Such beliefs were discredited and discarded.

A national community gave way to indulgence, confusion, nihilism, and anomie. There was once a widely-held consensus on social norms, religion, understandings of history, and political institutions and leadership, Most Americans believed that were part of an honorable tradition stretching from a colonial past to the present and a promising future. The turmoil of the war and its aftermath delivered a devastating blow to American life which it’s never recovered from. One can agree with Belew’s attachment of importance of the Vietnam war on the white-power movement, yet feel there was a larger context. There is no leader, only a handful inspirational figures and martyrs, often Vietnam veterans. The author gives detailed accounts of the movement and Vietnamese refugees, the Sandinistas in Central America, Ruby Ridge, and the Oklahoma City bombing.

In fact, Reagan’s lack of radical beliefs and actions made it clear the movement had no alternative to violent revolution. Not even the Reagan years could alter their determination. It aimed at bringing about a new order, not through electoral politics but through the same violent means used by insurgents in SE Asia and elsewhere. The new movement did not seek to preserve traditional America or restore a mythic past. Networks arose, trading camps sprouted up, veterans served as mercenaries in anticommunist conflicts in Africa and Latin America, armed bands patrolled the Mexican border, military bases were robbed of arms and explosives to continue the war at home. Government was hopelessly inept and corrupt, veterans were poorly treated, the nation was in a shambles. Defeat in Vietnam brought shame and dishonor to the nation.

Vietnam veterans had prominent roles.īut right-wing extremism throve as well, and war veterans composed the vanguard. Liberal and leftist movements came about pressing for civil rights, women’s rights, fairer labor laws, and social equality.

The SE Asian war brought turmoil and political engagement, often quite heated. This book, though published between those two events, scrutinizes the white-power movement which comprises neo-Nazis, KKK members, private militias, and a miscellany of related groups.īelew, a University of Chicago professor, sees the Vietnam era as a crucible for the development of a new, more widespread white-power movement than antecedents after the Civil War and during the 1920s. The images are fresh in our minds: angry marchers in Charlottesville, Virginia, and heavily-armed men in tactical gear standing outside and sometimes in state capitals.

Bring the War Home by Kathleen Belew