Hate On Long Island: SPLC Tracks Local Groups

The Southern Poverty Law Center released its updated Hate Map for 2016 on Wednesday, showing another year of increasing hate across the country, including here on Long Island.

New York ranked fourth in the nation for number of hate groups, following behind California, Florida and Texas. The SPLC tracked 917 hate groups in the nation last year.

The SPLC named four groups on the Island: two chapters of the Ku Klux Clan, a racist music production company and an anti-Muslim group.

The SPLC compiled the list using information from the hate groups themselves, as well as police and media reports from around the country.

It has also been tracking the number of hate groups across the country. That number peaked in 2011, when the SPLC tracked 1,018 groups. It was in decline until 2015, when the number of groups began to grow again. The number of hate groups the SPLC tracks has more than doubled since 1999.

Both Nassau and Suffolk counties have a chapter of the KKK: the Ku Klos Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, based in Hempstead, and the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in Hampton Bays.

Though the groups are not particularly active or large, they have made headlines in recent years. KKK literature was found distributed on cars and houses in areas across both counties and on LIRR trains. And the Suffolk KKK chapter performed a counter-protest to a Black Lives Matter protest last year.

The two chapters are not unique to Long Island — they are local chapters of larger KKK groups.

Wolftyr Productions, based in Holbrook, also makes it onto the SPLC list. It is a small record label that specializes in “pagan black metal” and promotes shows for the bands, many of whom are avowed Nazis.

The label is also the distributor for the magazine for the Heathen Circle collective, which as part of its mission statement is “dedicated to promoting pan-European heritage among the people of its descent worldwide.” The magazine features stories like “Defending Europe - Rise of the Soldiers of Odin” and “Of Shame and Failure (Pathway to übermensch).”

The final hate group the SPLC identified on Long Island is a local chapter of ACT For America, which it characterizes as an anti-Muslim group. The group promotes itself as “the NRA of national security.” It boasts 500,000 members and 1,000 chapters across the country, of which Long Island has two — one in Lynbrook and one in Hauppauge.

The organization is against Syrian refugees being resettled in the United States and believes that Muslims are trying to take over the country with Sharia law. The organization is also a huge proponent of American Exceptionalism.

But there are also anti-hate groups that stand against what the organizations tracked by the SPLC advocate.

"I think the best thing is to work in some way to support the opposition [to hate groups]," said Elaine Gross, the president of ERASE Racism. "The positive work that’s being done needs to be supported."

ERASE Racism has been working for years to combat racism and discrimination on Long Island. And it's not the only group doing that. There's also BiasHELP, which seeks to stop bias crimes, harassment and bullying. BiasHELP is part of the Long Island Network of Community Services — a group of anti-hate groups across the Island.

Gross said that those who want to stop the spread of hate have to take a stand. But that can come in many forms. It could be as simple as standing up for someone who is being targeted by hate, or taking to the streets.

"It’s a broad spectrum, from individual intervention to deciding you’re going to be part of march," said Gross.

Photo: Martin