Web-Based, Gendered Recruitment of Women by Organized White Supremacist Groups

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Web-Based, Gendered Recruitment of Women by Organized White Supremacist Groups University of Central Florida STARS Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 2009 Web-based, Gendered Recruitment Of Women By Organized White Supremacist Groups Angela King University of Central Florida Part of the Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Masters Thesis (Open Access) is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STARS Citation King, Angela, "Web-based, Gendered Recruitment Of Women By Organized White Supremacist Groups" (2009). Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019. 4087. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/4087 WEB BASED, GENDERED RECRUITMENT OF WOMEN BY ORGANIZED WHITE SUPREMACIST GROUPS by ANGELA V. KING B.A. University of Central Florida, 2007 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies in the College of Graduate Studies at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Spring Term 2009 © 2009 Angela V. King ii ABSTRACT According to the hate group watchdog organization, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the number of hate groups in the United States rose 54 percent since 2000 (SPLC 2009 a & b). Literature on organized white supremacist groups suggests that women have become increasingly more important to such groups for a variety of reasons, many of which are not always agreed upon by and within said groups. In addition, it is believed by many in the hate monitoring world that the World Wide Web has become progressively more dynamic as a medium of recruitment, as a tool of communication among members, and as a means to propagate the hateful messages espoused by members of these groups. Thus, this research will marry two essential ideas: (1) that women are being sought out and targeted for recruitment by organized white supremacist groups and (2) that the World Wide Web acts as a dynamic tool that aids said groups in accomplishing their goals of recruitment. iii I would like to dedicate this work to every person that believed in me and gave me the chance to show that we can learn from our mistakes and that we have a responsibility to help prevent others from repeating them. Your encouragement and support have carried me even through the most difficult times and I will be forever grateful. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to acknowledge and thank Dr. Joan Morris for her support, advice, encouragement, and all that she has taught me in the past few years. Despite my many questions, last minute e-mails, and constant badgering, she never batted an eye. Instead, she met me head on with answers, strategies, and resources. I would also like to acknowledge Dr. Martha Lue Stewart for her unwavering support and commitment to her students. Lastly, I would like to acknowledge Dr. Elizabeth Mustaine for jumping on board without hesitation and being a part of this journey with me. v TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................................................ vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................................. 4 Theories of Hate ........................................................................................................................................ 4 Organized Hate in the United States ........................................................................................................ 8 Theory and Controversy Surrounding Gender ........................................................................................ 12 Prior Web Research ................................................................................................................................ 17 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY ...................................................................................................................... 19 Sample ..................................................................................................................................................... 19 Variables and Data Collection ................................................................................................................. 21 Results ..................................................................................................................................................... 22 CHAPTER 4: DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................................. 29 APPENDIX A: EXPLANATION OF GROUP TYPES ........................................................................................... 37 APPENDIX B: WEB SITE RESEARCH MARCH 5, 2009 – MARCH 10, 2009 .................................................... 39 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................................ 49 vi LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Variables Gathered From Organized White Supremacist Groups’ Web Sites .............................. 22 Table 2: Target Recruitment of the Thirty‐Three Sites that Fit the Parameters ......................................... 25 Table 3: Recruiting Habits of Groups Claiming Some Type of Religious Affiliation .................................... 26 Table 4: Recruiting Habits According to Ideology ....................................................................................... 28 vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION According to reports released by the Southern Poverty Law Center1 (SPLC) in 2009, the number of hate groups in the United States rose 54 percent since 2000. Literature on organized white supremacist groups suggests that women have become increasingly more important to such groups for a variety of reasons, many of which are not always agreed upon by and within said groups. In addition, it is believed by many in the hate monitoring world that the World Wide Web has become progressively more dynamic as a medium of recruitment, as a tool of communication among members and would be supporters, and as a means to propagate the hateful messages espoused by the members of these groups. Thus, this research will marry two essential ideas: (1) that women are being sought out and targeted by organized white supremacist groups and (2) that the World Wide Web acts as a dynamic tool that aids said groups in accomplishing their goals of recruitment.2 My interest in this research is a result of my experience as a former member of the white supremacist movement and also as a student committed to developing new understandings of the ways in which women navigate and make sense of the world. As such, having first-hand knowledge of these groups gives me a unique advantage in terms of where to look for such groups since, as a general rule, they are invisible to 1 The Southern Poverty Law Center is an organization that offers tolerance education, prosecutes white supremacist groups, and monitors hate groups around the United States. See www.Splcenter.org. 2 Connecting these two ideas has been overlooked in prior research. 1 most members of society. I wish to contribute to the social scientific research on this phenomenon as part of my dedication and personal campaign to reveal, understand, and perhaps to reduce participation in organized white supremacist groups. In addition, I embrace a concept that I encountered during the course of my research; “synalytics” (Fine 1990:35). According to Fine (1990), “feminist methodology directs researchers to make sense of data through both analysis and synthesis” (p. 35). Embracing synalytics affords one the opportunity to “analyze [and] separate into constituent elements” and to synthesize by “bringing together or combining that which is separate” (Fine 1990:35). The intended result then becomes one that “analyze[s] the constituent elements of social phenomenon and synthesize them into new understandings of experience that replace the usual male-defined meanings” (Fine 1990:35). As such, this research will explore the academic literature regarding organized white supremacist groups, essentially addressing some of what we do know about such groups. I will demonstrate that the World Wide Web is being utilized as a tool for the gendered recruitment of women by organized white supremacist groups and provide a context for understanding the relationship between a group’s philosophy and whether/how they recruit women. Research regarding organized white supremacist groups has, up to this point, been scattered and focused mainly on explicating what types of individuals join said groups and their reason(s) for joining (Ferber 1998). Providing a theoretical understanding of motivational causation and identifying personality types prone to the 2 adherence to the beliefs of such groups is an important first step. My project builds on this earlier research by addressing academic questions as well as speaking to the concerns of the general public. Accordingly, existing research in four main areas will be analyzed: (1) theories of hate; (2) the origin and history of a few divergent organized white supremacist
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