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Extremism in Politics
The Growing Political Support for Hate Groups is Dangerous
The number of hate groups and the growing number of powerful political groups who share their views highlight a real threat to marginalized people
The growth in hate groups was not entirely unpredictable. Many of us have warned about this for more than a decade. Now, tactics to navigate the major online platforms like Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) for hate groups are more efficient than ever, and smaller platforms like Telegram and Truth Social — where racist and bigoted views are accepted — provide forums to build community among extremist thinkers.
That growth has only made these groups more dangerous as they coordinate and operate alongside newer otherwise unknown groups.
A recent article by Aram Roston in Reuters covers the growth and staying power of the hate group the Proud Boys while reminding us how dangerous they can be. It’s a well-written and researched piece that will get the reader up to speed on the group and what society can expect from them. Roston’s article touches on an important point discussing former Proud Boys members moving on to more violent groups like Blood Tribe, a neo-Nazi group, and Active Club, a hardcore white supremacist movement.
But it goes even deeper than that.
The cross-pollination of hate groups reaches beyond members leaving one to join another. Many of these groups have embraced acting together much like the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) and neo-Nazis do. While the concept of a decentralized network mimics the KKK’s structure, working in conjunction with other groups isn’t new. However, there are arguably more hate groups on the streets than at any other time in U.S. history.
This broader representation makes them farther-reaching and far more dangerous. With their ideas having been promoted and normalized across myriad media outlets and social media platforms, everything from houses of worship to mainstream right-wing media participated in normalizing hate.
This is important to note.
