Why the Increase in Hate Groups?
By: NayNay Butler
Photo: Jason Leung
Photo: Colin Lloyd
There has been an increase in hate groups in this country in the last few years. There are approximately 733 hate groups in this country as of 2021, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. There are a few reasons why there is an increase of hate groups in this country at this time. Hate groups like the Ku Klux Klan have been around for many years, but today there are many new hate groups that have begun to terrorize this country. Although this country has been fighting racism for years, and we have made some progress, the past few years an element within the media, the government, and social media are spreading ideologies that are prompting some of our fellow Americans to turn into domestic terrorist.
I remember watching the debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump in 2020, when Donald Trump referenced the Proud Boys, a far-right group, by telling them to "stand back and stand by" after he was asked to condemn white supremacist. That night, I cried because I thought, by Donald Trump refusing to condemn white supremacy this is going to ramp up some of these far-right fringe groups to become emboldened. I believe this was a turning point in this country. It seems the events that followed confirmed just that. There have been recent attacks against African Americans, Asians, the Jewish community, and the LGBTQ community. Churches and Mosques have been attacked by these groups. There seems to be no safe place for people in these minority groups in this country. The question that remains is what is driving such hate in this country? One huge problem is the media that allows some networks to spew racist and hateful commentaries against people of color. These networks are sending out messages alluding to "The Great Replacement" or "The Replacement Theory". The Great Replacement theory is the belief that the white race is being replaced by non white people leading to white genocide. This is the message being spewed on some media networks. White supremacist groups have indoctrinated this message and are now wanting to eliminate all non white people in this country. They feel they have no choice but to stand up and take their country back. These groups feel very threatened by the continued diversity in this country. This is why Immigration has become a huge issue in politics today. Because there are members of Congress who hold these non sensical beliefs, it makes the political arena very divisive. The Republican Party has been split between the conservatives and MAGA (Make America Great Again - Donald Trump Supporters). The MAGA group is not trying to rid this country of the racism, hate and violence, instead they embrace it.
January 6, 2021
January 6, 2021, was a very sad and memorable day for this nation. A large group of Trump supporters didn't agree with the outcome of the election of Joe Biden and decided to storm the Capital while the congress was in session along with Vice President Mike Pence and newly elected Vice President Kamala Harris. They were all there to count the electoral votes and formalize the election of Joe Biden. The violent mob of Trump supporters converged on the Capital that day in an effort to stop the electoral count. This mob entered the Capital hunting down members of Congress and Vice President Mike Pence. The Members of Congress and the Vice President had to quickly be evacuated to safety, but not without loss of life. Five people died before, during and after the riot. There were many people injured, including 138 police officers. This mob of rioters marched through the capital carrying confederate flags, looting and vandalizing. A gallow was erected as the rioters chanted "Hang Mike Pence". They were angry with Mike Pence for not stopping the electoral count. President Trump was slow to call in the National Guard, which led to so much mayhem that could have been minimized had the National Guard been called in sooner. There is now an extensive investigation being led by the House of Representatives to find out who was behind this riot and hold those people accountable. It has been alleged that several far-right groups were participants in the riot on January 6th. The white supremacist ideology seems entrenched in social media as well. Social media seems to be a vehicle used to espouse and indoctrinate people into joining these hate groups. There is a lot of debate as to whether people have a right to free speech on social media even when that speech is invoking racism and hate.
The Buffalo, New York, Tops Supermarket Mass Shooting
On May 14, 2022, 10 people were killed and 3 others were wounded, 11 of the victims were black. The alleged shooter was 18 years old and was alleged to have indicated to law enforcement that he got his ideology from social media. This suspect allegedly traveled to a predominately black neighborhood in Buffalo, New York, with the intent of killing black people. This is a very recent news story so we don't have a great deal of details as of this writing. The point is, this is yet another example of white supremacist searching out and killing innocent people.
There are some things that are being done to address the issue of domestic terrorism in this country. In June, 2021, President Biden introduced the National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/National-Strategy-for-Countering-Domestic-Terrorism.pdf
The FBI has some tips on how citizens can protect themselves and others.
www.fbi.gov/investigate/terrorism
Top 10 States with the most hate groups in 2021:
1. California (65)
2. Florida (53)
3. Texas (52)
4. New York (35)
5. Pennsylvania (30)
6. Tennessee (28)
7. North Carolina (28)
8. Georgia (24)
9. Illinois (23)
10. Ohio (20)
Click below to view the Hate Group Map to see the number of hate groups in your state:
http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/hate-map
The increase in hate groups should concern people in this country. These groups do not represent what most Americans believe. Hate is never beneficial for anyone. It will not solve the problems we face in this country. Hate only fuels violence and from violence, pain is inflicted. Hating a group of people because of what they believe or what they stand for is ignorant. People in this country have a right to be who they want to be as long as they do not threaten, intimidate or harm anyone else. Respect for others beliefs and opinions is the only way you can live in this country in harmony. It is time for the American people to be proactive in ridding this country of this kind of hateful and bigoted way of thinking. It is up to all of us to call out friends and family who hold these misguided beliefs, and report them to authorities if you suspect they are planning to harm people. My sincere hope is that we begin to vote out of office these politicians that are stoking this behavior. We can make a difference at the ballot box and possibly save some innocent lives.
