Why Ryan Murdough is Racist and Why You Probably Are, Too

The wonderful thing about democracy is that even the most radical political extremists can participate in our political process. But of course, this is also democracy's curse — particularly if these radical extremists are noxious white supremacists that try to spout racist, intolerant hatred from the largest soapbox they can manage.

New Hampshire's Ryan Murdough is one such case. A fringe Congressional candidate running as a Republican — a man unknown to the state's political powers-that-be — Murdough flew under the radar until earlier this month, when he wrote a letter to the Concord Monitor. In it, Mudough outed himself as the state chairperson of the New Hampshire branch of the American Third Position Party.

Sound innocuous? Actually, the Southern Poverty Law Center (which tracks hate groups in America) labels this group "a fledgling political party...with the aim of uniting disaffected racists."

Murdough is a textbook white supremacist who sees multiculturalism as a threat — not just to his cultural identity, but to his very safety. In his letter to the editor, Murdough wrote, "Statistics show that areas with high non-white populations have higher rates of violent crime." In a one-on-one interview with the Concord Monitor, Murdough expands on this viewpoint by suggesting that non-whites are genetically predispositioned to committing crime. "I'd rather live in a place that would be safer for my kids, and most of those places happen to be white. New Hampshire is an example."

What's most galling about Murdough, however, is his vehement denial of any suggestion that he might be "racist." Noting that he doesn't support violent extermination of non-whites (just forced segregation and/or deportation), Murdough is insistent that he's not "racist." "The word does not have a specific definition. If someone says, 'You seem to hate people who aren't white,' I say no, so I can't really be a racist, because I don't hate them. I just don't want to live around areas that are heavily, predominantly non-white."

Uh-huh.

Actually, even the New Hampshire Republican party has disowned Murdough's candidacy because of his hate-fueled, white supremacist views.

But I want to turn to a question that Daniel Cubias has also explored here on the blog. That is, what has the term "racist" come to mean in post-twentieth century America? How can Murdough, who so obviously holds racist views, continue to believe that the term does not apply to him?

According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, a "racist" is a person who subscribes to the "belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race." In other words, it's not all about white-sheet costumes and German concentration camps.

But that's how many see the term. "Racists" have been so rightfully demonized that no one — not even the most avid white supremacist — wants to appropriate the term. Even some neo-Nazis actually feel victimized by being called racist. As one online commenter laments, "Any hint of white pride and you may as well be a "goose stepping, jack booted, cross burning, red neck."

Maybe it's time for all of us — and not just the white supremacists — to reclaim the term racist. After all, the dictionary declares that "racism" refers to any form of "racial prejudice" or "discrimination." And how many of us still subscribe to race-based stereotypes — no matter how benign we might think they are? If we're honest with ourselves, the assumptions that Asians are particularly good at math-based sciences or that blacks are better dancers are racist — though we prefer not to think so.

Today, we live in a society in which people don't want to know what racism is — we just want to avoid being accused of such views. But as long as we continue reserving the label "racist" for only the most obvious of extremists — thereby excusing our own views — we justify Ryan Murdough's argument that he isn't a true racist, either. We also cut ourselves off from real, difficult discussions on race.

If we can get off our moral high-horse and be honest — and agree that even well-intentioned liberals can hold racist views — then the most rabid white supremacist will have no choice but to face their own prejudices as well. Maybe then we can stop mindlessly debating who's racist and who's not and actually start having the conversations needed to end racism in the first place.

Photo Credit: minds-eye