The Smiling Nationalist
Video blogger and Internet sensation Ramzpaul delights white聽nationalists and racists but calls himself a satirist
Ramzpaul is the funniest white nationalist in the room. Admittedly, there鈥檚 not a lot of competition for the title. That is precisely why he should be taken seriously. He鈥檚 blazing a trail. With a small camera and a big grin, the lanky, bespectacled, 50-year-old father of two from suburban Tulsa, Okla., has emerged as the hottest right-wing video blogger this side of former Klansman David Duke.
His real name is Paul Ray Ramsey and his hundreds of snarky YouTube videos 鈥 鈥渕ostly mocking the establishment鈥檚 religion of Cultural Marxism鈥 鈥 have racked up nearly 5 million views in the last four years. He has his own YouTube channel, boasting advertising and almost 13,000 subscribers. He has become a hero to many on the radical right. His liberal-loathing, feminist-bashing, racial separatist-supporting videos, typically three to five minutes long, have become a weekly staple on major white supremacist websites, including Vanguard News Network and Stormfront.
鈥淩amzpaul is smarter than most of the other white pride types on YouTube,鈥 Canadian marketing consultant Sarah Welstead, who blogs about marketing and pop culture, wrote last year after discovering him when she 鈥渇ell down one of those YouTube rabbit holes.鈥
鈥淗e positions himself as a 鈥榮atirist,鈥 doesn鈥檛 spew hate speech indiscriminately, and has closed down the comments on most of his 481 videos,鈥 Welstead continued, 鈥渟o it takes a few minutes to figure out that he is in fact a racist who is quite popular on Stormfront discussion boards where they like the fact that his pro-white message is subtle enough to reach his fellow nationalists without us non-racists getting upset.鈥
Ramsey is now up to more than 600 videos or vlogs 鈥 the name for a video blog. 鈥淚 wrote the blog post because I was kind of shocked that YouTube was actually running ads on his stuff,鈥 Welstead said in an interview with the Intelligence Report.
Ramsey declined to talk to the Report. In a recent video, he said the Southern Poverty Law Center, its publisher, was 鈥渂asically a domestic left-wing terrorist organization.鈥 He guards information about his personal and professional life closely. 鈥淚 get some mean letters,鈥 he told a right-wing radio host. He said he doesn鈥檛 want his family to be collateral damage. When another far-right interviewer introduced him by his real name, Ramsey quickly corrected him, saying he prefers to simply go by Ramzpaul. 鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of like a one-word name thing,鈥 he explained, 鈥渓ike Cher, Madonna, Elvis 鈥 Satan.鈥
The Coming-Out Party
Although he advocates seceding from the Union and establishing a new, 90% white nation 鈥 a 21st century Fantasy Island he describes as representing traditional American demographics 鈥 Ramsey insists he is not a white nationalist or a supremacist. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 call myself a white nationalist,鈥 he told a radio interviewer not long ago. 鈥淚 call myself a nationalist who is white.鈥
While he has been making videos for years, his debutant ball was in early April at Montgomery Bell State Park outside of Nashville, Tenn., at Jared Taylor鈥檚 American Renaissance conference, attended by more than 150 white nationalists, many of whom play the popular white nationalist semantic game: You say racist, I say racialist. Although Ramsey was a first-time speaker at the event, he was given star billing. A photograph of him smoking a fat cigar was featured in conference advertising. His 鈥渋conoclastic show,鈥 a flyer declared, 鈥渉as been described as 鈥楶op Culture Meets Nationalism.鈥欌
Ramsey鈥檚 talk at the conference, called 鈥淪ex and Nationalism,鈥 was essentially an attack on feminism mixed with high school-level racist jokes, delivered with a smile, always with a smile to show he鈥檚 just a satirist (so loosen up, he鈥檚 just mocking the establishment). Welstead, the marketing expert, said Ramsey seems to be betting that calling himself a satirist 鈥済ives him a get-out-of-jail-free card.鈥
Indeed, he once told a radio host, 鈥淚f you say you鈥檙e for something 鈥 but not really 鈥 it鈥檚 a way to get around some of the censors. The censors don鈥檛 really know how to deal with it.鈥
His video called 鈥淪upport Marriage Equality鈥 is a good example of his bait-and-switch technique. It starts out like a plea for tolerance and acceptance: 鈥淕uys, it is time to stop the hate. Just because someone loves different than you does not give you the right to hate them.鈥 The video quickly turns, however, into a mocking tale of Ken, a 鈥渮oo sexual,鈥 who dies after having sex with his partner 鈥 a horse.
