Hidden in "Greater Idaho", Lies the American Redoubt
Christian nationalism has a dark history in Idaho. A parallel migration from the South may be breathing life into the Greater Idaho Movement and giving power to white separatists.
This an update to a post in my Statehood Series. If you’re relatively new to Battleground, take a look back at my series of posts on various failed (and ongoing!) statehood movements across the United States.
Recapping the Greater Idaho Movement
The Greater Idaho Movement was launched in the wake of the 2016 election by Inland Northwest Trump voters who were fed up with the political power imbalance brought on by current state boundaries. Advocates of the movement argue that voters in places like Eastern Oregon, Southeast Washington and Northern California all share much more in common with conservative voters in Idaho than they do with voters in their own respective states. They aim to secede various counties from the above states to form “Greater Idaho.” The movement explicitly uses the 2016 presidential election results as a roadmap for where to move borders which masks its reflections to similar movements in the region that hold a deeper, uglier history.
What is the American Redoubt?
The American Redoubt is a parallel political movement to “Greater Idaho,” led by conservatives within the Inland Northwest. Its advocates share similar desires to those in the Greater Idaho movement: creating a “redoubt” (described as a safe haven or a fallback position) for American conservatives. One of the movement’s most prominent voices, Jack Robertson, hosts his own podcast promoting the movement: Radio Free Redoubt. In his own words, the American Redoubt is “the strategic relocation of conservative, Christian, like-minded patriots to the Pacific Northwest.”
The American Redoubt movement provides a historical anchor for the same impulses powering the Greater Idaho Movement as both reflect the region’s history as a hub for white supremacy. Between 1974 and 2001, the headquarters of The Aryan Nations were located in Northern Idaho. One of their goals was to create an all-White enclave out of northwestern US states. They campaigned and recruited openly throughout the area, even holding parades that drew counter-protestors. The group only disbanded after facing a lawsuit that forced its leaders to declare bankruptcy and relinquish their 20-acre compound.
This idea of creating an enclave in the Inland Northwest was recycled in 2011 by survivalist author James Wesley Rawles, who sought to form a safe haven for Christian nationalists. His ideas leaned heavily on apocalyptic conspiracies, constantly proclaiming that the United States was on the brink of collapse. He contended that the only safe place for Christians was the “American Redoubt:” the mountainous Inland Northwest where population densities are low and the proportion of White residents is high. Despite similarities to the Aryan Nations’ plan, founders from both the American Redoubt and the Greater Idaho Movement claim that they do not lead racist movements (despite the fact that support from white nationalists are responsible for keeping these movements alive.)
“It’s difficult to disentangle the nonthreatening parts of this group from the threatening white-supremacist aspects, because the region gained a reputation as a safe home for these ideas…”
I’m willing to take Beda’s words a step further: the ‘nonthreatening parts’ of this group advocate for a system that allows its more threatening members to flourish. The Greater Idaho Movement provides the political boundaries within which “Redoubters” will be empowered to legislate. In a response to the quote by Prof. Steven Beda, a spokesperson for the Greater Idaho movement proclaimed, “Real white separatists move out to get away from nonwhites in their area. We are doing the opposite.” But white nationalists are moving to Idaho because they’re seeking the communities these movements foster.
The American Redoubt is at its core a 21st century Christian nationalist recruitment tool that conveniently breathes life into the Greater Idaho Movement. While the two movements don’t have perfect ideological overlap, both provide havens for militant white separatists. While leaders of these movements may claim that they’re simply starting a conversation, all too often their most violent supporters are the ones who get the last word…
-Thomas Ryan Rousseau, founder of the white militant group Patriot Front
I keep seeing MSM commentary on the American Redoubt using the words "white nationalism." An LA Times article on it, in fact, uses the word "white" 23 times in only 15 column inches. Yet, curiously, Rawles' blog lists this passage as one of the core precepts of the Redoubt:
'"Racism Ignores Reason. People should be judged as individuals. Anyone that makes blanket statements about other races is ignorant that there are both good and bad individuals in all groups. I have accepted The Great Commission with sincerity. “Go forth into all nations” means exactly that: all nations."
So, it becomes clear that these publications simply want an easy pejorative smear for this movement rather than engaging a discussion of issues with the movement's leaders and participants in any way. Kind of tells you why people want this Redoubt.