Recruiting White “Victims”: White Supremacist Flyers on College Campuses

• In Event: 4157 - Regular session: Racism and Antiracism I

Abstract

The past two years have seen a dramatic rise in white supremacist activism in the United States. This paper reports on a relatively new tactic being used by white supremacist activists to recruit college students: the posting of flyers on campus. Since Spring of 2016, flyers promoting white supremacist ideas and goals have been found posted, often illegally, in prominent locations on campuses across the nation. These flyers communicate a simple message of white supremacy and seek to recruit potential new adherents in by leading them to white supremacist web sites. How do white supremacists hope to appeal to college students? What kinds of appeals do they hope will resonate within what should be a haven for diversity and multiculturalism? Through a qualitative content analysis of these white supremacist flyers, I show how white supremacists tailor their message to college students. I argue white supremacists attempt to curate a positive white identity using a master frame of white victimization.

Author

• David R. Dietrich, Texas State University