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The following is a list of U.S.-based organizations classified by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) as hate groups. The SPLC defines hate groups as those that "... have beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people, typically for their immutable characteristics." The SPLC states: "Hate group activities can include criminal acts, marches, rallies, speeches, meetings, leafleting or publishing." The SPLC adds that "Listing here does not imply a group advocates or engages in violence or other criminal activity". Since 1981, the SPLC's Intelligence Project has published a quarterly Intelligence Report that monitors what the SPLC considers hate groups in the United States.
Contents
- Types of groups
- Ku Klux Klan
- Neo Nazi
- White separatistnationalist
- Racist skinheads
- Black separatistnationalist
- Neo Confederate
- Christian Identity
- Anti LGBT
- Anti immigrant
- Holocaust denial
- Racist music
- Radical traditional Catholicism
- Anti Muslim
- Other
- References
The Intelligence Report provides information regarding organizational efforts and tactics of these groups, and is cited by a number of scholars as a reliable and comprehensive source on U.S. hate groups. The SPLC also publishes the HateWatch Weekly newsletter, which documents racism and extremism, and the Hatewatch blog, whose subtitle is "Keeping an Eye on the Radical Right".
Apart from the listed groups themselves, the SPLC's hate group listings have been criticized by some political observers and prominent Republicans. Critics include Ken Silverstein, Laird Wilcox, Dana Milbank, John Boehner and Michele Bachmann.
Types of groups
In its 2014 annual report, published in March 2015, the SPLC counted 784 "active hate groups in the United States": 72 Ku Klux Klan (KKK) groups, 142 neo-Nazi groups, 115 white nationalist groups, 119 racist skinhead groups, 113 black separatist groups, 37 neo-Confederate groups, 21 Christian Identity groups, and 165 "general hate" groups (subdivided into anti-LGBT, anti-immigrant, Holocaust denial, racist music, radical traditionalist Catholic, anti-Muslim, and "other")).
In its 2015 annual report, published in February 2016, the SPLC counted 892 active hate groups in the U.S., an increase from the previous year. Of these, 190 were KKK groups, 94 were neo-Nazi groups, 85 were white nationalist groups, 95 were racist skinhead groups, 19 were Christian Identity groups, 35 were neo-Confederate groups, 180 were black separatist groups, and 184 were classified as "general hate groups" (subdivided into anti-LGBT, anti-Immigrant, Holocaust denial, racist music, and radical traditionalist Catholic groups, with an additional "other" sub-category)).
Ku Klux Klan
The Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically expressed through terrorism. Since the mid-20th century, the KKK has also been anti-communist. The current manifestation is splintered into several chapters and it is classified as a hate group.
The following groups have been listed as active Klan groups in the SPLC's annual reports (year(s) in parentheses refer to the year in which the group is included):
Neo-Nazi
Neo-Nazism consists of post-World War II social or political movements seeking to revive Nazism or related ideologies. Although it does not have a single coherent philosophy, Neo-Nazism borrows elements from Nazi doctrine, including militant nationalism, fascism, anti-semitism, racism, xenophobia and homophobia.
The following groups have been listed as active neo-Nazi groups in the SPLC's annual reports (year(s) in parentheses refer to the year in which the group is included):
White separatist/nationalist
White nationalism is a political ideology that advocates a racial definition of national identity for white people (as opposed to multiculturalism) and a separate all-white nation state. White separatism and white supremacy are subgroups within white nationalism.
The former seek a separate white state, while the latter add ideas from social Darwinism and Nazism to their ideology. The vast majority of white nationalists are separatists, and a smaller number of them are supremacists. Both generally avoid the term supremacy, because it has negative connotations. The contemporary white nationalist movement in the United States could be regarded as a reaction to what is perceived as a decline in white demographics, politics and culture.
According to Samuel P. Huntington, the contemporary white nationalist movement is increasingly cultured, intellectual and academically trained. Some have suggested that rather than espousing violence, white nationalists use statistics and social science data to argue for a self-conscious white identity. By challenging established policies on immigration, civil rights and racial integration, they seek to build bridges with more moderate conservative white people.
The SPLC notes that "Groups listed in several other categories – Ku Klux Klan, neo-Confederate, neo-Nazi, racist Skinhead, and Christian Identity – could also be described as white nationalist." The following groups have been listed as active white separatist/white nationalist groups in the SPLC's annual reports (year(s) in parentheses refer to the year in which the group is included):
Racist skinheads
Racist skinheads are a white supremacist and anti-semitic offshoot of the skinhead subculture. Many of them are affiliated with white nationalist organizations. Starting in the United Kingdom, the subculture eventually spread to North America, Europe and other areas of the world. In 1988, there were approximately 2,000 neo-Nazi skinheads in the US. According to a 2007 report by the Anti-Defamation League, groups such as white power skinheads, neo-Nazis, and the Ku Klux Klan, have been growing more active in the United States in recent years, with a particular focus on opposing non-white immigration, specifically immigration from Mexico.
