Page 22 - Flathead Beacon // 11.26.14

22 | NOVEMBER 26, 2014 IN DEPTH
FLATHEADBEACON.COM
Rabbi Allen Secher, and his wife, Ina Albert, have been instrumental in efforts to oppose hate groups in the Flathead Valley. GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
Spencer migrated from the East Coast to Whitefish, he says, because of the allure of the mountain west – the quiet and the anonymity, the cycling and the skiing – and not, as some residents allege, to propagate the creation of a lo- cal white ethno-state, which, on a larger scale, he believes is fundamental to the human race’s success.
On its face, Spencer’s version of white nationalism is a more toothsome variant, a departure from what for gen- erations has characterized the move- ment’s nebulous direction under the heavy hand of extremist hate groups, whose members have often resorted to violence, and whose legitimacy have in- creasingly been dismissed as vulgar fa- naticism.
Conversely, a chance encounter with Spencer, a former quasi-mainstream, paleoconservative journalist original- ly from Texas, would not elicit a hate- ful string of racial epithets; he rejects the notion that he is promoting hatred and considers being labeled a “racist” a “slur.” More likely, he’d bring up the ideologies of philosopher Friedrich Ni- etzsche, or his opposition to the conflicts in the Middle East, or the snowpack on Big Mountain.
And until recently, nothing about Spencer’s local persona would reveal the fact that he occupies a prominent role in a global movement to reinvent white nationalism as a respectable class of in- tellectualism, which, in its cosmetically altered state, is increasingly appealing
to the ranks of young, well-educated millennial-types who are disenchanted with the plodding traditions and tenets of neoconservatism and the stereotypes that pigeonhole the extremist, overtly racist right.
Under Spencer’s auspices, something less brash and unsightly has emerged, a nicely kempt, well-spoken figure, not a shadowy hatemonger, someone more difficult for the mainstream public to personify as the enemy.
A figure much like Richard Spencer.
But that reinvented image, local and national groups monitoring and protest- ing domestic hate groups say, is what makes his efforts so alarming.
For years, Spencer has worked in relative obscurity while promoting his views from various international plat- forms. But suddenly, Spencer is a house- hold name in this small resort town, where he and his think-tank, the Na- tional Policy Institute, are headquar- tered, and he has become the subject of a proposed municipal ordinance to ban “hate-related” activities in Whitefish.
“Honestly, it’s easier to deal with a skinhead or someone whose hate is more overt, someone whose intolerance is ug- lier on the surface,” said Diane Smith, a Whitefish-based entrepreneur who is among the residents urging the White- fish City Council to adopt a measure that would bar Spencer and the National Policy Institute (NPI) from conducting business here.
At a Nov. 17 council meeting, resi-
dents turned out in droves as more than 100 people packed the council chambers to decry Spencer’s residency and voice support for an anti-hate ordinance pro- hibiting groups like NPI from converg- ing on the community.
The demonstration was organized by Love Lives Here, a Flathead Valley affili- ate of the Montana Human Rights Net- work, and comes on the heels of renewed publicity for Spencer and NPI.
The not-for-profit NPI bills itself as “an independent think-tank and pub- lishing firm dedicated to the heritage, identity, and future of European peo- ple in the United States and around the world,” and Spencer advocates “a White Ethno-State on the American conti- nent.” Its Wikipedia page was recently amended to state that it is headquar- tered in Virginia, not Whitefish, though Spencer lives and works here during much of the year.
NPI’s publishing unit, Washington Publishing Summit, publishes “scien- tifically based” books like “Race Differ- ences in Intelligence” and “The Perils of Diversity.” The group rejects calls for violence by extremists and encour- ages dialogue by organizing conferenc- es around the world and inviting some of the most prominent thinkers in the fringe movement.
“Our goal is to form an intellectual community around European national- ism,” Spencer said.
His advocacy for white separatism creeps into conversation when pressed,
but he just as easily articulates in- formed, mainstream arguments for con- servation measures or healthy living. He says he’s never publicly advocated NPI’s views in the Flathead Valley, but rather works to promote them globally.
“We need a larger platform than Montana, and that platform is the In- ternet. What NPI does is not a Mon- tana thing, to put it bluntly. I have nev- er opined on NPI matters here, and on local issues I am more of a liberal tree hugger,” he said. “Living in New York or Washington can really be a drag, and it make sense for me personally because I love it here. I love skiing, hiking and biking. I love that you can walk out your front door and see the mountains. But I don’t want NPI to be associated with Montana. This is where I come to get away from it all.”
Spencer says he’s long held his radi- cal views, but they began to evolve in earnest as an undergraduate at the Uni- versity of Virginia and continued to shift to the right of the ideological spec- trum in graduate school at the Univer- sity of Chicago.
As an assistant editor at Pat Buchan- an’s “The American Conservative” mag- azine, the radical-leaning shift contin- ued as he left the publication to become executive editor of Taki’s Magazine (the publication of Buchanan’s co-founder in The American Conservative). He contin- ued marching right, founding the web- zine AlternativeRight before taking over as chairman of the National Policy Insti-