Belew 2018

Chapter 7: "Race War and White Women"

Main Argument:

Women were central to the white power movement. White women played a crucial symbolic and practical role in the white power movement of the 1980s. This was exemplified by the 1988 Fort Smith sedition trial of movement leaders.

Background

• In the 1980s, the white power movement emphasized the symbolic importance of white women's reproduction and the creation of a white homeland in the Pacific Northwest.
• Symbolically, the white power movement invoked the purity and vulnerability of white women to justify its ideology and violence. Leaders portrayed the movement as necessary for the defense of white women from the threats of interracial relationships, non-white birth rates, and government/Zionist betrayals.
• White women were instrumental to the movement's operation and growth. They created important social ties through marriage, supported paramilitary activities, and spread propaganda. The framed their roles as wives and mothers of the white race. Mothers of future Aryan warriors.

The Klans

• The Klan Paramilitary camps sought to copy army training-one surge of violence was to carry out the past excitement of "army scenes"
  • Veterans made up a large majority of the third Klan resurgence
• Klansmen asserted they were doing the workings of the state by participating in the Klan border watch
• They sought to intimidate immigrants to an extent in which they would be worried to cross because of the Klans Border Watch
  • A reporter went undercover as an undocumented immigrant, and heard several violent stories about the Klan border watch that induced fear in these immigrants

Expansion

• Beam advanced as Klan leader and sought to expand his camp, Camp Puller
• Expansion was dependent on two factors, social and financial investment, which came from a close group of Klan supporters
• In the fall of 1980 however Camp Puller had several parental complaints and undercover reports which drew attraction to it
  • They were teaching high-schoolers horrific violent acts such as decapitation, hijacking airplanes etc.

Klan Continuation

• The camps were also preparing for antigovernment combat, and prepared to rage a race war
• Due to economic crisis, the refugee's were seen as potential economic competitors
• There were tensions arising given that refugees were receiving support from the government, whereas veterans were seeing a lack thereof
  • This narrative was used by Klan members to fuel their racism
• The Klan further promoted violence against the Vietnamese refugees by putting forth racist tropes
  • Claiming they carried several diseases-increase harassment toward Vietnamese fishermen
• In Santa Fe on February 14 roughly 300-400 people attended a Klan rally
  • During this Rally the Klan gave the government a deadline to remove the Vietnamese fisherman out of the golf, if not the Klan would then step in and take action
  • The deadline was May 15
• Robed Klansmen went on bay patrol, there was sympathy for white fishermen
  • During the patrol they had a lynched Vietnamese refugee hung
• The threats intensified
  • Due to this the Vietnamese community gathered and filed a harassment suit
  • Many Vietnamese refugees tired of dealing with this harassment, in March of 1981 offered to leave on the condition that the White people buy the boats back
  • Since they were overcharged, few white boatsmen could afford to buy back
• As depositions began the Klan employed intimidation tactics to make the Vietnamese refugees fearful
• Beam responded by using the Vietnamese war as basis for his actions
• The court ruled in favor of the Vietnamese, claiming the Klan did pose as a threat
  • As a result they prohibited many of their actions, including boat burning, wearing Klan robes in a group larger than two people, etc
• McDonald, the judge, received threats posts ruling
• Mark White, Texas District Attorney in June shifted the focus from Vietnamese fisherman to the larger issue at hand, the paramilitary camps
  • White claimed they were in violation of the law by doing such
• These were not the only problem, there were several similar sites participating in the same sort of combat training
• On June 4, 1982 McDonald ruled they must stop paramilitary training, rallying in public with their guns, etc in Texas
• The white power movement had already been fueled across the nation in different states by the time this decision was made
• Beam resigned as Grand Dragon of Texas KKKK but hinted the movement was continuing in the Northwest
• His ten month sentence was appealed
• The FBI decided the Texas KKKK was not worthy of further investigation and moved to focusing on the Northwest
• Beam continued his mission to kill communists as he did in Vietnam