Cyber Racism: White Supremacy Online and the New Attack on Civil Rights

by Jessie Daniels

Overview

In this exploration of the way racism is translated from the print-only era to the cyber era the author takes the reader through a devastatingly informative tour of white supremacy online. The book examines how white supremacist organizations have translated their printed publications onto the Internet. Included are examples of open as well as 'cloaked' sites which disguise white supremacy sources as legitimate civil rights websites. Interviews with a small sample of teenagers as they surf the web show how they encounter cloaked sites and attempt to make sense of them, mostly unsuccessfully. The result is a first-rate analysis of cyber racism within the global information age. The author debunks the common assumptions that the Internet is either an inherently democratizing technology or an effective 'recruiting' tool for white supremacists. The book concludes with a nuanced, challenging analysis that urges readers to rethink conventional ways of knowing about racial equality, civil rights, and the Internet.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780742561571
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	06/16/2009
Series:	Perspectives on a Multiracial America
Pages:	274
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Jessie Daniels teaches at Hunter College and writes and teaches about racism and anti-racism in print and online. She is the author of White Lies (Routledge). Daniels is a regular contributor to the blog Racism Review (www.racismreview.com ). Her research for this book was supported in part by the MacArthur Foundation.

Table of Contents

Part 1 INTRODUCTION
Part 2 WHITE SUPREMACY IN GLOBAL CONTEXT
Part 3 WHITE SUPREMACY ONLINE
Part 4 FIGHTING WHITE SUPREMACY IN THE DIGITAL ERA

Editorial Reviews

[A]nalyses of and opposition to right-wing racism and terror...is to be welcomed, particularly when it is politically progressive, theoretically rich and contains original research into a relatively unexplored and increasingly important medium. For these reasons, Daniels’s book is essential reading.

Patterns Of Prejudice

In Cyber Racism, Jessie Daniels provides a powerful corrective to rosy accounts of the World Wide Web as inherently progressive or liberatory. By carefully tracking both overt and cloaked hate activities on the web, Daniels reveals the dark underbelly of cyberspace: far-reaching white supremacist organizations that are utilizing the web to spread racism, hatred, and violence. The book convincingly tracks the global dimensions of white supremacy, while also illustrating the myriad ways in which racism intersects with issues of nationalism, gender, and literacy.

Tara McPherson

Jessie Daniels' Cyber Racism is a well-written, insightful, and exhaustive examination of white supremacy online. I recommend this book to anyone who seeks to understand how hatemongers can have so much influence on our society in the digital era.

Jack Levin

Daniels (City Univ. of New York) focuses on manifestations of white supremacy and, to a lesser degree, gender disparity on the Internet. She is especially interested in offering a preliminary analysis of how the discourse of the white supremacist movement has been translated from print into the digital era. Recommended.

CHOICE

I've known Jessie Daniels (for nearly a decade) to be a thoughtful and well-informed observer of the social nuances of online behavior. She's been carefully tracking one of the dark sides of life online, and Cyber Racism promises to be a landmark.

Howard Rheingold

Cyber Racism is a wonderful text and an excellent addition to the field. I'm excited to use it in class!

C. Richard King

Pathbreaking look into new avenues for white supremacy in a digital age.

Kathleen M. Blee

White supremacy never sleeps, as pathbreaking sociologist Jessie Daniels again demonstrates. We see how cyber racism spreads like a sprawling cancerous growth across the Internet, as old white-racist groups get reinvigorated and new groups form and thrive all in the interest of aggressively spreading supremacist doctrines to yet more millions across the globe.

Joe R. Feagin

White supremacy never sleeps, as pathbreaking sociologist Jessie Daniels again demonstrates. We see how cyber racism spreads like a sprawling cancerous growth across the Internet, as old white-racist groups get reinvigorated and new groups form and thrive all in the interest of aggressively spreading supremacist doctrines to yet more millions across the globe.

Joe Feagin

Daniels (City Univ. of New York) focuses on manifestations of white supremacy and, to a lesser degree, gender disparity on the Internet. She is especially interested in offering a preliminary analysis of how the discourse of the white supremacist movement has been translated from print into the digital era. Recommended.

Choice

[Daniels] raises real issues about free speech and community life, particularly as the United States seems to uphold markedly different values from much of the rest of the world. This has implications for post-colonial worldviews and theologies.
Daniels, a frequent contributor to literature about white supremacy in the United States, focuses on the utility of the internet to spread racialized (and other) hate speech, arguing that newer media are not immune to the social constructs of American life. In fact, Daniels argues that the ability to “cloak” hate language on the internet increases opportunities to draw unsuspecting young people into the orbit of racist, anti-Semitic, and homophobic world views.

The world looks more and more threatening to those who believe in the supremacy of their white group over all others. This book may not show us how to respond, but it surely show us the need to do so.

Media and Digital Culture Journal of Religion

Daniels (City Univ. of New York) focuses on manifestations of white supremacy and, to a lesser degree, gender disparity on the Internet. She is especially interested in offering a preliminary analysis of how the discourse of the white supremacist movement has been translated from print into the digital era. Recommended.

Choice Reviews

Cyber Racism is a wonderful text and an excellent addition to the field. I'm excited to use it in class!

[A]nalyses of and opposition to right-wing racism and terror...is to be welcomed, particularly when it is politically progressive, theoretically rich and contains original research into a relatively unexplored and increasingly important medium. For these reasons, Daniels's book is essential reading.

[Daniels] raises real issues about free speech and community life, particularly as the United States seems to uphold markedly different values from much of the rest of the world. This has implications for post-colonial worldviews and theologies.
Daniels, a frequent contributor to literature about white supremacy in the United States, focuses on the utility of the internet to spread racialized (and other) hate speech, arguing that newer media are not immune to the social constructs of American life. In fact, Daniels argues that the ability to "cloak" hate language on the internet increases opportunities to draw unsuspecting young people into the orbit of racist, anti-Semitic, and homophobic world views.

The world looks more and more threatening to those who believe in the supremacy of their white group over all others. This book may not show us how to respond, but it surely show us the need to do so.

Daniels (City Univ. of New York) focuses on manifestations of white supremacy and, to a lesser degree, gender disparity on the Internet. She is especially interested in offering a preliminary analysis of how the discourse of the white supremacist movement has been translated from print into the digital era. Recommended.

I've known Jessie Daniels (for nearly a decade) to be a thoughtful and well-informed observer of the social nuances of online behavior. She's been carefully tracking one of the dark sides of life online, and Cyber Racism promises to be a landmark.

In Cyber Racism, Jessie Daniels provides a powerful corrective to rosy accounts of the World Wide Web as inherently progressive or liberatory. By carefully tracking both overt and cloaked hate activities on the web, Daniels reveals the dark underbelly of cyberspace: far-reaching white supremacist organizations that are utilizing the web to spread racism, hatred, and violence. The book convincingly tracks the global dimensions of white supremacy, while also illustrating the myriad ways in which racism intersects with issues of nationalism, gender, and literacy.

Jessie Daniels' Cyber Racism is a well-written, insightful, and exhaustive examination of white supremacy online. I recommend this book to anyone who seeks to understand how hatemongers can have so much influence on our society in the digital era.

Pathbreaking look into new avenues for white supremacy in a digital age.

White supremacy never sleeps, as pathbreaking sociologist Jessie Daniels again demonstrates. We see how cyber racism spreads like a sprawling cancerous growth across the Internet, as old white-racist groups get reinvigorated and new groups form and thrive all in the interest of aggressively spreading supremacist doctrines to yet more millions across the globe.

From the Publisher