While philanthropy has increasingly recognized the systemic injustices baked into society in the United States and beyond, funding to specifically combat white supremacist violence and ideology remains low. To explore this issue, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA) held a closed-door discussion with Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP, and Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO and national director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), moderated by RPA  Senior Vice President Renee Karibi-Whyte. Excerpts from that conversation are below.

In recent years, we’ve seen a resurgence of white supremacist violence and hate crimes in the United States. Can you place that into context?

Jonathan Greenblatt, Anti-Defamation League: What we’ve seen is atomization of white supremacist groups, which has created possibilities for self-radicalization. When it comes to right-wing extremism, in addition to the white supremacist strain, you also have an armed militia strain. Conspiracy theorism is another amplifying factor coursing through these movements, from QAnon to anti-vaxxers. These conspiracy theories are like gateway drugs to violent extremism and can radicalize even more people.

Derrick Johnson, NAACP: There is a large segment of the white population that feels maligned. They feel excluded from the broader society and have been unable to move up the socioeconomic ladder. And they are susceptible to the conspiracy theory that their economic and community condition is the Jewish community’s fault or it’s the Black community’s fault or their jobs are being taken by immigrants from Mexico or Latin America. The conservative movement, particularly the Republican Party, has used the fears of those individuals and peddled a narrative to get them to go vote, and this strategy accelerated after the 2008 election.

Then, in 2016, we began to see interference from a foreign county in our election system using social media platforms. These unregulated social media platforms are a super spreader for hate. As a result, it’s now easier to sow seeds of division, tribalism, and hatred through those platforms. There is no accountability for these platforms because they have regulatory protections, and allow these groups to continue to fester and grow.

Overall, people feel more emboldened to display their extremist white supremacist behavior and domestic terrorism in the public space. And as the Black community, Latino community, and Jewish community, we have to protect ourselves until this nation truly deals with it and holds people accountable.

What do you see as the biggest gaps right now in efforts to thwart this extremism? 

Johnson: One, we need a true federal response with all of the resources necessary to address the threat of extremism. Two, we need the recognition that extremism and white supremacy are domestic terrorism. We can no longer tap dance around that many acts of extreme violence from within the US are bred in communities of thought centered around extremism or white supremacy.

In the Black experience, it’s very clear. If you don’t hold domestic terrorists accountable, people die. And if we don’t do something soon, we’re going to continue to see an escalation of domestic terrorism in our communities.

Read the full article about philanthropy combating white supremacy at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.