White nationalism is a phrase that, for most people, causes immediate, strong reactions. But there is also a lot of confusion as to what it even is. According to The New York Times’ “White Nationalism Explained,” white nationalism is defined as holding the belief that white people as a whole are a race and seeking to develop/maintain a “white national identity.”

The main goal of white nationalism is to maintain white cultures, continue the white majorities in white majority states, and maintain the political and economic dominance of white people as a whole. They staunchly oppose multiculturalism as well. Two very well known subgroups of white nationalism are white separatism and white supremacy. White separatists believe in creating a white-only state, and white supremacists believe that whites are superior to non-whites, a belief that goes directly against a portion of the second paragraph of the US Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal…”

Many FM area residents are concerned about the fact that the white nationalist movement may be coming to Fargo. Peter Tefft, a 30-year-old native Fargoan, was considering the evening of October 14th for a white nationalist march in the public square between the Civic Center downtown and the Fargo Public Library. Tefft claimed in an interview that he didn’t identify with Nazis or the “alt-right” movement, rather that he’s interested in furthering causes that benefit whites. “We want to show people we’re not anti-anything, we’re just pro-white,” he claimed.

A very prominent concern when it comes to white nationalist marches is their tendency to end up leading to violence and dangerous situations. At the August “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, VA, of which Teff was an attendee, there was one death and 19 injuries.
These casualties occurred when a driver with alleged Nazi sympathies drove through a crowd of peaceful counter protesters.

Jacob Scott Wieber, 26, of Fargo was quoted as saying, “If there’s a Nazi rally in Fargo, there will be counter demonstrations. There are too many good progressive people in Fargo for there not to be,” Wieber has also said, “If he [Tefft] realizes there will be a huge opposition, maybe he’ll take it someplace else, or not have it at all. He’s a coward at heart,” Wieber said. Fortunately for counter protesters in Fargo, and for the many people who oppose the white nationalists here, the march didn’t happen.

The reasoning behind this is unclear, however, many people are thankful for it. But, even though the march didn’t happen this time, there are concerns that it could still happen in the future. Time is the only thing which can tell what’s really in store for Fargo in regards to this issue in months to come.