Hate Groups in America Surging:
New Southern Poverty Law Center Report
DiversityInc.com (March 10, 2008)

The number of hate groups in the United States is surging, up 48 percent since 2000, according to a report released today from the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). Now there are 888 such groups throughout the country, which marks an increase of 5 percent in one year.
 
What's fueling the spread of hate across the country? Much of the increase is in response to the harsh, unresolved immigration debate, according to the SPLC. Hate crimes against Latinos increased 35 percent from 2003 to 2006, FBI statistics found, and experts say that many of the individuals who commit crimes against Latinos believe they're attacking undocumented immigrants, reports the SPLC.
 
Racist, anti-immigrant propaganda makes no distinction between Latino and immigrant, undocumented or documented, the SPLC found. Election-year politics are fueling a new era of hate groups, ones that use money and power to wield influence, according to the SPLC.
 
Some hate groups also are shifting their rhetoric to a more anti-immigrant approach, including the Ku Klux Klan, which held anti--"illegal alien" rallies in 2007 as opposed to their typical "anti-black crime fare," as the SPLC puts it. Still, the number of national Klan chapters declined from 165 in 2006 to 155 in 2007, which marks the second straight year of decline after five years of explosive growth, reports the SPLC.
 
The SPLC explores several key hate-group factions in addition to the KKK, including neo-Nazi groups, of which 17 new ones emerged in 2007, now totaling 207 nationwide. This is thanks to a splintering of the party and formation of new chapters and spin-offs; "racist-skinhead" groups, of which there are about 90 active nationwide; and Black-separatist groups, which tend to oppose racial integration and want a separate "Black nation." Read Hate Crimes in America on the Rise--Are You at Risk? to learn more.
 
Where are most of the hate groups? Here are the top five hot spots:

• California: 80
• Florida: 49
• South Carolina: 45
• Georgia: 42
• Tennessee: 38

New Jersey and Virginia each have 34 hate groups within their borders, tying for sixth.
 
The SPLC breaks down national hate groups into several categories. Here are descriptions of them and the national numbers, according to the SPLC:

• General hate groups: 32. These include state charters of the national Jewish Defense League, American Free Press and the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints, among others. This group also includes Young Americans for Freedom at Michigan State University, which is the only college campus group to make the SPLC's list of hate organizations. The group was added to the list last year after it sponsored a "Catch an Illegal Immigrant Day" contest and issued a proposal calling for all-white-male control of the college student government
  
  
• Anti-immigrant groups: 14. Five of the 14 groups SPLC lists are in California, which is one of the states most affected by undocumented immigration. These groups typically attack immigrants personally rather than immigration policy and have close relationships with white-supremacist groups or individuals. About 300 anti-immigrant groups not classified as "hate groups" by the SPLC also have emerged in the last three years.
  
  
• Anti-gay groups: 9. With a third of the groups listed based in California, the list includes the Family Research Institute and state charters of the Traditional Values Coalition, among other organizations. These groups make campaigns against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people beyond morality issues and personally vilify and abuse them.
  
  
• Racist music groups: 14. These groups are generally "white-power music labels" that dispel hateful, racist lyrics in various genres such as White Devil Industries, Free Your Mind Productions, and Diehard Records.

Check out the DiversityInc Noose Watch <http://www.diversityinc.com/public/2588.cfm> , our exclusive national map that documents noose-hanging incidents across the country. The SPLC has worked with DiversityInc on this project. The map now includes 76 incidents, all those we know of that have been reported to authorities. Most of these updates have come from our readers, eager to get the word out in the aftermath of the Jena 6 <http://www.diversityinc.com/public/department192.cfm> .