppress this movement, more people will get their extremist ideologies, sympathize with them, and join them. By the time the world discovers, it will be hard to quell it.
Reference
Belew, K. (2018). White power never disappeared. The New York Times. Web.