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Thesis “It's Just a Cross, Don't Shoot”: White Supremacy

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Thesis “It's Just a Cross, Don't Shoot”: White Supremacy THESIS “IT’S JUST A CROSS, DON’T SHOOT”: WHITE SUPREMACY AND CHRISTONORMATIVITY IN A SMALL MIDWESTERN TOWN Submitted by Kate Eleanor Department of Ethnic Studies In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the Degree of Master of Arts Colorado State University Fall 2017 Master’s Committee: Advisor: Caridad Souza Co-Advisor: Roe Bubar Courtenay Daum Copyright by Kate Eleanor 2017 All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT “IT’S JUST A CROSS, DON’T SHOOT”: WHITE SUPREMACY AND CHRISTONORMATIVITY IN A SMALL MIDWESTERN TOWN This paper, guided by poststructuralist and feminist theories, examines public discourse that emerged in response to a controversy over whether a large cross should be removed from public property in a highly visible location in Grand Haven, Michigan. Situating the controversy within the context of the election of U.S. President Donald J. Trump, this thesis seeks to answer the inquiry: How do the events and discourse surrounding the controversy over a cross on public property in a small, Midwestern city shed light on the Trump phenomenon? A qualitative study using document data was conducted, using grounded theory method to analyze 152 documents obtained from publically accessible sites on the internet. Three conceptual frameworks, Whiteness, Christian hegemony, and spatiality were utilized in evaluating the data. Findings reveal a community that sits at the intersection of White and Christian privileges. So interconnected are these privileges that they create a system of “codominance,” in which they cannot be conceptually separated from one another, and together constitute the necessary criteria for full inclusion in the community. This qualitative study paints a compelling picture of the ways in which racial and religious privilege affect the underlying belief systems of many members of an overwhelmingly White, Christian community. Results provide valuable insight into the mindset of a Trump supporting community in the period immediately preceding the 2016 election. ii Keywords: Trump, Trumpism, poststructuralism, Christianity, Christian Nationalism, Christonormativity, spatiality, Whiteness, White supremacy, hate crime. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would first like to thank my thesis advisor Dr. Caridad Souza of the department of Ethnic Studies and the Center for Women’s Studies and Gender Research at Colorado State University. Over the past few years, Professor Souza has been one of my most demanding and inspiring instructors, helping me to build on my strengths and address my weaknesses. I would also like to thank my co-advisor, Professor Roe Bubar of the department of Ethnic Studies and the School of Social Work at Colorado State University, for her insight, ideas and support as I put together the initial study that forms the basis of this thesis. I am especially grateful for Professor Bubar’s assistance with my methodology. I could not have completed this project without the help and understanding of these two impressive women. I will always strive to be worthy of their belief in my potential. In addition, I express my thanks to Dr. Courtenay Daum of the department of Political Science at Colorado State University for serving on my thesis committee. From my first meeting with her, Professor Daum expressed interest in my project and was ready with excellent suggestions and ideas. Without her input, this paper in its present form could not exist, and I am gratefully indebted to her for her valuable assistance on this thesis. I express my gratitude to the women of Professor Bubar’s spring 2015 Research Methods class. This community of women taught me about the true value of sisterhood and the power of a supportive community of women, and also assisted me with coding my data at a time when it felt overwhelming. I am indebted to the Tri-Cities Historical Museum of Grand Haven, Michigan, for their kind assistance in my research process. I would also like to acknowledge Loutit Library of Grand iv Haven, Michigan, for inspiring me to become a writer from the age of three, and for assisting me in locating research materials for this project. I must acknowledge my three children, each of whom has helped me in this process in their own way. I express tremendous gratitude to my daughter, Helen, for lighting my way with her excellent scholarliness and fortitude, and for offering valuable insights and suggestions for this project. I thank my son John for not giving up in the face of extreme hardship. He set a high bar for resilience, and I am the better for it. I am grateful to my son William for his amazing positive attitude and persistence. Without his example of courage in the face of overwhelming obstacles, I would not be the person I am today. Finally, I thank my partner, Jason, for providing me with unfailing support and continuous encouragement while I completed the process of researching and writing this thesis. For your kindness and seemingly infinite patience, I thank you. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ......................................................................................................iv LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................................v LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................vi CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................1 CHAPTER 2 – LITERATURE REVIEW .............................................................................23 CHAPTER 3 – METHODOLOGY .......................................................................................43 CHAPTER 4 – FINDINGS ....................................................................................................58 CHAPTER 5 – DISCUSSION ...............................................................................................76 CHAPTER 6 – CONCLUSION ............................................................................................86 REFERENCES ......................................................................................................................96 vi LIST OF TABLES TABLE 1 – BREAKDOWN OF SAMPLE ...........................................................................49 TABLE 2 – EXPRESSING EMOTIONS ..............................................................................59 TABLE 3 – PERCEPTION OF PERSECUTION .................................................................61 TABLE 4 – PERCEPTION OF BEING “BULLIED” ..........................................................61 TABLE 5 – INVOKING TRADITION .................................................................................62 TABLE 6 – UNIVERSALIZING BELIEFS .........................................................................63 TABLE 7 – MIGHT MAKES RIGHT ..................................................................................65 TABLE 8 – DEFINING THE COMMUNITY ......................................................................66 TABLE 9 – CLAIMING CHRISTIAN GEOGRAPHY ........................................................68 TABLE 10 – CLAIMING A CHRISTIAN NATION ...........................................................68 TABLE 11 – “IF YOU DON’T LIKE IT, LEAVE!” ............................................................69 TABLE 12 – PRAYING FOR YOU SINNERS ....................................................................70 TABLE 13 – PREPARING FOR A HOLY WAR ................................................................71 TABLE 14 – WARNING OF IMMINENT THREAT ..........................................................73 vii LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 1 – DEWEY HILL WITH CROSS ........................................................................8 FIGURE 2 – MUSICAL FOUNTAIN WITH ANCHOR .....................................................8 FIGURE 3 – NATIVITY SCENE .........................................................................................9 viii CHAPTER ONE – INTRODUCTION The legacy of White Christian supremacy that has been the foundational ideology of the U. S. continues to function as a dominating discourse and framework for rights and well- being. Once we see this in history, we might be more attentive to it in our contemporary landscape, which continues to confer rights on some and to withhold them from others (Fletcher, 2016, p. 72). The Birth of a “Tradition” In 1923, members of a newly organized chapter of the Ku Klux Klan burned a series of crosses on Dewey Hill in my hometown of Grand Haven, Michigan (Enders, 1993). In 1962, the community raised a 20-foot-high cross on the hill, which is the highest geographic point in town, overlooking the downtown waterfront area and the busy boating lane where the Grand River meets Lake Michigan (Havinga, 2014). The Klan had a short run in Grand Haven, never becoming an official chapter (Enders, 1993). Eastern Michigan University historian JoEllen Vinyard attributes this not to anti-racist sentiments, but rather to fact that the Klan officials had come into Grand Haven from elsewhere. In Grand Haven in the 1920s, “Dutch residents regarded even longtime residents who were not from Dutch families as outsiders in their midst” (Vinyard, 2011, p. 61). Although it has not been stated in any sources I have found, I think it obvious that the people who erected the Dewey Hill Cross in 1964 knew very
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