Hate + Extremism
Hate and Extremism Continues to Grow Unabated
Despite the lack of media attention, hate groups and hate speech are seeing exponential growth
As the United States watches along with the murder trials of four different white men associated with hate and extremism, members of extremist groups are moving right in front of our faces. Gone are the days of the proverbial “militia” playing war games in the woods. Over the last two decades, we’ve seen the gradual growth of hate and extremism after 9/11 and again after the election of Barack Obama. The reactionary backlash to Obama’s presidency resulted in a virtual explosion of racial animus leading up to and well after the election of Donald Trump.
The hate we’re seeing today goes beyond the seemingly meth’d-out conservatives screaming about mask mandates at school board meetings and throwing up Nazi salutes. White men are committing acts of hate almost live on social media. Lynchings are broadcast to the world occurring in broad daylight by police and citizens alike who claim innocence or self-defense. Even white racial justice advocates have been targeted and killed.
By all accounts, this feels a lot like the race war so many white supremacists have been pining for since the passage of the Civil Rights Act. Yet, it feels like any other era. Each decade in U.S. history has stories of brutal race-based attacks, violent crimes, and murder. Every generation has stories of racist police arresting Black people and handing cases over to racist prosecutors to be tried by racist judges and juries. Even now, we have our own racists trying to overthrow the Union while begging for the order to shoot and kill those they disagree with politically.
Extremist groups are attempting to intimidate school board members with their presence in cities across the country over curriculum that isn’t taught in K-12 schools. They’ve drawn battle lines and created culture wars in the same vein as the Ku Klux Klan once did; declaring anything they disagree with communism or Marxism. A strategy that has been in play for decades and brought forth by the KKK and their friends in politics.
Modern-day hate groups also use similar recruitment, funding, and terrorizing tactics. Groups such as the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, and III Percenters all argue they aren’t hate groups as they mimic the tactics of (and associate with) well-known hate groups. As hate groups continue to explode in popularity, there have been many incidents where cops, lawyers, elected officials, and first-responders have been exposed after associating themselves with extremist groups.
Making Moves
I explored the most recent exposures of elected officials with ties to extremist groups. The latest breach exposed membership information for the Oath Keepers. Many politicians, police chiefs, and 10 sitting lawmakers were found in the database. Similarly, Tea Party candidates who hold extremist views have been in office for some time such as Ted Cruz, Mo Brooks, Matt Gaetz, Tim Scott, Steve King, and dozens more at the federal and state level.
The United States is facing growing extremism not just on the streets, but in political offices as well. Many extremists are cutting their teeth in politics by running in local elections. From Chicago to Topeka, Kansas, Proud Boys and members of other hate groups are answering the call run for office. A number that is only expected to grow as we near the upcoming mid-term elections. The growth in far-right extremism is primed to take a decidedly dark turn in 2022.
With members of extremist movements raring to get the guns, for them to act on their rabid lucidity only takes the right message from those they deem their leaders. We saw it over and over when Trump was in office. His purposeful use of coded language signaled extremist actors to commit horrible acts. The more he talked down about groups of people, the more the attacks on those communities increased. This is without question.
We can not pretend that Trump is suddenly irrelevant. He may be out of office and it may be convenient to not think about him, but you have to remember that he’s who they’re fighting for against a perceived slight that he and his cronies continue to promote. His calls to action continue to wield the same power they had before. Ignoring him puts us in peril.
Trump’s messaging has citizens calling lawmakers and journalists and threatening their lives, their family’s lives, and even their colleagues’ lives. Again, Trump’s influence on these people can not be overstated. His influence on federal authorities appears to remain a problem as none of the people making threats have been visited by the authorities. A dangerous trend coinciding with the light sentencing of January 6 insurrectionists that will result in further loss of life.
Power Hungry Hate
The exponential growth of hate and extremism has become too much for some. Despite the loss of all those clout chasers who presented themselves as allies in the summer of 2020, the fight continues. The fight for racial justice hasn’t slowed down. We can’t stop parents from teaching their kids to hate, but we can counter the political moves of extremists by ensuring candidates are there to challenge them. We can’t win them all but we can sure as hell confront their hate.
As intimidation and threats of murder become the norm, society must ensure extremists are removed from power and prevented from gaining power. Extremists in power have always been the biggest national security threat for the U.S. and they remain that way today. They have virtual armies and gangs roaming the streets. We’ve seen what extremists in power can do.
Extremists covered for George Zimmerman and tried to cover for Derek Chauvin. Extremists travel to other cities and roam the streets with guns and when they kill people they claim self-defense. Extremists attempted to cover for the three men who lynched Ahmaud Arbery in the street in broad daylight. Extremists covered for the cops who killed Breonna Taylor and tried to cover for Amber Guyger. No, none of this isn’t new. But it’s growing right before our eyes.
It’s become clear that we cannot rely on law enforcement nor the justice system to search out and prosecute people committing acts of treason on the nation or acts of hate against its citizens. Some of those very same people want to take over our school boards and city councils. Extremists are coming for your local government and it’s time to start paying attention.
Complacency got the United States to where it is today. That same arrogance, that smugness will all but ensure racist extremists come to power all over the country. The shoulder-shrugging the U.S. is known for is what leads law enforcement to create lists of racial justice activists and act blind to what extremists are doing. Unfortunately for us, the people making those lists are likely members of hate or extremist groups — as so many cops are.
Conclusion
The way we fight back is by being persistent and consistent. I know the fight is getting ugly, but now is not the time to quit. Their last act of defiance is to escalate things and make them uncomfortable and exhausting. What they fail to realize is we are a community of millions and if we need a break, we take one because there will always be millions of others still fighting.
We are stronger and outnumber them. Keep fighting.
Arturo is a first-generation Cuban American father, racial justice advocacy journalist, and publisher of The Antagonist Magazine. You can find him on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. You can support his work here and here. You can read all of Arturo’s work by joining Medium here.
