Yesterday, September 29th, during the presidential debate with Democrat candidate Biden, Donald Trump, when challenged to disavow White supremacy, responded, “Proud Boys, stand back and standby.
Who are the Proud Boys? These four articles from the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Huffington Post, Wikipedia, and the Anti-Defamation League provide a basic understanding of the group.
Southern Poverty Law Center
Established in the midst of the 2016 presidential election by VICE Media co-founder Gavin McInnes, the Proud Boys are self-described “western chauvinists” who adamantly deny any connection to the racist “alt-right,” insisting they are simply a fraternal group spreading an “anti-political correctness” and “anti-white guilt” agenda.
| Return of 1950s gender roles |
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| The group advocates for a return to a 1950s sense of traditional gender roles. Among the 10 tenets of the Proud Boys is: “Venerate the housewife.” “You hear that a lot as a young man: that masculinity is gross and the West is evil, and you start to believe it,” McInnes said. “(The West) doesn’t deserve any of the abuse it’s getting.” The Proud Boys’ libertarian code also includes: advocating for the closure of all prisons; giving everyone a gun; legalizing drugs; ending welfare; closing the borders to immigrants; outlawing censorship; glorifying entrepreneurs; recognizing “the West is the best;” and “shutting down the government.” To be sure, the Proud Boys are more than just a club for men. “Yeah, there’s a political bent,” McInnes said. “We’re 99 percent Trump supporters.” Huffington Post |
- Ideology: Primarily alt lite: Misogynistic, Islamophobic, transphobic and anti-immigration. Some members espouse white supremacist and anti-Semitic ideologies and/or engage with white supremacist groups.
- Membership: Unknown, likely several hundred.
- Notable characteristics: Members frequently wear black and yellow Fred Perry polo shirts.
- Global footprint: Proud Boys have chapters in most states and several international chapters in Britain, Norway and Australia.
- Membership: Controlled by local chapter leadership and subject to initiation rituals.
- Tactics: Public rallies and protests. Members have been known to engage in violent tactics; several members have been convicted of violent crimes.
The Proud Boys is a far-right neo-fascist male-only organization that promotes and engages in political violence. It is based in the United States and has a presence in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. The group was started as a joke in the far-right Taki’s Magazine in 2016 by Vice Media co-founder and former commentator Gavin McInnes, taking its name from the song “Proud of Your Boy” from the Disney musical Aladdin. The Proud Boys emerged as part of the alt-right, but McInnes began distancing himself from the alt-right in early 2017, saying the alt-right’s focus is race while his focus is what he defines as “Western values.” This re-branding effort intensified after the Unite the Right rally.
