Everything You Love Will Burn

Everything You Love Will Burn

Adult nonfiction
"What had initially motivated my excursion into the world of
white supremacy was curiosity about a brand of politics that seemed
almost too outdated to be real--and one that I was surprised to find
thriving throughout the country. At the time my impetus was little
more than a fascination with the strange and offensive. But then, in
the sumner of 2011, only a few short months after my initial reporting
had begun, Anders Behring Breivik massacred seventy-seven people in
Norway...The act exposed a world of far-right radicalism that I had
scarcely known existed until then and certainly had not believed
capable of such a level of carnage."
Here in America, in the middle of Trump's presidency hate crimes
are on the rise, social media teems with prejudice, and a crowd of
malcontents, actually believing that whites are an oppressed,
endangered race, have a friend in the White House. I think just about
anyone who enjoys reading my blog is bothered by these people who have
been collectively dubbed the alt right. But how much do we know about
them?
Vegas Tenold, author of Everything You Love Will Burn: Inside
The Rebirth Of White Nationalism In America, did something few of us
would even contemplate. Acting on the premise that we must understand
extremists if we ever hope to defeat them, he spent six years getting
to know prominent players in nationalist movements--eating, traveling,
and staying with them. Who were these people? What attracted them to
their groups of choice?
Some of the people Tenold got to know fit every racist
stereotype in the book; others were decent, thoughtful humans he would
have considered friends under other circumstances. Some hated or
considered inferior Jewish, black, or brown people; others felt that
they had to secure a future for their own beleaguered race. Some held
colorful tangible rallies; others gathered in the virtual world.
People trying to unify the various groups for more power found this a
difficult, if not impossible, challenge.
When Tenold started his research the groups he was investigating
were pretty much flying below the radar. But as the years went by
they became more known and powerful, especially in the time leading up
to and following the 2016 presidential election. They aren't going
away any time soon.
If you are concerned about their emergence on the national
political scene, you'll find Everything You Love Will Burn to be a
must read.
On a personal note, I spent two days at the most amazing conference.
Universities Fighting World Hunger. It was at University of Southern
Maine which is in the Big City (Portland). Georgia, Taylor's Katie,
Lisa Morin, and I were the Bodwell Center group. For two days we went
to presentations and break out sessions. My favorite, not
surprisingly, was the one on ASSESSING food insecurity on campuses.
Auburn University has a RUBRIC colleges and universities can use to
assess food insecurity on campuses in order to improve. When they get
it out they will need some schools to pilot it. I hear the sound of
opportunity knocking. I also enjoyed learning what other schools are
doing to address the problem. They gave me lots of ideas. I met some
really neat people. The night life was cool...
...and you'll learn about my night out in the Big City...
...in the next review.
A great big shout out goes out to all involved in the conference.
jules hathaway



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