鈥淲hat do you think a kid would rather have: a daddy and a mommy, or a daddy and a pony?鈥 Ramsey asks, looking into the camera. 鈥淥nly daddy can ride the mommy.鈥
Ramsey told Maggie Roddin, host of the right-wing radio show 鈥淯nsolicited Opinion,鈥 that his role models are the TV comedians Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. 鈥淚 know they鈥檙e left-wing,鈥 he said, sounding apologetic as he quickly added that he admired their style, not their substance. 鈥淚 try to do the right-wing version of what they do.鈥
Colbert and Stewart鈥檚 jobs are secure. At the American Renaissance conference, Ramsey鈥檚 biggest joke was: 鈥淗ow do you tell if a white supremacist agrees with you? They say K-K-K.鈥
As for feminism, Ramsey told the audience, it is 鈥渁 disease.鈥 This time he was not joking.
鈥淲hat is the cause?鈥 he asked. 鈥淚t is the delusion that the sexes are equal. It is the mother of all delusions.鈥
Although he has an adult daughter, a chemical engineer who he says he is 鈥渧ery proud of,鈥 Ramsey has said in the past that feminism is part of a Cultural Marxist 鈥渁nti-white, anti-male and anti-Christian鈥 plot and it is turning white men into 鈥渨ussies鈥 and 鈥渨imps.鈥 At the conference, Ramsey essentially said the plot is succeeding. Feminism, he said, has populated America with submissive men who women don鈥檛 care to marry or have children with. 鈥淲e need more growth in white children,鈥 he said, and white 鈥渟ecession.鈥 If not, 鈥淢en鈥檚 rights will end. Christians will end. White conservatives will end.鈥
Afterward, John Derbyshire, a British-American journalist whose racially charged writing got him fired last year as a contributor to theNational Review, gushed about how much fun he had at the conference. In a dispatch for Taki鈥檚 Magazine, a website published by Greek-born journalist and socialite Taki Theodoracopulos, Derbyshire wrote, 鈥淎 disproportionate amount of the fun was provided by vlogger Paul Ramsey, whom I recommend for consideration when your next corporate function, birthday party, or bar mitzvah comes around.鈥
In an E-mail interview with the Intelligence Report, Derbyshire described Ramsey鈥檚 work as 鈥渙ften clever, short videos mocking the hypocrisy, dishonesty, and totalitarian ruthlessness of the Cultural Marxist establishment 鈥 you know, people like [Southern Poverty Law Center founder] Morris Dees.鈥
Funny or Degenerate?
Tim Wise, a well-known white, anti-racist activist based in Tennessee, first became aware of Ramsey鈥檚 work in 2010. Ramsey did a video ridiculing Wise鈥檚 angry and frustrated response to the Republican Party taking control of the House of Representatives that year. Since then, Wise has watched a 鈥渟mattering of his videos.鈥
鈥淗e鈥檚 quite a bit funnier than David Duke,鈥 Wise told the Report. 鈥淗e doesn鈥檛 have the neo-Nazi background that Duke has. He鈥檚 very similar to Jared Taylor.鈥
Wise said Ramsey and Taylor are among the eggheads of the white nationalist movement, particularly Taylor with his master鈥檚 degree in economics and fluency in French and Japanese. 鈥淲hen it gets down to it,鈥 Wise said, 鈥渢here are a lot of these Nazis who hold the cerebral ones at arm鈥檚 length and have never trusted them. Taylor is not trusted. He doesn鈥檛 talk about the Jews.鈥
Ramsey doesn鈥檛 either, at least not directly. He told an interviewer that if someone uses the N-word or the J-word on his website, it is deleted.
