28 Michigan Hate Groups, 10 Ways To Fight Them: Southern Poverty Law Center

After a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, turned violent last weekend, resulting in the death of an anti-racism protester, the Southern Poverty Law Center reminded Americans that organized hate groups aren’t ghosts from the past. SPLC has documented 917 organizations meeting its criteria are currently active nationwide.

There are 28 hate groups operating in Michigan, according to the map. All hate groups have one thing in common — beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people, typically for their immutable characteristics, SPLC said.

The SPLC list was compiled using hate group publications and websites, citizen and law enforcement reports, field sources and news reports. Hate group activities can include criminal acts, marches, rallies, speeches, meetings, leafleting or publishing. (For more local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Detroit Patch, and click here to find your local Michigan Patch. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

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Below are the hate groups SPLC says are operating in Michigan:

Neo-Nazi
American Nazi Party, Westland, Michigan (headquarters)
Gallows Tree Wotansvolk Alliance, Grand Rapids, Michigan (headquarters)
NS Publications, Wyandotte, Michigan

Neo-Nazinational Socialist Movement
National Socialist Movement, Detroit, Michigan

Ku Klux Klan
Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, Trenton, Michigan (headquarters)
Ku Klos Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, Battle Creek Michigan
Great Lakes Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, Alpena, Michigan
Militant Knights of Ku Klux Klan, Alpena, Michigan (headquarters)

White Nationalist
White Boy Society, Michigan (statewide)
Foundation for the Marketplace of Ideas, Clinton Township, Michigan (headquarters)
White Rabbit Radio, Dearborn Heights, Michigan (headquarters)
Social Contract Press, Petoskey, Michigan

Anti-Muslim
Act for America, Grand Rapids, Michigan
American Freedom Law Center, Ann Arbor (headquarters)
Secure Michigan, New Baltimore, Michigan
ACT for America, Detroit, Michigan (headquarters)

Christian Identity
Yahweh’s Truth, Linwood, Michigan (headquarters)

Holocaust Denial
Deir Yassin Remembered, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Black Separatist
All Eyes on Egipt Bookstore, Detroit, Michigan (headquarters)
Black Riders Liberation Party
Israelite School of Universal Practical Knowledge, Detroit, Michigan
Israel United In Christ, Detroit, Michigan
Nation of Islam, Grand Rapids, Michigan

Nation of Islam
Nation of Islam, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Nation of Islam, Detroit, Michigan
Nation of Islam, Benton Harbor, Michigan (headquarters)

Racist Skinhead
Northern Hammerskins, Detroit, Michigan

Hate Music
NSM88 Records, Detroit

Anti-LGBT
TC Family (Traverse City Family), Traverse City, Michigan

10 Ways To Stand Up Against Hate

Here are 10 ways to fight hate, from SPLC

1. Take action: Apathy may be interpreted as acceptance by the perpetrators, the public and victims.

2. Join forces: Reach out to allies from churches, schools, clubs, and other civic groups and create a diverse coalition that includes children, police and the media.

3. Support victims of hate, who are especially vulnerable. Victims should report every incident — in detail — and ask for help. If you know about hate victims in your community, show support for them and let them know you care, surrounding them in a bubble of comfort and protection.

• See Also: Hate Groups In America: They're Everywhere

4. Speak up, expose and denounce hate. Help news organizations achieve balance and depth in their coverage and don’t debate with hate groups in conflict-driven forums. Instead, speak up in ways that draw attention away from hate and toward unity.

5. Educate yourself. An informed campaign improves its effectiveness. Determine if a hate group is involved, and research its symbols and agenda. Understand the difference between a hate crime and a bias incident.

6. Don’t attend hate rallies. Instead, find another outlet for anger and frustration and for people’s desire to do something. Hold a unity rally or parade to draw attention away from hate.

7. Pressure elected officials and other community leaders to take a stand. Help them overcome their reluctance and perhaps even their own bias.

8. Remain engaged after an initial incident and promote acceptance before another hate crime occurs. Step out of your comfort zone and reach to people outside your own groups.

9. Teach acceptance. Bias is learned early, often at home. Schools can offer lessons of tolerance and acceptance; encourage them to host a diversity and inclusion day on campus. Reach out to young people who may be susceptible to hate group propaganda and prejudice.

10. Look inside yourself for biases and stereotypes. Commit to disrupting hate and intolerance at home, at school, in the workplace and in faith communities.

Born in the ashes of the smoldering South after the Civil War, the Ku Klux Klan died, but was reborn before losing a fight against civil rights in the 1960s. Membership dwindled, a uniform group fractured, and one-time members went to prison for a string of murderous attacks against blacks. Many assumed the group was dead, a white-robed ghost of hate and violence. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)