New right, new racism

the long version

In New Right, New Racism, Ansell explores the ways in which the New Right has used panicky rhetoric, slanted to play on race-based anxieties, to make the case for its "traditional" values and policies. Raising specters of immigrants in strange garb diluting our national culture, criminals terrorizing innocent citizens, radical gays flaunting their sexuality and openly seducing our children, and "P.C. Police" monitoring our thoughts and speech, the New Right offers itself as the only possible salvation for the nation. The fears they raise serve both to divert public attention from on-going structural inequalities and injustices, and to present the New Right as the defender of all that is good and pure. Documenting her study with a wide selection of primary materials from both countries - including interviews with key New Right leaders, as well as speeches, pamphlets, laws, and position papers - and by closely examining the language contained therein, Ansell explicates the sophisticated symbolic use of race by the New Right. In a climate where overt racism is no longer permissible, Ansell argues, the New Right has succeeded in enlisting symbolism directly tied to race to make the case for its policies. They have articulated what amounts to a new form of racism, avoiding mean-spirited prejudicial sentiment, and even presenting themselves as the protectors of the rights of people of color.