Ed Brayton is a freelance writer and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of 
The Palm Beach Post has an article about the fact that Obama's campaign has increased interest and membership in various white supremacist groups. It asks the question: Will racist "white power" organizations, such as Stormfront, be stronger or weaker if Obama is elected president? Long excerpt below the fold:
On the other hand, Tom Prater, Florida spokesman for the white power group Euro and a member of the National Association for the Advancement of White People, says the Illinois senator's success is a boon for his cause."I've gotten more calls in the last two months about interest in our organizations than I got in all the years in the past," said Prater, who lives in Jacksonville.
August Kreis, national director of Aryan Nations, another white supremacist and anti-Semitic organization, agrees.
"Obama's done my group a lot of good," said Kreis, who lives in South Carolina and says he keeps a Nazi flag over his mantel. "He's polarizing Americans, black and white.
"Especially in Florida, affiliates have increased recently," Kreis said, although he did not produce membership figures...
"I get nonstop e-mails and private messages from new people who are mad as hell about the possibility of Obama being elected," Black said. "White people, for a long time, have thought of our government as being for us, and Obama is the best possible evidence that we've lost that. This is scaring a lot of people who maybe never considered themselves racists, and it's bringing them over to our side."
I have no doubt it's true that Obama has brought some racists out of the woodwork and more interested in working with other racists. But it still seems obvious to me that Obama's candidacy is, in the long run, a serious blow to such groups. It shows that they've lost, that they're a tiny minority on the fringe with no real power except the power of violence.
Politics
Comments
But Ed, I thought you had posted earlier that Obama is Hitler. [/sarcasm]
I agree with your view: an Obama presidency will mean the final nail in the coffin of these groups. (Whether they will know that they're being buried or will decide to fester in the grave for a long time is another issue.)
Posted by: mercurianferret | August 8, 2008 9:43 AM
It's a false dawn for these racist groups. Their temporary recruiting success is based on a residual fear of the unknown. When Obama turns out not to be a tribal war chieftain who holds cannibal banquets in the White House, a lot of these dim bulbs will be surprised, shrug their shoulders, and fade back into oblivion. The hardcore racists will be left bereft of their temporary allies and begin to worry about what will happen when a "real" black man becomes president (one who meets their stereotypes).
I'm often reminded of my maternal grandmother, a silly woman in many respects who was terrified by Tom Bradley's election as mayor of Los Angeles. After she survived his first term without being raped or murdered by rampaging black men, she calmed down. Poor silly woman.
Posted by: Zeno | August 8, 2008 9:59 AM
Once again my great state, Florida, stands out as a shining example of the most idiotic tendencies of the American people; nay, of all people.
I've got to move to a different state. Make that another country. Hell, I hear that Mars is quite nice this time of year.
Posted by: CyberLizard | August 8, 2008 10:02 AM
Zeno is right to point out the paradox of recruiting on fear of the unknown but soon to be realized. BHO will not institute reparations or even nationalize race-based affirmative action (though he will doubtless extend more benefits to those in poverty) and as a result the race-baiters will be hoisted by their own petulant prophecies, revealed as unfulfilled and unfulfilling fearmongering and nothing more.
Posted by: DAM10N | August 8, 2008 10:09 AM
Are you sure that there is an actual recruiting boom? Creating the impression of a surge in growth may be a PR strategy. Journalists are pretty easy to manipulate. On the other hand I do think we'll see more terrorism from white nationalist groups. They were pretty active when Clinton was President, and then they quieted down when Bush came to power. If Obama wins they'll feel like they are losing the culture war again.
Posted by: Ranjit | August 8, 2008 10:16 AM
The national director of the Aryan Nations lives in my state of South Carolina? That would explain the white power rally at the state house my Chinese wife and I almost walked into last year. That was kind of scary.
Posted by: Shadowin | August 8, 2008 10:42 AM
I completely agree with everyone (first time I've ever said that). This is bringing the low-key racists out of hiding as they see how "bad" things have gotten, but I don't see how America electing a black President OVER their sputtering threats can be anything but another huge blow for them long-term.
Posted by: Shygetz | August 8, 2008 10:46 AM
Fantastic....this makes me anticipate my move to Florida even more 8-/
Posted by: Jocelyn | August 8, 2008 10:59 AM
I remember reading a comment on another blog, or it might have been here, that postulated that if Obama was elected he would end up being assassinated by person or persons outraged by the fact of his being a non-white president. So my question is (as a non-American), how much of a threat to national security do these kinds of groups pose, and how likely would they be to act on their prejudice?
