A hate group is an organized group or movement that advocates hate, hostility, or violence towards members of a race, ethnicity, religion, gender or other designated sector of society, or that supports and publishes assertions and argumentation characteristic of hate groups without necessarily explicitly advocating such hate or violence that otherwise characterize hate groups. The term "hate group" is not used by these groups themselves, but rather by those who oppose them, and sometimes by sociologists or historians who study them. Many groups described this way disagree with the term as misconstruing their motives or goals. Look up hate in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Anger is a term for the emotional aspect of aggression, as a basic aspect of the stress response in animals whereby a perceived aggravating stimulus provokes a counterresponse which is likewise aggravating and threatening of violence. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Hate groups usually assert that the targets of their attacks are harmful to society, malicious, less fit to be members of society, or are operating some hidden cabal. The evidence hate groups present for these assertions is usually poorly corroborated, and is often based explicitly on the hate group's negative beliefs about the social groups to which the target is or is imagined to belong (e.g. groups based on race, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, etc.). A cabal is a number of persons united in some close design, usually to promote their private views and interests in a church, state, or other community by intrigue. ...

Although their evidence is usually inaccurate, sub-standard and widely rejected by society, the hate group continues to propagate assertions, myths, narratives and rumours, playing upon fear, xenophobia, blame or jealousy, with the aim of harming the individuals and groups they target, and inciting others to distrust or hate them also. The ultimate aim of a hate group is commonly the delegitimization, elimination, and exclusion of groups, or the harm, deportation, or death of individuals. Hate groups often use their victims as scapegoats to blame for discontent in society. Fear is a powerful, unpleasant feeling of risk or danger, either real or imagined. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... To Blame is to hold another person or group responsible for perceived faults, be those faults real, imagined, or merely invented for perjorative purposes. ... Jealousy typically refers to the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that occur when a person believes a valued relationship is being threatened by a rival. ... The Scapegoat by William Holman Hunt, 1854. ... Young people interacting within an ethnically diverse society. ...

How hate groups work

Hate groups often disseminate historically inaccurate information about these persons or organizations. This inaccurate information is used for vilification or may be the reason for hostility. Typically, they prejudge each individual in the target group as "unworthy" or "inferior" and want to exclude or hurt them. A hate group commonly works to achieve its goals using fear, hate, and intimidation as its modus operandi (or commonly used methods). In the democratic West, organizations dedicated to the incitement of racial violence, including white supremacist, black supremacist are commonly described as hate groups. Generally, these groups do not avoid classification; they openly admit hating their targets. Fear is a powerful, unpleasant feeling of risk or danger, either real or imagined. ... Intimidation is the act of making others do what one wants through fear. ... Modus operandi (often used in the abbreviated form MO) is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as mode of operation. ... Democracy (literally rule by the people, from the Greek demos, people, and kratos, rule[1]) is a form of government. ... White supremacy is the variety of white nationalism that believes the white race should rule over other races. ... Black supremacy is the belief that blacks are genetically or racially superior to people of other racial backgrounds. ...

Two main elements are present in hate group literature and tactics:

• Dehumanizing or demonizing the target;
• Conspiracy theories

Some people claim, without referring to scholarly works, that there are two additional characterizations: A conspiracy theory attempts to explain the ultimate cause of an event or chain of events (usually political, social, or historical events) as a secret, and often deceptive, plot by a covert alliance of powerful or influential people or organizations. ...

• Claiming to be a minority that speaks for a silent majority;
• Proclamation of scholarly or scientific support for their theories. The support may turn out to be non-existent, pseudo scientific, partisan, or one-sided on closer examination.

A pseudoscience is any body of knowledge purported to be scientific or supported by science but which fails to comply with the scientific method. ...

