I called it a code word because that's what it is today.
Before 1945 in Europe and the success of the civil rights movement in the 60's in the US, racists in the western world didn't mind admitting they where racists.
Then their world order came crashing down and it started to become problematic for them to express their racism openly.
Society no longer accepted racism as just another acceptable opinion, but saw it as abhorrent and people freely expressing it started to have to pay a social prize for doing so as non-racist people started to shun them.
So racists hid their racist views by not expressing them openly - or if they did express them - hid them behind more palatable code words.
"Nationalist" is one of those.
Every single far-right movement calls itself nationalist. Some also call themselves conservative or socially conservative, but every single one of them define themselves as nationalist - and every single one of them want to stop non-white immigration. Some also hates Jews, homosexuals and assorted other groups that they define as enemies of their nation.
That's true for every country in Europe and the US.
The neo-Nazis marching in Charlottesville a few weeks ago chanting "Jews will not replace us!" all call themselves nationalists.
Because that sounds better then saying you're a Nazi.
Note that I'm not saying everyone who calls themselves a nationalist is a Nazi - but the people marching in Charlottesville where.
So yes - if you look at the use of the term today it's clearly a code word used by the far-right to hide their open racism behind.
Just to give it a more palatable face in public.
I saw you didn't want to discuss this further but since Newnetherlander ignored you I just wanted to give the counter-argument.
I hope we can leave it at this, to respect your wishes.
You seem fully capable of researching this further on your own if you want, citing Merriam Webster as you did. :-)
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@Scanian_dreng
I called it a code word because that's what it is today.
Before 1945 in Europe and the success of the civil rights movement in the 60's in the US, racists in the western world didn't mind admitting they where racists.
Then their world order came crashing down and it started to become problematic for them to express their racism openly.
Society no longer accepted racism as just another acceptable opinion, but saw it as abhorrent and people freely expressing it started to have to pay a social prize for doing so as non-racist people started to shun them.
So racists hid their racist views by not expressing them openly - or if they did express them - hid them behind more palatable code words.
"Nationalist" is one of those.
Every single far-right movement calls itself nationalist. Some also call themselves conservative or socially conservative, but every single one of them define themselves as nationalist - and every single one of them want to stop non-white immigration. Some also hates Jews, homosexuals and assorted other groups that they define as enemies of their nation.
That's true for every country in Europe and the US.
The neo-Nazis marching in Charlottesville a few weeks ago chanting "Jews will not replace us!" all call themselves nationalists.
Because that sounds better then saying you're a Nazi.
Note that I'm not saying everyone who calls themselves a nationalist is a Nazi - but the people marching in Charlottesville where.
So yes - if you look at the use of the term today it's clearly a code word used by the far-right to hide their open racism behind.
Just to give it a more palatable face in public.
I saw you didn't want to discuss this further but since Newnetherlander ignored you I just wanted to give the counter-argument.
I hope we can leave it at this, to respect your wishes.
You seem fully capable of researching this further on your own if you want, citing Merriam Webster as you did. :-)