On August 11 and 12, 2017, white supremacists gathered in Charlottesville, Virginia, for a large rally they called “Unite the Right.” The event, which was ostensibly organized to protest the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee from a local park, featured a torch-lit march, racist and anti-Semitic signs and chants (including “Jews will not replace us”), and resulted in the death of Heather Heyer, who was killed by a car driven into the crowd of counter protestors.” “Unite the Right” shocked many Americans, who had no idea that white supremacists were so numerous or so explicit in their expressions of hate.

“Unite the Right” also introduced many Americans to the alt-right (short for “alternative right”), a segment of the white supremacist movement consisting of a loose network of racists and anti-Semites who reject mainstream conservatism in favor of extreme and explicit bigotry. Many hope to inject these bigoted views into the mainstream conservative movement in the United States.

The ideology of the alt-right is based on white supremacist beliefs about the need to protect white people from what they perceive as a “rising tide of color,” along with elements of anti-Semitism, anti-Muslim animus, xenophobia, nationalism, misogyny and anti-LGBTQ attitudes. Since mid-2016, the alt-right has gone from relative obscurity to one of the United States’ most visible extremist movements. In the last year, alt-right adherents have shifted their efforts from online engagement to real-world activity, trying to meet, network, and plan actions in cities and on campuses around the country.

Between September 1, 2016, and November 15, 2017, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) counted 302 incidents of white supremacist fliers, posters, banners or stickers on American college campuses. The incidents took place on 197 college campuses in 42 states. Of the 302 incidents, 120 occurred since Sept 1, 2017, versus 26 incidents in the same period in 2016.

Along with communities of color, many Jewish communities are main targets of white nationalist rhetoric and activity. Some of the most serious cases receive ample publicity, including James von Brunn’s 2009 shooting attack on the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., and the 2001 arson attacks on three Sacramento synagogues by two white supremacist brothers. However, many anti-Semitic incidents and attacks are not covered as prominently by the media. According to ADL, in each of the past three years, synagogues and Jewish institutions across the country have been vandalized approximately fifty times, in many cases with graffiti of white supremacist iconography such as swastikas.

 

The Jewish Council for Public Affairs:

 

The Jewish community relations field should:

Call upon prosecutors to recognize white supremacist violence as acts of domestic

Share

Next Up:

JCPA Expresses Outrage at Mass Shooting at Parkland High School and Calls for Action to Combat Gun Violence

Take Action Donate

September 9, 2025

eJP Op-Ed: Supporting the People Who Hold the Center: A Community Relations Imperative

September 8, 2025

Protected: Higher Education, Jewish Safety, Free Expression, and Democracy: How To Do It All

August 27, 2025

JCPA Statement on Minneapolis School Shooting

August 26, 2025

JCPA Urges DHS to Waive Confusing and Concerning Language for Nonprofit Security Grant Program

August 25, 2025

The New York Times: In Trump’s Second Term, Far-Right Agenda Enters the Mainstream

August 20, 2025

Communications Intern

August 19, 2025

High Holy Days 5786

August 15, 2025

The Torah of Community Relations

August 13, 2025

High Holy Days 5786

August 13, 2025

Federalizing the DC Police: Manufactured Crises and the Erosion of Democratic Protections