White Aryan Resistance
473985
214073083
2008-05-22T00:04:33Z
Canis Lupus
5517044
alledgedly → allegedly
[[Image:White Aryan Resistance Hate Logo.png|thumb|WAR's "Hate and Fear" logo]]
The '''White Aryan Resistance''' ('''WAR''') is a [[neo-Nazi]] [[white supremacist]] organization founded and led by former [[Ku Klux Klan]] leader [[Tom Metzger]]. It is based in [[California]], [[USA]] and incorporated as a business.
They hold views which are self-described as [[racism|racist]], as seen in their website sections "Racist Jokes" and "Racist Videos," and in the tagline for their newspaper ''The Insurgent'', as "the most racist newspaper on earth." The White Aryan Resistance uses the slogan ''White Revolution is the Only Solution''.
== History ==
Founded in the early 1980s by [[Tom Metzger]], the group quickly expanded offering racist literature and starting the Youth Aryan Resistance headed by Tom's son, John Metzger. The group was originally known as the White American Political Association or WAPA, but was changed briefly to the White American Resistance, and later American was changed to [[Aryan race|Aryan]]. By the late 1980s Tom began ''Race and Reason'', a [[Public-access television|cable access]] show, airing WAR propaganda and interviewing other neo-Nazis.<ref name="CableAccess">{{cite news | url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F5071EFC38550C748CDDA90994DE484D81 | title=Extremist Finds Cable TV is Forum for Right-wing Views | publisher=[[New York Times]] |date=[[October 7]][[1986]] | first= Wallace | last= Turner| accessdate = 2007-09-18}}</ref> The show caused much controversy and hosted [[Pro-life|anti-abortion]] speakers, [[Holocaust denial]]ists, [[Racial segregation|pro-segregation]] lawyers, and other extremists.<ref name="CableAccess" /> WAR members gained attention through appearances on [[talk show]]s throughout the 1980s.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB071FFB3B5C0C778CDDA80994D0484D81 | title=Geraldo Rivera's Nose Broken In Scuffle on His Talk Show | publisher=[[New York Times]] |date=[[November 4]][[1988]]| accessdate = 2007-09-18}}</ref><ref>"Trash TV," [[Newsweek]], [[November 14]][[1988]]</ref>
On [[November 13]][[1988]] three white supremacists who were members of East Side White Pride, which allegedly had ties to W.A.R., violently beat to death [[Mulugeta Seraw]], an [[Ethiopian]] man who came to the United States to attend college.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/USAToday/access/56028630.html?dids=56028630:56028630&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Oct+24%2C+1990&author=&pub=USA+TODAY+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&edition=&startpage=02.A&desc=Lawyer+makes+racists+pay | title=Lawyer makes racists pay | publisher=[[USA Today]] |date=[[October 24]][[1990]] | first= | last= | accessdate = 2007-09-18}}</ref> In October 1990 the [[Southern Poverty Law Center]] won a [[Civil law (common law)|civil case]] on behalf of the deceased's family against WAR's operator [[Tom Metzger]] and Tom's son, John Metzger for a total of [[USD|$]]12.5<ref>Jury awarded the figure based on: Kyle Brewster- $500,000, Ken Mieske-$500,00, John Metzger-$1,000,000, WAR-$3,000,000, Tom Metzger-$5,000,000, and the jury awarded $2.5 million for Melegeta's unrealized future earnings, and [[pain and suffering]].</ref> million.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30613FD34540C758EDDA90994D8494D81 | title=Sending a $12.5 Million Message to a Hate Group | publisher=[[New York Times]] |date=[[October 26]][[1990]] | first=Robb | last=London | accessdate = 2007-09-18}}</ref> The SPLC does not charge for their work, and Seraw did not share any money won with the SPLC because the Metzger's did not have millions, but rather the family only received assets from the Metzger's $125,000 house and a few thousand dollars.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30614F63E550C768EDDAB0994D8494D81 | title=Assets of White Supremacist Are Target of Legal Maneuver | publisher=[[New York Times]] |date=[[December 25]][[1990]] |author=[[Associated Press]] | accessdate = 2007-09-18}}</ref> The Metzger's declared [[bankruptcy]], however WAR continued to operate.<ref> "Klan Chapters Held Liable in Church Fire; Jury Awards $37.8 Million in Damages," ''Washington Post'' [[July 25]][[1998]]</ref> The cost of trial, in the hundreds of thousands of dollars <ref>Morris Dees and Steve Fiffer. ''Hate on Trial: The Case Against America's Most Dangerous Neo-Nazi''. Villard Books, 1993. page 116</ref> was absorbed by the SPLC and the [[Anti-Defamation League]].<ref>Morris Dees and Steve Fiffer. ''Hate on Trial: The Case Against America's Most Dangerous Neo-Nazi''. Villard Books, 1993. page 277</ref>
WAR has been associated with dangerous individuals throughout its existence.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00616FB355E0C748DDDAE0894DB494D81 | title=Authorities Cite Links of Plotters To Hate Groups | publisher=[[New York Times]] |date=[[July 17]][[1993]] | first=Robert | last=Reinhold | accessdate = 2007-09-18}}</ref> WAR was mentioned in the press when it was revealed that a member threatened [[Rhode Island]] [[Rental shop|video stores]] who carried '[[Jungle Fever]]'.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE6DE1139F932A25752C0A964958260 | title='Jungle Fever' Brings Threats To Rhode Island Video Stores | publisher=[[New York Times]] |date=[[January 11]][[1992]] | accessdate = 2007-09-18}}</ref> Whereas in 1994 Richard Campos, a WAR sympathizer, was convicted of racially motivated [[bomb]]ing plots.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0F15FB3D5C0C728FDDA10894DC494D81 | title=Man Convicted Of 2 Bombings Tied to Racism | publisher=[[New York Times]] |date=[[August 31]][[1994]] | first= | last= | accessdate = 2007-09-18}}</ref>
WAR continued to publish a newspaper despite the SPLC verdict, Metzger launched a [[website]] in 1997 and has an [[internet radio]] program.<ref>"HBO: 'Hate.com' Exposes Bigotry", [[Daily News (New York)]], [[October 13]][[2000]]</ref>
==See also==
*[[Neo-Nazi groups of the United States]]
*[[White supremacy]]
==References==
<!--See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Footnotes for an explanation of how to generate footnotes using the <ref(erences/)> tags-->
{{reflist}}
{{refbegin}}
*[[Morris Dees]]. ''[[Hate on Trial|Hate on Trial: The Case Against America's Most Dangerous Neo-Nazi]]''. Villard, (February 23, 1993) ISBN 067940614X (280 pages)
*[[Elinor Langer]]. ''A Hundred Little Hitlers: The Death of a Black Man, the Trial of a White Racist, and the Rise of the Neo-Nazi Movement in America.'' New York: Henry Holt, 2003. ISBN 0-8050-5098-1
{{refend}}
==External links==
*[http://www.resist.com WAR official website]
*[http://www.nizkor.org/hweb/orgs/american/war/ Nizkor page] An anti-Nazi group.
*[http://www.adl.org/learn/Ext_US/Metzger.asp Tom Metzger and White Aryan Resistance (WAR)] [[Anti-Defamation League|ADL]] page
{{White supremist organizations}}
[[Category:Neo-Nazi organizations]]
[[Category:White supremacist groups in the United States]]
[[de:White Aryan Resistance]]
[[pl:White Aryan Resistance]]
[[fi:White Aryan Resistance]]