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Inside the World of Racist Science Fiction Inside the World of Racist Science Fiction
(about 2 hours later)
As I watched the televised 2016 presidential debates, listening to the then-candidate Donald Trump arguing various points with Hillary Clinton, a chill went down my spine. I was in the middle of writing a new play, a comic parody of white supremacist fiction. With his hyperbolic attacks on immigrants and minorities — African-Americans “living in hell,” Latino “gangs roaming the street” and insinuations that a long list of Jewish philanthropists and politicians was conspiring against him — Mr. Trump sounded like a character straight out of my research.As I watched the televised 2016 presidential debates, listening to the then-candidate Donald Trump arguing various points with Hillary Clinton, a chill went down my spine. I was in the middle of writing a new play, a comic parody of white supremacist fiction. With his hyperbolic attacks on immigrants and minorities — African-Americans “living in hell,” Latino “gangs roaming the street” and insinuations that a long list of Jewish philanthropists and politicians was conspiring against him — Mr. Trump sounded like a character straight out of my research.
Trump’s habit of echoing the racist far right is now well-known, but back then, everyone was unsure of what was even happening, let alone what to call it. Two years later — after Richard Spencer, after Charlottesville — the public has heard a lot about white supremacist culture. But I’d argue that we haven’t quite heard enough. To understand their ideologies and why they support this president so strongly, we need to examine their literature.Trump’s habit of echoing the racist far right is now well-known, but back then, everyone was unsure of what was even happening, let alone what to call it. Two years later — after Richard Spencer, after Charlottesville — the public has heard a lot about white supremacist culture. But I’d argue that we haven’t quite heard enough. To understand their ideologies and why they support this president so strongly, we need to examine their literature.
The books act as a kind of binding agent, a Bible-like codification of basic principles that underpin the various denominations. And yet, for understandable reasons, they remain largely unknown. Journalists are inclined to avoid name-checking the books publicly, for fear of inadvertently promoting them. This is no longer a winning strategy. Heidi Beirich, who tracks far-right hate groups for the Southern Poverty Law Center, agrees. “We needed to have been talking about these books for decades,” she asserts. “They’re very influential, they’re reaching the highest levels of power, they’re having an impact on terrorism, on policy, and so on. Not talking about them is just wrong.” So, let’s talk.The books act as a kind of binding agent, a Bible-like codification of basic principles that underpin the various denominations. And yet, for understandable reasons, they remain largely unknown. Journalists are inclined to avoid name-checking the books publicly, for fear of inadvertently promoting them. This is no longer a winning strategy. Heidi Beirich, who tracks far-right hate groups for the Southern Poverty Law Center, agrees. “We needed to have been talking about these books for decades,” she asserts. “They’re very influential, they’re reaching the highest levels of power, they’re having an impact on terrorism, on policy, and so on. Not talking about them is just wrong.” So, let’s talk.
Most of the books are self-published. Others are distributed by small, activist imprints or the publishing arms of white nationalist organizations. They are sold online, at gun shows or person to person. This scattershot distribution system makes it hard to track sales, but the more popular titles are estimated to have sold hundreds of thousands of copies. I acquired some out-of-print titles from rare book dealers. They are dog-eared, annotated and often inscribed.Most of the books are self-published. Others are distributed by small, activist imprints or the publishing arms of white nationalist organizations. They are sold online, at gun shows or person to person. This scattershot distribution system makes it hard to track sales, but the more popular titles are estimated to have sold hundreds of thousands of copies. I acquired some out-of-print titles from rare book dealers. They are dog-eared, annotated and often inscribed.
