Impression Management for the Thinking Racist: A Case Study of Intellectualization as Stigma Transformation in Contemporary White Supremacist Discourse

Abstract

Contemporary white supremacists have been working to publicly legitimate their movement. This article presents a case study of the magazine Instauration and its editor, Wilmot Robertson. The study indicates how "new racist" white supremacists present a discourse of "stigma transformation." First, I introduce Instauration and Robertson's books and review his longstanding efforts to present an intellectualized rhetoric of racism and white supremacy. I then analyze other impression-management techniques suggested in these writings. Both Robertson and contributors to Instauration proffer techniques to neutralize and/or transform the stigma of "racism." I discuss some of the broader implications of racism that is framed as intellectual argumentation.It is important to stress that, in America at least, no matter how small and how badly off a particular stigmatized category is, the viewpoint of its members is likely to be given public presentation of some kind. . . . An intellectually worked-up version of their point of view is thus available to most stigmatized persons.Erving Goffman, StigmaIn this article I offer an analysis of some white supremacists' stigma management techniques. I present a case study of one wing of the white supremacist movement that strives to manage the stigma of that movement and its ideologies by presenting white supremacists as nonviolent intellectuals, countering the common view of uneducated boorish terrorists. This strategy of "intellectualization" is presented to other white supremacists as having long-term stability (and thereby, they hope, saving an endangered "race"). But it is also forthrightly laid out that an intellectual approach offers a way of improving the movement's image. Several techniques of neutralization are deployed in and through this discourse.I thus look at white supremacist racism as a stigma (Dobratz and Shanks-Meile 1997) and at intellectualization as its disidentifier: The stigma of white supremacist racism evokes impressions of hatred, boorish irrationality, and violence or violent intent. Some

Uniting the Right: Anti-Immigration, Organizing, and the Legitimation of Extreme Racist Organizations

“…White supremacist political organizations address social and political issues from a white supremacist analytic framework. In this way, they often frame the world through a racist view and advocate a neo-Nazi/fascist solution based on racial hierarchy to rid the world of its social problems (Arena & Arrigo, 2000;Berbrier, 1998a;Berbrier, 1998b;Berbrier, 1999;Daniels, 1997;Dobratz, 2000;Dobratz & Shanks-Meile, 2000;Ezekiel, 1995;Ferber, 1999;Hamm, 1993;Ridgeway, 1995). In contrast, white supremacist religious organizations often rely on a spiritual foundation for white superiority.…”

“…The ascription of stigma to an individual or group creates a social distance between them and "normal" society. Stigmatic labeling often serves as a means of delegitimizing unpopular, radical, or marginalized political positions (Berbrier, 1999(Berbrier, , 2002Goffman, 1963). In the case of political and social movements, stigmatization is a direct strategy employed as a means of delegitimizing movements by denying them access to resources, alliances, and means of cultural framing (Berbier, 1999(Berbier, , 2002Boykoff, 2006;Buechler, 2000;Corrigall-Brown & Wilkes, 2011;Jasper, 1997;McAdam, 1992;Rauch, et al, 2007;Simi & Futrell, 2009;Snow & Benford, 1988;Tilly, 1978).…”

“…Mitch Berbrier (1998aBerbrier ( , 1998bBerbrier ( , 1999 has identified two key macrolevel strategies used by white supremacists to reframe stigmatized identity: ethnic claims-making and intellectualization. The process of ethnic claimsmaking involves the effort to portray white supremacist ideology as representing that of an ethnic group, arguing, among other things, that the label "racist" is applied to them simply for having a healthy pride in their heritage and culture.…”

“…The predicted growth of the proportion of the U.S. population who identify as non-white Hispanic and Latino, as well as "two or more races," and the projected decline in proportion of the U.S. population who identify as white, provide what white supremacists believe is clear empirical evidence for their political position. By drawing on empirical support for their claims, KSS and EAAC are able to present their ideological and political positions as the products of intellectual engagement with the world rather than as the result of ignorance or emotion (Berbrier, 1999). The strategy of distancing is the most evident micro-level product of ethnic claims-making and intellectualization for the KSS.…”

“It is just SICKENING”: Emotions and discourse in an anti-immigrant discussion forum

“…This may be particularly pertinent for right wing organizations that are often portrayed in the media or by liberal social movement groups as being racist (Sohoni 2006). Research on white supremacists suggests that members do feel stigmatized and respond with a range of strategies, including hiding one's stigmatized identity around strangers or work places, avoiding certain conversation topics with people unsympathetic, and giving accounts that neutralize the negative stigma (Berbrier 1998(Berbrier , 1999(Berbrier , 2000Simi and Futrell 2009). Members of nativist organizations may similarly see themselves as targets for potential racist stigma and develop strategies to combat the negative label (Bloch 2014;Sohoni 2006).…”