Trump inspires hate groups, says SPLC report

A YEAR AGO, the headline of the report on hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center read "Hate Groups on the Rise." Sadly, this year's report concludes that hate groups have risen for the second year in a row.

The rise in the number of hate groups in the U.S. corresponds with the radical right getting emboldened by the candidacy of Donald Trump, according to the SPLC's annual census of hate groups and other extremist organizations, released Wednesday (Feb. 15).

“Trump’s run for office electrified the radical right, which saw in him a champion of the idea that America is fundamentally a white man’s country,” wrote Mark Potok, SPLC senior fellow and author of the report. 

“He kicked off the campaign with a speech vilifying Mexican immigrants as rapists and drug dealers. He retweeted white supremacist messages, including one that falsely claimed that black people were responsible for 80 percent of the murders of whites. He credentialed racist media personalities even while barring a serious outlet like The Washington Post, went on a radio show hosted by a rabid conspiracy theorist named Alex Jones, and said that Muslims should be banned from entering the country. 

"He seemed to encourage violence against black protesters at his rallies, suggesting that he would pay the legal fees of anyone charged as a result,” said Potok.

The most dramatic growth, according to the report, was the near-tripling of anti-Muslim hate groups – from 34 in 2015 to 101 last year.

The growth has been accompanied by a rash of crimes targeting Muslims, including an arson that destroyed a mosque in Victoria, Texas, just hours after the Trump administration announced an executive order suspending travel from some predominantly Muslim countries. The latest FBI statistics show that hate crimes against Muslims grew by 67 percent in 2015, the year in which Trump launched his campaign.

The report, contained in the Spring 2017 issue of the SPLC’s Intelligence Report, includes the Hate Map showing the names, types and locations of hate groups across the country.

The SPLC found that the number of hate groups operating in 2016 rose to 917 – up from 892 in 2015. The number is 101 shy of the all-time record set in 2011, but high by historic standards.

“2016 was an unprecedented year for hate,” said Mark Potok, senior fellow and editor of the Intelligence Report. “The country saw a resurgence of white nationalism that imperils the racial progress we’ve made, along with the rise of a president whose policies reflect the values of white nationalists. In Steve Bannon, these extremists think they finally have an ally who has the president's ear.”

The increase in anti-Muslim hate was fueled by Trump’s incendiary rhetoric, including his campaign pledge to bar Muslims from entering the United States, as well as anger over terrorist attacks such as the June massacre of 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando.

Anti-Jewish hate crimes increased by 9 percent during that same time period, anti-Black hate crimes were up by almost 8 percent and anti-LGBT hate crimes rose by roughly 5 percent.

The overall number of hate groups likely understates the real level of organized hatred in America as a growing number of extremists operate mainly online and are not formally affiliated with hate groups.

Aside from its annual census of extremist groups, the SPLC found that Trump’s rhetoric reverberated across the nation in other ways. In the first 10 days after his election, the SPLC documented 867 bias-related incidents, including more than 300 that targeted immigrants or Muslims.

Also, in a post-election SPLC survey of 10,000 educators, 90 percent said the climate at their schools had been negatively affected by the campaign. Eighty percent described heightened anxiety and fear among students, particularly immigrants, Muslims and African Americans. Numerous teachers reported the use of slurs, derogatory language and extremist symbols in their classrooms.

Here are the main articles in this issue (view full issue):

The Year in Hate & Extremism — by Mark Potok — The radical right was more successful in entering the political mainstream last year than in half a century. How did it happen?
Eye of the Stormer — by Keegan Hankes — Propelled by the Trump campaign and a new focus on the 'alt-right,' the Daily Stormer is now the top hate site in America.
One More Enemy — by Stephen Piggott — ‘Patriot’ groups have long seen the government as their primary enemy. But now, the movement is adopting Anti-Muslim hate.
The Kidnapping of Isabella — by Ryan Lenz — In 2009, a former lesbian in a custody battle fled with her 7-year-old girl. The case still haunts the anti-LGBT movement today.
Attorney for Aryans — by Ryan Lenz — Radical lawyer Kyle Bristow has started a new foundation that aims to become the legal arm of the racist radical right.
The Trump Effect — by Mark Potok — The campaign language of the man who would become president sparks hate violence, bullying, before and after the election.
Hate Map — An interactive display of all 917 active hate groups in 2016.

With the Trump presidency, we fear the normalization of hate and fear could be the direction of the country for the next four years. It is not certain whether he rise in activism and protests against the administration could stem that slide.

