A review by jrayereads
Sisters in Hate: American Women on the Front Lines of White Nationalism by Seyward Darby

4.5

 

Earlier this month, I read Culture Warlords by Talia Lavin, which covered white supremacy in online spaces (I really enjoyed it, by the way, give it a read!). This book feels like a natural extension of Lavin’s work with the added benefit of a more academic approach to the topic of women in white supremacist movements. 

Sisters in Hate is incredibly well-structured, weaving between individual stories of the core three women that the book is organized around and broader conversations about the unique contributions that women bring to white supremacists movements. Darby also provides a nuanced intersectional analysis in giving insight into why white women vote against their own interests, which feels very timely following the 2024 election, in which 53% of white women voted for Trump. She details the deeply racist beginnings of 20th century feminist movements, where the fight for women’s suffrage excluded women of color, considers the role that Christianity and Paganism play in white supremacy (another topic that Lavin covered in Culture Warlords), and also shows the ways that white women are, even when they embrace a subservient role and capitulate to the fragile white men of these movements, STILL degraded and excluded by those same men.  

This book is difficult to read. Seyward Darby does not pull any punches - she portrays these women and groups for what they are: sickeningly racist. I found myself cringing at the blatant hate speech and disgusting viewpoints that were discussed, but Darby’s treatment of the topic was brutally honest and respectful. This book is for people like me, who have a morbid curiosity of how these groups function and how people fall into and out of them. These groups are not going away any time soon, so it’s definitely worth learning what they believe so we can understand how to combat them. Sisters in Hate is a great starting point for gaining that understanding.