The following groups have been listed as active racist skinhead groups in the SPLC's annual reports (year(s) in parentheses refer to the year in which the group is included):
Black separatist/nationalist
Black separatism is a movement which historically sought to create separate institutions for black people, mostly people of African descent, in societies historically dominated by whites. Some also have traditionally sought out a separate homeland. Some black nationalist groups, most notably the Nation of Islam and the New Black Panther Party, seek less to create their own land than to co-opt existing power structures, they have preached hatred of white people and support or condone violent actions by their core constituencies.
The following groups have been listed as active black separatist groups in the SPLC's annual reports (year(s) in parentheses refer to the year in which the group is included):
Neo-Confederate
Neo-Confederate is a term used by academics to describe the views of various groups and individuals who have a positive belief system concerning the historical experience of the southern secession, the Confederate States of America, and the Southern United States – including pro-slavery ideology. Neo-Confederacy usually expresses veneration for Confederate leaders, soldiers, writers, symbols and other aspects of the Confederacy. See also: List of monuments and memorials of the Confederate States of America, Lost Cause of the Confederacy.
The following groups have been listed as active neo-Confederate groups in the SPLC's annual reports (year(s) in parentheses refer to the year in which the group is included):
Christian Identity
Christian Identity is a label applied to a wide variety of loosely affiliated believers and churches with a white supremacist theology.
Most reportedly promote a racist interpretation of Christianity. The sect emerged as an offshoot of British Israelism during the 1920s and 1930s. These groups are Estimated to have 2,000 to 50,000 members in the United States.
Anti-LGBT
Anti-LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) or anti-gay can refer to activities in certain categories (or combinations of categories): attitudes against or discrimination against LGBT people, violence against LGBT people, LGBT rights opposition and religious opposition to homosexuality.
The following groups have been listed as active anti-LGBT hate groups in the SPLC's annual reports (year(s) in parentheses refer to the year in which the group is included):
Anti-immigrant
The SPLC's anti-immigrant group category are described as xenophobic, publishing racist propaganda, and/or confronting or harassing immigrants and their supporters.
The following groups have been listed as active anti-immigrant hate groups in the SPLC's annual reports (year(s) in parentheses refer to the year in which the group is included):
Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial is the act of denying that the Holocaust happened. Most Holocaust deniers argue that the Holocaust is a hoax arising out of a deliberate Jewish conspiracy to advance the interests of Jews at the expense of other peoples. The key claims of Holocaust denial are that: the German Nazi government had no official policy or intention of exterminating Jews, the Nazis did not use extermination camps and gas chambers to mass murder Jews, and that the number of Jews killed by the Nazis was significantly lower than the historically accepted figure of 5 to 6 million.
The following groups have been listed as active Holocaust denial groups in the SPLC's annual reports (year(s) in parentheses refer to the year in which the group is included):
Racist music
White power music is music that promotes white nationalism and expresses racism against non-whites. White power music adopts the musical conventions, rhythms and forms of non-racist music to advance extreme white racism in various music genres, including pop, rock, country, experimental music and folk. Specific white power music genres include Nazi punk, Rock Against Communism, hatecore and National Socialist black metal.
The following groups have been listed as active racist music hate groups in the SPLC's annual reports (year(s) in parentheses refer to the year in which the group is included):
Radical traditional Catholicism
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, radical traditionalist Catholics who "may make up the largest single group of serious anti-Semites in America, subscribe to an ideology that is rejected by the Vatican and some 70 million mainstream American Catholics and many of their leaders have been condemned and even excommunicated by the official church. Adherents of radical traditional Catholicism "routinely pillory Jews as 'the perpetual enemy of Christ'", reject the ecumenical efforts of the Vatican, and sometimes argue that all recent Popes are illegitimate. Adherents are also "incensed by the liberalizing reforms" of the Second Vatican Council (1962–65), which condemned hatred for Jewish people and "rejected the accusation that Jews are collectively responsible for deicide in the form of the crucifixion of Christ."
The following groups have been listed as active radical traditional Catholic hate groups in the SPLC's annual reports (year(s) in parentheses refer to the year in which the group is included):
Anti-Muslim
Anti-Muslim hate groups are described as groups which dispute Islam's status as a respectable religion, depict Muslims as irrational, intolerant and violent, and accuse Islam of "sanctioning pedophilia, marital rape and child marriage".
The following groups have been listed as anti-Muslim hate groups in the SPLC's annual reports (year(s) in parentheses refer to the year in which the group is included):
Other
The following groups have been listed as other/miscellaneous hate groups in the SPLC's annual reports (year(s) in parentheses refer to the year in which the group is included):