鈥淚鈥檓 not sure Paul is sure who he is trying to appeal to,鈥 Wise said. 鈥淚t looks like he鈥檚 still trying to figure it out. It鈥檚 clear, though, he鈥檚 trying to conform much more to the Jared Taylor style. And if anyone is paying close attention, I don鈥檛 think there is any doubt that Taylor鈥檚 methods and approach are the most effective and dangerous.鈥
While Ramsey鈥檚 videos are indeed popular on Vanguard News Network and Stormfront, ideological purists are always lurking. In one of his videos, Ramsey called an Asian TV actress cute. The blasphemy sparked a Stormfront forum thread that ran on for 26 pages. It was called 鈥淩amzpaul is a degenerate.鈥
Here鈥檚 a small sampling:
Blaidd Drwg: 鈥淚 just lost respect for him because he鈥檚 open about an attraction to non-whites. How would you react if a WN [white nationalist] woman said she found black men attractive?鈥
Haus Drachen: 鈥淧ersonally, I don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 natural to find people of another race attractive.鈥
Nachtmahr: 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think he鈥檚 a degenerate, but I think he is gonna lose a lot of his fans if he keeps saying that he finds c-----聽attractive, especially as he is a WN.鈥
SnowWhiteQueen: 鈥淚f you white men don鈥檛 see the obvious problem with a white guy praising the beauty of non-white women then you need to get your head out of your behind.鈥
Rebel Redneck 59: 鈥淭alk about 鈥榟ot鈥 Nonwhite women HAS NO PLACE ON A WHITE RACIALIST FORUM. None. Don鈥檛 you realize that such talk implies this forum is full of hypocrites?鈥
Declaration of Anger
Most of Ramsey鈥檚 ideas for videos come straight from the headlines. In May 2012, he uploaded a gem to YouTube called 鈥淗appy Trayvon Martin Day.鈥 It was his sarcastic response to an elementary school in Washington, D.C., that dedicated a day to the slain Florida teenager. Ramsey donned a black hoodie like the one Trayvon was wearing the night he was killed by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, or, as Ramsey described him, a 鈥渂rown, white Hispanic.鈥
Ramsey, looking into the camera, a large white cross superimposed in the background, says, 鈥淕od sent his son Trayvon Martin to Florida鈥 so his suffering and death would wash away the sins of white racism and privilege. He recites a prayer, asking Trayvon for forgiveness. Then he crosses himself in the name of 鈥淥bama, Trayvon and Al Sharpton鈥 and gives the camera a two-hand middle-finger salute.
Ramsey also keeps a close eye on the headlines and videos coming out of Europe. He seems to have been so impressed by a video produced by a group of young, white, angry French nationalists 鈥 Generation Identitaire 鈥 that he made his own middle-aged, white, angry version, in an example of white nationalist globalization via YouTube.
The French nationalist video is called 鈥淎 Declaration of War 鈥 From the Generation of National Identity.鈥 The group is militantly anti-Muslim.
鈥淲e are the generation of ethnic fracture, total failure of coexistence, and forced mixing of the races. 鈥
鈥淥ur heritage is our land, our blood, our identity. 鈥
鈥淲e will not back down, we will not give in. ...
鈥淒on鈥檛 think this is simply a manifesto.
鈥淚t is a declaration of war.鈥
Ramsey鈥檚 version is called 鈥淎 New Declaration of Independence.鈥
鈥淲e are the Americans who get attacked by flash mobs because of our race.
鈥淲e are the Americans who have experienced the lies of diversity and forced integration. 鈥
鈥淲e are the Americans who have experienced the damning of our history, of our culture, of our nation.
鈥淲e Americans reject the politically correct lies you have placed in our children鈥檚 history books.
