As some have already alluded, white nationalism and white supremacy are not the same thing. The later is demonstrated when white people conspire to murder black people, or when white medical students believe their black patients don’t feel pain, or when Tump takes out a full page ad condemning young people of color to death, or states that due process is not due people of color. These are all indications that the white people not only believe they have more rights, but that non-white people have no rights, not even the right to exist. Slavery was based on a white supremacists philosophy, based in the evangelical teaching of some, that a deity created the white man to lead, and the black man to serve his will, a beast in the field if you will. That the black man was not even human enough to marry, or care about their family.
White nationalism, on the other hand, is a much more insidious creature. It does not manifest itself in the murder of black children, or disparate incarceration or execution of black persons. We see it when privileged white kids go into the street with tiki torches, or schools separate kids by race, or when a someone calls he cops on black kid mowing the lawn, apparently because he cut a little over the property line.
White nationalism is the simple idea that white people should not have to be inconvenienced just because non-white people want special rights. For instance, a White Nationalist might say my kid should not have to sit in a classroom and maybe have to worry about offending non-white kids, or have the teacher have to accommodate the non-white kid, and lose valuable educational time. I should not have to worry about being raped or murdered by an immigrant because they think they have the special right to seek asylum here, when we could just close the border and keep white people safe. I should not have to feel unsafe walking at night because non-white people get extra court hearing and fancy lawyers to create reasonable doubt and avoid their duly approved sentence to death.
I should not have to be unemployed because the non-white person think they have a special right to a job and have legal protection so that they get the job instead of me, even though we are equally qualified.
White nationalism is not about the question of whether white people are superior and chosen by some random deity. White nationalism is not necessarily about the white person right to kill non-white. White nationalism is not necessarily about the question of whether non-white persons are person in the same way as white people.
White nationalism is the question that, stipulating that all humans are equal, do white people still have the right to assert themselves as the self declared founders of the US and by extension have the entitlement to claim priority status in all typical matters. Should they be able to dictate whose kids are in a classroom, either through charter schools or redlining of neighborhoods. Should a white person be automatically be considered the better candidate for a job when competing a non-white person who is similarly qualified. Should protecting a white person life and livelihood be considered above any particular rights a non-white person has. For example, should a black child who is disturbing the work cycle of a white person be arrested?
The kids with tiki torches, like the Trump voter, or person who did not vote or Hillary Clinton, is not necessarily out there thinking they have the right to kill black people. They did however grow up in world where white people have unique privileges. They are allowed to live where they wish. They do not have to compete as much for resources. When they ask for welfare they are not assumed to be criminals. When welfare reform is suggested, there are special cut outs to make sure white people are minimally effected.
White nationalism is a valid question, and one which is very apropos on this time when we celebrate the freedom of our nation. Should the aristocracy, in this case the white people, be required to give up their special rights just so that the peasants can have more equal rights. Is this a reasonable and practical request. The good news is that history tells us the answer is yes. In the 17th century the UK implemented the civil list which curtailed the rights of the top aristocracy to the benefit of the rest of the aristocracy. The Queen voluntarily pays taxes. On the other hand, we fought a revolution because the aristocracy refused to give up the legal payments from the colonists that the colonies no longer wished to pay.
History indicates that White nationalism is not necessary, and not sustainable. What we see from history is that white people have a choice. They can voluntarily give up the privilege, or have it taken. Trump indicate that white nationalism is not going to go peacefully. The fact that states like Vermont and Washington are continuing to go full blast on guns for all white people suggest they are willing to fight for the privilege. The White Nationalists and White Supremacists election of Trump gave them another generation in white they will continue to have the same privileges they have now, perhaps a little more. The White Nationalists like Mcconnell and McCain and Ryan helped insured a White Nationalists SCOTUS for a generation, which means that the white nationalists evangelical children can be educated without having to worry about calling people the n-word or having to deal with gender ambiguities. But this is a cycle, and just like the election of Trump is a reaction to the increased equal rights we have seen over the past twenty years, the minority white evangelicals are going to have to consider the pain they are going to cause the bigots and racists they are raising in another twenty years.