Homegrown hate groups increase in numberCivil rights group blames recession, election of first black president
ST. LOUIS, Mo. - On a recent Saturday afternoon, hate was on the march in St. Louis. About 85 members of the National Socialist Movement (NSM), the nation’s largest neo-Nazi group, gathered in the shadow of the famed Gateway Arch for a march and rally celebrating its 35th anniversary.
Clad in all black, with their pants tucked into tightly laced combat boots, the group carried swastika flags and signs urging immigrants to leave the country. They chanted “Sieg Heil,” a popular rallying cry in World War II Germany, accompanied by a Nazi salute: one arm outstretched, fingers tightly joined, palms facing down.
Their critics say that groups like NSM are the faces of homegrown hate, something the NSM denies. They instead call themselves a “white civil rights organization.” Its ultimate goal is to whitewash America. If they had their way, U.S. citizenship would be limited to “those of pure white blood”; minorities would live in the country as guests. All Jewish people and gays would be forced to leave and immigration would be prohibited.
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The SPLC has been tracking hate groups for almost 30 years. In its spring 2009 Intelligence Report, they found that 926 hate groups are currently operating in the U.S., an all-time high. These groups include the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis, racist skinheads and Black separatists.
Potok attributes this rise in hate groups to the recession, the election of the nation’s first black president, and the immigration debate.
“We’re looking at a kind of perfect storm of factors that really favor the continued growth of these groups,” he says.
Last month the Department of Homeland Security issued a report on the expansion of right wing extremist groups, saying those organizations are being fueled by the economic downturn and the election of Barack Obama.
But experts say it is the immigration debate that is most significantly contributing to the rise of hate groups, an issue that is exacerbated by the shaky economy.
“These groups have really successfully exploited the immigration issue,” Potok says. “For them it’s ‘brown skin people are coming into this country to destroy us.’”
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