American Zealots

June 1, 2020
A scholarly exploration, bolstered by some original number crunching, of how the American far right gained a toehold in the mainstream. The election of a full-throated xenophobe to the presidency, paired with news stories about the rise of the "alt-right," have given the impression that violence from separatist groups in the U.S. is increasing. While that is true, notes Perliger, a professor who studies extremism and criminology, America's history has long been littered with racist and separatist groups whose ranks swell or contract depending on the national political mood. A quick history lesson shows that groups like the Ku Klux Klan tended to garner more followers as more inclusive leaders and laws were enacted, and nativist groups have been emboldened by law enforcement debacles like Waco and Ruby Ridge. Horrifying events like the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing are rare in part because extremist groups resist the kind of collaboration that produces large-scale terrorist acts, Perliger writes. However, his study of databases cataloging far-right violence shows that the small-scale acts have increased since the turn of the century, particularly against racial minorities and LGBTQ+ people. They're getting deadlier as well: Since 2007, the number of casualties and injuries due to far-right violence has been on the upswing, as has the number of casualties per incident. As an academic, the author covers this difficult territory from a certain remove; aside from chapter openings that depict the actions of the likes of Timothy McVeigh, he lets the data do the work. But Perliger is impassioned and cleareyed about how troubling the trends are, voicing concern that far-right ideology has infected mainstream politics, which in turn risks emboldening a new generation of radicals. He also seeks to challenge outmoded thinking that racists and other radicals are Deep South products. The risk is wherever disillusionment and misinformation can take hold. A plainspoken and data-driven yet essential book for understanding the underpinnings of today's domestic terrorists.

COPYRIGHT(2020) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.