To The Age Nicole Hemmer seems to nurse a lot of hatred for what she calls "white nationalism" ("Hate: to put up or shut up?", 13/8). She stereotypes it as hate-mongering, the purveying of odious ideas, crude anti-Semitism or racism, neo-Nazism, authoritarianism and hostility to democracy. A number of truths seem to be lost in this tirade. Firstly, that it is normal and not wicked for people to prefer association with their own folk. Secondly, that there is much dangerous hostility being shown around the world to white people generally and to their Western European culture and civilization. Thirdly that, inevitably, white people are banding together in many nations to protect their integrity as a people and to defend themselves from mistreatment by other groups. Defined in that way, "white power" is not an evil, any more than "black power" or "Jewish power" are. What is important in the global village is for all the ethnic communities to balance their will-to-survive with respect for that same quality in others. Some "white nationalists" clearly go too far, but others, like Kevin McDonald, do not.
Nigel Jackson, Belgrave, Vic