Steven Miller brings white nationalism "home" to the Triangle

He’s a Duke graduate; instead of attending the class reunion, he’s sent his ICE minions

It turns out to be a significant day to write about Stephen Miller, as ICE Border Patrol has finally arrived in the Triangle, according to reports that operations in Raleigh began today.1

My Webster’s dictionary says white nationalists are militant white people who espouse white supremacy and advocate enforced racial segregation. Fortunately, we do not have to depend solely on the dictionary because we have a high profile white nationalist on view in the Trump White House. His name is Stephen Miller.

Miller was the chief architect of the POTUS 45 administration “zero tolerance” immigration policy, which led to the forced separation of thousands of children from their parents at the southern border.2 According to Vanity Fair, “Stephen actually enjoys seeing those pictures at the border.” His own words on the policy? He called it a “simple decision.”

Even before going to work for Trump, Miller had a history of developing policies aimed at rolling back civil rights, weakening voting protections, and targeting marginalized communities. His work in government has consistently targeted people of color, immigrants, and LGBTQ+ Americans. While a student at Duke, he wrote for the Duke Chronicle out of a sense of “responsibility to do battle with the left.”3

During Trump’s first term, leaked emails revealed that Miller frequently shared white nationalist talking points and publications. The Southern Poverty Law Center characterized Miller’s communications as “open white nationalism.” During that same time, Miller routinely collaborated with anti-immigration hate groups like the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) and the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), both of which have deep ties to white nationalist ideologies. Miller elevated their ideas into national policy, blurring the line between governance and extremist ideology, resulting in sweeping deportations and a normalization of xenophobia at the highest levels of government.

It was so bad that more than 100 members of Congress called for his resignation; however, Trump stood behind him along with many of the GOP.

Stephen Miller is a central figure in shaping the second Trump Administration’s agenda. From enabling state violence against immigrant families to promoting white nationalist rhetoric in government, his career is a warning of what happens when bigotry gains institutional power.

Isn’t it ironic that Miller is the grandson of Jewish immigrants who came to this country early in the last century? Here’s what his uncle, Dr. David S. Glosser4, says about his nephew:

“I have watched with dismay and increasing horror as my nephew, an educated man who is well aware of his heritage, has become the architect of immigration policies that repudiate the very foundation of our family’s life in this country.”

What is a White Nationalist?

White nationalists hold that white people should maintain their majority in majority-white countries, maintain their political and economic dominance, and that their cultures should be foremost in these countries. Many white nationalists believe that miscegenation, multiculturalism, immigration of nonwhites and low birth rates among whites are threatening the white race. Note: Demographers predict that by mid-century people identifying as “white” will become the largest minority in the United States.

Analysts describe white nationalism as overlapping with white supremacism and white separatism, and white nationalism is sometimes described as a euphemism for, or subset of, white supremacism, and the two have been used interchangeably by journalists and analysts. White separatism is the pursuit of a “white-only state,” while supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to nonwhites and should dominate them, taking ideas from Social Darwinism and Nazism.

Speaking of Nazis, Nick Fuentes is another white supremacist. While he is not in government, he has a sizable following as he promotes Christian nationalism, white supremacy, misogyny, anti-LGBTQ views, and antisemitism, including Holocaust denial. He participated in the infamous “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, VA in 2017.

As if that isn’t enough, Fuentes is also a male supremacist who has insisted women are too emotional to make political decisions and that rape is “so not a big deal.” Fuentes considers himself a “proud incel” — a shorthand for the virulently misogynistic “involuntarily celibate” movement which blames women for their sexual and romantic failures. He has urged his followers to abstain from sex, warning that relationships with women will only distract them from the white nationalist cause. Fuentes targets young men and seeks to exploit their insecurities around sex, dating, and masculinity to draw them into the far-right movement.

In other words, whatever is wrong, it must be someone else’s fault. First rule of Nazism: Always blame “The Other.”

So, in Miller and Fuentes we have two very recognizable icons of the far right, 21st century white supremacist movement in this country. In the early 20th century we also had white supremacists, who admired Mussolini and Hitler, and they were able to attract large followings. This is interesting because there is nothing American about any of these people except that they were born here and live here. They obviously don’t accept the central theme of the Declaration of Independence (all humans are created equal with unalienable rights) and would gladly deny rights to women, minorities, legal immigrants, LGBQT persons, and Jews. In fact, Fuentes has said, “I’m just like Hitler.”

A parasite is an organism that lives on or in its host, benefiting from its relationship with the host, but destroying the host in the process. White Nationalists, even more so than Christian Nationalists, are parasites. Like Christian Nationalists, they don’t build anything or offer anything meant to “form a more perfect union,” or “establish justice,” or “ensure domestic tranquility.” They are, for the most part, cruel and revel in the pain of others, especially those who do not look like them.

They are, in the final analysis, not just un-American, they are anti-American. I’m tempted to call them domestic terrorists, but the general definition of terrorists is that they employ violence or threaten violence. Don’t forget, Fuentes was a participant in the Unite the Right mob in Charlottesville that did turn violent. My guess is that he won’t be able to keep turning up the volume on white nationalism/supremacy without eventually inspiring violence at some point.