Attorney general nominee Merrick Garland announced his chief priority to the Senate Monday. “If confirmed,” he said, “I will supervise the prosecution of white supremacists and others who stormed the Capitol on 6 January—a heinous attack that sought to disrupt a cornerstone of our democracy.” He also insisted America faces a “more dangerous period than we faced in Oklahoma City” due to the “white supremacist” threat.
Garland is not alone in believing this is the number one threat. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday that “white supremacy” is the number one threat to the entire world.
“White supremacy and neo-Nazi movements are more than domestic terror threats. They are becoming a transnational threat,” Guterres said in Geneva. “Today, these extremist movements represent the number one internal security threat in several countries.” Guterres claimed “these hate groups are cheered on by people in positions of responsibility in ways that were considered unimaginable not long ago.” In response, he demands “global coordinated action to defeat this grave and growing danger.”
“White nationalists” are also blamed for rising crime in America. Several hundred demonstrators marched “against white nationalism” last weekend in New York. The demonstrators blamed white supremacists for the recent spate of attacks on Asian Americans. Several Asian leaders share this belief and lay the blame for these attacks on Donald Trump’s rhetoric and “xenophobia.”
White nationalists were even blamed for last summer’s Black Lives Matter rioting. Numerous officials, including Minnesota’s governor and the mayor of Richmond, Virginia, blamed white supremacist infiltrators for the violence caused in the name of racial justice.
You would think that Klansmen are roaming American streets and terrorizing ordinary citizens on a daily basis. You have to worry about a skinhead gang beating you to a bloody pulp every time you go to the supermarket. That’s how this problem is portrayed. According to liberals, terrorism, violence, and crime stem from this pasty-faced menace. This is the only problem that warrants law enforcement’s attention.
Anyone with a shred of common sense can see that this is plainly ridiculous. There are, of course, some nutty right-wing extremists out there, but they weren’t the ones burning down cities or laying siege to the entire Pacific Northwest. That was Antifa and Black Lives Matter.
Garland was asked about this left-wing threat, and he dismissed it as just ordinary criminality. See, it didn’t rise to the level of terrorism because these leftists attacked federal buildings at night. In his opinion, they didn’t disrupt any court cases or other official business of our free and fair democracy. Thus, we can’t compare their actions to the most “heinous attack” on our democracy and it doesn’t rise to the level of terrorism. At least he didn’t try to blame their violence on his preferred enemy. But Garland, like all of these voices, would ignore other threats in favor of the preferred enemy.
The United Nations faces international threats, such as radical Islam and Chinese expansionism. Europe right now faces a wave of Islamic terror for allowing citizens to show pictures of Muhammad. French President Emmanuel Macron, no friend to nationalists, identities Islamic separatism as the greatest threat to the continent. But these claims draw forth accusations of racism and inspire uncomfortable questions about globalism. So it’s not likely the United Nations will attack radical Islam. White nationalism makes for a more suitable bogeyman because it reinforces the international body’s own attitudes and beliefs.
This also explains why many Asian leaders prefer to blame mysterious white nationalists for anti-Asian attacks. Never mind that in pretty much every high-profile case where a suspect was identified, the perp turned out to be black. There is little hard evidence that these attackers were inspired by Trump. But it makes for better optics in the mainstream media to pretend these attacks were carried out by white nationalists.
Some community leaders are even arguing against tougher policing because it will “harm” their fellow people of color. Calling for law and order puts these Asian groups at risk of being deemed racially insensitive. But if they blame white people, it ensures the media and politicians focus on their concerns. Just don’t expect a serious solution.
Government officials may have also invoked the fantasy white supremacist riot instigator last summer to justify crackdowns on the violence. They couldn’t blame Black Lives Matter because it was agreed by elites that the movement’s cause was noble and absolutely peaceful. But the politicians needed someone to blame for the burning buildings. Insert the reviled white supremacist and now it was okay to send in the National Guard. There’s no racism in using force against bad white people—whether real or imagined.
This trend isn’t going to end anytime soon. Liberal elites will continue to conjure up the threat of “white nationalism”—however they define it—to support their agenda and punish their enemies. This bogeyman will continue to be seen as America’s primary threat and the one responsible for all manner of misdeeds. It’s far easier to blame this menace than face the reality of America’s rising crime and social turmoil.
Antifa will continue to wreak havoc throughout the country and bodies will pile up from our skyrocketing murder rate. But these will be ignored by the current administration and its allies. They’re too busy looking for white supremacists under the bed.