Violence by hate groups

The California Association for Human Relations Organizations (CAHRO) asserts that mainstream hate-groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and the White Aryan Resistance preach violence against racial, religious, sexual and other minorities in the USA. These groups have hate hotlines, Internet websites and chatrooms, and hate propaganda distribution networks designed to transform the fears of the poor, the paranoid and the ignorant into violence, and to brutalize minorities and vandalize their property. They further assert that pseudo-mainstream hate groups are perhaps the most dangerous. Most of the population automatically tunes out messages from known racist groups like the Ku Klux Klan, because they know what their agenda is, but groups with a mainstream cover, who use mainstream terminology to spread their message, can find a much wider audience and thus be more dangerous. Members of the second Ku Klux Klan at a rally during the 1920s. ... WARs Hate and Fear logo The White Aryan Resistance is a neo-Nazi white supremacist organization founded and led by former Ku Klux Klan leader Tom Metzger. ...

Joseph E. Agne wrote an article in which he sees hate violence as a result of the successes of the Civil Rights Movement and asserts that the Ku Klux Klan has resurfaced and new hate groups have formed. Agne talks about the use of propaganda via the use of magazines, songs, the Internet, cable TV, comic books, and other media to carry messages of hate. Hate Groups also field political candidates and boast of leaders at the highest levels of churches, corporations, and institutions. Agne asserts that it is a mistake to underestimate the strength of the hate-violence movement, its apologists, and its silent partners. [1] Apologetics is the field of study concerned with the systematic defense of a position. ...

Verbal violence

Further information: Hate speech

Dr. Ehud Sprinzak, an expert in terrorism and hate crimes, asserts that verbal violence is "the use of extreme language against an individual or a group that either implies a direct threat that physical force will be used against them, or is seen as an indirect call for others to use it." Sprinzak argues that verbal violence is often a substitute for real violence, and that the verbalization of hate has the potential to incite people who are incapable of distinguishing between real and verbal violence to engage in actual violence¹. Hate speech is a controversial term for speech intended to degrade, intimidate, or incite violence or prejudicial action against a person or group of people based on their race, gender, age, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, language ability, moral or political views, socioeconomic class, occupation and...

Historian Daniel Goldhagen discussing anti-semitic hate groups, argues that we should view "verbal violence ... as an assault in its own right, having been intended to produce profound damage–emotional, psychological, and social–to the dignity and honor of the Jews. The wounds that people suffer by ... such vituperation ... can be as bad as ... a ... beating."² Daniel Jonah Goldhagen (born 1959) is an American political scientist. ... The Eternal Jew: 1937 German poster. ...

Verbal violence and the Internet

By characterizing speech acts as "violence", anti-hate groups have attempted to sideline freedom of speech objections to the silencing of hate groups, particularly on the Internet. In 1996, the Simon Wiesenthal Center of Los Angeles asked Internet access providers to adopt a "code of ethics" that would prevent extremists from publishing their ideas online. Internet providers that adopt the code would refuse service to individuals or groups that "promote violence and mayhem, denigrate and threaten minorities and women, and promote homophobia." This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The Simon Wiesenthal Center The Simon Wiesenthal Center is an international Jewish organization that declares itself to be a human rights group dedicated to preserving the memory of the Holocaust by fostering tolerance and understanding through community involvement, educational outreach and social action. ...

In the same year, America Online Inc. said it may face charges in Germany for permitting German citizens to access neo-Nazi and anti-Semitic material on the global computer network (Los Angeles Times, 3 February 1996.) February 3 is the 34th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ...

The European Commission (EC) formed in 1996 the Consultative Commission on Racism and Xenophobia (CRAX), a pan-European group to "encourage the mixing of people of different cultures" from both inside and outside Europe, tasked to "investigate and, using legal means, stamp out the current wave of racism on the Internet" and hoping that the EC "will take all needed measures to prevent the Internet from becoming a vehicle for the incitement of racist hatred" (Newsbytes News Network, 31 January 1996). The European Commission (formally the Commission of the European Communities) is the executive body of the European Union. ... January 31 is the 31st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ...

