CRMJ 521 WEEK 7 DISCUSSION

Chapter 12

The American Case

Terrorism in the United States

Introduction to the American Case

· American Left

· Labor activist

· People’s Rights

· Single Issue

· Questioning Traditions

· American Right

· Traditional values

· Antigovernment sentiments

Leftist Activism and Ideological Extremism

· Origins of the Modern Civil Rights Movement

· Equality for African Americans in the South.

· Concept: Collective non-violence.

· The Rise of Black Power

· Reaction to violence directed against nonviolent civil rights movement.

· Political independence, economic self-sufficiency, and cultural reawakening.

· Growth of the New Left

· Arose in mid-1960s.

· Concept: Direct action.

· Military-industrial complex.

· Counterculture.

Left-Wing Terrorism in the United States

· New Left Terrorism

· Generational rebellion.

· Case: Weatherman organization.

· Case: Symbionese Liberation Army.

· Ethnonationalist Terrorism on the Left

· Few violent nationalist movements.

· Case: Black Liberation Army

· Case: Puerto Rican Independencistas and the FALN.

· Leftist Hard Cores

· May19 Communist Organization.

· New African Freedom Fighters.

· United Freedom Front.

· Single-Issue Violence

· Groups who focus on one issue to the exclusion of others.

· Cases: Animal Liberation Front and Earth Liberation Front.

Right-Wing Activism and Ideological Extremism

· Religious Politics and the “Christian Right”

· Mostly Protestant fundamentalists.

· Links strict Christian values to political agendas.

· Rise of the Anti-Government Patriots

· Consider themselves to be the true heirs of the ideals of the framers of the U.S. Constitution.

· Radical distrust of government.

· Many “New World Order” conspiracy theories.

· Racial Supremacy

· Rooted in historical racial policies and culture.

· Organized supremacist groups include the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazi movements.

· Racial Mysticism

· Incorporation of mystical quality to racial supremacy.

· Cases:

· The Creativity movement.

· Asatru.

· The Christian Identity Creation Myth

· Americanized strain of 18th-century Anglo-Israelism.

· One-seedline Christian Identity.

· Two-Seedline Christian Identity.

Right-Wing Terrorism in the United States

· The Legacy of the Ku Klux Klan

· Uniquely American racist organization.

· Ritualistic, fraternity-like, and religious symbolism.

· Five eras of the KKK.

· Neo-Nazi Terrorism

· American version of Nazism.

· Mystical beliefs combined with racial supremacy.

· Racial Holy War (RAHOWA).

· Case: The Order

· Patriot Threats

· Concepts: Leaderless resistance and phantom cells.

· Case: The Oklahoma City bombing.

· Moralist Terrorism

· Mostly anti-abortion and anti-gay violence.

· Case: Army of God

· Case: Phineas Priesthood.

International Terrorism in the United States

· The Spillover Effect in the United States

· Operations by international terrorists.

· Cases: Omega 7, IRA, and Jewish Defense League.

The New Terrorism in the United States

· World Trade Center attacks.

· Presence of support organizations for jihadist movements abroad.

· Case: September 11, 2001

· Case: San Bernardino Attack