The Rise of White Nationalism
at Home and Abroad
with
Dr. Kathleen Belew
at Home and Abroad
with
Dr. Kathleen Belew
DINNER - REGISTRATION CLOSED
21 November, 2019 Skyline Country Club
Social Hour: 5:30; Dinner 6:00; Speaker and Discussion: 7:00
Nationalism is based on the premise that the individual’s loyalty and devotion to the nation-state surpass other individual or group interests.
Today, we seem to have lost the theme and the appeal of a “common America.”
Our security is threatened from far right white nationalists, linked by the internet with global reach.
A study by the Anti-Defamation League found that 2018 was the deadliest year of right-wing extremist violence since 1995 when the Oklahoma City bombing killed nearly 200.
Right-wing extremists collectively have been responsible for more than 70 percent of the 427 extremist-related killings over the past 10 years, far outnumbering killings by Islamist extremists.
Discernible patterns have developed in white-nationalist violence—the recurring targeting, for example, of minorities, and especially of black, Jewish, and Muslim places of worship. These acts by white extremists are rooted in their discontent over America’s growing racial diversity.
However, it is nearly impossible for federal investigators to prevent white-nationalist attacks, since would-be perpetrators’ speech is protected by the First Amendment and their access to arms assured by the Second Amendment. To counter these obstacles the Department of Homeland Security added violent white supremacist extremism to its list of terror threats for the first time since the agency's creation a 9/11.
To assess these dangerous trends and where they might lead at home and abroad we welcome Dr. Kathleen Belew.
Dr. Belew is professor of history at the University of Chicago. Before coming to the University of Chicago, Belew held postdoctoral fellowships from Northwestern University and Rutgers University. Her research has received the support of the Andrew W. Mellon and Jacob K. Javits Foundations, as well as an Albert J. Beveridge and John F. Enders grants for research in Mexico and Nicaragua. She earned her AB in the comparative history from the University of Washington, where she was named Dean’s Medalist in the Humanities, and a PhD in American studies are from Yale University.
Belew is currently on a research fellowship at the Center for the Advanced Study of the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford, University. She is at work on a new project about gun violence and the history of the 1990s. Her award-winning teaching centers on the broad themes of conservatism, race, gender, and violence with a focus on the rise of white nationalism. She is a frequent guest on the PBS News hour and other cable news programs.
DINNER - REGISTRATION CLOSED
Meal Choices
Chicken Marsala
Grilled Flank Steak with Chimichurri
Butternut Squash Ravioli with Maple Gastric and Arugula