In Nashville, Ku Klux Klan fliers describing African Americans as savages were wrapped around a free advertising circular earlier this year. The fliers talked about an “ongoing race war.”
On another occasion, other Nashville residents found leaflets from the Ku Klux Klan group the Knights wrapped around free newspapers and thrown in driveways.
In Knoxville, rocks were thrown at two Jewish synagogues.
These incidents are among the hundreds of alarming reports that surfaced following news of President Barack Obama’s victory in November.
Hate and bigotry are showing up in places where we might never expect to find them. Increasingly, their campaigns and attacks occur in daylight hours, in public places, on the Internet, in front yards wrapped around newspapers and in neighborhood forums.
The Southern Poverty Law Center recently released its 2008 report on hate groups, which found that the number of hate groups was increasing at an alarming rate. The number of hate groups operating in the United States has reached 926, up 54 percent since 2000 — an increase fueled last year by immigration fears, a failing economy and the successful campaign of Barack Obama, according to the “Year in Hate” issue of the SPLC’s Intelligence Report.
At the same time, since President Obama’s election, many Americans have had a hearty appetite for guns and ammunition. A new report from the Department of Homeland Security states that many of the gun owners fear that the new administration is planning to take away their second amendment rights to bear arms. The demand for weapons is so strong that prices, in some cases, have doubled in under a year. The Anti-Defamation League reported this week that Richard Poplawski, who is accused in the shooting deaths of three Pittsburgh police officers (one of them African-American) posted comments on a white supremacist Web site just hours before the slayings.
While the hate group comments and activities are widely reported, one question is rarely asked: What can ordinary people, educators, and faith communities do to counteract the virus of hate?
The Tri-State Defender this week began to approach some of the country’s leading experts to discussion solutions. From time to time, we will share their suggestions and ideas and tell you how to get free information and resources. Today, we feature the Southern Poverty Law Center, which has set up a new web page
http://www.splcenter.org/center/petitions/standstrong/ urging Americans to stand together.
“Hate group leaders are exploiting the difficult economic times to swell their ranks, and their anti-Semitic, white supremacist propaganda is promoting violence,” the group states on its Web site. “A neo-Nazi leader was quoted in USA Today saying, ‘When the economy suffers, people are looking for answers. ...We are the answer for white people.’ As the ranks of hate swell, people of goodwill must stand up and be counted.”
The site allows individuals to sign their names to the rolls. Once registered, a dot will appear showing that you have taken a stand. In Tennessee, there are 38 documented hate groups and, as of Tuesday, 588 Tennesseans who have indicated they are willing to stand strong against them. Davidson County had 113 residents signed up for the anti-hate movement while Shelby County had 81. Get your family and friends to sign up.
If you know of an individual, teacher, business or community group that has developed an effective strategy, send us an email at (editorial@tri-statedefender.com).
