White Supremacist Beliefs & Racism
Whilst watching a documentary about Nazism and fascism in America back in the 1930s, my ears were pricked by the repeated expressions ‘ make America great’ and ‘one nation’! The modern day use of these terms as names and tag lines are by no means accidental. The white supremacist beliefs and racism, which lie at the base of MAGA and One Nation, in the US and Australia respectively, are the foundation of these movements and political parties. If you have read DH Lawrence’s book Kangaroo or seen the movie based upon it, you will know that Australia was not immune from the rise of fascism post WW1.
“The book will disturb some readers for good reasons. The description of racism, antisemitism, the whitewash on Aboriginal histories, the overblown masculinity matched with the sympathetic-but-disempowered feminism, the strange conflations of Nietzsche, Freud, and Jung, in British Christian thought, all is there in the now-lost landscape of 1920s Australia, or at least 1920s Central-South region of New South Wales. The book is disturbing for those who know the history, as much as for those who do not”
The Anglo-settler colonialism, which founded Australia and many parts of the United States, contained fierce xenophobic tendencies and these have been handed down through the generations, as traditions often are. Eugenics attempted to paint these racist views with pseudo-scientific credibility in the 20C. Hitler’s Nazis looked to the United States for ideas about eugenics and apartheid in the 1920s and 30s.
“Xenophobia (from Ancient Greek ξένος (xénos) ‘strange, foreign, or alien’ and φόβος (phóbos) ‘fear’)[1] is the fear or dislike of people who are perceived as being foreign or strange.”
One Nation & Its White Supremacist Foundational Beliefs
The rise of One Nation downunder is filling the vacuum left by the demise of the Liberal Party as an electable right wing political party. Having moved from centre Right to far Right, the Liberals have lost their metropolitan seats to the Teals. One Nation and its leader, Pauline Hanson, is primarily an anti-immigration political force. Demonising foreigners plays the blame game in the politics of grievance and captures the protest vote effectively. We have seen candidate Donald Trump exploit this in the US successfully via his MAGA faithful to become President Trump for the second time. Pauline Hanson has visited Trump at Mara Lago and sung his praises. Trump is the right wing inspiration for extremist groups in this space. One Nation is driven by white supremacist beliefs and racism.
White Supremacy In Trumpland
Those tuned into what is happening in ‘Trumpland’ will be aware of the cruel and brutal activities of ICE. US citizens have been shot and killed by ICE agents. Women and nurses protesting the violent invasion of their cities by heavily armed storm troopers have been murdered in cold blood. Brown skinned Americans have been targeted, beaten, detained and locked up in concentration camps around America. The rule of law has been repeatedly ignored and transgressed by ICE. This is where anti-immigration forces can lead when driven by white supremacists, such as Stephen Miller in the Trump cabinet. We have seen it before during the rise of fascism around the world prior to the outbreak of WW2. We are now seeing it in America, the nation that long held itself up as the beacon of democracy and equality globally.
Trumpland is no longer the United States we once knew; it is in the grip of white supremacist beliefs and racism.
Flag Waving Racists Downunder
Human beings are prone to find strange comfort and purpose in xenophobia and hate speech. Blaming someone else for your perceived troubles, a group identified as distinctly different, is a favourite populist pastime. Flag waving right wing activists will seize upon the actions of a lone Islamicist to justify attacks upon an entire community. The mathematics might be one bad actor out of a population of around 800, 000 Muslims living in Australia, but that is enough for the Pauline Hanson’s of the world to condemn them all. This is racism and xenophobia writ large. There has been an evolving or devolving trend happening on the Right over the last decade and a half. Right wing political parties stopped emphasising their economic credentials in favour of populist culture war talking points. Anti-woke became a smokescreen for anti-women and anti-black campaigns in reaction to the Me Too and Black Lives Matter movements. Those on the Right proudly and wildly exaggerated instances of political correctness and DEI to their predominantly manosphere audience. Fox News and Sky News Australia amplified these factually incorrect illustrations of perceived bias. Trump, the great liar, repeated these falsehoods and disinformation again and again. Disengaged voters who only ever listen with half an ear to political speak happily ate up stuff, which reinforced their own biases and prejudices. Donald Trump was perceived as the champion of saying what no other politician had the guts to voice publicly. Trump was their guy and MAGA loved him, despite his criminality and penchant for telling lies. Hanson, the racist politician, performed the same role downunder.
A Thief Thinks Everybody Steals
The mob, the dominant cohort, white men and their families had a hero, not with feet of clay but orange clay through and through. Trump made a virtue of his immorality. Americans secretly love a bad ass over what they have endured in Washington for decades. The insincerity so prevalent in the American elite had poisoned the well. The Epstein class rules them all. Now, however, they are reaping what they have sown. Trump corruption on steroids, a failing economy, another war in the Middle East this time with Iran and an international reputation in the toilet. MAGA is waking up to the Trump con. The protest vote has ushered in billionaire kleptocracy never before seen at this level. When Trump points the bone it is deflection from his own criminality in that exact space. A thief thinks everybody steals. Talk of draining the swamp really means that he and his family are taking over that corrupt role in Washington. Accusing the other side of election fraud tells us that Trump is busy in this space himself. Slashing government departments and social welfare spending is really about opening up that sector for exploitation by private interests. Elon Musk illegally thieving the millions of private records held by the department of social security via his DOGE takeover.
Trump is the swamp meister!
Remigration Or Forced Deportation
Accusing brown skinned people of crimes is another smokescreen for white supremacist criminals. Whilst there are thieves and scumbags present in every race and ethnic community, demonising darkies has long been a favourite pastime of xenophobes and racists. The readiness to denigrate others based on their skin colour and ethnicity remains a worrying predilection for humanity. You would think we would have outgrown this crap after so long. In reality, power seekers use the xenophobia of some of us to get to the top of the heap by promising them salves to ease their grievances. Anti-immigration policies like remigration, which is the forced deportation of immigrants and refugees, is what many of these white supremacists want. One Nation and Trump’s ICE are at the extreme end of the anti-immigration agenda. Putting them in power will not be good for anyone, as we are seeing in the US right now. If Pauline Hanson admires President Donald Trump, then remigration is likely on the cards if her party achieves power. Multicultural Australia watch out? White supremacist beliefs and racism will only end one way if One Nation are given their head. Remember the very name One Nation comes from fascism and assimilation. You will find it in the speeches of despots and authoritarian leaders. You have been warned.
From Centre Right To Far Right
“The Liberal Party is badly named in light of what it has turned into of late. There being few liberal minded people left in the party. Newly elected president, former PM Tony Abbott, is Pauline Hanson’s leading cheer leader. Abbot was also the bloke that sold the Port of Darwin to the Chinese. Abbot and his Sky News Australia former chief of staff, Peta Credlin, have taken the Liberal Party from centre Right to far Right downunder, via their influence, in recent times. The un-electability of the Liberal Party, on the basis of this move to the fringe, has cleared the way for One Nation to fill a vacuum. Right wing Aussies require a political vehicle for their zero sum game way of looking at the world. A world of winners and losers, rather than the progressive conception of us all being in this together.”
Robert Sudha Hamilton is the author of The Stoic Golfer; The AI Heresy; What Price Life?; America Matters: Pre-apocalyptic Posts & Essays in the Shadow of Trump; and other titles. NOW AVAILABLE AT APPLE BOOKS & GOOGLE PLAY BOOKS. Google Play Books AUDIOBOOK
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