One Human Family QCA hosts webinar on the white power movement; how to combat it

DAVENPORT, Iowa (KWQC) - One Human Family QCA hosted a webinar on the topic of the white power movement, its history, and how to prevent it from growing. In the Quad Cities, we have seen hate spread, with flyers promoting white supremacy placed inside magazines and delivered to houses. Just last week, an anti-Semitic message was spray-painted onto a Jewish Temple.

The Department of Homeland Security announced in October that white supremacist extremists are the “most persistent and lethal threat” to the country. Hate crimes in the U.S. have risen to their highest level in over a decade, according to statistics released by the FBI. Data shows about 60% of the reported hate crimes were motivated by race, ethnicity, or ancestral bias.

Dr. Kathleen Belew, author of Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America, researched the topic extensively, focusing on the time period prior to the 2000′s. She explains the white supremacist movement preys on a community’s issues and hyper-focuses on them to draw a larger following. “A lot of issues we see as mainstream conservative issues (feminism, abortion, immigration) are their problem issues because they saw them as a challenge to white birth rate”

White supremacy is a problem throughout the whole country, not just the Quad Cities, says Dr. Belew, “this is not the only community this is happening. there are many communities experiencing this, reaching out to other groups to build a coalition can be how we survive this problem.” Dr. Belew says it’s important to be able to recognize white supremacy within a larger context, tying in the Oklahoma City Bombing, the mass shooting at the Walmart in El Paso, Texas, and the Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. “Resist the idea of a lone wolf gunman or a single-issue story. There are deep and long and deeply rooted ties with a lot of these stories,” she explains. In order to combat the issue, she says we must first recognize it.

Almost every teenager has been exposed to hateful content and white power messages online, according to Dr. Belew. However, there are things you can do to prevent your child from joining those groups. She says it’s crucial to be aware of the permeation of those messages on social media and online, then create conversations with your child, teachers, and librarians in order to limit its spread.

If you see or receive hateful messages, Dr. Belew urges you to document them and report to local law enforcement as well as the FBI and DHS.

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