More than a Joke: White Supremacist Humor as a Daily Form of Resistance

ABSTRACT

We conduct an ethnographic content analysis to examine the social interaction and racial identity constructed through the exchange of white supremacist humor shared on three Stormfront discussion subforums. Overall, white supremacist joke sharing functioned multidimensionally as it simultaneously fostered cohesion and contention among users. By mocking political correctness and non-Whites through the circulation of humorous images and text, white supremacists establish a communal atmosphere and produce a sense of solidarity among members in a more “fun” way than conventional speeches or publications. At the same time, joke sharing may serve as a source of contention when users exchange jokes that violate collective identity norms, such as sharing “blonde jokes” that disparage White females. These findings underscore the ongoing necessity among members of the white supremacist movement to negotiate different ideological tenets. By attending to the social function of white supremacist joke sharing, insights derived from this investigation move beyond more formal social movement events such as marches and demonstrations by attending to the daily activities that white supremacists utilize to resist external threats.

Disclosure statement

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

Notes

¹ Small-scale acts of resistance can be conceptualized as “interaction rituals” (Collins 2004), where actors produce “emotional energy” through interactional exchanges involving shared meanings.

² Throughout the study, we use the term “white supremacist humor” to account for the wide range of prejudices often depicted in this humor such as racism, homophobia, sexism, anti-Semitism, and xenophobia.

³ Blackface performances continue in the present context but are generally stigmatized as racially insensitive or offensive.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Steven Windisch

Steven Windisch is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at Temple University. His research relies upon developmental and life-course criminology and symbolic interactionist perspective to examine the overlap between conventional criminal offending and violent extremism. His interests are primarily at the individual-level and focus on how the negative consequences of physical/psychological trauma, identity formation, and interpersonal violence intersect with political extremism.

Pete Simi

Pete Simi is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at Chapman University. He has published widely on the issues of political violence, social movements, and street gangs. His co-authored book with Robert Futrell, American Swastika: Inside the White Power Movement’s Hidden Spaces of Hate, received a 2010 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Book Award. His research has received support from the National Science Foundation, Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation and Department of Defense.