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The Gathering Storm: The Role of White Nationalism in U.S. Politics

Donley, Genie A
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3242-8792
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=csu1526041792631243

Abstract Details

2018, Master of Arts in History, Cleveland State University, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences.
White nationalism has played a critical role in shaping United States politics for over 150 years. Since the Reconstruction era, whites have fought to maintain their power and superiority over minorities. They influenced U.S. politics by attempting, and in some cases succeeding, to prevent minorities from voting. Moreover, politicians began to help them. This became most evident in the 2016 U.S. presidential election when Republican Donald J. Trump appealed to racist white voters, gained their support, and won the election. Those voters, who united as the Alt-Right, supported Trump because he appealed to them by playing on their fear of becoming a minority in their country. This thesis traces white nationalism back to Reconstruction. It analyzes the memberships of separate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, Neo-Confederates, and Citizens’ Councils to show how and why those various groups united as the Alt-Right to support Trump in the 2016 election. This study examines the writings of various white nationalists, including their Twitter accounts, to identify their goals and how they spread their ideology. This work also analyzes race as a political concept and identity by investigating how politicians appealed these groups. Ultimately, this thesis illustrates the presence and significance of white nationalism in United States politics and how it culminated in Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Thomas Humphrey, Ph.D (Advisor)
Robert Shelton, Ph.D (Committee Member)
Karen Sotiropoulos, Ph.D (Committee Member)
136 p.
American History; American Studies; History; Modern History
white nationalism; Alt-Right; racism; twentieth-century politics; twenty-first-century politics; Donald Trump; David Duke; Richard Spencer; Jared Taylor; Ku Klux Klan; Neo-Confederacy; white supremacy; African Americans; white separatism

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Donley, G. A. (2018). The Gathering Storm: The Role of White Nationalism in U.S. Politics [Master's thesis, Cleveland State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=csu1526041792631243

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Donley, Genie. The Gathering Storm: The Role of White Nationalism in U.S. Politics. 2018. Cleveland State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=csu1526041792631243.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Donley, Genie. "The Gathering Storm: The Role of White Nationalism in U.S. Politics." Master's thesis, Cleveland State University, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=csu1526041792631243

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

csu1526041792631243
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© 2018, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Cleveland State University and OhioLINK.