Psychopathology of hate groups

According to a report published in 2003 in the FBI Law Enforcement bulletin³, a hate group, if unimpeded, passes through seven successive stages of hate. In the first four stages, hate groups vocalize their beliefs and in the last three stages, they act on their beliefs. The report points to a transition period that exists between verbal violence and acting that violence out, separating hard-core haters from rhetorical haters. Thus, hate speech are seen as prerequisites of hate crimes and as a condition of their possibility. Similar stages have been proposed for genocide. Hate speech is a controversial term for speech intended to degrade, intimidate, or incite violence or prejudicial action against a person or group of people based on their race, gender, age, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, language ability, moral or political views, socioeconomic class, occupation and... A hate crime (bias crime), loosely defined, is a crime committed because of the perpetrators prejudices. ... Condition of possibility is a philosophical concept first used by Kant. ... Genocide is the mass killing of a group of people as defined by Article 2 of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG) as any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or...

Stage 1: Grouping

Haters feel compelled to have others hate as they do. Through peer validation, they get a sense of self-worth and at the same time prevent introspection. Individuals who otherwise would be ineffective become empowered when they form or join groups. In addition, groups provide a welcome anonymity in which to express hate without being held accountable.

Stage 2: Self-definition

Hate groups create identities through symbols, mythologies, and rituals, designed to enhance the members' status and at the same time, degrade the object of their hate.

Stage 3: Disparaging the target

By verbally debasing the object of their hate, haters enhance their self-image, as well as their group status. Researchers have found that the more often a person thinks about aggression, the greater the chance for aggressive behavior to occur. Thus, after constant verbal denigration, haters progress to the next stage.

Stage 4: Taunting the target

Time cools the fire of hate forcing the hater to look inward. To avoid introspection, haters increase their use of rhetoric and violence to maintain high levels of agitation. Taunts and offensive gestures serve this purpose.

Stage 5: Attacking without weapons

This stage is critical because it differentiates vocally abusive haters from physically abusive ones. Violence coalesces hate groups and isolates them from mainstream society. The element of thrill-seeking appears in this stage. The adrenaline "high" intoxicates the attackers. Each successive hate derived thought or action triggers a more violent response than the one that originally initiated the sequence. Anger builds on anger. Adrenaline-high combined with hate becomes a deadly combination.

Stage 6: Attacking with weapons

Some attackers use firearms to commit hate crimes, while others prefer close-contact weapons. Requiring the attacker to be close to the victim, shows the personal-anger aspects of hate. Some attackers choose to discharge firearms at a distance, thus avoiding personal contact. Personal contact empowers and fulfills the deep-seated need of the hater to have dominance over the object of their hate.

Stage 7: Destroying the target

The ultimate goal of haters is to destroy the object of their hate. With the power over life and death comes a great sense of self-worth and value; however, the ultimate destiny of hate is the physical and psychological destruction of both the hater and the hated.

Terrorism link

If the group continues to increase in membership, and at the same time increase their power and popularity in Stage 7, they may then be classified as a terrorist group, which is when the hate group has the ability to control the political climate. As terrorism is defined as using violent acts to achieve one's goal using fear, some hate groups have now increased to having that ability that they become terror groups. These groups are typically characterized as being increasingly dangerous and extremist. Alleged terror groups such as the Nazi Party in Germany from 1933 to 1945 began as small groups that followed the steps of the typical hate group. A terrorist organisation is an organisation that engages in terrorist tactics, they are also (perhaps more neutrally) referred to as militant organisations. ... The Nazi Party, (German: , or NSDAP, English: National Socialist German Workers Party), was a political party in Germany between 1920 and 1945. ...

Hate groups on the Internet

In the mid-1990s, the popularity of the Internet brought new international exposure to many organizations, including groups with beliefs such as white supremacists, Holocaust deniers, anti-Islamic and other groups. A number of authority figures stated publicly that the Internet allowed hate groups to introduce their messages to a widespread audience, and it was feared that their memberships would gain in popularity and numbers as a result. Some scholars suggest that the information overload brought forth by the Internet may be manipulated for the purpose of damaging specific groups or organizations. For the band, see 1990s (band). ... White supremacy is the variety of white nationalism that believes the white race should rule over other races. ... Richard Harwoods Did Six Million Really Die? Holocaust denial refers to the claims of a small number of amateur historians who argue that the Holocaust is either exaggerated or completely falsified. ... Islam (Arabic: ; ( ▶ (help· info)), the submission to God) is a monotheistic faith, one of the Abrahamic religions and the worlds second-largest religion. ...

