Image by YouTube

By Helen Chernikoff, Josh Nathan-KazisNovember 21, 2016

Richard Spencer is the chairman of the vaguely-named National Policy Institute, a white supremacist think tank, and the founder of Radix Journal, one of the movement’s primary publications. He’s one of the “alt-right’s” most visible leaders, and relative to others, has tried to give it a more moderate, intellectually refined image.

He has, for example, included a gay speaker at a past conference, and instead of indulging in rabidly anti-Semitic rhetoric like his fellow traveler, the neo-Nazi Andrew Anglin, he has described Jews as an out-group ally who can help legitimize the idea of white identity.

Nonetheless, a November 19 conference hosted by Spencer’s group, featured Nazi salutes and anti-Jewish rhetoric amid excitement over Donald Trump’s victory.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Spencer makes his pitch in this slickly produced video, posted on YouTube last December. In it, he urges white people to rediscover what he believes is their lost identity, evoked by images such as blinking blue eyes, a cowboy and a portrait of Napoleon. In the video’s final minutes, Spencer flashes an image of an Israeli flag to identify an ethnic group — the Jews — that he argues whites should emulate in “asserting” their own identities.

Contact Josh Nathan-Kazis at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter, @joshnathankazis.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount