I am the #1 Rising History Newsletter. A Nazi was #2.
While white supremacists fund hate with hundreds of thousands of dollars, I'm fighting to keep truth accessible for everyone. But I need your help.
Last week, "History Can't Hide" hit #1 on Substack's Rising History newsletters. For someone who started this platform to combat historical erasure, that milestone should have felt like pure victory. Instead, I was horrified by what I saw in the #2 spot.
A newsletter called "White Rabbit" with the tagline "White Rabbits National Socialism" was climbing the charts right behind me. Their bio reads: "NAME THE JEW! We must secure the existence of our people and a future for White children. 14/88", all explicit Nazi slogans that reference the "14 Words" of white supremacist David Lane and "Heil Hitler."
We're literally in a race against Nazis for who gets to shape how people understand history.
And they're winning the funding game by hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The Economics of Hate
While I'm asking readers for $5 monthly subscriptions to keep historical education free and accessible, white supremacists are mobilizing massive financial resources. Last month, I documented how a woman who hurled racial slurs at a five-year-old Black child raised over $500,000 in three days from supporters who saw her racism as worthy of reward.
The comments on her fundraiser revealed the scope of this financial network. One donor contributed exactly $1,488, a number with profound significance in white nationalist circles. Another gave $1,776 with a message perverting Martin Luther King Jr.'s words. They represent an organized effort to reward public displays of racism financially.
Meanwhile, the counter-fundraiser for the child she targeted raised about $140,000, a third of what the racist woman collected.
Substack's Nazi Problem is History's Problem
Substack rose to prominence with a permissive approach to online speech, but last year The Atlantic exposed how the platform was hosting "scores of white-supremacist, neo-Confederate, and explicitly Nazi newsletters," some of which the company was profiting from.
When confronted about Nazi content, Substack initially doubled down, arguing that "censorship" wouldn't solve the problem. Only after more than 240 writers signed a petition asking the company to clarify its position did they remove a handful of publications, while leaving most extremist content untouched.
The "White Rabbit" account climbing behind me uses the same iconography and messaging as the white supremacist project documented by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which operates "an online community of racists dedicated to spreading a message called the 'Mantra' far and wide" that promotes the idea of "white genocide".
While Substack profits from Nazi newsletters, I'm fighting to preserve the very histories they want erased.
Why This Matters More Than Rankings
When a platform's algorithm puts Nazi propaganda next to legitimate historical education, it normalizes extremism. And when racists can crowdfund half a million dollars in days while educators struggle for basic support, it shows which narratives our society is willing to invest in.
I've spent years documenting the stories that textbooks omit:
How the Smithsonian collected over 200 brains from Black DC residents without consent to "prove" white superiority
Why Indigenous artifacts lie beneath the White House, revealing thousands of years of Native presence
How the 1891 mass lynching of Italian Americans in New Orleans connected to "racial inferiority" classifications
These stories are the foundation for understanding how we got here, and how to move forward.
The Choice We Face
Right now, less than 4% of my 27,000+ subscribers are paid supporters. That means this work remains incredibly vulnerable while extremist networks organize and fund their version of "history."
With that in mind, I have two questions for you. Do you support historical truth? And will you fund that support?
Here's what becomes possible with your subscription:
📖 At 5% paid subscribers: I can investigate more cases like the racist crowdfunding campaigns, tracing money trails behind white nationalist networks and exposing how hate gets rewarded.
🧠At 10% signed up: I can turn this from documenting historical erasure to preventing it, publishing multiple articles weekly while connecting past injustices to present mobilizations.
🌎 At 20% of you subscribed: We build a platform that elevates other marginalized voices while creating the definitive resource on how racism gets funded in America today.
All for the price of a coffee once a month.
They Have Their Funding. Do We Have Ours?
White supremacists understand that controlling historical narrative means controlling the future. That's why they invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in their version of events.
Will you help us match our commitment to theirs?
History Can't Hide from Kahlil Greene is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
If you are having trouble upgrading your subscription, visit historycanthide.substack.com/subscribe
For one-time donations: Venmo (TheGenZHistorian) or Cashapp ($kahlilgreene00).
Thank you for your work Khalil. I am curious to know both where this Nazi money is coming from and who is subscribing. I think we should be conscious of where our dollars are spent and avoid indirectly supporting any of this right wing nonsense. Vet your shopping through websites like opensecrets.org or good unite us.
My 1st time becoming a paid subscriber to any platform. I believe in Khalil. Thank you for your efforts