This archive documents the circulation of swastikas during the time that Donald Trump rose to presidential power in the United States--an era often associated with a rise of antisemitism, a normalization of hatred, and an intensification of white nationalist efforts. Through a longitudinal study of news media, social media, and other sources, over 1300 swastika incidents that took place between January 1, 2016 and January 20, 2021 were identified and then analyzed, visualized, and mapped in order to deepen understanding of the swastika’s contemporary functions in the United States.
This archive offers two data sets in open-access csv files. The first--titled “Swastika Counter Project Data Set_July 2023"--provides data about the location and dates of swastika incidents as well as data about with what words and images the swastika circulated, in what media they surfaced, and in what local sites they appeared, and on what structures. The second data set--titled "Source Data for Swastika Counter Project"--provides access to over 1300 web sources that documented swastika incidents that took place on the streets of the United States between January 1, 2016 and January 20, 2021.
We invite scholars and other interested parties to use and extend this data set for their own research purposes.