The genre ranges broadly in tone and topic, from dark, foreboding dramas to broad, slapstick comedies; from neo-Confederate romances to futuristic dystopian nightmares. They’re dangerous and disgusting, for sure, but they’re also absurdly stupid and, on the whole, very badly written. As a playwright who specializes in edgy humor, I find them endlessly fascinating. Their vocabulary of broad stereotypes, paranoid fantasies and preposterous global-takeover schemes is the stuff comedy is made of.The genre ranges broadly in tone and topic, from dark, foreboding dramas to broad, slapstick comedies; from neo-Confederate romances to futuristic dystopian nightmares. They’re dangerous and disgusting, for sure, but they’re also absurdly stupid and, on the whole, very badly written. As a playwright who specializes in edgy humor, I find them endlessly fascinating. Their vocabulary of broad stereotypes, paranoid fantasies and preposterous global-takeover schemes is the stuff comedy is made of.
I have a particular affinity for the sci-fi books. One of the most popular is Ward Kendall’s 2001 “Hold Back This Day,” which imagines a future in which the evil all-powerful “World Gov” has forcibly united the population of Earth under one religion and, by way of enforced race-mixing, one uniformly brown-skinned population. Jeff Huxton is a “skoolplex” administrator and one of the world’s few remaining white people. He slowly learns to cherish his white skin, becomes radicalized and joins a terrorist group called “Nayra” (“Aryan” spelled backwards!). They hijack a spaceship and travel to Avalon, a secret all-white colony on Mars, which has been transformed into a paradisiacal homeland.I have a particular affinity for the sci-fi books. One of the most popular is Ward Kendall’s 2001 “Hold Back This Day,” which imagines a future in which the evil all-powerful “World Gov” has forcibly united the population of Earth under one religion and, by way of enforced race-mixing, one uniformly brown-skinned population. Jeff Huxton is a “skoolplex” administrator and one of the world’s few remaining white people. He slowly learns to cherish his white skin, becomes radicalized and joins a terrorist group called “Nayra” (“Aryan” spelled backwards!). They hijack a spaceship and travel to Avalon, a secret all-white colony on Mars, which has been transformed into a paradisiacal homeland.
Mr. Kendall, who has written more than a dozen similar books, said in an interview on the website of his publisher, Counter-Currents, that “Hold Back This Day” was inspired by a concern that “whites may well have to fight a racial ‘Alamo’ in some darkened future year as a last-ditch effort against extinction.” The title of his novel is intended to ask, “Do we whites want to ‘hold back this day’ of doom, or not? Because either we stand up now and take action, or we’ll just have to leave it to the last generation of whites to deal with. But by then, however, it may well be too late.” Mr. Kendall, who has written a series of similar books, said in an interview on the website of his publisher, Counter-Currents, that “Hold Back This Day” was inspired by a concern that “whites may well have to fight a racial ‘Alamo’ in some darkened future year as a last-ditch effort against extinction.” The title of his novel is intended to ask, “Do we whites want to ‘hold back this day’ of doom, or not? Because either we stand up now and take action, or we’ll just have to leave it to the last generation of whites to deal with. But by then, however, it may well be too late.”
In “Bedford: A World Vision,” another sci-fi novel, abortion is encouraged, old people are euthanized and legally regimented political correctness has cowed Caucasians into submission. Written by a former Alabama public-school teacher named Ellen Williams and first published in 2000, the book’s obsessions are rooted in “Christian Identity” paranoia, channeling its racist ideologies through fears of a perceived threat to white Christians. Its two protagonists, Horace and Virginia Pruitt, are on trial after having been accused by their 13-year-old son, Adam, of taking him to church against his will — a criminal act in Ms. Williams’s dystopia. The plot, as it were, thickens when it is revealed that he has been swayed by a sexual relationship with his male gym teacher, whom he is dating. In Ms. Williams’ reckoning of the future, pedophilia is not only tolerated, it’s sanctioned. Thus poor Virginia and Horace are left helpless to save their son from the jaws of debauchery. In “Bedford: A World Vision,” another futuristic novel, abortion is encouraged, old people are euthanized and legally regimented political correctness has cowed Caucasians into submission. Written by a former Alabama public-school teacher named Ellen Williams and first published in 2000, the book’s obsessions are rooted in “Christian Identity” paranoia, channeling its racist ideologies through fears of a perceived threat to white Christians. Its two protagonists, Horace and Virginia Pruitt, are on trial after having been accused by their 13-year-old son, Adam, of taking him to church against his will — a criminal act in Ms. Williams’s dystopia. The plot, as it were, thickens when it is revealed that he has been swayed by a sexual relationship with his male gym teacher, whom he is dating. In Ms. Williams’ reckoning of the future, pedophilia is not only tolerated, it’s sanctioned. Thus poor Virginia and Horace are left helpless to save their son from the jaws of debauchery.
