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Some Medieval Studies professors are worried that the alt-right is co-opting the discipline to promote a fantasy of the Middle Ages with undertones of white supremacy.

It should be a really, really important time for the field to reflect on why are these things going on and what can we do to combat that, Vassar College professor Dorothy Kim told The Chronicle of Higher Education. The worry I would have is that, is the field going to be forever linked to white supremacy?

"The worry I would have is that, is the field going to be forever linked to white supremacy?"

The article recounts the experience of Vincent W.J. van Gerven Oei, an author and scholar in the area of Medieval studies, during the International Medieval Conference in England.

After noticing that all of the speakers presenting a lecture on otherness in the Mediterranean were white, Oei was further incensed when the moderator joked that he doesnt look as much like an old, white man after vacationing at the beach.

Whether or not he intended it as a joke, it obviously ridicules the entire importance of race in this debate, as if it was merely a matter of lying in the sun," Oei said. "I was thinking I could do two things: Either I can just get up and leave, and it will be very awkward, or I can tweet about this."

[RELATED:Prof: 'white marble' in artwork contributes to white supremacy]

Other attendees leveled similar charges about the lack of diversity at the conference, arguing that the field of medieval studies is too Eurocentric and male-dominated.

"The IMC simply chose to ignore the expertise of people of color and others whose knowledge on issues of race and otherness has informed decades of scholarship," declared Jonathan Hsy, an associate professor of English at George Washington University. "If the thread organizers had listened to critiques voiced about the threads problematic framing and exclusions at any point during the planning process or indeed during the conference itself, this entire conversation could have been inclusive and innovative."

Some scholars also expressed concerns that white supremacists on alt-right online forums are increasingly using medieval themes to promote their worldview, which the professors claim is at odds with the historical reality of the Middle Ages.

Calling the alt-right interpretation a fantasy, Suzanne Akbari, director of the Centre for Medieval Studies at the University of Toronto, countered that the medieval past is actually highly integrated, highly diverse, with a tremendous amount of cultural interchange.

Medievalist Eileen Joy agreed that the Medieval Studies discipline is a safe place to be elitist, speculating that this has to do with its reputation for focusing on European and Christian cultures.

The field has been rather proud of its resistance to critical theory, which then just attracts even more people to the field who themselves want to be resistant to theory and see medieval studies as a safe placea safe place to be elitist, a safe place to be white, a safe place to be Christian, Eurocentric, misogynist, etc., she asserted.

[RELATED:Susquehanna U drops Crusaders nickname to ensure school is 'welcoming and inclusive']

Joy claimed that she eventually grew so frustrated by the situation that she resigned from her position as an assistant professor in order to help found a publishing house called Punctum Books, as well as a working group called BABEL that promotes nontraditional scholarship

"I realized the only way the field will change or be more welcoming or more inclusive is if some of us actually devote all of our time and energy to creating new spaces, new presses, new journals, new conferences where this kind of work can be developed," Joy explained.

Notably, both Hsy and Kim were among the signatories of a January 2016 letter to Barbara Newman, president of the Medieval Academy of America, objecting to an anti-feminist and explicitly misogynistic website run by Medievalist Allen Frantzen.

Akbari, who wrote the letter in her capacity as Chair of the Organizing Committee for the 2017 MAA conference, claims that Frantzens website exemplifies the abusive behaviors common within the discipline, demanding that the MAA issue a public statement reaffirming our commitment to creating and maintaining a culture that does not tolerate harassment, bullying, or other forms of abuse.

Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @MrDanJackson

Originally posted here:
Profs fear 'alt-right' is taking over Medieval Studies - Campus Reform

WASHINGTON Highlighting the growing influence of the alt-right movement, the Anti-Defamation League on Tuesday released a roster of its major players people ranging from neo-Nazis to conservative politicians to internet trolls.

The storied anti-Semitism watchdog published a new guide a Whos Who? of 36 activists and leaders of the alt-right and alt-lite, saying they personify these movements at a time of increased public activity.

ADL officials said the lists were needed to help understand and track the movements and the various ideologies they represent, underlining concerns in the Jewish community and elsewhere of the growing prominence of hate groups in the US under President Donald Trump.

The alt-right, an amorphous designation that includes among its ranks white supremacists, white nationalists and neo-Nazis, sprang from obscurity during the 2016 election cycle to one of the most prominent extremist groups in the United States.

The alt-lite is a term created by alt-right leaders to differentiate themselves from right-wing activists who spurn the white supremacist ideology. Many of its adherents, however, are also extremists and traffic in various forms of bigotry.

In the past year, members of the alt right and alt lite have been increasingly at odds with each other, even as they hold public rallies to promote their extreme views, said ADL chief Jonathan Greenblatt. We want people to understand who the key players are and what they truly represent.

ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt speaking at the organizations Never is Now conference in New York City, Nov. 17, 2016. (Courtesy of the ADL)

The groups report, which was compiled by its Center on Extremism, aims to increase understanding of these movements central characters and how their behavior and strategies are evolving over time.

While the alt right has been around for years, the current iteration is still figuring out what it is and isnt, said Oren Segal, who directs the ADLs Center on Extremism, in a statement.

This is further complicated by the emergence of the alt lite, which operates in the orbit of the alt right, but has rejected public displays of white supremacy. Both movements hateful ideologies are still somewhat fluid, as are the lines that separate them.

Some people on the list are more known than others to the general public.

Richard Spencer, for instance, the leading ideologue of the alt-right who made headlines last December when he hailed then President-elect Donald Trump as a crowd made Nazi salutes, is included. So, too, is Andrew Anglin, who runs a neo-Nazi website, The Daily Stormer.

Many of those cataloged, like Spencer and Anglin, are staunch supporters of President Trump.

Corey Stewart, then co-chair of Donald Trumps 2016 presidential campaign in Virginia, addresses Trump supporters in a Northern Virginia home on Feb. 1, 2016 for an Iowa caucus watch party. (Eric Cortellessa/Times of Israel)

Corey Stewart, a recently failed candidate for Virginias 2017 GOP gubernatorial primary, is listed. During the 2016 election, he co-chaired Trumps campaign in the state, but was eventually fired for attending an anti-Republican National Committee rally in October 2016. Hes made headlines for seeking to preserve Confederate monuments in the American south.

Milo Yiannopolous is also included. A controversial media provocateur, Yiannopolous resigned as a writer for Breitbart News in February, after he seemed to condone men having sex with boys as young as 13.

Breitbart News, a far-right website, was once run by Steve Bannon, now Trumps senior counselor and chief White House strategist.

During his tenure as executive chairman, Bannon pushed a nationalist agenda and turned the publication into what he called the platform for the alt-right. The ADL vociferously opposed his appointment to a job in the White House.

Many critics, especially the ADL, were disgruntled by President Trumps unwillingness to condemn his alt-right backers as a candidate, which he later did in an interview with The New York Times after he was elected.

See the rest here:
ADL releases 'Who's Who' guide of alt-right and alt-lite extremists - The Times of Israel

Back in February, it looked like Milo Yiannopouloss career was toast. After winning fame on the strength of President Trumps campaign, the right-wing provocateur suffered a succession of setbacks after it was revealed that he once defended pederasty: He lost a book deal, a coveted speaking slot and his post at Breitbart News in one week. But as we hit the six-month mark of the Trump administration, Yiannopoulos has accomplished a quick comeback, once again commanding the attention of conservative fans and outraged foes.

Yiannopoulos re-emerged in May, when he slammed the singer Ariana Grande and headlined a protest against activist Linda Sarsours commencement address at CUNYs public health school. Sadly, Ariana Grande is too stupid to wise up and warn her European fans about the real threats to their freedom and their lives, the British-born Yiannopoulos wrote only a few hours after dozens of people had been killed in a terror attack at the pop stars concert in Manchester, England. He continued the broadsides at his New York speech against Sarsour later in the week; he spoke under a driving rain and denounced the Muslim civil rights leader as a Sharia-embracing, terrorist-embracing, Jew-hating ticking time-bomb of progressive horror.

Since then, Yiannopoulos has only garnered more attention, with the Independence Day release of his book Dangerous a title ripped from the visits he made to American college campuses as part of his self-declared Dangerous Faggot tour. Panned in numerous outlets, the book is divided into laundry list chapters about why various demographics hate him - including feminists, Black Lives Matter activists and the media. It also includes occasional discussions of Yiannopouloss sexual interest in black men, which he often invokes to dispel charges of racism. Nonetheless, the memoir has shot to the top of the Amazon best-seller list a definite sign that Yiannopouloss star continues to shine brightly. His achievement was made more impressive, given the fact that he self-published the memoir, following Simon & Schusters decision to dump his title in February.

When the pedophilia comments surfaced, the chastened Yiannopoulos gave a formal press conference where he apologized for his actions and sought forgiveness. But now that hes back in the saddle again, the bomb-thrower isnt saving any of his firepower. Hes threatening to sue Simon & Schuster for canceling his book deal a threat that the imprint dismissed as a publicity stunt. He also hired dwarfs to don yarmulkes at a New York book launch party to mock Jewish right-wing pundit Ben Shapiro, an old rival from the days when both men worked at Breitbart.

Yiannopoulos is also getting support from some deep-pocketed people. According to leaked e-mails between Yiannopoulos and Breitbart News head Alex Marlow, it appears that hedge-fund billionaire Robert Mercer and his daughter, Rebekah Mercer, helped finance Yiannopoulos after he left Breitbart and may have even helped him obtain a visa to remain in the United States. Rebekah Mercer loves Milo, said an unidentified source friendly with the family, which funded Trumps presidential campaign and set up the electoral data mining company Cambridge Analytica to back him. They always stood behind him, and their support never wavered.

