Shane Burley: 'Alt-Right' White Supremacists Attempting to Organize Support on U.S. College Campuses

Award-winning Investigative Journalist Robert Parry (1949-2018)

Award-winning investigative journalist and founder/editor of ConsortiumNews.com, Robert Parry has passed away. His ground-breaking work uncovering Reagan-era dirty wars in Central America and many other illegal and immoral policies conducted by successive administrations and U.S. intelligence agencies, stands as an inspiration to all in journalists working in the public interest.

Robert had been a regular guest on our Between The Lines and Counterpoint radio shows -- and many other progressive outlets across the U.S. over four decades.

His penetrating analysis of U.S. foreign policy and international conflicts will be sorely missed, and not easily replaced. His son Nat Parry writes a tribute to his father: Robert Parry’s Legacy and the Future of Consortiumnews.

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The Resistance Starts Now!

Between The Lines' coverage and resource compilation of the Resistance Movement

"The man who predicted Trump presidential win now says Trump impeachment could happen," AM Joy with Joy Reid, MSNBC, Jan. 21, 2018
"Sketchy Kazakh money finds its way into Trump dealings," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Red flags seen in many Trump real estate deals," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Secret Money: How Trump Made Millions Selling Condos To Unknown Buyers," BuzzFeed, Jan. 12, 2018
"The Scandals of Donald Trump: Presidential Edition," The Atlantic, May 15, 2017
"Here's what we know so far about Team Trump's ties to Russian interests," Washington Post's ongoing compilation
"What Comey Was Investigating, Explained," The Moscow Project, Center for American Progress

"Donald Trump's Financial Ties to Russian Oligarchs and Mobsters Detailed In Explosive New Documentary from the Netherlands," Dutch TV documentary, Alternet.org, May 12, 2017
Ongoing compilation of Trump's creeping authoritarianism," MotherJones.com
Full resource list ...

SPECIAL REPORT: "The Resistance - Women's March 2018 - Hartford, Connecticut" Jan. 20, 2018

Selected speeches from the Women's March in Hartford, Connecticut 2018, recorded and produced by Scott Harris

SPECIAL REPORT: "No Fracking Waste in CT!" Jan. 14, 2018

Jen Siskind Jennifer Siskind, local coordinator for Food and Water Watch, describes the campaign to stop fracking waste in Connecticut, which so far has led to fracking waste bans in 34 towns around the state. Interviewed by Richard Hill on Mic Check, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT

SPECIAL REPORT: "Resistance Round Table: The Unraveling Continues..." Jan. 13, 2018

Lindsay Kanaly The panel discusses Trump's long history of racism and the Republican voter suppression juggernaut confronting Democrats leading up to the 2018 elections. Special guest: Lindsay Kanaly, a lead organizer of the Women's Marches planned for Jan. 20, 2018. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill on Resistance Roundtable, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT.

SPECIAL REPORT: "Capitalism to the ash heap?" Richard Wolff, Jan. 2, 2018

Richard Wolff, Economics professor Richard Wolff declares U.S. capitalism to be beyond repair and suggests the need for a radical alternative. Interviewed by Richard Hill

SPECIAL REPORT: Maryn McKenna, author of "Big Chicken", Dec. 7, 2017

Maryn McKenna, investigative journalist and author of Big Chicken, talks about the widespread use and dangers of antibiotics in commercial poultry, beef and fruit production. Interview by Bill Duesing, Richard Hill and Guy Beardsly on WPKN's Organic Farm Stand.

SPECIAL REPORT: Nina Turner's address, Working Families Party Awards Banquet, Dec. 14, 2017

Nina Turner, president of Our Revolution, talks about the fight ahead for progressives as she receives the Working Families Organization Award for Exceptional Leadership Towards Advancing Progress. The event was held in Meriden, CT. Produced by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Dec. 12, 2017

Working Families Party of CT talks strategy and issues for 2018.
Lindsay Farrell, executive director of the Working Families Party of Connecticut, discusses the state's electoral landscape and lays out the issues and strategies that could lead to progressive victories in 2018. Interviewed by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Dec. 9, 2017

Disturbing developments in the Trump/Republican Agenda
Focus on the tax bill, destruction of our public lands, North Korea and Trump's private CIA. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill. Special guest: Jo Macallero of Rise and Resist.

