White Supremacist Hate Groups: Back With a Vengeance

The immigration issue has been much more volatile lately, and the publicity has generated a smelly by-product: a powerful resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan and various skinhead and neo-Nazi groups.

These groups have been gaining members, holding more rallies and they’ve increased their presence on the Internet. They’ve been capitalizing on the immigration issue as a way to fan the flames of racism.

The Civil Rights Director of the Anti-Defamation League said “Extremist groups are good at seizing on whatever the hot button is of the day and twisting the message to get new members. This one seems to be taking hold with more of mainstream America than we’d like to see.”

She also said “The Klan is increasingly cooperating with other extremist groups and Neo-Nazi groups. That’s a new phenomenon.” The director of the Southern Poverty Law Center said “Whenever you think the Klan is down and out, they find another way to reinvent themselves.”

The KKK has been reviving a lot of their old chapters and opening news ones as well, especially in the South (like you'd expect) but also in Michigan, Iowa and New Jersey. Since 2005, hate groups in general have grown by 33%; the KKK has grown by 63%.

The KKK reached its highest membership — more than 4 million members — in the 1920s. During that period, same as now, their main recruiting tool was hatred of immigrants. The more things change…