Bring the War Home

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First edition
(publ. Harvard University Press)

Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America is a book written by Kathleen Belew.

Background[edit]

Kathleen Belew is an American tenured associate professor of history at Northwestern University, and an international authority on the white-power movement.[1][2] Belew argues in the book that the modern white power movement emerged from the loss of the Vietnam War.[3] The book discusses the Oklahoma City bombing, Ruby Ridge, the Waco siege[4] and the Greensboro massacre.[5] Belew points out that it was during the conservative presidency of Ronald Reagan that the white power movement began to truly coalesce.[6] She also observes that Louis Beam was one of the earliest proponents of white power and the concept of a leaderless resistance.[7] The book rejects the idea that white supremacist violence is only done by lone wolves.[8] Although the book was written before the Unite the Right rally,[9] it provides a history of the movements that lead to the rally.[10][11] Belew traces William Luther Pierce and his 1978 novel The Turner Diaries to the rise of white supremacists.[12] Chapter seven presents evidence to support the involvement of women in white supremacist groups like the Aryan Nations.[13] The book also discusses the history of the Ku Klux Klan.[14]

Reception[edit]

Anna J. Clutterbuck-Cook wrote in Library Journal that "this necessary work reminds readers that white violence—on behalf of, and against, the state—has a long and deep history."[4] Patrick Blanchfield wrote in The Nation that the book is "Meticulously researched and powerfully argued."[15] Amy Cooter criticized the book in Reason for characterizing the militia movement as an outgrowth of the white power movement.[16] The book was included in The Guardian's list of the best books of 2018.[17]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Muñoz Martinez, Monica (April 19, 2019), "Kathleen Belew on the Rise of "White Power"", Public Books, archived from the original on September 20, 2019, retrieved October 6, 2019
  2. ^ Williams, Keira (June 5, 2018). "'Bring the War Home' Digs Into the Trenches of the White Power Movement in America: Historian Kathleen Belew Painstakingly Details the Influence of the Vietnam Wartime Experience on the Evolution of White Power Ideology". PopMatters. PopMatters Media. OCLC 1122752384. Archived from the original on August 27, 2022. Retrieved August 26, 2022.
  3. ^ Smith, Ryan (June 30, 2018). ""Bring the War Home": A Timely Investigation of the White Power Movement". Truthout. OCLC 62859345. Archived from the original on August 27, 2022. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  4. ^ a b Clutterbuck-Cook, Anna J. (April 1, 2018). "Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America by Kathleen Belew". Library Journal. Media Source Inc. ISSN 0363-0277. OCLC 818916619. Archived from the original on August 26, 2022. Retrieved August 26, 2022.
  5. ^ Onion, Rebecca (April 11, 2018). "Our Failure to Understand White Power as a Broader Social Movement Has Prevented Us From Fighting It". Slate Magazine. The Slate Group. ISSN 1091-2339. OCLC 728292344. Archived from the original on August 27, 2022. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  6. ^ Johnson, Steve (October 30, 2020). "Exposing the 'Disguise': UChicago Historian Kathleen Belew Spotlights the Rising White Power Movement". Chicago Tribune. Tribune Publishing. ISSN 2165-171X. OCLC 7960243. Archived from the original on August 26, 2022. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  7. ^ "Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America by Kathleen Belew". Publishers Weekly. PWxyz LLC. April 30, 2018. ISSN 0000-0019. OCLC 2489456. Archived from the original on August 27, 2022. Retrieved August 26, 2022.
  8. ^ "Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America by Kathleen Belew". Kirkus Reviews. Kirkus Media LLC. January 9, 2018. ISSN 1948-7428. OCLC 1052699941. Archived from the original on August 26, 2022. Retrieved August 26, 2022.
  9. ^ Hemmer, Nicole (July 6, 2018). "Where Did the Radical Right Come From?". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. ISSN 0362-4331. OCLC 1645522. Archived from the original on August 27, 2022. Retrieved August 26, 2022.
  10. ^ Cunningham, David (August 7, 2020). "The Maniacal Persistence of White Power Armies in the United States: A Recent Book Considers the Impact of War and the Durability of Racist Right-Wing Terror". Common Reader. Washington University in St. Louis. Archived from the original on July 2, 2021. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  11. ^ Gross, Terry (April 25, 2018). "How America's White Power Movement Coalesced After The Vietnam War". Fresh Air. NPR. Archived from the original on August 27, 2022. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  12. ^ Darda, Joseph (April 9, 2018). "The Surprising Roots of Recent White Extremism". Los Angeles Review of Books. OCLC 904358349. Archived from the original on August 26, 2022. Retrieved August 26, 2022.
  13. ^ Guan, Frank (April 1, 2018). "White Lies: A History of Racist Terrorism in the US". Bookforum. Artforum. Archived from the original on August 27, 2022. Retrieved August 26, 2022.
  14. ^ Gardiner, Steven (April 11, 2018). "White Revolution and the Legacy of the Vietnam War". Political Research Associates. Archived from the original on August 27, 2022. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  15. ^ Blanchfield, Patrick (June 20, 2018). "Declaration of War: The Violent Rise of White Supremacy After Vietnam". The Nation. Archived from the original on August 27, 2022. Retrieved August 26, 2022.
  16. ^ Cooter, Amy (September 6, 2018). "Vietnam and the Rise of White Power". Reason. Reason Foundation. OCLC 818916200. Archived from the original on August 27, 2022. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  17. ^ Mishra, Pankaj (December 3, 2018). "Best Books of 2018: Hilary Mantel, Yuval Noah Harari and More Pick Their Favourites—Our Favourite Authors on the Most Outstanding Books They Read This Year". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. ISSN 1756-3224. OCLC 60623878. Archived from the original on August 27, 2022. Retrieved August 27, 2022.

External links[edit]