������Ƶ

White nationalist groups, who make up some of the in the country, and in the U.S. . These groups in America.

In their effort to create an all-white country where nonwhites do not have civil rights protections, these groups often instigate violent confrontations that target racial and religious minorities. Since 2018, white supremacists have in the United States than any other domestic extremist movement.

The group, for example, whom President Donald Trump addressed in the first presidential debate of 2020, . The group’s members, who are before joining, to “,” considering his call an endorsement of their extremist ideology.

While many Americans at the , our research shows that most Americans remain unaware of the connections these groups have to the military.

The the and white nationalists , with many believers seeing military service as an opportunity to .

Our research has found that most Americans in the military – though when they find out, they’re worried about it.

White Nationalists Active In The Military

Researchers do not have reliable data on how many active duty or veteran service members belong to white nationalist groups. But current military members are increasingly aware of the in the ranks.

In the most recent poll by Military Times, an independent media organization covering the military, about have reported seeing signs of white nationalism or racist ideology in the military community. Those include the casual use of racial slurs and anti-Semitic language, and even .

surveyed in 2018 said white nationalism is a significant threat to the country – which is more than were seriously concerned about threats from Syria, Afghanistan or immigration.

White nationalists with military experience have committed acts of violence, usually after leaving the service – like the and the .

But have also been involved in white nationalist activity. In July 2018, a for his involvement in hate groups, including attending the 2017 “Unite the Right” protest in Charlottesville, Virginia.

In February 2019, a Coast Guard officer stationed at the agency’s headquarters was as part of a .

In April 2019, a Huffington Post investigation revealed that were under investigation for involvement in a white nationalist group.

In September 2019, an Army soldier who had expressed support for right-wing extremism was with undercover agents. That same month, an Air Force master sergeant who had been involved with a white supremacist group was .

In June 2020, an Army private was after he about his unit to two white supremacist groups, including one that as part of its quest for a race war.

Congressional Concern

Lawmakers have been paying attention to the problem. In 2019, the House of Representatives approved a requirement to screen potential military enlistees for signs of white nationalism, as part of the Pentagon’s annual budget allocation. But the before sending the bill to the White House for the president’s signature.

Military and academic experts agree that make it harder for soldiers to with one another that they rely on in combat.

If Congress did ban white nationalists from serving in the military, members of white nationalist groups would have a harder time receiving . They would also be cut off from an important .

American Views Of White Nationalism

We wanted to find out how much the public knew about white nationalism in the military, and what they think about it. So in early May 2019, we conducted a .

First, we asked respondents how prevalent they thought white nationalism was in the military. Most – 70% – said there were “some” white nationalists on active duty. Another 20% said there were “many.” Just 10% thought there were none.

Then we sought to find out whether people thought it was a problem. To answer that question, we split our respondents into two groups. We asked one half of them whether “white nationalism in the military” is “not a problem,” a “somewhat serious problem” or a “serious problem.” Only 30% of them thought it was a “serious” problem; 47% percent thought it was “somewhat serious” and 23% thought it was “not a problem.”

The other half of the respondents got the same question – but before we asked, we gave them the results of a 2018 Military Times poll finding that “ of white nationalism or racist ideology within the armed forces.” Having learned that information, 35% of this group said the problem is “serious” – a statistically significant increase of 5 percentage points.

After that, we returned to the first group, and gave them the information from the Military Times poll – and found that 39% of them considered the problem “serious.” This 9-point increase was also statistically significant.

We did see an initial political divide among our respondents. People who identified as strong conservatives were less concerned about white nationalism in the military than were strong liberals. But respondents across the political spectrum were willing to update their views, and considered white nationalism a serious problem, once we gave them additional, factual information.

The Military Is A Trusted Institution

The American public is the military, and . White nationalist groups and ideologies get a of and legitimacy through their links to the U.S. military. Civilians from the statements and actions of those who served.

Our work suggests that informing the public about service members’ worries about white nationalism in the military could increase concern among both liberals and conservatives about the growing power of these groups. Increased public concern could create an incentive for policymakers to try to combat white nationalist groups, in the military and in society at large.

This article is republished from under a Creative Commons license. Read the .