Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Hate Groups on the Rise in America

Hate groups are on the rise. It is getting even more alarming with each passing year. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) tracks hate groups, and has been doing so since the 1980's. The report of hate groups in 2010 issued last month by the SPLC, indicates that there are over 1,000 active hate groups in the US. These are not teenagers on a spur of the moment rampage, or a couple of drunks blaming another race or religion for their problems. These are organized hate groups. They have members, meetings, strategies, websites. They take ugly actions.

This 1,000 does not include the 824 Patriot Groups, organized groups defined as those that "engage in groundless conspiracy theorizing, or advocate or adhere to extreme antigovernment doctrines." Nor does it include the 319 Nativist Extremist Groups such as "the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, the Minuteman Project and the Federation Immigration Reform and Enforcement Coalition."

The SPLC site goes on to say "Taken together, these three strands of the radical right -- the hatemongers, the nativists and the antigovernment zealots -- increased from 1,753 groups in 2009 to 2,145 in 2010, a 22% rise. That followed a 2008-2009 increase of 40%."

So let's take a closer look at the increase in a chart we use with the permission of Mark Potok, the director of the Intelligence Project of the SPLC. And this is just hate groups.



Who are these groups? And where are they? Well, look at the SPLC site and check out the groups in YOUR state. In my state of Massachusetts -- liberal Massachusetts -- there are ten active groups - including the KKK, Aryan Terror Brigade, and other Neo-Nazi, White Nationalist, anti-immigrant and anti-GLBT groups. One of them is less than 20 minutes from my house. I will not link to any of these hate sites in this article. If you wish to look them up, do. I did so with many of them. It sickened me. I wanted to see if they really were saying hateful things. I wanted to see if the sites looked like they were assembled in a garage, or were professionally done, an indication of organization and funding.

I found a frightening amount of organization, sites that linked together as brethren in hatred, and a level of hatred that alarmed and disgusted me. And that is in liberal Massachusetts. Check Your State!

I decided to check Google news for "hate crimes" to get a larger picture of what was happening. I looked only at last week's results. Within moments I found:

1. The St. Louis Beacon reporting an increase in national incidents of anti-Muslim hate crimes. "We continue to see a steady stream of violence and discrimination targeting Muslim, Arab, Sikh and South Asian communities," said Thomas E. Perez the U.S. Justice Department's assistant attorney general for civil rights...He said complaints of school and workplace harassment have risen, and the department has opened 14 investigations in the last year into organized opposition to the building of new mosques."

2. A man walking down the street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn was beaten savagely by a gang of "hoodie wearing teens" taunting him with anti-gay slurs. He has a broken nose, broken eye sockets, and needed plates in his skull.

3. A report from District Attorney George Gascón, who says that hate crimes are also on the rise in San Francisco.

4. A cross was burned "outside the home of a black family in the prosperous, mainly white California coastal community of Arroyo Grande near San Luis Obispo."

5. In Connecticut, a Jewish cemetery was vandalized by anti-Semitic vandals - for the second time in six months. "Six months ago, swastikas were painted on the backs of six gravestones. The graffiti has now expanded to anti-Semitic messages, defacing a place where many are remembered."

There were screens and screens of examples. I found these literally in a few minutes. I had searched on "hate crimes", and asked only for news articles in the past week. There was an avalanche of articles. Are these groups or individuals? Does it matter? Look at the pattern of dramatic rise here in "Patriot" and Militia Groups:



This entire process woke me up. We all need to wake up to what is happening around us, and to begin doing what we can to end it.

Mark Potok, of the SPLC does not hold out much hope for positive change in the near future. "What seems certain is that President Obama will continue to serve as a lightning rod for many on the political right, a man who represents both the federal government and the fact that the racial make-up of the United States is changing, something that upsets a significant number of white Americans. And that suggests that the polarized politics of this country could get worse before they get better."

Is Potok right? What do you think? What can we all do to stop this trend? What do you think will work?


(This article was recently published on BlogHer.com.)

16 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

11:23 AM  
Blogger Bailey said...

something has to work that's just out and out scary. I'm actually a bit too afraid to look up my state, Arkansas...

2:52 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think you pick up on a very serious issue in the US, which is gradually creeping over the sea to Britain.

One of the most scary points is that the majority of hate groups have a christian ideology and seem to be shouting louder than the moderate christian community. Take David Duke (ex-head of the Christian organisation the Ku Klux Klan) almost acquiring governorship of Louisana!

The link between christian extremism and right wing politics is the single most terrifying problem in the US at the moment and the Tea Party are currently sailing well on that ticket, fear-mongering and hate-rumouring are just a couple of weapons in their arsenal.

10:13 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Planned Parenthood is a classic HATE GROUP, advocating and abetting the murder of babies, over 40 million at last count. Not a right wing or Christian tie anywhere in their ranks.
Black Panthers, another non right wing VIOLENCE advocating organization.
Personally, I would prefer to be associated with GOD (Jehovah) fearing, armed veterans and patriots, than a bunch of pacifists and morally degenerate baby killers any day.

2:45 PM  
Blogger Mata H said...

Anonymous - you comment on Planned Parenthod by making up statistics. No Christians? According to whom?

There may not be many right wing in their ranks, but there are not many liberals in the right wing either. What does that prove? The tone of your comment is precisely at the heart of what we need to be fearful of in America.

2:48 PM  
Blogger hapi said...

Hi Mata H, Nice blog! How to add the Glitter Effect Mouse Pointer to your Blog

11:25 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

I hope to see more of your writing soon. Your blog is always interesting and you practically made me start blogging. Thank you&and hope for more articles very soon!

4:57 AM  
Anonymous Stock Cash Tips said...

nice info!! thanks for sharing

6:10 AM  
Anonymous stock future tips said...

Yes, this is an really scary issue, thanks from this post.
Stock future tips

5:18 AM  
Anonymous best stock tips said...

Hi This one is great and is really a good post. I think it will help me a
lot in the related stuff and is very.

best stock tips

3:32 AM  
Anonymous best stock tips said...

Only indian advisory firm sure profit assurance,best stock tips,nifty option tips
best stock tips,nifty calls,intraday share tips,nifty future tips,stock market tips,nifty tips
option tips


,best stock tips

3:05 AM  
Blogger bhoomi said...

I read your post . it was amazing.Your thought process is wonderful.
The way you tell about things is awesome... Equity Tips

7:06 AM  
Blogger aditi said...

This post serves really important notes of stock market. A lot about the market can be learned from here. Traders must focus on live and accurate stock market updates and rely on usage of good stock tips so that they can earn good returns on their investment.

8:17 AM  
Blogger Jack said...

largest companies by market cap. The stock posting the largest quarterly increase was China-based EV maker BYD and added nearly 38% to its over-the-counter traded shares. google market cap

6:08 PM  
Blogger Best database provider said...


Best work you have done, this online website is cool with great facts and looks.
Tob 5000 companies

3:27 AM  
Blogger Best call center services said...

Thank you for your comment, I really appreciate, you taking the time to leave one. and will do my best to answer every one.
call center for technical support

5:50 AM  

Post a Comment

<< Home

Site Feed