ABSTRACT
After a series of debilitating setbacks, some remnants of the Alt-right—a specifically American variety of the racist far right—began to again make headlines by publicly confronting more mainstream conservative figures during college speaking tours. These far-right activists, called Groypers, led by a young Internet personality named Nick Fuentes, who avoided the more extreme rhetoric associated with the racist right, seemed to be gaining ground for a time. The Groyper phenomenon fits within a larger, much older debate within the American racist right. Some in the movement call for a transparent radicalism, rejecting even perfunctory nods to American traditions and support for liberal democracy. Some call for a more “mainstream” approach, designed to appeal to large numbers of Americans and provoke less aggressive opposition. The Groypers are the most significant recent example of the latter strategy. This chapter describes the brief history of the Alt-right’s rise and fall. It also describes the long-running debate about “optics” within American White nationalism. It explains why the Groyper movement was more successful than some of its immediate predecessors. It concludes by arguing that, despite its short-term successes, the Groypers are unlikely to threaten American liberal democracy.