As the summer continues, Yiannopouloss plans seem to be up in the air. Will he write another book, launch another hair-raising speaking tour, start his own media outlet, join an existing one? These are unknowns. But already hes done something impressive: Hes maintained and expanded his public profile after a scandal that may have felled longer-time celebrities. Whatever happens next, hes the master of the millennial internet culture that is his domain.

Contact Daniel J. Solomon at solomon@forward.com or on Twitter, @DanielJSolomon

Read more from the original source:
'Alt-Right' Yiannopoulos Makes Post-Scandal Comeback The ... - Forward

Left-wing activist and Womans March organizer Linda Sarsour accused CNN anchor Jake Tapper of being a member of the alt-right, a small white nationalist faction on the far-right.

NEW YORK, NY APRIL 13: Activist Linda Sarsour speaks during a Women For Syria gathering at Union Square, April 13, 2017 in New York City. The group gathered to support and stand with the people of Syria and call for the United States to accept Syrian refugees. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Tapper called out Womens March and Sarsour after the organization expressed its support for convicted cop-killer and domestic terrorist Assata Shakur.Tapper also referenced ugly sentiments from Sarsour and recent anti-Semitic statements made by a Chicago-based LGBT activist group. (RELATED:Womens March Praises Cop-Killing Terrorist As Sign Of Resistance)

Sarsour responded by saying that Tapper has joined the ranks of the alt-right to target me online. (There is no evidence to suggest that Tapper is a member of the alt-right.) Welcome to the party, she added.

Sarsour challenged Tapper to please share evidence of her ugly sentiments.Unapologetically Muslim? Unapologetically Palestinian? Pro-immigrant? Pro-justice? she asked. Shame.

Tapper responded by pointing to comments Sarsour made about activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who frequently speaks out against radical Islam. Sarsour expressed her desire to take Alis vagina away, saying she doesnt deserve to be a woman. Ali is a survivor of female genital mutilation (FGM) and has spoken out against the brutal practice. (RELATED:Womens March Leader Once Threatened To Take Away Womens Vaginas)

(Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images)

Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza also took issue with Tappers tweets, calling them intentionally inflammatory.

How about being part of a gang that kills a NJ State Trooper? Tapper responded. Is that considered inflammatory?

The rest is here:
Linda Sarsour: Jake Tapper Is Alt-Right | The Daily Caller - The Daily Caller

Minister Lawrence Ware has served the Southern Baptist Convention for nearly 10 years. (Image courtesy of Oklahoma State University).

In a scathing open letter published in The New York Times this week, an African-American minister announced his departure from the Southern Baptist Convention over the churchs reluctance to denounce white supremacy and its outward support of President Donald Trump.

Lawrence Ware, who serves asco-director of the Center for Africana Studies at Oklahoma State University and has been an ordained minister at the convention for nearly a decade, renounced his denomination Tuesday, July 17, noting that while it wasnt an easy decision, it was a necessary one.

As a Black scholar of race and a minister whos committed to social justice, I can no longer be a part of an organization that is complicit in the disturbing rise of the so-called alt-right, whose members support the abhorrent policies of Donald Trump and whose troubling racial history and current actions reveal a deep commitment to white supremacy, Ware wrote.

He explained that his decision was ultimately spurred by an event earlier this year when a prominent Black pastor from Arlington, Texas, introduced a resolution at the groups annual convention denouncing the white supremacist and alt-right movements. Conference leaders initially refused to hear the resolution but later approved a revised version that excluded a denunciation of the curse of Ham theory and added details of all the good Southern Baptists have done for Black people and nonwhites.

Ware argued that the resolution shouldve been immediately adopted, but it wasnt.

A contingent of predominately white, old-guard members refused to take the resolution seriously, even while many Black and progressive clergy members advocated its adoption, he wrote. It wasnt until chaos ensued that a reworded resolution vowing to decry every form of racism, including alt-right white supremacy, as antithetical to the Gospel of Jesus Christ was adopted.

Among other things, Ware highlighted the fact that over 70 percent of white evangelicals, many of whom are Southern Baptists, approve of President Trumps job performance. He also touched on the churchs history of pro-slavery attitudes and its outward support of segregation during the civil rights movement.

Though the church issued a formal apology for its support of slavery in 1995, Ware insisted that enough still hasnt been done to address the institution of white supremacy within the SBC. He then called out several churches for remaining silent about Trump and the rise of the alt-right while being hostile toward social justice movements like Black Lives Matter.

I love the church, but I love Black people more, Ware concluded. Black lives matter to me.I am not confident that they matter to the Southern Baptist Convention.

Originally posted here:
Black Minister Leaves Southern Baptist Convention Over Its Support of Trump, Alt-Right - Atlanta Black Star