HLSS523Wk4

Conclusion

Throughout the post-World War II era, there were periodic outbreaks of extremist ac�vity. The first manifesta�on of this ac�vity was among extreme an�communists. The idea that there was communist penetra�on into all aspects of American life terrified extremists. Ac�vists began to coalesce around certain individuals, from Senator Joseph McCarthy to George Wallace. Barry Goldwater was a special favorite, but his defeat caused extremists to turn to other alterna�ves. Some�mes these extremists �ed themselves to the right wing of the Republican Party, but most found even the most radicalized right-wing Republicans too moderate. Almost all of the extremists of the 1960s were members of the John Birch Society before moving on to more radical extremist organiza�ons.

The end of segrega�on and the civil rights movement in the South s�mulated extremism. Ku Klux Klan ac�vity increased drama�cally, and several of the Klans developed an earned reputa�on for violence. Almost more insidious was the economic and social pressure from the Ci�zens' Councils. Civil rights sympathizers in the South had to fear both the violence of the Ku Klux Klan and economic retalia�on from the Ci�zens' Councils. Poli�cal organiza�ons from the John Birch Society to the American Nazi Party disapproved of and fought the civil rights movement. The success of the civil rights movement ensured that the losers looked to other extremist groups that might console them. It did, however, end the dominance of the Ku Klux Klan and its supporters.

There also developed a right-wing religious extremism. Various evangelical ministers became extremists. Part of their fear was fear of communism, but a good por�on of it was directed at what they considered the wayward direc�on of modern society. Some of them an�cipated the beginning of the apocalypse. These religious figures directed their followers to prepare for this eventuality by adop�ng a survivalist lifestyle.

At the same �me, the Chris�an Iden�ty movement gained trac�on on the American scene. Wesley Swi� had incorporated white supremacy into Bri�sh Israelism immediately a�er World War II. An�-government and mili�a groups were most ac�ve in the early and mid-1990s. They expressed a complete aliena�on from American society and the poli�cal process. They ranged from groups that desired to overthrow the U.S. government to those that wanted complete separa�on. Stern explains it best when he describes what a�racted mili�a members:

Drawn into the mili�a movement, many Americans felt liberated. Here was a new way to see the world in which everything made perfect sense, in which there was an answer to every ques�on, in which, as Bob Fletcher put it, there were no liberals or conserva�ves, no Democrats or Republicans, just good guys and bad guys. And, with few excep�ons, the people who made up the government were the bad guys (Atkins, 2011, Kindle Loca�ons 3941-3944).