If you’ve been paying attention, the federal government has been railing in every corner against DEI and has been voracious in trying to eliminate it in both the public and private sectors. But they’ve been quite silent when it comes to extremism from hate groups.
However, the Southern Poverty Law Center is drawing attention to extremist activity in the United States and has done the homework to outline who these people are, where they are located and how they operate in their annual report, The Year in Hate and Extremism.
White supremacy, misogyny, antisemitism and hate in America are nothing new; in fact, they predate American independence by hundreds of years. The SPLC study looks at how they have taken root in the nation’s social soil and grown into numerous weeds, particularly by commandeering the political structure.
Far-right politics on mainstream platforms, once thought implausible, are commonplace since Donald Trump entered the political stage. Now, fringe thought, fearmongering and outright bigotry are loudly spewed without fear of reprisal.
“After years of courting politicians and chasing power, hard-right groups are now fully infiltrating our politics and enacting their dangerous ideology into law,” Margaret Huang, president and CEO of the SPLC, said in a prepared statement. “Extremists at all levels of government are using cruelty, chaos and constant attacks on communities and our democracy to make us feel powerless.”
The study highlights the efforts of white supremacist groups to gain influence on state legislatures and school boards to target essentially any group that does not identify as white, conforming to outdated values and/or heterosexual.
For example, one portion outlines how the ultraconservative Family Research Council placed its focus on immigration, even pushing a conspiracy theory that Democrats “import” nonwhites and the ever-present “great replacement” fallacy that is commonplace in white supremacist circles.
In another portion, the report talks about the continued proliferation of local militias and “sovereign citizen” movements, both of which had a presence in the Jan. 6, 2021, terrorist attack on the U.S. Capitol. These groups not only have been shown to have ties to white supremacist movements, they have also actively interfered with disaster relief efforts by claiming to help people while spreading misinformation and attempting to establish shadow governments.
The report also highlights male supremacist organizations, which are outlined as social media influencers who push misogynistic viewpoints through podcasts, YouTube, TikTok videos, Instagram reels, and other means. This media attempts to grasp attention exclusively from young men who are looking for validation through “alpha male” narratives and degrading women.
An interactive map in the report shows hate groups that have been tracked by the SPLC since 2000. While the general perception may be that these groups exist in isolated rural areas, a surprising number are established in diverse population centers known more for being home to multiple racial and ethnic groups and various lifestyles.
“While 2024 has been a tough year for our democracy and for communities targeted by hate and conspiracies, we didn’t get here by accident. We know that these groups build their power by threatening violence, capturing political parties and government, and infesting the mainstream discourse with conspiracy theories,” said Rachel Carroll Rivas, the SPLC’s Intelligence Project interim director. “By exposing the players, tactics and code words of the hard right, we hope to dismantle their mythology and inspire people to fight back.”
MORE URL NETWORK COVERAGE
What happens to BIPOC journalism in an America hating on BIPOC and on journalism – URL Media
Groups up pressure on police to investigate assault as hate crime – AsAm News
‘Children of the KKK’ stage a test run in Kansas City – Kansas City Defender
Hindus are not alone in facing hate crimes in the US amid surge in religion-based incidents – Scroll