One thing seems certain, "The radical right is feeling its oats today in a way that few Americans can remember," says the report. "There are very large numbers of Americans who agree with its views, as sanitized under the deceptive Alt-Right label, although many of them may be less visible than before because they are not affiliated with actual groups. Whether or not the movement grows in coming years, it seems indisputable that its views have a better chance to actually affect policy now than in decades."

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REPORT: U.S. hate groups increase as campaign rhetoric incites anger, fear

From the cover of the the Year In Hate and Extremism report of the SPLC.

I NEVER expected the election of Barack Obama as President to bring racial harmony to our country, but I also didn't expect the vitriol of hate that has arisen by putting an African/American in the White House.

Seven years after Obama's election, hate appears to more intense than ever. In its annual Year In Hate and Extremism report, the Southern Poverty Law Center said the number of U.S. hate groups increased to 892 last year, up from 784 in 2014. SPLC officials said so-called “Patriot” groups that are antigovernment grew like the group who took over a bird refuge in Oregon grew from 874 in 2014 to 998.

Of the 892 incidents of hate, 38 of them were directed at Asians and/or Asian/Americans: from racist epithets to racist graffiti to beatings. Fifty incidents occurred against Muslims, which could include any number of racial groups, including Asian Muslims.

“While the number of extremist groups grew in 2015 after several years of declines, the real story was the deadly violence committed by extremists in city after city,” said Mark Potok, senior fellow at the SPLC and editor of the Intelligence Report. “Whether it was Charleston, San Bernardino or Colorado Springs, 2015 was clearly a year of deadly action for extremists.”

This growth came amid a series of lethal terrorist attacks by extremists. In June, a white supremacist murdered nine black parishioners at a church in Charleston, South Carolina. In December, Islamist radicals killed 14 people at a work party in San Bernardino, California – just days after an anti-abortion extremist killed three people at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, Colorado. These were just the worst of numerous other attacks and foiled extremist plots reviewed in this issue.

“After seeing the bloodshed that defined 2015, our politicians should have worked to defuse this anger and bring us together as a nation,” Potok said. “Unfortunately, the carnage did little to dissuade some political figures from spouting incendiary rhetoric about minorities. In fact, they frequently exploited the anger and polarization across the country for political gain.”

The nonprofit also noted an uptick in anti-Muslim behavior, which it linked to terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, and the hateful speech from Republican presidential candidates.  

Vanita Gupta, who heads the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice, also noted during a White House address said:

"Similar to what we saw after 9/11, in recent weeks following the terrible and tragic attacks in San Bernardino and Paris — and amidst a ratcheting up of divisive rhetoric around religious intolerance —community members and advocates have reported an uptick in hate-related incidents targeting Muslim/Americans, as well as those perceived, rightly or wrongly, as being Muslim," he said.

GOP frontrunner Donald Trump opened his campaign described the Mexicans coming to America as criminals and rapists. He also called restrictions for allowing Syrian refugees and the temporary halt of any Muslim immigraition. 

Standard talking points from all the remaining GOP Presidential candidates on immigration include the deportation of over 11 million undocumented immigrants and overturning the executive actions of President Obama that would allow the children of undocumented immigrants to remain in the U.S. and a long path to citizenship for their parents.

SPLC President Richard Cohen notes that "[o]ver 60 percent of the people who support Trump believe that President Obama is a secret Muslim and wasn’t born in this country." The report points to the presidential election cycle as one of the primary reasons for the rising number of hate groups across the U.S., saying last year was marked by a level of hate speech in mainstream politics not seen in decades.

The report states that "Donald Trump’s demonizing statements about Latinos and Muslims have electrified the radical right, leading to glowing endorsements from white nationalist leaders such as Jared Taylor and former Klansman David Duke. White supremacist forums are awash with electoral joy, having dubbed Trump their 'Glorious Leader.'"

The report also noted that the number of black separatist groups, which it categorizes as hate groups, has risen from 113 in 2014 to 180 in 2015.

"We think that the growth of these groups is due almost entirely to the very dramatic attention that has been paid over the past year to police violence against black men," said SPLC Senior Fellow Mark Potok. The group simultaneously notes the number of active Ku Klux Klan groups increased to 190 in 2015 after falling between 2013 and 2014.

In general, Potok said, he would describe 2015 "as a year that very nearly approaches the political upheavals of 1968 — a time of real trial for this country."

SPLC officials deny allegations hurled at it by critics that the center's real targets is the viewpoints expressed by conservatives.

"The Southern Poverty Law Center was born, and still lives today, to essentially defend the 14th Amendment," Potok said, referring to the amendment that guarantees citizens of all races equal protection under the law.