Campaign Action
Some things are just so obvious that it can seem unnecessary to articulate them. However, it’s always important to speak out vocally against hatred, inequality, and injustice—and in Donald Trump’s America, using our voices to combat these evils is one of the only tools we have to create change. So, though it isn’t at all surprising, it’s worth acknowledging the many ways that hate and hate groups have been normalized during this presidency.
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), 2017 was a banner year for white supremacists. They went from fringe to mainstream and not only increased recruitment into their ranks, but also joined the highest levels of the administration.
The SPLC’s Year in Hate and Extremism report identifies 954 hate groups – an increase of 4 percent from 2016. [...]
Within the white supremacist movement, neo-Nazi groups saw the greatest growth – from 99 groups to 121. Anti-Muslim groups rose for a third straight year. They increased from 101 chapters to 114 in 2017 – growth that comes after the groups tripled in number a year earlier.
Ku Klux Klan groups, meanwhile, fell from 130 groups to 72. The decline is a clear indication that the new generation of white supremacists is rejecting the Klan’s hoods and robes for the hipper image of the more loosely organized alt-right movement.
SPLC says that number of hate groups can only be taken in context since there are many more people in the country with extreme and dangerous ideologies who simply choose not to be affiliated with any particular group. Additionally, they attribute part of the rise in various hate groups to backlash from black nationalist groups that have been vocal about Trump’s presidency as a symbol of white supremacy and yet more proof about why white America poses a threat to black Americans.
SPLC is also clear, however, that black nationalist groups are a specific response to white supremacy and should not be conflated with Black Lives Matter, civil rights, or other anti-racism groups. It also notes that these groups do not nearly have the same power and influence as white supremacist groups.
Not surprisingly, the ranks of black nationalist hate groups – groups that have always been a reaction to white racism – expanded to 233 chapters in 2017, from 193 the previous year.
Even with the growth, black nationalist groups lagged far behind the more than 600 hate groups that adhere to some form of white supremacist ideology – and they have virtually no supporters or influence in mainstream politics, much less in the White House.
Also noteworthy is that these hate groups are involved in physical violence and have taken lives in the last few years.
A separate SPLC investigation, released earlier this month, found that 43 people were killed and 67 wounded by young men associated with the alt-right over the past four years. Seventeen of the deaths came in 2017.
Under Trump, hate groups also seem to be covering new territory. For the first time, SPLC designated two male supremacy organizations as hate groups. One is called “A Voice for Men” and the other is named “Return of Kings.” They are based in Houston and Washington, DC, respectively. Though this is a first for the SPLC, it is par for the course given the outright hatred and abuse Donald Trump has shown toward women.
And there you have it. The year in hate under the racist, misogynist, xenophobe fearmonger currently living in the White House. It is obvious? Sure. But this report is a necessary reminder of the danger he poses every day he is in office and reminds us to be vigilant and to resist with all our might.