New White Nationalism And “White Identity Politics” In The Contemporary American Society

The rise of new white nationalism cannot be ignored in American society.Its rise has deep historical roots and present factors and exerts major implications on the American society.New white nationalism in the United States(US)is deep-rooted in the history,from the emergence of racist ideas during the colonial period,to the prevalence of slavery in the US,to the racial segregation after the American Civil War.This thesis selects three representative historical cases of traditional white nationalism: the “Know-Nothing”movement,the Chinese Exclusion Act and the Ku Klux Klan,to review the history of traditional white nationalism and concludes that old white nationalism is characterized by fierce violence and blatant white supremacy.There are several reasons for the rising of new white nationalism: First,due to the declining whites’ birth rate and the population growth of minorities,especially the Latino population,white Americans will no longer be in the majority by the middle of this century,making whites anxious.Second,the deconstruction of WASP culture by multiculturalism has challenged the dominance of the latter.Third,the declining socioeconomic status of blue-collar workers in the “Rust Belt” due to deindustrialization and the neglect of this group has led them to support white nationalism.For these three reasons,whites have engaged in identity politics to maintain their political and cultural dominance.The new white nationalism manifests itself in a variety of ways,from moderate to radical ones,but in general it is less violent and less explicit compared with the historical ones.In terms of US public policy,Trump’s support for nativism and populism,and the signing of “Muslim Ban” executive order,are all closely linked to the rise of the new white nationalism.In terms of US diplomacy,Trump has combined economic nationalism with white nationalism.Economic nationalism is used to respond to voters who have suffered from globalization and played a major role in Trump winning the election.The new white nationalism is also a major factor in dividing American society—the “new culture war”,it will put the previous liberal-conservative dispute to the level of national identity,posing unprecedented challenges to American political institution.