members believed that there was a conspiracy to cre-
ate a “New World Order” that would result in a one-
world socialist government. They were especially
suspicious of the United Nations and international
agreements between the United States and foreign
governments, especially those dealing with free
trade. Some militia groups were also racist and anti-
Semitic; however, there were also some militias with
African American and Jewish members.
Impact The militia movement tended to attract ru-
ral, lesser-educated, blue-collar males who owned
guns and were suspicious of the actions of the fed-
eral government. Many of them disliked govern-
ment policies linked to gun control, environmental
protection, free trade, smoking bans, and affirma-
tive action for women and minorities. The militias
were formed to protect themselves from what they
perceived as illegal and illicit practices of govern-
ment. Some groups actually planned terrorist ac-
tions against the government. In fact, in the three
years following the Oklahoma City bombing, twenty-
five major domestic terrorist conspiracies were
thwarted by law-enforcement officials. While militia
activity decreased in the latter part of the decade, do-
mestic terrorism remained a major concern for gov-
ernment officials. As illegal immigration became
more of an issue in the early part of the twenty-first
century, some militia group members became in-
volved in private patrol movements
along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Further Reading
Levitas, Daniel. The Terrorist Next
Door: The Militia Movement and the
Radical Right. New York: St. Mar-
tin’s Press, 2002. The definitive
history of the origins and impact
of the militia movement.
Sonder, Ben.The Militia Movement:
Fighters of the Far Right. New York:
Franklin Watts, 2000. A short
journalistic account of the militia
movement.
Stern, Kenneth S.A Force upon the
Plain: The American Militia Move-
ment and the Politics of Hate.New
York: Simon & Schuster, 1996. An
early work on the militia move-
ment written after the Oklahoma
City bombing by the American Jewish Commit-
tee’s expert on hate groups and hate movements.
William V. MooreSee also Conservatism in U.S. politics; Gun con-
trol; Illegal immigration; McVeigh, Timothy; Mon-
tana Freeman standoff; Oklahoma City bombing;
Ruby Ridge shoot-out; Terrorism; Waco siege. Milli Vanilli
Identification Pop music group
Date Formed in 1988
Initially notable for its immense popularity, the duo known
as Milli Vanilli became infamous for lip-synching, in vid-
eos and onstage, to the vocals of other singers and thus in-
spiring litigation from fans who believed they had been de-
ceived and from studio singers who believed they were not
being duly recognized or monetarily compensated for their
performances.
The story of Milli Vanilli began in the 1970’s, when
Frank Farian, a white German performer discour-
aged by his record company from recording “black”
music, formed Boney M, a quartet whose members
hailed from Jamaica and Aruba and contributed lit-
tle to Boney M’s recordings. By the mid-1980’s, after
a decade of international popularity, Boney M ap-The Nineties in America Milli Vanilli 573
Rob Pilatus, left, and Fabrice Morvan of Milli Vanilli pose after winning the Best New
Artist Grammy on February 21, 1990.(AP/Wide World Photos)