Podcast
White Nationalism
Source:
NPR: Throughline
May 8, 2019
Category:
Institutional Racism
The white nationalist ideas of Madison Grant influenced Congress in the 1920s, leaders in Nazi Germany, and members of the Trump administration. This week, we share an episode we loved from It's Been A Minute with Sam Sanders that explores a throughline of white nationalism in American politics from the early 20th century to today.
Isaiah's Description:
This podcast explores ideas of white nationalism primarily through the frame of immigration. The idea of a superior race hasn't only affected immigration policy, but policy and ideas on race in America and beyond. The foundations of white nationalism and pseudoscience run strong and deep within the institutions and laws of the United States. Adolf Hitler and other Nazi leaders used many of the ideas perpetuated by the U.S. to fuel the Holocaust. Shockingly, some U.S. policies, like the One Drop policy, were considered too radical even for the Nazis.
An interesting point is made in the podcast around the role of war affecting how the majority of whites viewed blacks and other minorities. Seeing minorities serve in wartime helped the shift the views of whites towards racial equality policies. Can this phenomenon be channeled today to create narratives that have the same effect?
This a good podcast to understand how the institutional history of the U.S. has been guided by racism and pseudoscience.