Hate Groups Increase in Michigan and Nationally

If it seems to you that America has become angrier and public discourse has become more vitriolic in recent years, it may be because hate groups are on the rise across the country.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, a legal and advocacy organization whose work includes extremist activity, says 892 extremist groups were operating across the country in 2015, a 14 percent increase from 784 operating in 2014.

The SPLC says the level of polarization and anger today has been unmatched since the political turmoil of 1968. The organization’s hate map, which lists 19 hate groups in Michigan, up from 15 in 2014, a 27 percent increase.

So what’s going on?

“Eight years after the election of our first black president, two years after the birth of the Black Lives Matter movement, and half a year after same-sex marriage was legalized, Americans are arguably as angry as they have been in decades,” the SPLC said on its website.

“The bulk of that anger is coming from beleaguered working-class and, to a lesser extent, middle-class white people, especially the less educated. ... They are angry over the coming loss of a white majority (predicted for 2043 by the Census Bureau), the falling fortunes of the white working class, worsening income inequality, the rise of left-wing movements like Black Lives Matter, major advances for LGBT people, growing numbers of refugees and undocumented workers, terrorism, and more.”

The SPLC goes so far as to say Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has tapped into anger that has been directed at the government.

“From start to finish, the year 2015 was remarkable for its terrorist violence, the penetration of the radical right and its conspiracy theories into mainstream politics, and the boost far-right ideas and groups received from pandering politicians like Donald Trump,” the SPLC said in the report released last spring. “And the situation appears likely to get worse, not better, as the country continues to come to terms with its increasing diversity.”

The SPLC defines a hate a group as one with beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people, particularly for their immutable characteristic. Hate group activities can include criminal acts, marches, rallies, speeches, meetings, publications or distributing leaflets.

These are the hate groups active in Michigan in 2015 and where they are operating, according to the SPLC, which compiled its hate group map with information from publications and websites, citizen and law enforcement reports, field sources and news reports.

• Blood and Honour Social Club (racist skinhead), statewide
• Yahweh's Truth (Christian identity), Linwood
• Gallows Tree Wotansvolk Alliance (Neo-Nazi), Grand Rapids
• Nation of Islam (Black Separatist Nation of Islam), Grand Rapids
• The Creativity Movement (Neo-Nazi Creativity Movement), statewide
• American Freedom Law Center, (Anti-Muslim), Ann Arbor
• American Nazi Party, (Neo-Nazi), Westland (national headquarters)
• Nation of Islam (Black Separatist Nation of Islam), Detroit
• White Rabbit Radio, (White Nationalist), Dearborn Heights
• All Eyes on Egipt Bookstore, (Black Separatist), Detroit
• National Socialist Movement (Neo-Nazi National Socialist Movement), Detroit
• NSM88 Records, (Racist Music)Detroi
• Israel United In Christ, (Black Separatist), Detroit
• Northern Hammerskins, (Racist Skinhead) Detroit
• Black Riders Liberation Party (Black Separatist)Detroit
• NS Publications, (Neo-Nazi) Wyandotte
• TC Family, or Traverse City Family (Anti-LGBT), Traverse City, Michigan
• Nation of Islam (Black Separatist Nation of Islam), Benton Harbor
• The Social Contract Press (White Nationalist), Petoskey

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