The Secret Power of White Supremacists — and How Anti-Racists Can Take It Back

In June, while a large Black Lives Matter protest was staged in downtown Philadelphia, a much smaller one occurred in the Fishtown neighborhood to the north. As a counterprotest, a group of white men calling themselves “Old-time Fishtowners” paraded through the streets carrying bats and antagonizing BLM protestors. At the end of the night, one Fishtowner boasted that, “We did our job.” Another claimed his aim had been “protecting the police.”

The language of white supremacists is full of such chivalric references to duty and protection. It was as if the police were medieval romance damsels, classic Disney princesses, imperiled and in need of defending. To these Fishtowners’ minds, their acts, which included beating a white Black Lives Matter protestor who passed by on his way home, were acts of valor. I’m a medievalist, and for years now, I have researched and lectured about how the idea of chivalry motivates white supremacists.

They apply it to multiple objects. They defend their families. They defend their neighborhoods. They defend their way of life. The flag. Western Civilization. The police. Always they use the language of honor. In their minds, they merely defend the defenseless. Never mind that some of the […]

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