White power music

White power music is music that promotes white nationalism. It encompasses various music styles, including rock, country, and folk.[1][2] Ethnomusicologist Benjamin R. Teitelbaum argues that white power music "can be defined by lyrics that demonize variously conceived non-whites and advocate racial pride and solidarity. Most often, however, insiders conceptualized white power music as the combination of those themes with pounding rhythms and a charging punk or metal-based accompaniment."[3] Genres include Nazi punk, Rock Against Communism, National Socialist black metal,[2] and fashwave.[4][5]

Barbara Perry writes that contemporary white supremacist groups include "subcultural factions that are largely organized around the promotion and distribution of racist music."[6] According to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission "racist music is principally derived from the far-right skinhead movement and, through the Internet, this music has become perhaps the most important tool of the international neo-Nazi movement to gain revenue and new recruits."[7][8] An article in Popular Music and Society says "musicians believe not only that music could be a successful vehicle for their specific ideology but that it also could advance the movement by framing it in a positive manner."[1]

Dominic J. Pulera writes that the music is more pervasive in some countries in Europe than it is in the United States, despite some European countries banning or curtailing its distribution.[2] European governments regularly deport "extremist aliens", ban white power bands and raid organizations that produce and distribute the music.[2] In the United States, racist music is protected freedom of speech in the United States by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.[9]

  1. ^ a b Messner et al. 2007.
  2. ^ a b c d Pulera, Dominic J.,Sharing the Dream: White Males in a Multicultural America, pp. 309-311.
  3. ^ Teitelbaum, Benjamin R. (2014). "Saga's Sorrow: Femininities of Despair in the Music of Radical White Nationalism". Ethnomusicology. 58 (3): 405–430. doi:10.5406/ethnomusicology.58.3.0405. JSTOR 10.5406/ethnomusicology.58.3.0405.
  4. ^ Hann, Michael (December 14, 2016). "'Fashwave': synth music co-opted by the far right". The Guardian. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016.
  5. ^ Farrell, Paul (March 18, 2018). "Fashwave: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know". Heavy.com. Archived from the original on May 23, 2020. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
  6. ^ Perry, Barbara, Hate Crimes (Greenwood Publishing Group, 2009) ISBN 0-275-99569-0, ISBN 978-0-275-99569-0, pp. 51-2.
  7. ^ "Racist Music: Publication, Merchandising and Recruitment", Cyber racism, Race Discrimination Unit, HREOC, October 2002.
  8. ^ Rooney, Anne, Race Hate(Evans Brothers, 2006), ISBN 0-237-52717-0, ISBN 978-0-237-52717-4, p. 29.
  9. ^ Eatwell, Roger and Cas Mudde, Western democracies and the new extreme right challenge (Psychology Press, 2004) ISBN 0-415-36971-1, ISBN 978-0-415-36971-8, pp. 54-5.