SPLC: Virginia Has 7th Most "Hate Groups" in Country

By: Lowell
Published On: 3/17/2008 6:00:00 AM

I don't know about you, but I find this to be disturbing: according to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), Virginia has 34 active "hate groups," behind only 6 other states -- California (80), Texas (67), Florida (49), South Carolina (45), Georgia (42), and Tennessee (38). For a full list of the SPLC's Virginia "hate groups," ranging from "White Nationalist" to "Neo-Nazi" to "Nativists", see here.

Overall, according to the SPLC, "the number of hate groups operating in America has swelled by 48 percent since 2000, a staggering increase mainly attributable to the anti-immigrant fervor sweeping the country." It's not a pretty picture.


Comments



They have a map here: (ericy - 3/17/2008 7:08:13 AM)

http://www.splcenter.org/intel...

The groups are spread all over the state - some are even in NoVa.



Compared to Mississippi (redtravelmaster - 3/17/2008 9:11:59 AM)
...Prince William county is, in my opinion, far more openly racist.  I lived on the Mississippi Gulf Coast for thirteen years before moving here to Northern Virginia.  I was honestly shocked at the level of open racism, and sheer viciousness towards liberals, that I experienced "down south."  

It doesn't surprise me to see that Virginia is considered to have more active hate groups than Mississippi.  



The Neo-Nazi Group in Charlottesville (aznew - 3/17/2008 1:14:45 PM)
is supposedly disbanded, as its leader, Kevin Strom, has plead guilty to child pornography charges. I believe he is still awaiting sentencing.

Small comfort, but something.



An 'honor' for Mr. Letiecq (Barbara - 3/17/2008 2:24:42 PM)
This was a lead article in the Potomac News last week.  Here is what Greq Letiecq had to say in response:
On his blog bvbl.net, Letiecq wrote, "If the SPLC considers me one of the key players in the debate, I'm more than happy to accept this honor. I am absolutely thrilled, and want to extend my heartfelt appreciation to the SPLC for recognizing me personally as one of the most effective political opponents in the national debate on immigration policy that they are faced with."

Plus Corey still likes him.    



VA Blogger Who Broke the Macaca Story Spews Hate, According to VA High School Students (Hank Bostwick - 3/17/2008 3:50:18 PM)
http://www.scrutinyhooligans.u...

Check it out.  "Hate Groups" can fester anywhere.



I don't have a dog in this fight (aznew - 3/17/2008 4:59:28 PM)
But I think throwing around names like "hate groups" to describe NLS is a bit overboard.

I don't read NLS much, so I'm not so much defending it as speaking generally, but it is not a hate site in any commonly understood sense of the term.

And calling it one, IMHO, is not only unfair to the site and to Ben T. (whom I do not know), but it trivializes the danger that real hate groups present.

I do applaud your efforts in encouraging high school students to become actively engaged in the political debates currently taking place in this country and in the Democratic party.  



Hyperbole (Hank Bostwick - 3/17/2008 10:33:19 PM)
Thanks, aznew, that's why I put "Hate Groups" in quotation marks.  Take a few moments and read some of the comments, images, or tag-lines that appear at NLS.

You're right, NLS is not a hate group per se, but it walks a fine line.  I've been in Virginia since the late fall of 2006, and granted, I'm not as familiar with the blog regulars here in the commonwealth.  However, referring to Senator Obama as "Pothead Hussein," "a creepy stalker," etc., is an indulgence in the sort of speech which empowers other truly violent, race-hating individuals by providing them with an audience for their rantings.  Like the folks here at Raising Kaine, at Scrutiny Hooligans, we try to slow down the commentary process (not censor) by asking our readers who wish to comment to register.  Simple, not too time-consuming.  But it cuts down on the type of stuff you see on sites like NLS.  Something about having to be accountable (even if ever so slightly) helps commentators to think before they post.

What we find problematic about NLS is his hypocrisy.  Someone who allegedly has garnered a wide readership because of his "macaca" fame some two years later pulls an Allen as he tries his level-best to use satire slathered in racial imagery--come on, aznew, the irony . . . well.

It is curious to us that a few bloggers have come so shiftly to Not Larry's defense.  Excellent, he has friends.  We all need those.  Every defender, however, has nothing substantive to say about the posts we've noted.

We've plotted our argument over a series of posts. We've asked the youth of Virginia to comment.  But no one out there in the blogosphere, not even a congressional candidate, has addressed any of the posts specifically.

Sure, we get some platitudes about free speech, etc., but no one seems to have the courage to take on NLS.

Anyway, the point has been made.