The Alt-Right Has No Future in the US

Racial politics in Europe on the right are having a rise in the US in the last several years, in the form of the alt-right. However, I believe this will not be a very strong movement in the future like some people believe.

Us vs. them politics has always been a thing everywhere in the world. It is a part of human nature. However, the racial politics of Europe align well with a historical national, racial and cultural heritage. A heritage that still exists after centuries of existence.

Who is “us” in France? People of French race, cultural heritage/legacy, and language. Who is “them” in France? People who are not racially or culturally French.

This idea has no translation to the US. The “melting pot” of the past has mixed cultural legacies and racial identities into the zeitgeist of being a cultural American. What is left is an “us” that merely contains broad ideas, sharing of circumstance, and a shared language. Who is “them”? People who attack the US, doesn’t desire to be in the “melting pot”/rejects the tribe, and don’t adopt the language. This is why Mexican illegal immigrants are the focus of the people who think in “us” vs. “them” terms … they don’t seem to adopt the American identity/tribe.

We (people in America) know too many like minded people and generally decent people who are of many different races and cultural legacies who are heavily integrated into the culture. Too many of us “has a friend who is black” to largely adopt the racial political beliefs of Europe.

I don’t think this makes the US better since I don’t consider diversity or multiculturalism virtues (nor do I consider them vices). It just means that the circumstances are too different to reconstruct similar political dynamics.

The alt-right is a reaction to the identity politics of the left and they are using the European playbook since there is no American playbooks for identity rightist politics in the way they are searching for. The alt-right might grow, but their ideas will never be as prominent in the US as they are in Europe.

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Aaron White, married to a swell girl, is a business owner and unschooling father of two, going on three. His hobbies are music and poker. He resides in Southern California.