Posted by: Tycho the Dog | August 8, 2008 11:10 AM
CyberLizard, take a tour through my state of South Carolina. You'll find that while Florida may be a shining example of the idiotic tendencies of the American people, our general population is the sun that powers the shine of idiocy in America.
Posted by: RM | August 8, 2008 11:15 AM
There can't be much doubt that right-wing domestic terrorism will spike again under Obama, to at least the degree of severity we saw under Clinton. Expect to start hearing about the Michigan militia and other right-wing paramilitary groups, again. They had their man in office for a few years so they quieted down, but they'll be back once their enemy is in power.
Posted by: Chuck | August 8, 2008 11:15 AM
Yep. Instead of ONE semi-literate crayon missive a month, now these neo-nazis are getting TWO semi-literate crayon missives a month. A hundred percent increase in interest. Yay Hitler Youth! Such a priceless pack of idiots live in Florida. Wall off the border I say and bring on AGW. -DJ
Posted by: DingoJack | August 8, 2008 11:25 AM
I share your skepticism, Ranjit ... I read something like this:
"'Especially in Florida, affiliates have increased recently,' Kreis said, although he did not produce membership figures..."
and it translates in my head to, "Hey, if you can't trust a Nazi, who can you trust?"
Posted by: Scott Simmons | August 8, 2008 11:29 AM
right wing culture warriors only thrive when they're losing, or when they're pretending to lose. you'd think they would have been quieter these past 8 years but nope, I guess they won't rest until every government position is white and republican.
Posted by: matt | August 8, 2008 11:43 AM
You're on a roll, Ed. Great blogging! Keep it up.
Posted by: Ian | August 8, 2008 11:49 AM
I've noted that Florida seems to have a lock on the most racist assholes per capita of any state.
What these idiots don't understand is that Obama isn't just 'black'. His mother is a white Kansan.
I do wish someone would take these folks and give them a good lesson in genetics and gene expression.
Posted by: Tony P | August 8, 2008 11:50 AM
If nothing else, his candidacy highlights how fundamentally insecure such white supremacists are. And it's always ultimately a positive when lunatics come out in the open and allow the world to keep check on them.
Posted by: Sadie Morrison | August 8, 2008 11:53 AM
What these idiots don't understand is that Obama isn't just 'black'. His mother is a white Kansan.
That makes it even worse. I white woman with a black man is so bad in the eyes of these hayseeds. Now, when a true hero like Strom Thurmond has a little boyish action with a Negress housekeeper, well, that's different.
Posted by: soboco | August 8, 2008 12:06 PM
Such sad insecure people who surround themselves with the idea that if they are not better than someone of color who I am I better than.They need some sessions with a good pyschlogist
Posted by: jazzfan | August 8, 2008 12:06 PM
Just a reassurance that not all of us native born southerners are hunched-over knuckle draggers.
Posted by: Deepsix | August 8, 2008 12:07 PM
Tycho ...
Well, they managed to blow up a federal building.
I would imagine that we'll see an uptick in violence for a while, but then again, I'd expect to see an uptick in violence if McCain is elected. Either way, there are going to be some mighty pissed off people. Personally, I think the world should rightly turn its back on us if McCain is elected and let us devolve into a bunch of petty warring factions protecting our patch of topsoil depleted dust, but that's just me.
White supremacists are mostly a loud bunch, all sound and fury. If there are a few who are motivated enough by the cause and an underlying chemical imbalance, people will get hurt. The majority, however, will be discontent to sit around drinking cheap beer, collecting welfare and bitching about how them coloreds took their jobs.
Posted by: Andrea | August 8, 2008 12:11 PM
I'm sure that school integration in the South increased interest in white supremacist groups as well, but people got used to it, and now it's a matter of course. The same will happen after Obama's presidency.
Posted by: Neural T | August 8, 2008 12:12 PM
Tycho,
I wouldn't call the assassination of a president a threat to national security. A very bad act indeed, but nothing really threatning the nation's security.
However to the real point of your question, what's the odds he gets assassinate? That depends on whether someone manages to outwit the Secret Service. Every president is a target, most often of people with mental problems rather than people with real ideological differences, and the Secret Service mostly does a bangup job of tracking and defusing them.