Since the advent of the Internet, a common tactic by hate groups is the use of Cyberstalking. Several white supremacist groups have founded Web sites dedicated to attacking their perceived enemies, such as Ken McVay, founder of the Nizkor Project; or Morris Dees, founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Cyberstalking is the use of the Internet or other electronic means to stalk someone. ... Ken McVay OBC, a Canadian-American dual citizen, is one of the Internets foremost experts on the subject of Holocaust denial (also called Holocaust revisionism) and the methods used by revisionists to promote it. ... The Nizkor (Hebrew: we will remember) Project is an ongoing Internet-based project run by Ken McVay which is dedicated to countering Holocaust revisionism. ... Morris Seligman Dees, Jr. ... The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American non-profit legal organization, whose stated purpose is to combat racism and promote civil rights through research, education, and litigation. ...

Hate groups and the anti-cult movement

White nationalists and white supremacists have created a number of religions. William Pierce, founder of the National Alliance, also founded the religion of Cosmotheism. The former "World Church of the Creator", now renamed the Creativity Movement, is led by Matthew F. Hale and is tied to violence and bigotry. White nationalism is the attempt to create racial identity groups which advance the social and economic interests of White or Caucasian people. ... White supremacy is the variety of white nationalism that believes the white race should rule over other races. ... William Pierce was the name of the following men: William Pierce (politician) (1740–1789), a Continental Congressman from Georgia. ... This article refers to the United States-based organization. ... Cosmotheism is a term invented in the late-19th or early-20th century, originally as a near-synonym of pantheism, and used by: Mordekhay Nesiyahu (Zionist user of the term) William Luther Pierce (White separatist) This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with the same title. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Matthew F. Hale (center) at the Peoria Public Library. ...

Some new religious movements (NRMs) have seized upon anti-cult movement (ACM) critique and what they see as hostile acts of their unfavorable former members, and cited them as examples of religious intolerance, persecution, and bigotry. A new religious movement or NRM appears as a religious, ethical or spiritual grouping that has not (yet) become recognised as a standard denomination, church, or body, especially when it has a novel belief system and when it is not a sect. ... It has been suggested that Opposition to cults and new religious movements be merged into this article or section. ... Intolerance is the lack of ability or willingness to tolerate something. ... Look up Persecution in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A bigot is a prejudiced person who is intolerant of opinions, lifestyles, or identities differing from his or her own. ...

CESNUR’s president Massimo Introvigne, writes in his article "So many evil things: Anti-cult terrorism via the Internet" [2], that fringe and extreme anti-cult activism resort to tactics that may create a background favorable to extreme manifestations of discrimination and hate against individuals that belong to new religious movements. Somewhat in concurrence with Introvigne, professor Eileen Barker asserts that the controversy surrounding certain new religious movements can turn violent by a process called deviancy amplification spiral. [3] CESNUR is a center for studies on new religions, based in Turin, Italy. ... Professor Massimo Introvigne, a lawyer and social scientist (B.D. Philosophy, and Dr. Jur. ... It has been suggested that Opposition to cults and new religious movements be merged into this article or section. ... Manifestations Slavery · Racial profiling · Lynching Hate speech · Hate crime · Hate groups Genocide · Holocaust · Pogrom Ethnocide · Ethnic cleansing · Race war Religious persecution · Gay bashing Pedophobia · Ephebiphobia Movements Discriminatory Aryanism · Neo-Nazism · Supremacism Kahanism Anti-discriminatory Abolitionism · Civil rights · Gay rights Womens/Universal suffrage · Mens rights Childrens rights · Youth... Look up hate in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Eileen Barker is a professor in sociology and is an emeritus member of the London School of Economics, and a consultant to that institutions Centre for the Study of Human Rights at. ... Deviancy amplification spiral is a mass media phenomenon defined by media critics as an increasing cycle of reporting on a category of antisocial behavior or other undesirable events. ...

