Cyber Racism: White Supremacy Online and the New Attack on Civil Rights

Jessie Daniels

Mar 2009 · Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

About this ebook

In this exploration of the way racism is translated from the print-only era to the cyber era the author takes the reader through a devastatingly informative tour of white supremacy online. The book examines how white supremacist organizations have translated their printed publications onto the Internet. Included are examples of open as well as 'cloaked' sites which disguise white supremacy sources as legitimate civil rights websites. Interviews with a small sample of teenagers as they surf the web show how they encounter cloaked sites and attempt to make sense of them, mostly unsuccessfully. The result is a first-rate analysis of cyber racism within the global information age. The author debunks the common assumptions that the Internet is either an inherently democratizing technology or an effective 'recruiting' tool for white supremacists. The book concludes with a nuanced, challenging analysis that urges readers to rethink conventional ways of knowing about racial equality, civil rights, and the Internet.

Ratings and reviews

Jessie needs to do his or her research better. I went to school with Richard, he was the younger brother of a close friend and classmate. First and foremost, he is not Mexican-American, his family is Salvadorean. National origin is a big issue with in Latino communities and if the author is choosing to write about ethnicity, racism and civil rights, she or he should do so taking those factors into consideration. The sad part is that Richard had a lot going for him and many people sacrificed for him. I don't think he would have acted violently, and I know he was just being stupid and prejudiced, something too many people of different backgrounds struggle with.

Cyber racism is a cogent and well argued book about how to understand racism in the digital age. Daniels illustrates how racists have moved from print to electronic media. But even more importantly she effectively argues that, without media literacy and a critical race analysis, we are susceptible more subtle and pernicious forms of racism than overt racist comments from white supremacists. Particularly compelling are Daniels' arguments about cloaked sites (which disguise their authorship and true purpose) and her empirical work on how adolescents make sense of information about race online. This is well written and accessible book and "must read" for anyone who cares about racism in the digital era. It's also an excellent book for students who shouldn't overlook the interesting appendix about methodological strategies for conducting research online.

About the author

Jessie Daniels teaches at Hunter College and writes and teaches about racism and anti-racism in print and online. She is the author of White Lies (Routledge). Daniels is a regular contributor to the blog Racism Review (www.racismreview.com ). Her research for this book was supported in part by the MacArthur Foundation.