The author bio on the dust jacket claims that Ms. Williams has also written “several dramatic monologues,” which she presents to various “Southern heritage groups and historical societies” (read: neo-Confederate rallies). My copy of the book is inscribed “To Bettye,” with a handwritten quotation (usually attributed to Edmund Burke) that is often cited in the movement: “All that is required for evil to prevail is that good men do nothing.”The author bio on the dust jacket claims that Ms. Williams has also written “several dramatic monologues,” which she presents to various “Southern heritage groups and historical societies” (read: neo-Confederate rallies). My copy of the book is inscribed “To Bettye,” with a handwritten quotation (usually attributed to Edmund Burke) that is often cited in the movement: “All that is required for evil to prevail is that good men do nothing.”
Among the many titles in the white supremacist canon, “The Turner Diaries” is the most important and one of the few titles recognized by mainstream Americans. Written by William Pierce, then-head of the neo-Nazi group the National Alliance, and published in 1978 under the pseudonym Andrew Macdonald, it is a fictitious diary written by its hero, Earl Turner. A young white man, Turner joins a terrorist group called “the Order,” which commits a series of attacks designed to incite a wider race war. One thing leads to another and a nuclear-armed battle is waged between Turner’s forces and the government, which in Mr. Pierce’s telling is run by Jews and blacks. The plot climaxes with the establishment of a white ethno-state, and Turner is martyred. The novel ends with a memorial: “He gained immortality for himself on that dark November day,” it reads,Among the many titles in the white supremacist canon, “The Turner Diaries” is the most important and one of the few titles recognized by mainstream Americans. Written by William Pierce, then-head of the neo-Nazi group the National Alliance, and published in 1978 under the pseudonym Andrew Macdonald, it is a fictitious diary written by its hero, Earl Turner. A young white man, Turner joins a terrorist group called “the Order,” which commits a series of attacks designed to incite a wider race war. One thing leads to another and a nuclear-armed battle is waged between Turner’s forces and the government, which in Mr. Pierce’s telling is run by Jews and blacks. The plot climaxes with the establishment of a white ethno-state, and Turner is martyred. The novel ends with a memorial: “He gained immortality for himself on that dark November day,” it reads,
and in so doing he helped greatly to assure that his race would survive and prosper, that the Organization would achieve its worldwide political and military goals, and that the Order would spread its wise and benevolent rule over the earth for all time to come.and in so doing he helped greatly to assure that his race would survive and prosper, that the Organization would achieve its worldwide political and military goals, and that the Order would spread its wise and benevolent rule over the earth for all time to come.
“The Turner Diaries” was an innovation of sorts, a hybrid of fantasy and how-to, and it has inspired hundreds of terrorist attacks in the United States and Europe, including the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, which killed 168 people and injured 684 others. The attack was a copycat of the one Mr. Pierce outlined in the book, right down to the time of day and type of explosives used. Pages of the book were found in a plastic bag in the car of the plot’s leader, Timothy McVeigh. The mainstream attention caused a kind of miniboom in the genre that lasted into the early 2000s, as other would-be authors, Mr. Kendall and Ms. Williams among them, tried their hand at writing fiction.“The Turner Diaries” was an innovation of sorts, a hybrid of fantasy and how-to, and it has inspired hundreds of terrorist attacks in the United States and Europe, including the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, which killed 168 people and injured 684 others. The attack was a copycat of the one Mr. Pierce outlined in the book, right down to the time of day and type of explosives used. Pages of the book were found in a plastic bag in the car of the plot’s leader, Timothy McVeigh. The mainstream attention caused a kind of miniboom in the genre that lasted into the early 2000s, as other would-be authors, Mr. Kendall and Ms. Williams among them, tried their hand at writing fiction.
