Hate Groups Proliferating in Record Numbers

[Frodo]

Number of hate groups reaches all-time high, Southern Poverty Law Center report says
The Southern Poverty Law Center counted more than 1,000 hate groups in the U.S., its most ever.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

[lfromnj]

Ah Yes the SPLC is a very good indicator of hate groups.

[Frodo]

Ah Yes the SPLC is a very good indicator of hate groups.

You know of any better sources?

[Grumpier Than Thou]

Well yeah, when you have a President who legitimizes hate groups and condones them ("very fine people") then you're going to have more hate groups.

[No War, but the War on Christmas]

Well yeah, when you have a President who legitimizes hate groups and condones them ("very fine people") then you're going to have more hate groups.

Pretty much this, and see my signature.

[Badger]

Ah Yes the SPLC is a very good indicator of hate groups.

Actually, yes, as I said in my very first post on Atlas 10 years ago, they are

[pbrower2a]

First, there are no huge hate groups (unless you want to count the Trump cult). They may get huge publicity because of their flamboyant behavior that attracts the news media, as with godh@tesf@gs for picketing the burials of deceased soldiers. There is no real unification of such a tendency as the KKK, which comprises lots of cliques about the size of Boy Scout troops. (I refer to size and not purpose).

Second, much hateful rhetoric emanates from the President and from such quasi-mainstream news sources as FoX Propaganda Channel. This makes the expression of hatred far easier. Transfer of bigoted expressions is exactly what one would expect when the expression Make America Great Again suggests to some that America was better when non-white minorities "knew their (subordinate and exploited) place". The SPLC is careful to avoid criticizing the President for some of his inexcusable rhetoric.

Third, episodes of violence have occurred at Trump rallies, and there have been two nasty incidents - a loner sending bombs to Democrats and people associated with liberal causes, and a hater who mowed down people in a synagogue during a religious service. America now has more proclivity to violence that rends America. Violent deeds inspire hateful people to do copycat violence, but they also scare people.     

[sparkey]

Isn't it cheating that they're including every chapter of the Proud Boys in these numbers? They're hardly the KKK.

[The Free North]

Ah Yes the SPLC is a very good indicator of hate groups.

This is a terrible post.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Isn't it cheating that they're including every chapter of the Proud Boys in these numbers? They're hardly the KKK.

The definition of a backhanded compliment.

[Brittain33]

Muh Jussie Smollett

[Beet]

Trump's America.

[Sestak]

Even if the SPLC has made some swings and misses, I think this count is at least reasonably accurate; it's probably true that there are more than there ever have been since the 1980s?

[pbrower2a]

Instead of one giant hate group like the 1915 Klan or the German Nazi Party we have dozens of small, competing hate groups with their own would-be Fuehrers attempting to get as much money to support the lifestyles of their leaders. 

[Mr. Reactionary]

Even if the SPLC has made some swings and misses, I think this count is at least reasonably accurate; it's probably true that there are more than there ever have been since the 1980s?

Their numbers are usually based on unverified tips. In 2009 they were claiming Ron Paul bumper stickers indicated a likely terrorist was driving a car and that pastor Chuck Baldwin was an "extremist" for believing in Biblical end times prophesies like most baptists, including myself do. They claimed Ayaan Hirsi Ali was an evil hater for pointing out how sexist  and oppressive her upbringing under fundamentalist islam was.

I trust A fox to guard the hen house more than I trust the Southern poverty lie center to give me objective analysis on "hate" groups. They are literally paid to "find" as many rightwing people to unfairly smear as is possible.

[DrScholl]

Some people conveniently ignore that they have non-white hate groups on their list. The Nation of Islam is on their map and that certainly isn't a favorite of right-wingers.

[ProudModerate2]

MAKE AMERICA HATE AGAIN

[All Along The Watchtower]

Ah Yes the SPLC is a very good indicator of hate groups.

Correct.

[DavidB.]

>SPLC

About as credible as the ADL.

[Badger]

>SPLC

About as credible as the ADL.

Exactly. Quite the compliment for both.

[Hammy]

Should this surprise anyone considering the country has been increasingly run by one since 2010?

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Finally, a real national emergency.

[Progressive Pessimist]

No s***.

[dead0man]

The number of "groups" is less important than the number "people" in those groups which is less important than the number of "incidents" which is less important the number of "attacks".  I'm not saying the number of groups going up is a good thing, probably not, but it's not a particularly informative bit of information as to whether this is a large problem or not.

[Badger]

The number of "groups" is less important than the number "people" in those groups which is less important than the number of "incidents" which is less important the number of "attacks".  I'm not saying the number of groups going up is a good thing, probably not, but it's not a particularly informative bit of information as to whether this is a large problem or not.

By all accounts, both the raw membership numbers and incidence of attacks are rising exponentially.

Regarding other posts here, yes there's a long history violent extremist groups, including black separatist and similar movements like the Nation of Islam, which let's not forget the splc also labels a hate group, of splitting and fracturing into separate groups usually stemming from disputes over which member slept with another's wife or screwed another member over in a drug deal.

However, that type of thing has been going on for literally multiple decades. Pretty much ever since the seventies When the Ku Klux Klan was officially persona non grata even in the south, at least officially. What we're seeing is not simply the white Knights of the Camellia breaking off into the new reformed white Knights of the Camellia because Chester slept with Smokey's wife and Big Mike still a bunch of Meth from Billy. We are seeing a genuine exponential growth in membership across the board.

And let's not mince words. These people uniformly view Trump as a new white man's messiah in America. Embrace it, love it, and accept it, Republicans.