WASHINGTON – Traditionally, during times of political instablity in the U.S., right-wing hate groups mushroom. ABC News said that’s definitely the case these days. In its annual report, the civil rights group, the Southern Poverty Law Center said the number of so-called hate groups and violence-minded anti-government organizations have continued to grow. “As our politics become more polarized, I think these groups have a tendency to grow stronger and really start increasing,” said Jack Kay, a communications professor at Eastern Michigan University Jack Kay. He studies the rhetoric of these groups. “As they see the Tea Party, as they see regular mainstream politics, becoming far more polarized, they feel they can become even more polarizing, even more agitated,” he said. . The Southern Poverty Law Center has been keeping track of these groups for 30 years and said there were more than a thousand of them operating last year. The report describes a stunning rise in the number of groups that it identifies as part of the so-called patriot and militia movements. Since President Obama’s election until now, the groups have become even more extreme, with far more militant rhetoric, and far more people coming together to express extreme distrust of government, the report said. Another issue, according to the report, is economic… the rift between rich and poor; but “big government” seems to be a major catalyst for outrage. “They’ll point to all the increasing regulations being put on citizens, drivers licenses, they think gun control is just around the corner,” Kay said. “That President Obama and the federal government are gonna take away guns. All those sorts of things.” One of the groups moved from the “patriot” list to the hate group list last year is the Georgia Militia because of its anti-Semitism. The majority of the groups are now very anti-government and there appears to be no religious basis for their particular views. Declines have been noted in some hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and the Militiamen. The Southern Poverty Law Center cites only groups that are active, meaning they’re registering members or passing out fliers or protesting. “There seems to be a lot of groups that are now crossing the line and now going beyond talk, going beyond simply talking against the government and starting to engage in some planning, some intent to overthrow the government,” Kay said. According to the report, the states with the most active hate groups were in California, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey and New York.
Friday, March 8, 10 a.m.
