“Because for us, as Europeans, it is only normal again when we are great again”: metapolitical whiteness and the normalization of white supremacist discourse in the wake of Trump

ABSTRACT

The purported utopian multiculture of the Obama era has shown itself to be little more than a postracial fantasy with structural racism persisting and indeed intensifying. The short-lived illusion of harmony and “progress” experienced a significant rupture with the “white backlash” in 2010 and evolved into a pervasive social force with Trump’s election. This article analyses the resurgence of a mainstreaming white nationalism following the 2016 presidential election using data drawn from websites, interviews with and publications by the alt-right. Through the concept of metapolitical whiteness, it argues that a new conjuncture of white racial politics has emerged since 2016. This is predicated on the normalization of white supremacist discourse which utilizes novel forms of disseminating its message to a younger demographic. Ultimately, it contends that white supremacist discourse is re-entering mainstream political discourse and popular culture through ironic comedy and differentialist discursive strategies borrowed from the French new right.

KEYWORDS:

• Racism
• Trump
• metapolitical whiteness
• alt-right
• white backlash

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive critiques of earlier drafts of this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).