Why fringe movements now include middle-class Americans with jobs and families

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Why fringe movements now include middle-class Americans with jobs and families

Transcript¹

In the 12 months since a pro-Trump² mob stormed the U.S. Capitol, polarization has only grown deeper. Many who monitor extremist activity worry that the country is in a much more dangerous place now.

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

In the weeks after a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol, many Americans had hoped that the worst was behind us. President Joe Biden put voice to that hope in his inaugural³ address.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: Together, we shall write an American story of hope, not fear, of unity⁴, not division, of light, not darkness.

MARTINEZ: But the past 12 months have not been a time of unity. In fact, many who monitor extremist activity worry that the country is in a much more dangerous place now than it was a year ago. NPR's Odette Yousef covers domestic extremism. Odette, these warnings that the U.S. may be at a much more dangerous place now than a year ago, who's saying that? And what do they mean?

ODETTE YOUSEF, BYLINE⁵: Well, A, I'm hearing concern from both democracy experts and people who've studied conflicts in places where ideologically⁶ driven violence has taken root. And one of the most troubling developments they raise is that in the last 12 months, the number of Americans, particularly on the right, who feel violence may be necessary to settle political differences has grown. And we're not just talking about the traditional model of extremists that the U.S. is accustomed to dealing⁷ with. We're, you know, not talking about neo-Nazis, skinheads or anti-government militias⁸ anymore. We're talking about largely middle-class Americans with jobs, with families, who are starting to sympathize with views that have in the past been considered on the fringe. Here's how Robert Pape of the University of Chicago put it.

ROBERT PAPE: We need to realize that this isn't just something to hand off to law enforcement and think, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Just, you know, the FBI - this is just an FBI sort of problem. No, this is an all-hands-on-deck problem here. And that's why democracy is under challenge.

MARTINEZ: Democracy under challenge. Odette, how did we get here?

YOUSEF: You know, it's interesting, A, because immediately after January 6 last year, the movement kind of went underground, you know? We saw former President Trump kicked off Twitter. Some online spaces for the far right, like Parler, disappeared. Things kind of went quiet. But over the year, things changed, you know? We started to see far-right actors organize more offline and decentralize their activity to more local settings, like school board meetings, you know, where they latched⁹ onto issues like racially inclusive education or vaccine¹⁰ mandates¹¹. Mary McCord of Georgetown University worked with the Atlantic Council to track this evolution. And she saw how that grassroots approach filtered up.

MARY MCCORD: To me, one of the most alarming developments of 2021 since the insurrection has been the effort, especially among influencers and politicians, to normalize or mainstream¹² conspiracy¹³ theories, most predominantly election denial, and to also normalize in mainstream political, ideologically driven violence.

YOUSEF: And so what's really taken root, A, in the last year is a profound shift in American culture and politics.

MARTINEZ: And, Odette, extremism is your reporting focus. Does this feel like something new to you, something we haven't seen before? Or, you know, is it now just mainstream?

YOUSEF: You know, this blurring¹⁴ of what's extreme versus¹⁵ what's mainstream is something that comes up in, like, every interview I do, A.

MARTINEZ: (Laughter) Yeah.

YOUSEF: And a few months ago, I remember speaking with an anti-fascist researcher who told me that she's stopped doing her work because it's no longer as simple as researching neo-Nazis and white nationalists in her neighborhood, you know? She honestly didn't know what to do about suburban¹⁶ moms who seemed to have been radicalized over issues like kids wearing masks at school. And so figuring this out as a nation, A, will take more than the traditional approach of looking to law enforcement. It's just not clear now what that's going to look like.

MARTINEZ: NPR's Odette Yousef. Thanks a lot.

YOUSEF: Thank you.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

3 inaugural   

adj.就职的；n.就职典礼

参考例句：

• We listened to the President's inaugural speech on the radio yesterday.昨天我们通过无线电听了总统的就职演说。
• Professor Pearson gave the inaugural lecture in the new lecture theatre.皮尔逊教授在新的阶梯讲堂发表了启用演说。

4 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 ideologically   

adv. 意识形态上地，思想上地

参考例句：

• Ideologically, they have many differences. 在思想意识上，他们之间有许多不同之处。
• He has slipped back ideologically. 他思想退步了。

7 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

8 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

9 latched   

v.理解( latch的过去式和过去分词 )；纠缠；用碰锁锁上（门等）；附着（在某物上）

参考例句：

• The government have latched onto environmental issues to win votes. 政府已开始大谈环境问题以争取选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He latched onto us and we couldn't get rid of him. 他缠着我们，甩也甩不掉。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

11 mandates   

托管（mandate的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• Individual mandates would require all people to purchase health insurance. 个人托管要求所有人都要购买健康保险。
• While I agree with those benefits, I'm not a supporter of mandates. 我同意上述好处，我不是授权软件的支持者。

12 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

13 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

14 blurring   

n.模糊，斑点甚多，（图像的）混乱v.（使）变模糊( blur的现在分词 )；（使）难以区分

参考例句：

• Retinal hemorrhage, and blurring of the optic dise cause visual disturbances. 视网膜出血及神经盘模糊等可导致视力障碍。 来自辞典例句
• In other ways the Bible limited Puritan writing, blurring and deadening the pages. 另一方面，圣经又限制了清教时期的作品，使它们显得晦涩沉闷。 来自辞典例句

15 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

16 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。