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In white supremacist circles, a ghost skin (short for 'ghost skinhead') is a white supremacist who refrains from openly displaying their racist beliefs for the purpose of blending into wider society and surreptitiously furthering their agenda. The term has been used in particular to refer to the entryism of racist activists in law enforcement.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

The term "hiding your power levels", originating from the anime Dragon Ball Z, is alternatively used by the online alt-right to reflect a similar concept.^[5]^[6]

History of the term

In an FBI Intelligence Assessment from 2006, the FBI Counterterrorism Division provided an overview of white supremacist infiltration of law enforcement and mentions that use of the term came to the agency's attention in late 2004.^[7]^[2] In 2001, two law enforcement officers in Williamson County, Texas, were fired after it was discovered that they were members of the Ku Klux Klan.^[3]^[8]

References

^ Smith, Jordan Michael (August 7, 2012). "FBI: Right-wing terror is real". Salon. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
^ ^a ^b Speri, Alice (January 31, 2017). "The FBI Has Quietly Investigated White Supremacist Infiltration of Law Enforcement". The Intercept. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
^ ^a ^b Romo, Vanessa (September 6, 2017). "'Ghost Skins' And Masculinity: Alt-Right Terms, Defined". National Public Radio. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
^ "White Supremacy in Policing is "Clear and Present Danger" says Rep. Raskin". Black Star News. Archived from the original on October 22, 2020. Retrieved October 2, 2020.
^ Evans, Robert (October 11, 2018). "From Memes to Infowars: How 75 Fascist Activists Were 'Red-Pilled'". Bellingcat. Archived from the original on November 21, 2018. Retrieved July 8, 2022. Prominent YouTuber PewDiePie is also often considered red-pilled. It is accepted that media personalities need to hide their outright fascist beliefs, or 'power level', in order to have a chance at red-pilling the general population (usually called 'normies').
^ Charles, Christopher (2020). (Main)streaming Hate: Analyzing White Supremacist Content and Framing Devices on YouTube (Thesis). University of Central Florida. p. 69. This two-pronged style of communication goes by many terms in far-right circles, including 'hiding one's power level'—a reference to the animated show Dragonball Z, which likens white supremacist beliefs to superpowers that are better left concealed.
^ FBI Counterterrorism Division (October 17, 2006). "White Supremacist Infiltration of Law Enforcement" (PDF). (U/LES) Since coming to law enforcement attention in late 2004, the term ghost skins has gained currency among white supremacists to describe those who avoid overt display of their beliefs to blend into society and covertly advance white supremacist causes. One internet posting described this effort as a form of role-playing in which 'to create the character, you must get inside the mind of the person you are trying to duplicate.' Such role playing has an application to ad-hoc and organized law enforcement infiltration. At least one white supremacist group has reportedly encouraged ghost skins to seek positions in law enforcement for the capability of alerting skinhead crews of pending investigative action against them.
(U/LES) Leaders in the white supremacist movement have advocated confronting suspected infiltrators and to instruct them to provide their FBI handlers with low level information that will minimally impact the group's activities. Another as yet undocumented infiltration strategy is for members to 'walk in' to law enforcement agencies and offer information to determine an agency's interest in the organization. In later years, it is believed that the covert tactic has been in place and actively used since the 1940s.
*(U) Oregon National Socialist Movement (archived Dec. 2005). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 6, 2015. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
^ Fox, Michelle (January 7, 2006). "Texas Officers Fired for Membership in KKK". ABC News. Retrieved September 14, 2017.