NCJ Number
187405
Journal
Journal of Gang Research Volume: 8 Issue: 2 Dated: Winter 2001 Pages: 49-75
Date Published
2001
Length
27 pages
Annotation
This article examines totemism and symbolism in the white supremacist movements.
Abstract
The white supremacist movements represent a real threat to the peace of America's increasingly diverse communities. They have entwined nationalism, religion, racism, and fascist political philosophy into a warrior culture that seeks to justify their racist views. These groups rely heavily on totemism and various symbols to promote loyalty and fidelity among their members and to attract new converts. Often claiming that they are a religion, or that their writings and speeches represent free political expression, these movements pose a dual threat to law enforcement officers both as urban street gangs and, perhaps even more dangerously, as prison gangs within a confinement situation. As a pseudo-warrior culture, members of these movements decorate their writings and graffiti, as well as their bodies, with symbols, totems, and other artifacts that express and enforce their religious, racist, and political beliefs. The article points out that law enforcement and correctional officers can analyze the symbols as indicators of an individual's level of involvement in these groups. While membership in their groups is not a crime, many white supremacists have become suspects in hate crimes and, when they are imprisoned for their crimes, they become a special security classification threat. Figures, bibliography