Hate groups up 30% over last four years: NPR



[ad_1]

The National Socialist Movement, a neo-Nazi group that has been labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, organized a rally in Newnan, Georgia, in April 2018.

David Goldman / AP


hide legend

toggle the legend

David Goldman / AP

The National Socialist Movement, a neo-Nazi group that has been labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, organized a rally in Newnan, Georgia, in April 2018.

David Goldman / AP

For the fourth consecutive year, the Southern Poverty Law Center, a human rights organization that monitors hate groups, reports that national hatred and extremism are steadily increasing. The center has seen a 30% increase in the number of hate groups in the United States over the past four years and a 7% increase in the number of hate groups in 2018 alone, according to its annual report. Year of hatred and extremism report. The group has designated 1,020 organizations as hate groups in 2018, a summit of at least 20 years.

The surveillance group blames President Trump, his administration, the right-wing media and the ease of spreading hatred on social media platforms for this alarming increase. The growth, he says, is largely due to "the hysteria of having lost a predominantly white country due to a demographic shift".

"The numbers tell a striking story – that this president is not just a polarizing figure, but a radicalizing one," said Heidi Beirich, director of the SPLC's Intelligence Project, in a statement. "Rather than trying to contain hatred, as did the president of both parties, President Trump raises it – with his speech and his policy.In doing so, he gave all Americans the green light to act according to their worst instincts. "

The Southern Poverty Law Center is a venerated group of civil guard dogs that has existed since 1971. It is known to have carried the last blows to the Ku Klux Klan through legal battles.

But at the time Trump, he was accused of blurring the demarcation line between watchdog and activist. Critics accuse the group of abusing the threat of hatred and including groups and individuals on its lists that may not belong; from anti-immigrant groups to religious organizations of exclusion. In 2018, SPLC President Richard Cohen made a public apology. The group paid $ 3.4 million to British political activist Maajid Nawaz for including him on their list of anti-Muslim extremists in 2016. The former self-proclaimed Muslim extremist is often criticized for Align himself with the right anti-Muslim politicians, but even his critics have questioned his inclusion on the list.

The center found that the majority of hate groups in the United States were motivated by the ideology of white supremacy, including neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klan, white nationalists, racist skinheads, and neo-Confederates. . But in reaction to the blossoming of white supremacists, the center claims that black nationalist groups "are also growing their ranks". According to the center, the groups are often anti-Semitic, anti-LGBT and anti-white, but, unlike the white nationalist groups, they have little support and have virtually no influence in politics.

The Southern Poverty Law Center defines a hate group as an organization that "bases itself on its official statements or principles, on the statements of its leaders or on its activities – on beliefs or practices that attack or sack an entire class. of people, typically for their race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender identity ".

But the SPLC report shows that the FBI has seen a steady increase in hate-motivated crimes from 2015 to 2017. It reported 17% hate-motivated crime in 2017, with a particular increase in the number of motivated crimes. by anti-Semitic hatred. But this list is incomplete because local law enforcement officials voluntarily report hate crimes to the FBI.

The center's report revealed that, although white supremacy is emboldened under the Trump government and motivated by the fear of US demographic change, the United States is expected to become a majority minority, and xenophobia begins to lose hope. President. The group cites the now-famous White Nationalist leader Richard Spencer as evidence. He led a group of white supremacists in Nazi greetings and chants of "Hail Trump" after the 2016 elections. In 2018, at the halfway mark, he m said "The Trump moment is over and it's time for us to move on."

[ad_2]

Source link