Excerpted from the Southern Poverty Law Center e-newsletter, author Morris Dees
On February 23 the Southern Poverty Law Center released their annual investigative report exposing the hate and extremist groups operating in the United States—and the news is not good. For the first time ever, hate groups number more than 1,000. Plus, armed, anti government militias surged for the second year in a row.
Frankly, given the political climate in our country, I'm not that surprised at this explosive growth of radical-right forces. Far-right politicians and media figures continue to pour fuel on the fire with outrageous conspiracy theories and demonizing propaganda about those who disagree with them, including our first African-American president.
What's more troubling is the recent spate of hate-inspired violence: a bomb planted along the MLK Day parade route in Spokane; a man arrested with explosives outside a mosque in Michigan; a neo-Nazi caught heading for the Mexican border with a dozen homemade grenades. And, of course, a mentally ill man who appears to have absorbed radical-right ideas killed six people and wounded 13 when he tried to assassinate U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Arizona.
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