The hate map of the USA

‘The idea that the Muslim Brotherhood has infiltrated the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security, among others, is being plugged by U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.). Last November, U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) suggested the president was using the Affordable Care Act as cover to set up a “secret security force,”’ the report states.

‘Earlier in 2013, U.S. Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas), echoing many Patriot groups, falsely claimed that a proposed United Nations arms treaty “set the stage for [gun] confiscation on a global scale.”’

The SPLC, which focuses much of its work combating racist groups, said that the lack of clear legislative victories for the Obama administration on gun control in the wake of Sandy Hook and the upcoming immigration reform battle appear to have effectively calmed some of the far-right groups.

‘Those factors, along with the collapse or near-collapse of several major groups for a variety of reasons, seem to have taken some of the wind out of the sails of the radical right, leaving the movement both weaker and somewhat smaller,’ the report states.

Many states have varying bands of hate groups, but for their map, the SPLC qualified them into eight categories: black separatist, neo-confederate, Christian identity, racist skinhead, white nationalist, neo-Nazi, Ku Klux Klan and general hate.

There is only one state- Hawaii- that has no known hate groups but a vast majority of the rest can be found below the Mason Dixon line.

The 11 states that make up the area between Texas and the Atlantic are home to 589 of the 939 active groups that the SPLC identified- a whopping nearly 63 per cent.

Though Florida hosts 58 groups and Texas has 57, they do not take the top slot this year.

California actually made the top of the list, which comes as a bit of a surprise given the large immigrant population in the state and the fact that unlike the South, it does not have a history of slavery.



The California-based American Freedom Party that was originally founded by racist skinheads group in Southern California is one of the top two groups that the SPLC have flagged up as particularly threatening.

They have stepped up their rhetoric against immigrants and in support of 'the interests of white Americans'.

'They have for years, been running in political elections and haven't done all that well. They have however, recently gathered the top influential white supremacists to run their board and are becoming more aggressive about winning elections,' the report's author Mark Potok told Business Insider.

The other group that has been cited as a cause for concern is Crew 41 which started online. They take aim at sex offenders and members of a South Carolina outpost allegedly shot and stabbed a middle aged couple after finding out that the husband was a registered sex offender.

The trail of hate then returns to the south with Georgia, which has 50 known groups.

From there the next portion of the list is found in the Northeast, with 44 groups in New Jersey, 42 in New York and 41 in Pennsylvania.

The geographic composition of the map also shows how the groups tend to be found in or around cities. For instance, all but nine of New York’s 42 hate groups are found in and around New York City.

Mr Potok, said that the ideas behind the group also plays a role in their location.

'Another thing to consider when analyzing this data is that certain hate groups reside in particular areas. The Klan will almost always be in rural areas whereas, the Black Separatists are mostly in the cities,' Mr Potok told Business Insider.
Read more:

Hate Map | Southern Poverty Law Center
The Year in Hate and Extremism | Southern Poverty Law Center
This Map Shows Where America's Hate Groups Live And Operate



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