White Power USA - Movie Review Example

?White Power USA In the short video, White Power USA, several groups are represented who feel strongly that the white race is somehow threatened, demoralized, and in a position that requires them to be more aware of the socio-economic changes going on in the country (http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/peopleandpower/2010/01/201015124739316797.html). It is suggested several times that now, more than ever, the simplest event or action on either side could spark a chain of events causing exponential growth of the white supremacist’s parties and conservative citizen committees, which are under the thin disguise of a more polite white power group, using more delicate wording to attract ‘whiter whites’ if such a thing is possible. One group is shown at a protest or rally using the epitaph ‘Take it Back’ referring to our Country. What is meant by ‘We Want Our Country Back?’ Who are ‘We?’ and what kind of Country does this ‘We’ want back? The Right Wing Nationalists have been increasing in numbers, preparing for battles in the future, since Obama has become President. Civil rights campaigner Leonard Zeskind feels it is a much larger political problem than it was thirty years ago and states that though the right wing supremacists groups appear to be marginal at this time, they still exploit and enflame racial divisions that run through all of American culture (http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/peopleandpower/2010/01/201015124739316797.html). He also feels the white supremacists threat isn’t accurately represented by the numbers and figures and this threat needs to be taken seriously. Another report states that right wing supremacists are the single most dangerous terrorism threat within the United States at this time. The National Alliance published ‘Who Rules America?’ worries about those who control America’s mass media of news and entertainment, stating that biased media and news shape our every thought and function, compounded by politically positive views of Obama and other politician’s in the spotlight. Every action or expression and image that the public see’s in carefully thought out in order to reach the people on subliminal levels and affects the opinions and attitudes they have over the world. Black characters are portrayed on television as take charge successful individuals. Homosexuals are shown as sensitive and wounded victims of discrimination. Illegal immigrants are shown as hard workers chasing the ‘American Dream.’ No mention is shown or made about these demographics’ vast contribution to our economics, crime rate or overcrowding in some States, with English becoming almost a second language. White racist have become stereotyped as Anthony Laveys’, running around stockpiling guns, waiting to take over the world and cancel out other races. Who are these powerful controllers of the media that misshape and mishandle the entire content of what passes through it? Who Rules America feels that it is the Jewish population. The print publication goes on with conversations reflecting several large companies in a poor light, Disney, Viacom, and Time Warner among them. It appears through this publication that some of the ‘we’ wanting the country back is definitely those associated with or who follow the National Alliance party, who feel very strongly they are being manipulated. The publication places an ad in the back of the book inviting whites to join, further down casting the Jewish population, stating they are attempting to keep the world hypnotized. Rothenberg (124) makes a point to mention that sometimes it is not what we have been told through those around us or the media but often what we have not been told throughout our lives, beginning in the early years of childhood. Most people will say they grew up in neighborhoods with mostly the same race as themselves and racism wasn’t something to be talked about. Omitted information can have just as profound an effect as the media and news coverage of the world. Distortions and stereotypes lend to prejudice at early ages. It is not only the white population who are this way but each race or segment of the population, further lending to the fact that people are all still very much divided and social segmentation is not a thing of the past. She describes racism as a systemic advantage of being white or white privileged. Systemic advantage can be applied to any race. With racism being nothing more than a matter of group power it is a dominant racial group (whites) striving to maintain its systemic advantages and minorities fighting to subvert the racial status quo (131). This changes how one could define ‘we,’ now making it possible to include the average white individual, wanting to continue to receive and experience the advantages of being a white individual. This being said no right wing militia group would describe the situation quite the same. Rothenberg further states “whites have developed their own color blindness and ideology that justifies the current racial inequality and helps maintain white privilege” (131). They do so most of the time because for them it has always been this way and they do not see themselves as committing any racist acts or having any racist attitudes by simply wanting what they have always had. Both blacks and whites are equally threatened by immigration and for the same economic reasons; an immigrant may take their job or replace them at a less expensive rate of pay. For whites this discrimination or prejudice is compounded by the fact that these immigrants are also not white. White individuals may say that this has nothing to do with it but history shows and repeats. Older white immigrants may argue that they were immigrants but they were ‘white’ immigrants, which makes a difference to them. This evidences thinking that some inherent factor in the immigrants of today’s skin tone predisposes them to be more responsible for the economy and lack of jobs then when they were previously immigrants (Rothenberg, 244). CNN political Analyst, whom is also black, believes that the phrase ‘We Want Our Country Back’ is meant to represent those who are still upset that Obama is President (Birther). I also feel that this is true. Though it has been said for year I feel that at this time it is used to represent the portion of people unhappy to have a black President and to have a strong black influence constantly in the media and on the news coverage reminding them that their advantaged white privilege is being threatened now more so than at any other time. I believe they would like a return to knowing that despite the faults the President was underneath it all and at the end of the day still a white individual. I’ve found no evidence of any black American’s or immigrants as part of this ‘We want our country back’ expression. The website ‘Taking our Country Back’ (http://takingourcountryback.net/) describes members or affiliates as local citizens and patriots with a love for their Country, who also believe in American exceptionalism and would like to see leaders who are true to the constitution and solid spiritual, moral and ethical people. Combined with the title of the website this automatically lends to the belief that the do not feel that this is the case now. I viewed many podcasts and news reports where individual’s expressed the same phrase. Most were not part of right wing militia groups or tea party clubs, only white American individuals feeling, in my opinion, that their advantages as a white American were threatened by a black man holding the most powerful office in our country. Most I saw appeared to be average citizens of the United States who felt strongly on the subject. I agree with much that the National Alliance printed in so far as the media having such a profound effect on what people as individuals feel and think about the world. I believe that this expression may have started with a right wing group or some other group and became a catch phrase for any white American dissatisfied with the way the Country is being managed, from economics to immigration to racism issues to health care and tax reform. I think the expression serves as a type of cover all expression that could possibly be defined as something different by every individual you asked. Works Cited "White Power USA - People & Power - Al Jazeera English." AJE - Al Jazeera English. 20 Sept. 2011. Web. 03 Dec. 2011. http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/peopleandpower/2010/01/201015124739316797.html Birther. "CNN Live." CNN Live. CNN. 22 July 2010. Media Matters. Web. 3 Dec. 2011. . NaTall. "Who Rules America." The National Alliance. National Vanguard Books, 2010. Web. 3 Dec. 2011. . Rothenberg, Paula S. Race, Class, and Gender in the United States: an Integrated Study. New York: Worth, 2007. Print. Taking Our Country Back. Web. 3 Dec. 2011. . Read More