Cyber Racism: White Supremacy Online and the New Attack on Civil Rights

by Jessie Daniels

In this exploration of the way racism is translated from the print-only era to the cyber era the author takes the reader through a devastatingly informative tour of white supremacy online. The book examines how white supremacist organizations have translated their printed publications onto the Internet. Included are examples of open as well as 'cloaked' sites which disguise white supremacy sources as legitimate civil rights websites. Interviews with a small sample of teenagers as they surf the web show how they encounter cloaked sites and attempt to make sense of them, mostly unsuccessfully. The result is a first-rate analysis of cyber racism within the global information age. The author debunks the common assumptions that the Internet is either an inherently democratizing technology or an effective 'recruiting' tool for white supremacists. The book concludes with a nuanced, challenging analysis that urges readers to rethink conventional ways of knowing about racial equality, civil rights, and the Internet.

Genres: Nonfiction, Race, Technology, Politics, Social Media, Professional Development, Sociology

278 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Jessie Daniels, PhD is Professor of Sociology at Hunter College and an internationally recognized expert in Internet expressions of racism. She has an MA and PhD in Sociology from the University of Texas at Austin.

Reviews

[Vivek Singh · Rating 1 out of 5]

Really shitty work. Just impressionism and emotional jabbering.

[Sandi]

I started the first chapter a couple of times. While this is about an important subject, it is also a textbook. I just don't have it in me to have my brain so inundated with statistics and stuff right now. I think it would be best read as part of a university course on racism in America where it could be discussed. I would probably even take that course if I was still a student. While short, this is not light reading.

[Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

The methodology used by the author is slightly less than academic, and the research is quite dated, though the book was just released.

[Karen]

This book is a must-read not only for people concerned about the threat of white supremacy and the topic of racism in general, but also for anyone who does research on the Web.