Alt-right
The "Alt-right," short for "alternative right," is a loosely organized political movement in the United States characterized by far-right ideologies that often reject mainstream conservatism. A defining aspect of this movement is its promotion of White nationalism, which posits that White people face threats from minority civil rights movements and should advocate for their collective interests. The term "alt-right" was popularized in 2008 by Richard Spencer, who is seen as a prominent figure within the movement. Key events that brought the alt-right into public consciousness include the 2016 U.S. presidential election, during which many members supported Donald Trump for his stances on immigration and political correctness. However, the movement confronted significant backlash following the violent Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville in 2017, which led to heightened scrutiny and the closure of many alt-right online platforms by social media companies. Although the alt-right's visibility has diminished, experts caution that its ideologies may persist in less visible forms.
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Alt-right
Alt-right, or alternative right, refers to members of a loose political movement in the United States who are far right and reject mainstream conservatism; perhaps their defining feature is their commonplace espousal of White nationalism, the idea that White people are under threat from minority civil rights movements and should advocate for their own interests as a social group. The movement has no official leader or structure and its members interact mainly online. The movement rose to prominence with its vocal espousal of the presidential candidacy of Donald Trump, but it appeared to lose momentum in the wake of the violent confrontations of the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Background
The term "alt-right" was first used in 2008 by Richard Bertrand Spencer, the movement's foremost spokesperson. A White nationalist who believes that that race is the foundation of a person's identity, Spencer believes that White people ought to have their own country—he advocates for a White ethno-state. He also thinks that biracial marriage should be illegal and women should return to homemaker roles.
Spencer is president of the National Policy Institute (NPI), a White supremacist think tank in Virginia that supports a fifty-year moratorium on immigration. He has also founded the publication Radix Journal and the website Altright.com. While Spencer says he is not a neo-Nazi, The Atlantic published a video of him following Donald Trump's election in November 2016 at the head of an alt-right conference shouting, "Hail Trump! Hail our people! Hail victory!" as some members of the audience performed the Nazi salute. About three hundred people attended the conference.
Overview
The website Breitbart News is a popular source of far-right news and commentary whose former executive chairman, Stephen Bannon, once referred to the website as a platform for the alt-right. Bannon became chair of the website after its founder, Andrew Breitbart, died in 2012. Bannon moved on from his position at Breitbart to become CEO of Donald Trump's presidential campaign in August 2016. Following Trump's win, he became White House chief strategist and served in the role for seven months before being fired. Bannon was also given a position on the National Security Council (NSC).
Many members of the alt-right supported Trump because of his views on limiting immigration and banning Muslims from entering the country, as well as his willingness to disregard political correctness, which many conservatives view as a threat to free speech. When Trump won the 2016 presidential election, members of the alt-right considered it a victory and a sign that their views were migrating from the political fringes to the mainstream.
Another prominent figure associated for a time with the alt-right was Milo Yiannopoulos, an editor for Breitbart News. A provocative figure as a gay man espousing right-wing views, Yiannopoulos gained fame writing articles skewering feminism and social justice movements. He coauthored "An Establishment Conservative's Guide to the Alt-Right," a Breitbart article that was shared widely and attempted to make the alt-right more favorable to conservatives outside the group.
Yiannopoulos's fame waned in 2017 after a conservative website called the Reagan Battalion shared a video of him expressing the view that consensual sexual relationships between thirteen-year-olds and adults are possible for some mature teenagers. In the controversy that followed, he lost a publishing contract with Simon & Schuster, had his speaking invitation revoked at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), and was pressured to resign from Breitbart News.
Other internet publications considered alt-right and which are more specifically racist and anti-Semitic include VDARE and American Renaissance. Jared Taylor, the publisher of American Renaissance, rejects the term "racist" and refers to himself instead as a "race realist."
Following Trump's election, public consciousness of the alt-right peaked around the time of the August 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, called to protest the proposed removal of a statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee from the city. Multiple far-right groups, including White supremacists, neo-Nazis, and right-wing milita groups, converged on the city along with throngs of counterprotesters. Violence broke out and a counterprotestor was killed when a White supremacist rammed his car into a crowd. The event was considered a disaster, and Trump's reluctance to denounce the protesters and comments about 'very fine people' on both sides was widely condemned.
Also around this time, the alt-right movement began encountering resistance in the form of social media platforms shutting down their online forums. Twitter, Facebook, and Reddit all shut down alt-right forums and many online payment services began refusing service to white-nationalist outlets. Although the movement appeared to be waning, some experts warned it could just be driven underground.
Bibliography
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Caldwell, Christopher. "What the Alt-Right Really Means." The New York Times, 2 Dec. 2016, www.nytimes.com/2016/12/02/opinion/sunday/what-the-alt-right-really-means.html. Accessed 19 Dec. 2024.
Collins, Eliza. "9 Things You Need to Know About the Alt-Right Movement." USA Today, 23 Nov. 2016, www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2016/11/22/alt-right-trump-white-nationalist-clinton-breitbart-spencer/94273282/. Accessed 19 Dec. 2024.
Cox, John Woodrow. "'Let's Party Like It's 1933': Inside the Alt-Right World of Richard Spencer." The Washington Post, 23 Nov. 2016, www.washingtonpost.com/local/lets-party-like-its-1933-inside-the-disturbing-alt-right-world-of-richard-spencer/2016/11/22/cf81dc74-aff7-11e6-840f-e3ebab6bcdd3‗story.html. Accessed 19 Dec. 2024.
Fulwood, Sam, III. "The Rise and Fall of an Alt-Right Hero." Newsweek, 22 Nov. 2016, www.newsweek.com/rise-fall-alt-right-breitbart-hero-561735. Accessed 19 Dec. 2024.
Gray, Rosie. “Trump Defends White-Nationalist Protesters: ‘Some Very Fine People on Both Sides.’” Congress, 15 Aug. 2017, www.congress.gov/118/meeting/house/116973/documents/HHRG-118-ED00-20240417-SD006.pdf. Accessed 19 Dec. 2024.
Roy, Jessica. "What Is the Alt-Right? A Refresher Course on Steve Bannon's Fringe Brand of Conservatism." Los Angeles Times, 14 Nov. 2016, www.latimes.com/nation/politics/trailguide/la-na-trailguide-updates-what-is-the-alt-right-a-refresher-1479169663-htmlstory.html. Accessed 19 Dec. 2024.
Ryan, Lizza. "How Alt-Right 'Fellow-Traveler' Milo Yiannopoulos Cracked up the Right." The New Yorker, 21 Feb. 2017. www.newyorker.com/news/ryan-lizza/how-alt-right-fellow-traveller-milo-yiannopoulos-cracked-up-the-right. Accessed 19 Dec. 2024.
Tait, Joshua. “What Was the Alt-Right?” Tablet, 10 Aug. 2023, www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/what-was-alt-right. Accessed 19 Dec. 2024.