Sources:
Congress.gov
www.congress.gov/116/bills/s894/BILLS-116s894is.xml
Wikipedia.org
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_United_States_Capitol_attack
SPL Center.org
www.splcenter.org/hate-map/by-state
ADL.org
www.adl.org/resources/backgrounders/the-great-replacement-an-explainer
There has been an increase in hate groups in this country in the last few years. There are approximately 733 hate groups in this country as of 2021, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. There are a few reasons why there is an increase of hate groups in this country at this time. Hate groups like the Ku Klux Klan have been around for many years, but today there are many new hate groups that have begun to terrorize this country. Although this country has been fighting racism for years, and we have made some progress, the past few years an element within the media, the government, and social media are spreading ideologies that are prompting some of our fellow Americans to turn into domestic terrorist.
I remember watching the debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump in 2020, when Donald Trump referenced the Proud Boys, a far-right group, by telling them to "stand back and stand by" after he was asked to condemn white supremacist. That night, I cried because I thought, by Donald Trump refusing to condemn white supremacy this is going to ramp up some of these far-right fringe groups to become emboldened. I believe this was a turning point in this country. It seems the events that followed confirmed just that. There have been recent attacks against African Americans, Asians, the Jewish community, and the LGBTQ community. Churches and Mosques have been attacked by these groups. There seems to be no safe place for people in these minority groups in this country. The question that remains is what is driving such hate in this country? One huge problem is the media that allows some networks to spew racist and hateful commentaries against people of color. These networks are sending out messages alluding to "The Great Replacement" or "The Replacement Theory". The Great Replacement theory is the belief that the white race is being replaced by non white people leading to white genocide. This is the message being spewed on some media networks. White supremacist groups have indoctrinated this message and are now wanting to eliminate all non white people in this country. They feel they have no choice but to stand up and take their country back. These groups feel very threatened by the continued diversity in this country. This is why Immigration has become a huge issue in politics today. Because there are members of Congress who hold these non sensical beliefs, it makes the political arena very divisive. The Republican Party has been split between the conservatives and MAGA (Make America Great Again - Donald Trump Supporters). The MAGA group is not trying to rid this country of the racism, hate and violence, instead they embrace it.
January 6, 2021
January 6, 2021, was a very sad and memorable day for this nation. A large group of Trump supporters didn't agree with the outcome of the election of Joe Biden and decided to storm the Capital while the congress was in session along with Vice President Mike Pence and newly elected Vice President Kamala Harris. They were all there to count the electoral votes and formalize the election of Joe Biden. The violent mob of Trump supporters converged on the Capital that day in an effort to stop the electoral count. This mob entered the Capital hunting down members of Congress and Vice President Mike Pence. The Members of Congress and the Vice President had to quickly be evacuated to safety, but not without loss of life. Five people died before, during and after the riot. There were many people injured, including 138 police officers. This mob of rioters marched through the capital carrying confederate flags, looting and vandalizing. A gallow was erected as the rioters chanted "Hang Mike Pence". They were angry with Mike Pence for not stopping the electoral count. President Trump was slow to call in the National Guard, which led to so much mayhem that could have been minimized had the National Guard been called in sooner. There is now an extensive investigation being led by the House of Representatives to find out who was behind this riot and hold those people accountable. It has been alleged that several far-right groups were participants in the riot on January 6th. The white supremacist ideology seems entrenched in social media as well. Social media seems to be a vehicle used to espouse and indoctrinate people into joining these hate groups. There is a lot of debate as to whether people have a right to free speech on social media even when that speech is invoking racism and hate.
The Buffalo, New York, Tops Supermarket Mass Shooting
On May 14, 2022, 10 people were killed and 3 others were wounded, 11 of the victims were black. The alleged shooter was 18 years old and was alleged to have indicated to law enforcement that he got his ideology from social media. This suspect allegedly traveled to a predominately black neighborhood in Buffalo, New York, with the intent of killing black people. This is a very recent news story so we don't have a great deal of details as of this writing. The point is, this is yet another example of white supremacist searching out and killing innocent people.
There are some things that are being done to address the issue of domestic terrorism in this country. In June, 2021, President Biden introduced the National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/National-Strategy-for-Countering-Domestic-Terrorism.pdf
The FBI has some tips on how citizens can protect themselves and others.
www.fbi.gov/investigate/terrorism
Top 10 States with the most hate groups in 2021:
1. California (65)
2. Florida (53)
3. Texas (52)
4. New York (35)
5. Pennsylvania (30)
6. Tennessee (28)
7. North Carolina (28)
8. Georgia (24)
9. Illinois (23)
10. Ohio (20)
Click below to view the Hate Group Map to see the number of hate groups in your state:
http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/hate-map
The increase in hate groups should concern people in this country. These groups do not represent what most Americans believe. Hate is never beneficial for anyone. It will not solve the problems we face in this country. Hate only fuels violence and from violence, pain is inflicted. Hating a group of people because of what they believe or what they stand for is ignorant. People in this country have a right to be who they want to be as long as they do not threaten, intimidate or harm anyone else. Respect for others beliefs and opinions is the only way you can live in this country in harmony. It is time for the American people to be proactive in ridding this country of this kind of hateful and bigoted way of thinking. It is up to all of us to call out friends and family who hold these misguided beliefs, and report them to authorities if you suspect they are planning to harm people. My sincere hope is that we begin to vote out of office these politicians that are stoking this behavior. We can make a difference at the ballot box and possibly save some innocent lives.
Sources:
Congress.gov
www.congress.gov/116/bills/s894/BILLS-116s894is.xml
Wikipedia.org
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_United_States_Capitol_attack
SPL Center.org
www.splcenter.org/hate-map/by-state
ADL.org
www.adl.org/resources/backgrounders/the-great-replacement-an-explainer
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