Latinos and White Supremacy
While it’s nothing new to our communities, people are expressing doubt about Latinos following white nationalist ideologies
Two Latinos recently committed separate mass murders in Texas. Both suspects have provided evidence that they harbored racist and bigoted beliefs. This has once again opened up the conversation about white nationalist Latinos. While many argue that it’s an impossibility due to hate groups like the Ku Klux Klan not accepting Latinos because they’re not white, the truth is, there are many neo-Nazi groups that gladly welcome people of Hispanic descent.
Arguing the impossibility of racist Latinos is being used to dissuade the conversation from ethnonationalism, a concept many mass shooters discuss in their manifestos. The idea that they accept non-white people into their ranks while emphasizing “for now,” is not new. It’s a strategy that furthers their cause. A motivation most white nationalists define as having a white homeland for a "dispossessed white race", to usher in a "peaceful ethnic cleansing," and to halt the "deconstruction" of what they describe as "white culture,” says alt-right leader Richard Spencer.
However, much to the white racist’s ire, the conversation is being had despite their false flag conspiracy theories suggesting the Brownsville, Texas vehicle attack was done with CGI and the Allen, Texas mass shooting was staged using actors. We’re having this discussion because as Latinos, we know all too well how prevalent racism and bigotry can be in our communities.
As racists continue to try and distract us from the real conversation while they spin these attacks as an immigration issue, we are all aware of the Allen, Texas shooter's motivations as well as those of the terrorist who rammed Venezuelan migrants in Brownsville, Texas. We don’t need to look at the copious amounts of evidence others need. Most of us already knew they were lost to white supremacy once we found out that they were Latino.
Latino, Neo-Nazi, Terrorist
Arguing with people who refuse to believe Latinos can be white supremacists is pointless. The best response to them is, “You don’t have to be white to be a white supremacist”. From Enrique Tarrio and Nick Fuentes to Kanye West and Candace Owens, there are many examples of this over the last decade when the infiltration of our communities began to pick up steam.
Mauricio Garcia, the gunman in the Allen, Tx. mass murder was an avowed neo-Nazi. He had a patch on his body armor with the acronym RWDS which stands for Right-Wing Death Squad. In addition, he had Nazi tattoos all over his body and was found to have interacted with racist social media posts. His manifesto, found on a Russian social media website was nonsensical, at best, with a few nuggets of information that might have set off alarm bells if he had any friends.
Despite all of this evidence, many on the political right are sticking to the “he was an illegal” story while others have pivoted to a false flag event. Few have admitted they were wrong about the shooter and are now admitting he did, in fact, have ties to neo-Nazi groups. While the rest of the country wakes up to the notion of Latino neo-nazis, it’s up to us to educate them.
There is a wealth of information on the topic. I’ve written about it extensively and much of that can be found online. Share that information with your friends and maybe your family who are struggling with understanding this situation. The more knowledge we share, the more awareness we create and the more ammunition we give people to address this with a loved one who may be headed down the path of extremism. That's the only way to stop this.
Gangbanger, Extremist, Terrorist
Another place where white supremacist ideology is prevalent is among street gangs and within prison culture. Ask any Black person and they’ll tell you. From Miami and New York to Chicago and Los Angeles, racism among Latinos on the street is a major issue. An issue born of white power structures designed to oppress Black and Indigenous people initially is now used against many marginalized groups, including racist Latinos who think they’re special.
But their proximity to whiteness is a glass house that racists are actively throwing rocks at.
To the ethnonationalist, accepting the help of Latinos, Black people, or anyone else to further their agenda has become accepted, albeit temporarily. It’s a conditional relationship that keeps non-white people on the fringes making them easy to eliminate when needed. Yes, your basic white supremacists have pretty detailed plans for their last act of defiance.
However, George Alvarez, the driver of the SUV with an extensive criminal record that murdered Venezuelan migrants at a bus stop outside a migrant shelter in Brownsville, Tx. clearly adopted his views in prison/gang culture. Latinos like him in Texas who were born in the US often use slurs like “mojados” (wetbacks) to refer to migrants who are “new” here. These are learned idioms from exposure to racism. Be it at school or while socializing with friends they use, “I was born here,” in an effort to prove they’re different.
These decades-old narratives exploded in popularity with the advent of social media. Many US-born descendants of Latino immigrants have adopted the same beliefs once relegated to groups like the Ku Klux Klan based on the false assumption that immigrants are taking something from them. My RGV reported one of the victim's claims that “the driver of the vehicle was shouting obscenities critical of the immigrants just as the crash occurred, saying the immigrants were invading the U.S.“ A xenophobic Latino espousing racist language indeed.
Confronting the Issue
As Latinos, we have to confront homophobia and transphobia almost constantly. We also have to address anti-Black racism, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, and all the same bigoted ideas we find in other communities. It’s been a hard-fought battle over centuries of colonization and the colorism that came with it. We’re still dealing with the repercussions of “el blanqueamiento” (the whitening) of Latin America. No country in the global south was immune to this agenda.
It’s clear that Americans don’t comprehend that the same racism and bigotry exist in Latin America just as it does anywhere else. Part of the assimilation process results in Latinos buying into white power structures here in the US. Colorism from Latin America becomes anti-Black racism while homophobia, transphobia, and misogyny are simply what they are. For me, it’s most prevalent in the Cuban community in South Florida where many quickly buy into the hate.
That said, we see hate among Latinos in places like LA, Chicago, New York, and Texas. It’s a broad problem that we can no longer ignore. Otherwise, we will continue to see terrorist acts like we just saw in the span of two days. We have to call it out as often as we can and try our best to correct lies and tell the truth about many issues related to immigration such as crime, welfare, economics, and asylum while countering the dehumanization of migrants.
“I'm more scared about being confronted by my friends and family. I can hear them now. Why didn't you talk to someone? What happened to you? I can help you. Where has that hand been? Even if I did go to a psychologist. They’re not going to be able to fix whatever's wrong with me. Besides that shit's expensive'.”
- Allen, Texas mass shooter (from his manifesto)
Talk to them mi gente. It’s the only chance we have to stop this.
Arturo is a writer, journalist, and publisher of The Antagonist Magazine and a regular contributor at Latino Rebels and Unicorn Riot. You can find him on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. If you’d like to read more of Arturo’s work, become a paid subscriber to support him directly.
This is really good. Thank you for your perspective. I learned something new.
I learned some interesting things about race and culture, as I generally do when I read your work. You have a perspective I never can because of our different environments, so I thank you for sharing.