Mainstream/Extreme

As with most things in the media the extreme cases are much more entertaining and interesting. So white nationalist in the media tend to be portrayed as extreme radical terrorists who are easy to spot in the general public. The reason they are portrayed this way is to make the general public believe that "those" people, the "bad" people aren't living among us and if they come around we will be able to tell. I think we can use American History X as an example once a again. In the movie Cameron allows the lower level members of the movement to play upon the stereotypes (shaved heads, boots, tattoos, etc.) However he expects the people whom he trusts most to keep the movement going to have a clean cut image and present themselves in more of a professional manor. This is the way that David Duke and Thomas Robb transitioned the KKK from their white robes and into business suits.


The above pictures are the extreme vs. the mainstream. The top photo obviously would be in the extreme category with the tattoed face this person is most likely uneducated. Like I have stated in previous posts the movement can be the family that underprivileged youth are looking for. The second picture is of David Duke he is an educated clean cut person who is the model for what the white supremacist is looking for. In the book "Cyber Racism" author Jessie Daniels states how important Duke has been to the transition of the movement by saying, "Many assume that white supremacists are gap-toothed, ignorant, unsophisticated, and uneducated." She goes on to talk about how important Duke has been with the image and the transition into digital media. The connection that can be made is that both the extreme and mainstream are working towards a similar goal and both are needed while one serves as the brains and the others as the followers. While the outward appearances are drastically different they all feel that the existence of the white race is in danger and they would like to secure that future for themselves. We have talked at length about this in class and specifically about the way the news features stories that include the extremes which make us believe that the problem is far away from the mainstream. In reality the majority of white supremacists are hiding in plain site. Especially since the explosion of the internet and sites like stormfront.org you no longer need to have a crazy outward appearance and instead you can hide behind a screen name and spread the irrational messages across the world in a matter of seconds. So I think in the end there is more similarities than differences between the extreme and the mainstream.