SPECIAL REPORT: On Tyranny - one year later, Nov. 28, 2017

Professor Timothy Snyder, author of the highly acclaimed resistance manual On Tyranny, discusses his book and offers a fresh assessment of the state of our beleaguered republic. Timothy Snyder, history professor at Yale, is introduced by Stanley Heller, administrator of Promoting Enduring Peace, a Connecticut-based organization that sponsored this event at the United Church Parish House in New Haven on Nov. 28. A brief interview with Snyder conducted by WPKN radio producer, Richard Hill, follows his talk.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Nov. 12, 2017

Lynne Ide, director of program and policy with the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut, talks about the current state of health care coverage in Connecticut. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Nov. 11, 2017

Focus on the Republican tax plan, the just-released autopsy on the Democratic Party, and Internet censorship by Google, Facebook and Youtube. Including an interview with Hilary Grant, a lead organizer with Action Together Connecticut, who discusses the local results of the recent election, with hosts Richard Hill, Scott Harris and Ruth Baumgartner WPKN producers

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Two leaders from Redneck Revolt, an anti-racist, anti-capitalist movement, talk about their work organizing with white working class people in Suffolk County, New York. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Bruce Gagnon, coordinator for the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, describes the extent of -- and motives underlying -- the vast US network of military bases around the globe. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resisting U.S. JeJu Island military base in South Korea, Oct. 24, 2017

Joyakol, South Korean peace activist and singer, discusses the crisis on the Korean peninsula and focuses on the resistance to the U.S. huge military base being constructed on Jeju Island. The event was sponsored by the Greater New Haven Peace Council and this audio was recorded by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.
Joyakol discusses Americans' biggest misconceptions about the conflict between North and South Korea and the U.S., Interview by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.

SPECIAL REPORT: John Allen, Out in New Haven

John Allen, founding director of the New Haven Pride Center, Connecticut, talks about his new LGBTQ television show, Out in New Haven, which presents a range of political and cultural issues to the community. Interviewed by Richard Hill on WPKN's Rainy Day Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018.

2017 Gandhi Peace Awards

Promoting Enduring Peace presented its Gandhi Peace Award jointly to renowned consumer advocate Ralph Nader and BDS founder Omar Barghouti on April 23, 2017.

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THANK YOU TO EVERYONE...

who helped make our 25th anniversary with Jeremy Scahill a success!

For those who missed the event, or were there and really wanted to fully absorb its import, here it is in video

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 1 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 2 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Between The Lines on Stitcher

Between The Lines Presentation at the Left Forum 2016

"How Do We Build A Mass Movement to Reverse Runaway Inequality?" with Les Leopold, author of "Runaway Inequality: An Activist's Guide to Economic Justice,"May 22, 2016, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York, 860 11th Ave. (Between 58th and 59th), New York City. Between The Lines' Scott Harris and Richard Hill moderated this workshop. Listen to the audio/slideshows and more from this workshop.

Listen to audio of the plenary sessions from the weekend.

JEREMY SCAHILL: Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker "Dirty Wars"

Listen to the full interview (30:33) with Jeremy Scahill, an award-winning investigative journalist with the Nation Magazine, correspondent for Democracy Now! and author of the bestselling book, "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army," about America's outsourcing of its military. In an exclusive interview with Counterpoint's Scott Harris on Sept. 16, 2013, Scahill talks about his latest book, "Dirty Wars, The World is a Battlefield," also made into a documentary film under the same title, and was nominated Dec. 5, 2013 for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary Feature category.

Listen to Scott Harris Live on WPKN Radio

Between The Lines' Executive Producer Scott Harris hosts a live, weekly talk show, Counterpoint, from which some of Between The Lines' interviews are excerpted. Listen every Monday evening from 8 to 10 p.m. EDT at www.WPKN.org (Follows the 5-7 minute White Rose Calendar.)

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'Alt-Right' White Supremacists Organizing Support on U.S. College Campuses

Posted Oct. 12, 2016

Interview with Shane Burley, co-author, along with Alexander Reid Ross, of the article, "How the Alt-Right is trying to create a 'safe space' for racism on college campuses,", conducted by Scott Harris

After Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump appointed Stephen Bannon as his new campaign CEO on Aug. 17, many questions were asked about Bannon’s links with white supremacist, misogynist and anti-Semitic bloggers and groups who had found a safe haven on the popular right-wing Breitbart website, where he served as chairman. Bannon and others on the “alternative right,” or alt-right movement, have no consistent or officially recognized ideology, although commonly held views include opposition to multiculturalism, immigration and feminism – as well as an affinity for white nationalism, white supremacy, anti-Semitism and nativism.

Democratic party presidential nominee Hillary Clinton responded to Bannon’s appointment to lead the Trump campaign with a speech in Reno, Nevada in late August, devoted to denouncing Trump’s divisive rhetoric appealing to the “emerging racist ideology known as the alt-right.” In that speech, Clinton warned that a nationalist conservative fringe had taken over the Republican Party.

