'It's OK to be white': the discursive construction of victimhood, 'anti-white racism' and calculated ambivalence in Australia

This paper critically examines the 'It's OK to be White' Senate motion made by Australian far-right politician Pauline Hanson in 2018. Deliberately innocuous, the 'It's OK to be white' slogan was designed by online white supremacist groups with the intention of 'tr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inCritical discourse studies Vol. 19; no. 6; pp. 593 - 609
Main Author Sengul, Kurt
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basingstoke Routledge 02.11.2022
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
alt-right
Ambivalence
anti-white racism
critical discourse analysis
Critical theory
Discourse analysis
Discourses
Far-right
Frame analysis
Illiteracy
Legislatures
Mass media
Motion
Pauline Hanson
Populism
populist radical right
Racism
Radicalism
reverse racism
Right wing politics
Tactics
Victimization
White supremacy
white victimhood
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Summary:This paper critically examines the 'It's OK to be White' Senate motion made by Australian far-right politician Pauline Hanson in 2018. Deliberately innocuous, the 'It's OK to be white' slogan was designed by online white supremacist groups with the intention of 'triggering liberals' and provoking outrage. Drawing on critical discourse analysis, I demonstrate that Hanson's 'It's OK to be white' motion was an act of calculated ambivalence, which served to address multiple audiences simultaneously. I argue that the motion provided Hanson with a novel way to discuss so-called 'anti-white' or 'reverse' racism which succeeded in generating the desired controversy and media attention. I further argue that the success of the motion exposed the Australian media's illiteracy on contemporary alt-right/white supremacist tactics and discourses. I also critically examine the implications of the motion and Hanson's promotion of white victimhood narratives. Despite its innocuous framing, the 'It's OK to be white' motion represented the successful co-optation of a racist white supremacist political project, the implications of which should not be understated. This research furthers our understanding of the strategies and tactics employed by the far-right, as well as the interrelationship between the populist radical right and online white supremacist groups.
ISSN:1740-5904
1740-5912
DOI:10.1080/17405904.2021.1921818