I remember back when I was involved in Anti-Racist Action, it was always the schools with a high immigrant population that had the most racial problems and also had the most number of white supremacist/neo-Nazi skinheads. Minority populations, regardless of ethnicity, tend to be the targets of schoolyard bullying which can lead to exactly the kind of feelings of insecurity and paranoia that racial supremacists play on to bolster their numbers. I think the only way to really combat that sort of propaganda is to reach out to members of minorities (even, or perhaps especially, white minorities) and show them that people not of their own ethnic group are still willing to stand in solidarity against the bullies from the majority ethnicity, and that it's not a racial problem, but a bullying problem.

It's not really a popular idea amongst ethnic groups and those combating racism to admit that in certain situations, it's possible for Caucasians to feel marginalized or to be the victims and targets of racialist discrimination, hate, violence, etc. but there are cases where ethnic groups take out their frustrations over a national culture of white supremacy on the kinds of whites who benefit the least from cultural white supremacy and have the least power in changing the status quo: the poor or working class whites. It's a case of misplaced blame and like any other type of bullying, the bullies are most often those who were bullied themselves. People with healthy self-esteem and true pride and respect don't have to resort to putting other people down to make themselves feel better, and that goes for anyone regardless of race. The type of people who are most susceptible to the false arguments of racial superiority are those who feel the most inferior and desperately need something to feel good about themselves, even if it's something as happenstance as 'race'.

Unfortunately for many poor white youth, their complaints regarding racial discrimination don't tend to be taken seriously by school administration or ethnic minority groups which combat racism, because racism is so often defined as being a culture of white supremacy, not taking into account the fact that it is also about economics, and ultimately only upper class whites benefit from white supremacy while poor whites are relegated to the status of foot soldiers: disposable, expendable and easily scapegoated for their misplaced hatred and violence created as much by their socioeconomic conditions than by any genuine hate for those of other races.

That sort of discrimination creates conditions ripe for the seeds of white supremacy to take root, and I think it behooves anti-racists of all colours to recognize that and try to build bridges of understanding and solidarity with working class whites who might otherwise be led astray into a path of white supremacy and racial hate.

I'm not a Marxist by any stretch of the imagination, but I can definitely see how poverty, lack of education, ignorance and prejudice are all intertwined along with marginalization, discrimination, bullying and race envy combine to create the socioeconomic conditions necessary for white supremacists to recruit poor white youth.

I don't believe in class warfare but I do believe those who have had a more privileged socioeconomic background have some form of duty or obligation to society to help out those less fortunate, not just in terms of charity or hand-outs but in trying to rectify social ills because those born into privilege, regardless of race, have an advantage in terms of opportunities and access to higher education as well as greater free time to work towards social change, all the things that the working poor don't have the good fortune to have. I also believe that those with higher education have very few excuses for holding racialist views (aside from perhaps childhood inculcation into racial theory by parents) and thus, I hold upper class white supremacists more responsible for white supremacy than the average neo-Nazi bonehead who really doesn't know any better.

That being said, on a personal level, a steel-toed boot to the head is more of a threat than some rich old dudes wearing white sheets but I don't believe racist groups would exist without the leaders who stand to benefit the most from taking advantage of poor whites and using them as pawns in order prop up the existing national culture of white supremacy (whether by overt, covert or through passive acceptance/acquiescence means).

Good read though, the SF Chronicle article.

Good read though, the SF Chronicle article.