I would expect, though, that a few very serious white supremacists--of the Turner diaries type-- who aren't otherwise insane, will try to do in Obama, trying, in their warped view, to protect America. If they talk about it beforehand, the Secret Service will probably find out. The real worry is the person who doesn't let anyone in on his plans, and manages to get close enough to the president at a public event.
Worst case scenario: former special forces guy with racist beliefs, because you combine the motive with the skills.
Posted by: James Hanley | August 8, 2008 12:25 PM
I'm in Florida and can testify that the malignant, sheet wearing, goose stepping racists are out there in significant numbers. And for every hard-core racist there are ten resentful middle-aged white guys with limited education who see the society, which had historically favored them, becoming more hostile to their self-assumed entitlement.
The bad news is that Obama running will bring the hard-core racists out of the woodwork and gin up resentments from those so inclined.
The good news is that when the hard-core racists come out from under their rocks the look ridiculous, stupid and self-caricaturing in the light of day. Seeing this causes revulsion from the borderline racists and can lead to them looking long and hard at their assumptions. A few will fall in with the extremists but many more will moderate their views. They will never be completely comfortable with other races but most will be able to form functional relationships. And their children will have a shot at being less concerned with skin color than what others do.
The real danger comes from the juxtaposition between racist, isolationist, anti-government conspiracy types, the worship of guns as the solution to all problems. Faced with their ever rising apocalyptic rhetoric and their inability to keep Obama out of office by less violent means they will resort to firearms.
IMHO the best counter for this is for Obama to hire on Hillary as vice president. The only thing that scares them more than Obama is HC. Who they have built up into a manifestation of the devil and something between a she-devil and a harpy. With HC waiting in the wings Obama could safely go without Secret Service protection. She would make Obama bulletproof.
Posted by: Art | August 8, 2008 12:37 PM
I'm confused. Isn't the source of dark skin caused by Noah's curse on Ham? And wasn't part of that curse that Ham and his decedents would be servants? And isn't the President the ultimate civil servant? Seems to me that a black president would simply be a manifestation of God's will.
Posted by: Abby Normal | August 8, 2008 12:52 PM
Unfortunately, that would effectively kill Obama's chances for winning come November.
Posted by: Sadie Morrison | August 8, 2008 1:37 PM
Unfortunately, this is unlikely for the majority of these people. Their fear and hatred is not grounded in anything even remotely rational. They hate Obama not for anything that he has done, but rather for what they think he is (i.e. not one of them). It doesn't matter how benevolent a figure or effective a leader Obama might be, the racists will ceaselessly hate them. Luckily, I think such people are a dying breed, and in any case they wield very little actual power anymore.
Posted by: Sadie Morrison | August 8, 2008 1:49 PM
What makes the white supremacist movement genuinely scary is their reported efforts to send their kids to the military for combat training and their success in stealing many small arms and even some larger weapons and munitions from the military. I suspect some of those groups have sufficient firepower and training to do a lot of damage and an Obama win in November may be just the motivation they need. Personally, I hope Obama wins and the first attempt on him (failing, I hope) stimulates the feds to seriously address the problem. I have this feeling that Bush's justice department has been much more concerned with ecoterrorists and animal rights activists than white-power terrorists and militias composed of sociopaths.
Posted by: c-serpent | August 8, 2008 3:09 PM
Remember that membership in white supremacist groups grows during economic hard times. That, combined with the possibility of a black man becoming the president, could be a part of it.
You're dancing at the edge of the cliff. It's not a matter of logic, it's a matter of pure hatred.
Posted by: Skwee | August 8, 2008 6:38 PM
They're all talk. I wouldn't expect anything to happen. But if it did it would be from someone looking to start a "race war"
Posted by: Simba | August 8, 2008 8:57 PM
"I'm confused. Isn't the source of dark skin caused by Noah's curse on Ham? And wasn't part of that curse that Ham and his decedents would be servants? And isn't the President the ultimate civil servant? Seems to me that a black president would simply be a manifestation of God's will."
Hey man kill that noise.
Posted by: Simba | August 8, 2008 8:59 PM
Abby: That's wonderful, you should try that line on one of these bozos. Do logic bombs work on people, because I'd really like to see their heads explode (or even hear about it second-hand).
Posted by: James K | August 9, 2008 2:46 AM