Name: Everything You Love Will Burn
Rating: 3 (1 reviews)
ISBN: 9781568588308

Vegas Tenold

Reveals how white supremacist and nationalist groups rose in influence to achieve political support at the highest levels of government, examining the transformation of once-small groups into threatening mainstream organizations.

Inside the Rebirth of White Nationalism in America

Everything You Love Will Burn

The dark story of the shocking resurgence of white supremacist and nationalist groups, and their path to political power Six years ago, Vegas Tenold embedded himself among the members of three of America's most ideologically extreme white nationalist groups-the KKK, the National Socialist Movement, and the Traditionalist Workers Party. At the time, these groups were part of a disorganized counterculture that felt far from the mainstream. But since then, all that has changed. Racially-motivated violence has been on open display at rallies in Charlottesville, Berkeley, Pikesville, Phoenix, and Boston. Membership in white nationalist organizations is rising, and national politicians, including the president, are validating their perceived grievances. Everything You Love Will Burn offers a terrifying, sobering inside look at these newly empowered movements, from their conventions to backroom meetings with Republican operatives. Tenold introduces us to neo-Nazis in Brooklyn; a millennial Klanswoman in Tennessee; and a rising star in the movement, nicknamed the "Little Fü by the Southern Poverty Law Center, who understands political power and is organizing a grand coalition of far-right groups to bring them into the mainstream. Everything You Love Will Burn takes readers to the dark, paranoid underbelly of America, a world in which the white race is under threat and the enemy is everywhere.

Greg Talbot

“You have to get over the fear of facing the worst in yourself. You should instead fear unexamined racism. Fear the thought that right now, you could be contributing to the oppression of others and you don't know it. But do not fear those who bring that oppression to light. Do not fear the opportunity to do better.” ― Ijeoma Oluo, So You Want to Talk About Race Can we talk about it? The rise of white supremacist ideas in the mainstream. The proliferation of national socialist thought from websites and forums that grip the developing mind of bullied or emotionally ill-adjusted white male youths. The demagoguery by an ineffective president and debased political party that continues to be the biggest threat to our democracy. Vegas Tenold's embeddened journalistic account, "Everything You Love Will Burn, details his travels with Matthew Heimbach a young and rising activist within the white nationalism movement. It's an attempt to wrestle with difficult questions like "were their political views merely fronts for plain racism, or was there any truth to their claims that they weren't racist but merely concerned for their race" (p.8). Citing tragedies like Oklahoma City bombing (1995) or the Noreweigan tragedy (2011), Tenold is looking to grapple with just why these men become extremist. Heimbach outspoken and a gifted communicator, begins his quest to bring together men from different factions of white supremacy and national socialist groups to build a coalition that cares about the white race. It traces an outline around the key events in the last few years such as the Trump election or the Charlottesville rally that gave rise to the acceptable mainstream version of these thoughts in the "alt-right". Tenold also dives into other chapters about the history of national socialism in America, the rise of the alt right with an interview with Richard Spencer and a look at some of the other hate groups that have impacted music and culture since WW2. Obviously this is a difficult book to read because of the subject matter, but i think it is important topic to openly discuss. Where there can't expression there is repression and resentment. I think the book has two huge issues. One, the pacing and flow between chapters was hard to follow. Sometimes Tenold moves away from his subject "Heimbach", but I didn't think there was a strong narrative framework pulling me through the book. Also, i think Tenold has a "tone" issue in the book. Obviously he finds the actions and ill-will expressed by the men in these groups to be shameful and despicable, and it is. But he mocks and tries to provoke a grim humor response at how stupid some of these men are at times, and at other times attempts to have an objective "historical lens" at the history of this extremist thought. Maybe it's hard to be objective on these thoughts and ideas, but I found this tonal change to be really jarring. Having recently read some work by James Baldwin, about the need of white people to examine their own heart regarding racial prejudice, I wonder how it's best to confront these ideas. Tenold makes the astute point though that for many Americans, the racism did not go away, just became codified in institutional politics and financial disparity. The work of confronting America's original sin, and finding ways to have dialogue with wayward intelligent men like Heimbach continues, hopefully to build a better country for all of us.

inside the rebirth of white nationalism in America

Everything you love will burn

Colton Ray

Not light reading and not for the faint of heart, this is an unflinching look at some of the worst elements of America. It was eye-opening to see that white nationalism is really just a blanket term for a large swath of distinct groups that have as many differences as they do similarities and are constantly fighting each other, which is why they (thankfully) will never coalesce. 

The author did not go undercover, but he did spend several years documenting these groups and their leaders, including the central figure of the book, Matthew Heimbach, an interesting, tragic figure who he grows close with. Throughout the book, Heimbach comes off as almost reasonable amid the cast of villains; he doesn't use slurs, believe he is superior, or hate people of color. His goal is a white ethnostate, and to accomplish this, he goes on a quest to unite the various groups under a banner palatable to the public, a quest that ultimately leads him to sacrifice his principles as he teams up with skinheads, the KKK, and other dimwitted thugs at the Charlottesville rally in 2017. This rally, which concludes the book, is the apotheosis of the movement, where the violent fantasies of these groups manifested into horrifying reality. 

Throughout the book, Tenold brings in both history and current events to give context to what is happening, showing the nationalists for the sad, strange outcasts that they are: decrepit old men, thick-necked frat boys, and online trolls. The only real thing that unites these desperate men is an affection for whiteness and a sense of victimhood; they know they are on the wrong side of history and that is what fuels them. 

These people may not be a movement with a coherent ideology, but they - along with the president - have shown that there is a strain of hatred that still burns. Whether it's longing for the good ol' days when America was white and Christian, Confederate pride, leftover hatred for Obama, political incorrectness, or just a general will to inflict suffering and make everyone else as miserable as they are - all of these factors have contributed to actual harm to real-life people. The ideology of white nationalism is inherently violent and oppressive and has no place in the national discourse. 

The book itself is well-written and interesting, even as it takes you to some of the darkest depths of a foul collection of lowlifes. I don't know how Tenold is able to keep his values and soul intact after being around evil for so long, but I'm glad he did it to illuminate it for the rest of us.

Neva Davies

Worth reading if only to try to make sense of what's happening

I don't know how to date Everything You Love Will Burn. It's well researched and well written but is about a topic that is both terrifying and frustrating to see on the rise. I didn't enjoy the subject matter but it's really important to attempt to learn more about it.

Everything You Love Will Burn Inside the Rebirth of White Nationalism in America

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