Abstract

A nationwide backlash against the Confederate flag and other Confederatesymbols occurred after the deadly June 17, 2015, church shootings inCharleston, South Carolina, when images of the alleged gunman displayinga Confederate flag surfaced. This backlash sparked a reactionary movementamong pro-Confederate supporters who viewed the attacks on Confederatesymbols as an affront to their Southern heritage. Some neo-Confederategroups exploited the backlash, and the pro-Confederate sympathy it generated,as an opportunity to build their communities. This essay examineshow the neo-Confederate group League of the South (LOS) used its websiteto attract members to its community in the week before the Confederateflag’s removal from South Carolina’s state capitol on July 10, 2015. Analysisreveals LOS may have aided its community-building efforts by attemptingto foster a sense of shared identity within the pro-Confederatecommunity and employing fear-raising rhetoric relating to the backlashagainst Confederate symbols. The relevance of examining U.S.-based hategroups’ Internet rhetoric has substantially increased in recent years as theUnited States has witnessed a series of deadly mass shootings perpetratedby various extremists, some of whom were apparently motivated by rhetoricthey accessed on U.S.-based extremist sites.

Recommended Citation

Barnett, Brett A. (2016) "League of the South's Internet Rhetoric: Neo-Confederate Community-Building Online," Journal of Hate Studies: Vol. 13: Iss. 1, Article 8.
DOI: 10.33972/jhs.137
Available at: https://repository.gonzaga.edu/jhs/vol13/iss1/8