Wright On The Edge Investigates Hate Groups In America

The number of hate groups in the United States is surging, up 48 percent since 2000, according to a report released by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). Now there are 888 such groups throughout the country, which marks an increase of 5 percent in one year. 

What is fueling the spread of hate across the country?

According to Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center, the radical right in America expanded explosively in 2010, driven by resentment over the changing racial demographics of the country, frustration over the government’s handling of the economy, and the mainstreaming of conspiracy theories and other demonizing propaganda aimed at various minorities. For many on the radical right, anger is focusing on President Obama, who is seen as embodying everything that’s wrong with the country.

Hate groups topped 1,000 for the first time since the Southern Poverty Law Center began counting such groups in the 1980s. Anti-immigrant vigilante groups, despite having some of the political wind taken out of their sails by the adoption of hard-line anti-immigration laws around the country, continued to rise slowly. But by far the most dramatic growth came in the antigovernment “Patriot” movement— conspiracy-minded organizations that see the federal government as their primary enemy — which gained more than 300 new groups, a jump of over 60%.

Join Wendy Wright and SPLC director, Mark Potok Saturday at 1pm ET for an in-depth look at hate groups and extremism in America today. Talk just got interesting!

Wright On The Edge, Saturday from 1-3pm on WOL and streaming live at woldcnews.com