"Normalization" of hate groups

Using the pervasiveness of the Internet, hate groups are promoting a more "professional" veneer which may appear as more scientific and intellectual than hateful. This apparent normalization is considered a dangerous trend in the United States:

"..the hate movement in the United States has taken on a new, modern face. The strength of the contemporary hate movement is grounded in its ability to repackage its message in ways that make it more palatable, and in its ability to exploit the points of intersection between itself and prevailing ideological canons. In short, the hate movement is attempting to move itself into the mainstream of United States culture and politics." ⁵

Listing of hate groups

In the USA, two of the several organizations that try to counter intolerance and hate groups are the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). The ADL and the SPLC list hate groups, supremacist groups, anti-Semitic, anti-government or extremist groups that have committed hate crimes. The Anti-Defamation League (or ADL) is an advocacy group founded by Bnai Brith in the United States whose stated aim is to stop, by appeals to reason and conscience and, if necessary, by appeals to law, the defamation of the Jewish people. ... The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American non-profit legal organization, whose stated purpose is to combat racism and promote civil rights through research, education, and litigation. ... The Eternal Jew: 1937 German poster. ... A Jewish cemetery in France after being defaced by Neo-Nazis. ...

"Hate group" as a label

The classification of other groups as a hate group is controversial and little or no consensus has developed as to whether political, religious or anti-religious movements deserve the label hate group. The term "hate group" as a pejorative characterization slung against one's opponents has come to be used by a wide variety of people and groups:

• Scientologist Bob Lippman called the old Cult Awareness Network a "hate group" [4];
• In the contentious debate about SCO Group and Linux, Rob Enderle, from the Enderle Group, refers to Linux users as zealots and compares their behavior with that of hate groups.^{[citation needed]}
• Gay rights activists label Christian conservative groups such as the American Family Association, Family Research Council and Concerned Women for America as hate groups.

The SCO Group, Inc. ... Linux (IPA pronunciation: ) is a Unix-like computer operating system family. ... Rob Enderle, founder of the Enderle Group, is widely quoted as a technical and legal analyst in the information technology industry. ... The American Family Association (AFA) is a conservative Christian organization founded in 1977 by Rev. ... The Family Research Council (FRC) is a Christian conservative non-profit lobbying organization, formed in the United States by James Dobson in 1981 and incorporated 1983. ... Concerned Women for America is a conservative Christian group that is active in politics in the United States. ...

References

1. Sprinzak, Ehud. Brother against Brother: Violence and Extremism in Israeli Politics from Altalena to the Rabin Assassination. New York: The Free Press (1999)
2. Goldhagen, Daniel Jonah, Hitler’s Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans the Holocaust (Knopf, 1996), p. 124.
3. Schafer,John R. MA & Navarro. Joe, MA . The seven-stage hate model: The psychopathology of hate groups. FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, March 2003 [5]
4. Denning, Dorothy E., and Peter J. Denning. Internet Besieged: Countering Cyberspace Scofflaws. New York: ACM Press (1998)
5. Perry, Barbara - ‘Button-Down Terror’: The Metamorphosis of the Hate Movement. Sociological Focus Vol. 33 (No. 2, May 2000): 113.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is a federal criminal investigative, intelligence agency, and the primary investigative arm of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). ... Dorothy Elizabeth Denning (born August 12, 1945) is an American information security researcher. ...

See also

• List of purported hate groups
• gangs
• Terrorist group

Numerous groups have been alleged to be hate groups, which are organized groups or movements that advocate hate, hostility or violence. ... A gang is a group of individuals who share a common identity and, in current usage, engage in illegal activities. ... A terrorist organisation is an organisation that engages in terrorist tactics, they are also (perhaps more neutrally) referred to as militant organisations. ...

External links

• Hate Groups on the Internet - The Hate Directory
• DMOZ open directory listing of websites and usenet groups by and about hate groups
• Poisoning the Web: Hatred Online, Internet Bigotry, Extremism and Violence - The Anti-defamation League
• Hatewatch
• Tolerance.org. map of hate groups in the USA
• Online Hate - The Media Awareness Network
  • Deconstructing Hate Sites
• ApologeticsIndex: Hate Groups
• Religion's news blog about hate groups press clippings and news collected by Anton Hein
• Survivor bashing - bias motivated hate crimes
• Reporting Hate Crimes