White House ties to white nationalism shine a light on the long history of racial scapegoating in the U.S.
When the Southern Poverty Law Center released a report earlier this month establishing that White House senior advisor Stephen Miller deliberately promoted white nationalist, anti-immigrant ideas through right-wing websites, it merely confirmed what polling has shown all along: that racial scapegoating has been absolutely central to Donald Trump’s appeal to white working-class voters.
But as author and anti-racism activist Tim Wise makes clear in MEF’s bestselling video The Great White Hoax, stoking white anxiety and fear to gain political advantage goes back a long way in American politics and cuts across party lines.
The Great White Hoax is a great educational tool for clarifying how cultural anxiety and the politics of racial scapegoating have shaped white voting patterns over time. We urge you to screen it in your classes and on your campus as the 2020 presidential campaign intensifies over the coming months.
From now through the end of December, you can get The Great White Hoax and every other video in our collection at 20% off. Simply enter the discount code WINTER2019 at checkout. Watch the trailer for The Great White Hoax below!
“My seminar was MESMERIZED by The Great White Hoax [and] gave it the highest possible rating. I would recommend this unreservedly to show in college classes and in discussion groups, community organizations, and religious institutions.”
— Mark Naison | Professor of History and African American Studies at Fordham University
“In this searing film, Tim Wise offers a history lesson, sociological analysis, and call to action that should be required viewing for all Americans. For the sake of our democracy, my hope is that this clear-eyed film receives as wide a viewing as possible.”
— Celeste Watkins-Hayes | Professor of Sociology & African American Studies at Northwestern University
“Timely and visually provocative! Makes a compelling case for the ongoing need for resistance to white racism. An excellent teaching tool!”
— Woody Doane | Chair of Social Sciences Department at the University of Hartford
“Timely and necessary. Demonstrates that racial scapegoating is one of the oldest games in American politics and that we must defeat the narrative of fear and division in order to move our country forward.”
— Van Jones | CNN commentator
“A kaleidoscopic view of a nation still grappling with white supremacy, and still riven by deep and persistent inequalities along racial lines.”
— Stephen Steinberg | Author of The Ethnic Myth: Race, Ethnicity, and Class in America
“This brilliant documentary situates the political rise of Donald Trump within decades of racial scapegoating that stokes white anxiety based on racial nativism and cultural insecurity fundamentally rooted in anti-Blackness.”
— Kevin Cokley | Author of The Myth of Black Anti-Intellectualism
“Tim Wise and the Media Education Foundation have done it again. We will remember this video for many presidencies to come.”
— Zeus Leonardo | Author of Race, Whiteness, and Education
“This film is a must see for those opposed to racism in all its forms.”
— Tukufu Zuberi | Lasry Family Professor of Race Relations at the University of Pennsylvania
“This invaluable educational resource arrives at precisely the right moment for professors, high school teachers, and librarians who want to help their students develop the tools to understand and resist the rising tide of racism and bigotry in this country.”
— Jackson Katz, Ph.D. | Author of Man Enough? Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and the Politics of Presidential Masculinity
