Politics of Hate in Southern California

Caption: An image of members from the Rise Above Movement (RAM) protesting. They are promoting anti-immigrant and Islamophobic rhetoric.

This image comes from a screenshot of a YouTube video uploaded by the Rise Above Movement (RAM). RAM is based in Huntington Beach, California. They are a pro-Trump white nationalist group that practices hand-to-hand combat. They have made national news as of late for being involved in and convicted of hate crimes performed at the famous Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. They are thought to be one of the catalysts for the rise of hate crimes in California, particularly Orange County.

My project attempts to find what conditions make southern California a place for a group like this to not only rise but to thrive and grow in numbers. I chose this image as representative of the group's violent nature and as what the conditions southern California could present in the making of a political environment gone awry. In ethnographically assessing these conditions, it is hopeful one can better understand how to avoid such hate and most certainly keep it out of politics.