鈥淲e have stopped embracing or celebrating your notion of diversity. 鈥
鈥淥ur nation is our people, our identity, our blood. 鈥
鈥淲e will never back down and we will never give in. 鈥
鈥淭his is our new declaration of independence. 鈥︹
鈥淚鈥檓 not sure Paul is sure who he is trying to appeal to. It looks like he鈥檚 still trying to figure it out. It鈥檚 clear, though, he鈥檚 trying to conform much more to the Jared Taylor style. And if anyone is paying close attention, I don鈥檛 think there is any doubt that Taylor鈥檚 methods and approach are the most effective and dangerous.鈥
The 1%
Ramsey posts new videos to his YouTube channel every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He told a fellow-traveler interviewer that vlogging allows him to bypass what he said Hillary Clinton called 鈥渢he gate keepers.鈥 It鈥檚 also fun, he said, even though he said he鈥檚 making only a few bucks from his videos. 鈥淚 can say whatever I want 鈥 within limits,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 have to get around the censors.鈥
He is obsessed with what he calls Cultural Marxists 鈥 i.e. liberals, Democrats, black U.S. presidents. Ramsey said he supported Mitt Romney in 2012, because 鈥渋t would be nice to have an American as president.鈥
One of the greatest Cultural Marxists of all time, according to Ramsey, is Norman Lear, the creator and producer of, among other television hits, 鈥淎ll in the Family,鈥 the groundbreaking 1970s sitcom about the foolishness of bigotry. In a radio interview, Ramsey said Lear 鈥渨as able to get Cultural Marxism into the mainstream through shows and comedy and culture, to make things funny.鈥
鈥淭he problem with a lot of nationalists I see,鈥 he continued, 鈥渋s they鈥檙e always serious. They鈥檙e intelligent, but they鈥檙e not interesting for most people to watch.鈥
Over the last couple of years, Ramsey has told right-wing interviewers that he has always been conservative. He subscribed to the National Reviewwhen he was 12. He said he loves books written years ago, such as H.G. Wells鈥 history of the world, published in the 1920s, 鈥渂ecause that was pre-political correctness.鈥 In the 1990s, he joked, he was a member for a short time of a 鈥渉ate group, the Republican Party.鈥 But he said he always tells people now, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 belong to any movement.鈥
His nationalist vlogging career began by accident in 2008 when he made a YouTube video for his brother living in California. His brother also makes videos, not about nationalism but about carpentry. Ramsey鈥檚 electronic postcard was supposed to be a snarky but personal family update. When Ramsey posted it, however, he forgot to mark it private and several strangers watched it and commented on it. To his 鈥渁stonishment,鈥 they liked it. And they wanted more.
He said he then started making videos about his take on the news and posted them to a website called Liberty Forum, now defunct. Word began to spread about the funny nationalist, or 鈥渟miling Nazi鈥 as one anti-racist described him.
He started out using a small, inexpensive Flip camera. He now uses a $500 camera, but there is nothing flashy about his videos, usually shot, it appears, from an office in his home. Most of the videos are Ramsey simply talking and grinning into the camera. He often begins with a friendly 鈥淗ey guys鈥 and ends with 鈥淭alk to you guys later.鈥
鈥淚 am the 1%,鈥 he says near the beginning of a video that sums up his put-upon worldview.
鈥淚 have paid over a half a million dollars in taxes in my lifetime.
鈥淚 am the 1%.
鈥淢y ancestors built America from a wilderness into a vast civilization.
鈥淚 am the 1%. ...
鈥淚 do not apologize for being a man.
鈥淚 wish people Merry Christmas, not a Happy Holidays.
鈥淚 am the 1%.
鈥淚 have never apologized for my race.
鈥淚 am the 1%. 鈥
鈥淚 am opposed to Democracy.
鈥淚 am the 1%.
鈥淚 believe the top 1% of humanity pulled the rest of the 99% of humanity out of caves and darkness. 鈥
鈥淚 am the 1%.
鈥淚 accept reality. I don鈥檛 believe in the religion of equality.
鈥淚 am the 1%. 鈥︹ s
