Richard Spencer's "End of History" Speech: An Alt-Right Philosophy, Part 1

Are members of the white race victims because they are white? I am white myself, and I don't think so. Let us look deeply into darkness' cold heart and examine Richard Spencer's June 2017 "End of History" speech: a calm, eloquent, powerful, and philosophical justification for evil.

Why is this speech important? This morning's news reports yesterday's demonstrations in Charlottesville, Virginia, the usually peaceful home of "Mr. Jefferson's University," which resulted in violent confrontations and the death of one demonstrator. A group of white supremacists demonstrated in favor of the town's statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee, which the city planned to remove. Their opponents marched against them. Many people of the left and right wing alike condemned the white supremacists, President Trump and Vice President Pence apparently being exceptions.

Lincoln Memorial, NPS photo

The Nazi movement always placed great importance on the spoken word, and let us trace the rise of the alt-right (the new term for the old idea of white supremacy) to the words of a talented writer and speaker, Richard Spencer. At the end of June 2017, Spencer stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, near the spot from which Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech, and delivered a powerful presentation to a few hundred alt-right supporters. He laid out a philosophy of the alt-right movement with power and eloquence. His speech was chilling in its reasonableness. Spencer presented his ideas - which I condemn as unspeakably foul - calmly, with humor, passion, warmth, and confidence.  Many years ago, the great rhetorical theorist Kenneth Burke wrote a powerful essay to reveal Hitler's persuasive techniques. Burke's purpose was to ensure that the next time someone spoke or wrote in such a manner, the public would be equipped to recognize the evil and not be fooled. I cannot write like Kenneth Burke, but, still, let us look at Spencer's speech to understand why seemingly decent people would eagerly absorb his wicked message.

More than anything, Spencer gave his audience a sense that they participated in a higher cause, that they were working for something more important and more noble than their own lives. His speech was polarizing: white supremacy was good; the forces against them represented evil. As he began his speech, he said "There's been a change in our hearts and minds." He scapegoated the alt-right's opponents, calling them "losers and freaks," and said that the people opposing the alt-right were "liars." He praised the young people in his audience: "Young people are not caught in the thought prison of their parents." 

Advocating free speech, Spencer talked at length about social media platforms and other platforms that suppress the alt-right's message. But he took this a step further: "Free speech means nothing if one has nothing to say." We all know that President Donald Trump has protested against the doctrine that conservatives call "political correctness," which prohibits them from saying racist things that they believe to be true. Spencer protested political correctness even more explicitly: "We have a black cloud that hangs over us. This sense of guilt. This sense that we cannot be truthful even when we are talking to ourselves." 

Spencer praised whiteness, with the idea that white people had somehow become society's victims: "The most radical thing for anyone to say is, 'I am white. My life has meaning. My life has dignity I am part of a family I will fight for my children’s future.' That is what they want to suppress." Spencer proposed a solution, which was to develop a moral foundation of strength to overcome the victimhood: "We need to find a way out of this sense of helplessness. The alt-right is the first step to believing in ourselves."

Spencer ended his speech by talking about "the end of history." He seemed to mean this in two different senses. First, he seemed to believe that the traditional liberal moral order was facing the end of its history. The liberal order defined itself, he said, by opposing totalitarian dictatorship during the Cold War; with the end of the Cold War, liberals lost their moral focus. He tied this, however, to the need for the alt-right: the "end of history means end of meaning." With the end of history, Spencer warned, "You have no history. You have no future." He explained what the alt-right was fighting for: "We are fighting for freedom. We are fighting for the Constitution." He continued: "We are fundamentally fighting for meaning in our lives." This message appealed to values beyond the individual, beyond the self-centeredness that marks the conventional conservatism of Ayn Rand or Paul Ryan.

He then pointed the audience toward the August 12, 2017 Charlottesville rally that, as we know, ended  in violence: At that rally, he promised, "We are going to start history all over again." Was he right?

Like many modern-day ultra-conservative speakers, Spencer was extremely calm. He did not rant and rave like Adolf Hitler or Rudolph Hess. He smiled. He looked relaxed. He seemed friendly. If he had not dropped out of graduate school, he could have been a charismatic professor charming a massive lecture hall full of students who swarmed to his classes. He spoke extemporaneously with many balanced phrases, a few of which I quoted above. He competed effectively with the noise of the jet aircraft that flew overhead.

A philosophical foundation helps evil to spread beyond mindless rage and incoherent hate. A philosophical foundation gives evil a focus. Hitler inspired people to die for a higher cause, and he died for that cause himself. His supporters completely overlooked that his cause was evil, violent, dangerous, and doomed. Into what abyss do Spencer's supporters plan to cast themselves? 

A word to my fellow citizens and fellow communication scholars: it is never enough to disagree with someone like Spencer. It is necessary for us to understand him, his message, and his followers. Also, let us not make the mistake of thinking that the alt-right is a mere fringe that good people can ignore. It is far, far larger than a fringe. The alt-right has become a major part of America.

Upcoming post: as soon as time allows, I'll talk about free speech and the alt-right. That was one of Spencer's themes, was it not?

Here's Part 2 about Spencer's "End of History"