Stephen Bannon’s rise to lead a major party presidential campaign – and the alt-right’s support for Donald Trump has apparently emboldened and reinvigorated the right-wing movement. Now, there are reports that prominent figures and lesser known groups linked with the alt-right are attempting to cultivate interest and recruit new members on college and university campuses across the U.S. Between The Lines’ Scott Harris spoke with journalist Shane Burley, who discusses his investigation into the activities of the alt-right in academia, featured in the Oct. 6 Waging Nonviolence article, "How the Alt Right is trying to create a 'safe space' for racism on college campuses," co-written with Alexander Reid Ross. [Rush transcript.]

SHANE BURLEY: It was a new strategy for them. What they were trying to do was get under the radar of local anti-racist and anti-fascist organizations and be able to hold an event that essentially looks good to the media, looks good to passing students and looks good to their own media, really well. And so what they did was to announce it only about 48 hours in advance. It's from a few groups from which know, and some which we don't. The National Policy Institute's been around for a number of years. It's kind of taken the lead in terms of this new buzz around the "alt-right" and they recently put out a large press conference in Washington. They've been leading the large conferences. Richard Spencer is the director of it; he's been kind of out in front fielding interviews with reporters and things like that. And he's been kind of the person that's coined the term 'alt-right' and he's kind of been the ideological forefather for it.

But then there's this other identity group. Europa is really doing the groundwork at Berkeley and they have been, not just in California, but in Portland, Oregon, in the Midwest, there's been some posters in the East Coast, trying to create some kind of a nationalist, student group or fraternal organization – that's what they like to call it. It's going to be on college campuses and appeal to young people and it's trying to do what a lot of leftist groups do on campus, which is create kind of a campus culture.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Shane, what's been the reception on college campuses like Berkeley and the other universities and colleges that they've tried to organize rallies and recruit members.

SHANE BURLEY: It's been mixed. It hasn't been great, generally. They're not getting warm welcomes. Milo Yiannopoulos, who is well-known for writing at Breitbart, he's what you call an alt-light. He's more of a kind of diet alt-right. He kind of mainstreams their opinions without maybe having a lot of the baggage. You know, he's getting challenged at a lot of his university speaking events. But they are sold out, nonetheless. People like Richard Spencer, they're not well-known by the administration. A lot of student groups that would challenge them, don't really know the baggage he brings in. He's not waving a swastika; he's not coming in a Klan robe. So it's not quite as obvious. So there hasn't been a large-scale student movement against it. When it's made obvious, it's pretty roundly rejected.

What's gone over a little bit better is alt-right students going into Students for Trump organizations. And that's something we're seeing in a lot of college campuses. In Portland, Oregon, at Portland State University, Portland Students for Trump was alleged to be harassing multiracial student organizers, really kind of making a nasty culture on campus. And that's run by, you know, alt-right ideologues, young people that are on these alt-right message boards that are kind of creating a community amongst those. So that's been kind of their entry to get a little bit more high profile.

Groups like Identity Europa, it's really too new to tell. Anti-fascist organizations off-campus have been responding really strongly to them, but it's yet to see if they're going to have much of a pull on campus.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Shane, are these groups at all associated with violence, whether directed at particular students or student organizations anywhere in the country?

SHANE BURLEY: I think the answer is yes and no. Their entire existence, the entire way they function, their talking points, their messaging, their branding, all of it based around the idea of taking their white nationalist message and stripping away the connotation of violence. The problem is that white nationalism is the history of violence. It's completely inseparable. So take Nathan Damigo, who founded Identity Europa, and he will strip all forms of racial slurs and violent language out of his discourse. But of course, he served over five years in prison for violently attacking a Muslim man.

American Renaissance is a really great example, you know. They will talk about equal politics, this and that, but if you look at the crowd, you're going to have skinheads, you're going to have neo-Nazi party members, you're going to have Klansmen. Same is true of League of the South, Council of Conservative Citizens, all of these groups that have a kind of close, tight network and kind of make up a lot of the core of the alt-right. And at the same time, you have groups that have been associated with the alt-right. They're actively recruiting for that more violent undercurrent. So the Traditionalist Youth Network, which I mentioned in the article, recently held an event in Sacramento and they decided to invite Golden State Skinheads and Sacto Skins, two skinhead gangs, and ended up stabbing seven protesters. I think eight or nine people ended up in the hospital.

So this is something that happens relatively regularly when you have this long history of this kind of violent confrontation. It's really hard for the alt-right to completely reject it because it's something that's really baked into their ideological legacy.