Violence Erupts: Extremism Turning to Hate
Hate groups practice discrimination and hatred. They pinpoint
specific groups and individuals and often commit violent actions
against them. Members of hate groups typically target minority groups.
Over the years, various hate groups have persecuted blacks; Asians;
Muslims; Jews; Catholics; women; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender,
queer/questioning, and intersex (LGBTQI) individuals; immigrants;
foreigners; and others. Some minority hate groups, though far fewer,
target the white majority in the United States.
EXTREMIST VIEWS
The spectrum of political beliefs in the United States is diverse.
Generally, political scientists use the term
right wing
to describe
conservative politicians who tend to hold traditional views about
marriage, religion, family, gender, and patriotism. The term
left wing
usually refers to liberal Americans who tend to have flexible views
about marriage, family, religion, and other social norms. Of the two
main political parties in the United States, Republicans are generally
more conservative than Democrats are. And within each party are
differences of opinion, with some members holding more extreme views
than others hold.
Hate groups do not represent mainstream thoughts. They promote
extremist views. The hate groups at the Charlottesville rally were from
the far right of the political spectrum. Their views are so extreme that
they do not represent mainstream conservative thinking. The average
conservative is not a racist or a neo-Nazi and does not belong to a hate
group. Some experts reject the hate group label as biased, preferring
the term
extremist group
. Many hate groups themselves also dismiss
the hate label in favor of something less negative—for example, Chris
Barker, a prominent Ku Klux Klan leader calls his group “more of a
civil rights organization.”
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