Matthew Heimbach
Matthew Heimbach, the former student leader of the now-defunct chapter of Youth for Western Civilization (YWC) at Towson University in Maryland, wants to establish a white student union at the school.
In a September 2 letter to Towson’s campus newspaper, The Towerlight, at the start of the school year, Heimbach claimed that “a White Student Union would represent the unique cultural heritage, folk customs and strong Christian traditions that define white civilization.”
At the end of his letter, Heimbach claimed that the identity of white “folk” has been “trampled and attacked for generations” and that it was time for white students to “stand up for our rights.”
He then focused on two issues that have become ardent causes for the white supremacist movement in the United States: alleged genocide against whites in South Africa, and alleged anti-white assaults and discrimination in the United States.
Heimbach ended his letter with a paraphrase of the “14 words,” the rallying cry of white supremacists worldwide: “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.” Instead, Heimbach, wrote another 14-word phrase, “We must protect the security of Europeans and a future for the next generation.”
Heimbach has become more openly white supremacist in his views since YWC was disbanded at Towson in March 2012. At that time, YWC received negative media publicity when members of the group chalked “white pride” around the campus. Soon afterwards, the group’s student advisor resigned and YWC lost its standing as an official student organization.
In July 2012, Heimbach attended the national conference of the white supremacist Council of Conservative Citizens. A year earlier, Heimbach also attended a conference of the League of the South, a neo-Confederate group that wants to preserve the South’s “Anglo-Celtic culture.”
In many ways, Heimbach was the model YWC member. He founded the YWC chapter at Towson in September 2011 and couched his language in non-racial terms to gain acceptance from fellow students. This was a strategy promoted by the national YWC when it began organizing student chapters at various universities.
YWC has been relatively inactive as a national organization since its founder Kevin DeAnna stepped down as president of the group in February 2012.
Tags: 14 words, ADL, anti-defamation league, council of conservative citizens, league of the south, matthew heimbach, towson university, white supremacist, youth for western civilization
