Dawn M. Turner, Chicago Tribune, August 31, 2015:<\/p>\n
When I finished speaking with Richard Spencer on Sunday afternoon, I better understood why he vehemently opposes immigration, feels the white race will soon be a \u201chated minority\u201d in America, and supports Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump even though he never imagined he would.<\/p>\n
I talked to the 37-year-old University of Chicago grad, who now lives in Montana, because I know that Trump has tapped into a fear that\u2019s deeply felt by people near and far. It\u2019s just that most folks wouldn\u2019t articulate it in the same way, or as willingly, as Spencer, especially to someone like me.<\/p>\n
Spencer is president of the National Policy Institute, a think tank. On its website under the name is the creed, \u201cFor our people, our culture, our future.\u201d He doesn\u2019t want to be called a \u201cwhite supremacist\u201d because although he\u2019s a staunch believer in the separation of the races, he says he doesn\u2019t believe in the superiority of the white race.<\/p>\n
{snip}<\/p>\n
Spencer also doesn\u2019t want to be called a \u201cwhite nationalist,\u201d because \u201cnationalism is about chauvinism.\u201d Instead, he considers himself a European \u201cidentitarian,\u201d which he says is based on white people of European descent understanding who they are as a people and uniting along the lines of their shared historical experiences.<\/p>\n
{snip}<\/p>\n
\u201cI call myself an identitarian and not an American,\u201d he said. \u201cI think whites will need to be post-American and rediscover our identity as Europeans.\u201d<\/p>\n
{snip}<\/p>\n
Spencer rails against consumerism, and wants the country to return to a \u201cspiritual dimension.\u201d He describes an America\u2013or any country\u2013that\u2019s racially and ethnically diverse as one in which people are \u201call thrown into this flat world where they don\u2019t have a historical or emotional connection to the nation.\u201d
\nHe believes America has been a \u201cfailed experiment\u201d and that by 2044, when the U.S. Census Bureau predicts people of color will outnumber whites, they will be \u201ca defeated people.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut won\u2019t a lot of white people still be in power?\u201d I asked him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t doubt that white people will still hold power,\u201d Spencer said. \u201cBut those are the managers of white decline.\u201d He referred to Hillary Clinton, whom he called \u201cpathetic.\u201d<\/p>\n
{snip}<\/p>\n
To be clear, not all of Trump\u2019s supporters share Spencer\u2019s extreme views. But there is a disaffected, angry knot of folks who are afraid they will be and have been steamrolled by immigrants and affirmative action. They wholeheartedly believe a particular way of life continues to be under threat.<\/p>\n
So in walks a bold and brash presidential candidate who gives voice to their fears while trumpeting the idea of making America great again.<\/p>\n
Although Spencer likes Trump, he doesn\u2019t believe America can be great again.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s backward-looking,\u201d he said. \u201cWe want to look forward and think about who we\u2019re going to be. People want to know everything is going to be OK, that my grandchildren are going to be OK.<\/p>\n
\u201cDonald Trump is not a white nationalist, or an identitarian. But he\u2019s giving people a sense that \u2018your fears are real and we can find a way out\u2019 and this contrasts with other Republicans who say, \u2018Your fears are not real.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n
Spencer\u2013who has no ties to Trump\u2013said he thought the candidate\u2019s statement on America not being a nation unless it has borders was powerful. And, he\u2019s deeply inspired by the way Trump has gained traction without the conservative establishment.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf identitarians are going to have a future, we have to operate outside those paradigms,\u201d he said. \u201cTrump is demonstrating the bankruptcy of the GOP and Fox News, and showing you don\u2019t need the Bush family.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dawn M. Turner, Chicago Tribune, August 31, 2015: When I finished speaking with Richard Spencer on Sunday afternoon, I better understood why he vehemently opposes immigration, feels the white race will soon be a \u201chated minority\u201d in America, and supports … Continue reading