Sitting beside “The Turner Diaries” at the top of the white supremacist best-seller list is Jean Raspail’s 1973 novel, “The Camp of the Saints.” It is a brooding parable that warns of the dangers of immigration and is something of a standout for being relatively well written, even in translation from the original French. Mr. Raspail’s caustic, often-humorous, ellipses-littered prose is reminiscent of that of his fellow countryman Louis-Ferdinand Céline, whose own history as a Nazi sympathizer cast a shadow over his otherwise brilliant work.Sitting beside “The Turner Diaries” at the top of the white supremacist best-seller list is Jean Raspail’s 1973 novel, “The Camp of the Saints.” It is a brooding parable that warns of the dangers of immigration and is something of a standout for being relatively well written, even in translation from the original French. Mr. Raspail’s caustic, often-humorous, ellipses-littered prose is reminiscent of that of his fellow countryman Louis-Ferdinand Céline, whose own history as a Nazi sympathizer cast a shadow over his otherwise brilliant work.
The book’s central “problem” begins in Belgium, where priests are encouraging the adoption of Indian children as a form of charity. In an early scene, a roiling sea of desperate Indian mothers — “wretched creatures” — storms the gates of the Belgian embassy in Kolkata, each with a child in her outstretched arms. The country is soon swamped with these adoptions, and authorities announce an end to the policy.The book’s central “problem” begins in Belgium, where priests are encouraging the adoption of Indian children as a form of charity. In an early scene, a roiling sea of desperate Indian mothers — “wretched creatures” — storms the gates of the Belgian embassy in Kolkata, each with a child in her outstretched arms. The country is soon swamped with these adoptions, and authorities announce an end to the policy.
But it’s too late; the mob gains strength as the Indians are joined by Arabs and other nonwhites. They eventually grow to one million strong, board a flotilla and set sail for France. The country’s liberal government hesitates to defend against the onslaught, and as it stammers and acquiesces, the immigrants begin to enter the country. France’s whites retreat northward, but are eventually absorbed by the demographic shift, and the trend spreads throughout Europe, as indigenous populations and other “hoards” are inspired to rise up. They eventually take over the world, erasing the white race from existence.But it’s too late; the mob gains strength as the Indians are joined by Arabs and other nonwhites. They eventually grow to one million strong, board a flotilla and set sail for France. The country’s liberal government hesitates to defend against the onslaught, and as it stammers and acquiesces, the immigrants begin to enter the country. France’s whites retreat northward, but are eventually absorbed by the demographic shift, and the trend spreads throughout Europe, as indigenous populations and other “hoards” are inspired to rise up. They eventually take over the world, erasing the white race from existence.
White supremacists seem convinced that the novels’ “white genocide” is coming to life, and are petitioning Mr. Trump for help. This past spring, Andrew Anglin, the deeply sinister and darkly clever force behind Daily Stormer, the most Millennial-y neo-Nazi site on the web, started to spread the news of a “migrant caravan” that was moving through Central America, toward the United States-Mexico border. It was a protest march, organized by the Central American pro-immigration activist group Pueblo Sin Fronteras. The march has taken place every year since 2010 without ever getting much traction in the press.White supremacists seem convinced that the novels’ “white genocide” is coming to life, and are petitioning Mr. Trump for help. This past spring, Andrew Anglin, the deeply sinister and darkly clever force behind Daily Stormer, the most Millennial-y neo-Nazi site on the web, started to spread the news of a “migrant caravan” that was moving through Central America, toward the United States-Mexico border. It was a protest march, organized by the Central American pro-immigration activist group Pueblo Sin Fronteras. The march has taken place every year since 2010 without ever getting much traction in the press.
