In March this year The New York Times published an article resuming the report of Southern Poverty Law Center, denoting the dramatic growth of the number of hate groups inside the U.S. According to the author some 1,018 hate groups currently operate across the country (Severson 2012).
Extremist groups have recently been most active in Georgia and Texas. In these states particularly, the hate groups are a product of patriot movement transformation. Many say the hate group rise to be a response to the election of the President of USA Barack Obama. A recent concern has been expressed by the Latin population. Authors mostly agree that right-wing militia and anti-government groups’ memberships soared “after the country elected its first black President” (Chavez 2012). The list of most ‘hate-stricken’ states continues with California, Florida, New Jersey, and New York. Some authors stress the economic hardship, calling it a reason to push ‘middles to the extremes’ (CNN).
I personally were aware of the problem, however, the level it has reached was a disturbing surprise for me. Although some of the possible reasons of the rise are predictable, the true scale of the problem still remains somewhat locked up from the wide publicity. Every member of these hate groups has his/her own reasons for it. Some of them had been ideologically immature enough to fall victim of brainwashing. Others ‘cross the line’ moving from healthy patriotic sentiments to discriminatory ideologies, spreading hate. Every one of us is a target in some. Although the problem itself is not quite nee to the American history, the term ‘hate crime’ was not forged until 80’s.
According to the FBI, this type of crime has ‘an element of bias’ added to the a traditional components of a crime (Federal Bureau of Investigation).Currently prosecution allows to increase the sentence in case a crime was motivated by the victim’s personal characteristics. In cases where the local government is unable or unwilling to work on a hate crime case, the federal government can become involved.
References
Chavez, A. (2012). Hate Groups In The U.S.: Will The Changing Face Of The Nation Spur Hate Group Participation? Huffingtonpost Latinvoices. Web. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/19/hate-groups-in-us-rising_n_1528 787.html
Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI. (2012). Hate Crimes Add an Element of Bias to Traditional Crimes. http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/civilrights/hate_crimes
CNN Wire Staff. (2012). 'Swimming upstream,' white supremacist groups still strong. Web. August 7, 2012 http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/07/us/white-supremacist-groups/index.html
Inside USA - Rise of hate Part 1. 19 April 2008. Web. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Si4vbISz9D4
Severson, K. (2012). Number of U.S. Hate Groups Is Rising, Report Says. The New York Times. Web. March 7, 2012 http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/08/us/number-of-us-hate-groups-on-the-ris …