But Mr. Anglin saw an opportunity in the implication of a literal enactment of “The Camp of the Saints.” He rallied his troll army to petition Mr. Trump to use the word “caravans” publicly, and on April 1, he did. In fact, he and Vice President Mike Pence used the word multiple times, then issued an order to send the National Guard to the border. The story dominated the news cycle for days, and Mr. Anglin took a well-deserved victory lap, bragging that “the media was not talking about this, only the alt-right was, and Trump is posting about it — so he does hear us.”But Mr. Anglin saw an opportunity in the implication of a literal enactment of “The Camp of the Saints.” He rallied his troll army to petition Mr. Trump to use the word “caravans” publicly, and on April 1, he did. In fact, he and Vice President Mike Pence used the word multiple times, then issued an order to send the National Guard to the border. The story dominated the news cycle for days, and Mr. Anglin took a well-deserved victory lap, bragging that “the media was not talking about this, only the alt-right was, and Trump is posting about it — so he does hear us.”
It is unlikely that Mr. Trump has read any of these books. But members of his staff undoubtedly have. His former aide Steve Bannon is a fan of “The Camp of the Saints” and refers to it often — in knowing, offhand ways that betray both his familiarity with racist literature and his awareness of his target audience’s reading habits. Another administration official, Julie Kirchner, was named ombudsman at the Customs and Border Protection after spending 10 years as the executive director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform. That organization, which Southern Poverty Law Center has designated a hate group, was founded by John Tanton, who runs The Social Contract Press, which is the current publisher of “The Camp of the Saints.”It is unlikely that Mr. Trump has read any of these books. But members of his staff undoubtedly have. His former aide Steve Bannon is a fan of “The Camp of the Saints” and refers to it often — in knowing, offhand ways that betray both his familiarity with racist literature and his awareness of his target audience’s reading habits. Another administration official, Julie Kirchner, was named ombudsman at the Customs and Border Protection after spending 10 years as the executive director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform. That organization, which Southern Poverty Law Center has designated a hate group, was founded by John Tanton, who runs The Social Contract Press, which is the current publisher of “The Camp of the Saints.”
The point is not that there is a direct line between, say, “The Turner Diaries” and the Oval Office. Rather, it’s that the tropes that define the Trump administration’s rhetoric and policies — apocalyptic xenophobia, anti-Semitic conspiracies, racist fear-mongering — are also the tropes that define white-supremacist literature. To the hundreds of thousands of fans of Mr. Kendall, Ms. Williams and other writers, Mr. Trump must seem like a character out of racist central casting: a rule-breaking white knight who will stop at nothing to root out the conspiracies and take on their race’s enemies. No wonder the bond between Mr. Trump and the far right is so strong: Not only is he a hero out of their novels, but in supporting him, they have become heroes themselves.The point is not that there is a direct line between, say, “The Turner Diaries” and the Oval Office. Rather, it’s that the tropes that define the Trump administration’s rhetoric and policies — apocalyptic xenophobia, anti-Semitic conspiracies, racist fear-mongering — are also the tropes that define white-supremacist literature. To the hundreds of thousands of fans of Mr. Kendall, Ms. Williams and other writers, Mr. Trump must seem like a character out of racist central casting: a rule-breaking white knight who will stop at nothing to root out the conspiracies and take on their race’s enemies. No wonder the bond between Mr. Trump and the far right is so strong: Not only is he a hero out of their novels, but in supporting him, they have become heroes themselves.
Ian Allen is a playwright. His new play, “How to Win a Race War,” will open in Washington this fall.Ian Allen is a playwright. His new play, “How to Win a Race War,” will open in Washington this fall.
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