White supremacism on the rise?

Lord Zentei · Post by **Lord Zentei** » 2006-02-21 03:25pm

Anderson Cooper Blog wrote:Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Klansman told me to get out of America

I met Jarred Hensley, a Ku Klux Klan member, six months ago while working on a story about racial tensions in Ohio. I remember being struck by his age: At 23, he was -- and remains -- the second most powerful Klansman in the state.

Hensley told me the Klan was growing younger and larger, information we later verified with the Southern Poverty Law Center. I asked Hensley if we could attend one of his Klan meetings. He told me non-members are not allowed. But he eventually agreed to videotape the meeting for us. His tape arrived a few months later.

After reviewing the tape (only portions of the meeting were filmed), I went to Ohio to interview Hensley. He told me there was an increase in Klan membership after 9/11. He also said the Internet is the Klan's number one recruiting tool.

Personally, this has been a hard story for me to report. As an Asian-American journalist, I found it difficult at times to listen to his views objectively. At one point in the interview, he told me I should leave the country.

Some people have asked me why we are giving the Ku Klux Klan a platform. I respond by saying there is clear evidence the white supremacist movement is on the rise in this country and around the world. This story cannot be ignored.

Do we have more on this development?

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2006-02-21 04:22pm

What exactly would go on at a Klan meeting that would be so secret?

"Okay guys, we still hate black people, right?"
"Yep."
"Okay, meeting adjourned."

Agent Fisher · Post by **Agent Fisher** » 2006-02-21 04:26pm

Durandal wrote:What exactly would go on at a Klan meeting that would be so secret?

"Okay guys, we still hate black people, right?"
"Yep."
"Okay, meeting adjourned."

More like, "Lets all get drunk and play PingPong!"

SVPD · Post by **SVPD** » 2006-02-21 04:29pm

The reporter is taking the word of a single clansman as proof that white supremacism is on the rise?

Agent Fisher · Post by **Agent Fisher** » 2006-02-21 04:31pm

SVPD wrote:The reporter is taking the word of a single clansman as proof that white supremacism is on the rise?

Uh,

The article included this phrase wrote:information we later verified with the Southern Poverty Law Center.

General Zod · Post by **General Zod** » 2006-02-21 04:34pm

Some people have asked me why we are giving the Ku Klux Klan a platform. I respond by saying there is clear evidence the white supremacist movement is on the rise in this country and around the world. This story cannot be ignored.

I'd like to see him back up his evidence. From every source I've heard, white supremacist movements have been losing steam since. . .well, a number of decades ago. (The exact date escapes me at the moment).

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2006-02-21 04:44pm

Agent Fisher wrote:
Durandal wrote:What exactly would go on at a Klan meeting that would be so secret?

"Okay guys, we still hate black people, right?"
"Yep."
"Okay, meeting adjourned."
More like, "Lets all get drunk and play PingPong!"

Actually, we shoot pool and drin...

Never mind

LongVin · Post by **LongVin** » 2006-02-21 05:26pm

Yes truly a force to be feared. Guys with no teeth, no jobs or poor paying ones, a rusty pickup truck parked in a dirt patch in front of an as rusty or more rusty trailer surrounding by empty beer cans. Oh...and they are all wearing old beat up John Deere hats.

Sharpshooter · Post by **Sharpshooter** » 2006-02-21 05:42pm

So, there's now 6 members instead of 5? Jeez, we'd better do something before they trade in the minibus!

The Guid · Post by **The Guid** » 2006-02-21 06:43pm

In fairness I think there probably is something to be slighty concerned at. Certainly from a UK standpoint. Our white supremacists gained more votes at the last election than the one beforehand - of course its easy to see this as nothing threatening as compared to 50 years ago society is far more reasonable than it used to be. However I think what the blogger is suggesting is if we look at the 5 year trend we see a rise.

Sonnenburg · Post by **Sonnenburg** » 2006-02-21 07:45pm

Durandal wrote:What exactly would go on at a Klan meeting that would be so secret?

"Okay guys, we still hate black people, right?"
"Yep."
"Okay, meeting adjourned."

But there's a universal law that no meeting can ever, ever be that short, because there's always someone who's got to bring up some major policy issue that's going to take at least forty-five minutes to debate. In this case it'd probably be three hours of discussion the Michael Jackson issue.

RedImperator · Post by **RedImperator** » 2006-02-21 07:59pm

LongVin wrote:Yes truly a force to be feared. Guys with no teeth, no jobs or poor paying ones, a rusty pickup truck parked in a dirt patch in front of an as rusty or more rusty trailer surrounding by empty beer cans. Oh...and they are all wearing old beat up John Deere hats.

Right, because drunken hicks never strung a black man from a tree or dragged him to death behind a pickup truck...oh wait.

LongVin · Post by **LongVin** » 2006-02-21 08:29pm

RedImperator wrote:
LongVin wrote:Yes truly a force to be feared. Guys with no teeth, no jobs or poor paying ones, a rusty pickup truck parked in a dirt patch in front of an as rusty or more rusty trailer surrounding by empty beer cans. Oh...and they are all wearing old beat up John Deere hats.
Right, because drunken hicks never strung a black man from a tree or dragged him to death behind a pickup truck...oh wait.

And those cases are few and far between. Compared to what it was like 60+ years ago when these organizations were many times larger and made up more educated and wealthy people.

RedImperator · Post by **RedImperator** » 2006-02-21 08:40pm

LongVin wrote:
RedImperator wrote:
LongVin wrote:Yes truly a force to be feared. Guys with no teeth, no jobs or poor paying ones, a rusty pickup truck parked in a dirt patch in front of an as rusty or more rusty trailer surrounding by empty beer cans. Oh...and they are all wearing old beat up John Deere hats.
Right, because drunken hicks never strung a black man from a tree or dragged him to death behind a pickup truck...oh wait.
And those cases are few and far between. Compared to what it was like 60+ years ago when these organizations were many times larger and made up more educated and wealthy people.

Irrevelant. You dismissed a rise in white supremacism as no threat to anybody. The fact that things probably won't get as bad as they were in the 20's and 30's does not mean that white supremacists are harmless and it makes no difference if there are more of them. And this isn't counting at all what's going on in the prisons, where the Aryan Nation and its affiliates are extremely violent, extremely dangerous prison gangs which are now exporting their violence beyond prison walls.

Phil Skayhan · Post by **Phil Skayhan** » 2006-02-22 08:55pm

LongVin wrote:Yes truly a force to be feared. Guys with no teeth, no jobs or poor paying ones, a rusty pickup truck parked in a dirt patch in front of an as rusty or more rusty trailer surrounding by empty beer cans. Oh...and they are all wearing old beat up John Deere hats.

Yep, it sure is great that you can always tell who is a white supremesist just by looking at them. You could never find people harboring such vile beliefs wearing a shirt and tie walking the hallowed halls of higher learning in pursuit of their doctorate in Physics and teaching classes during the summer and winter sessions.

Nope. Never in a million years.

Delaware News Journal wrote: UD: Huber's status will not change
By Lee Williams
The News Journal

02/12/2006
NEWARK -- Robert T. Huber has been a leader in the area white power movement since his early teens, when he was inducted into the "Skinhead Hall of Fame" for his ability to recruit people to the cause and deal with the news media.

The distinction is recorded on "skinheadz," a Web site based in Learned, Miss., where young men from Salt Lake City to Fort Worth, Texas, to Pembroke, N.H., post photographs, exchange messages, recruit like-minded kids and play games such as "whites versus muds," where the object is "to keep your girlfriend away from the muds."

Despite his long history of involvement in right-wing extremist groups, University of Delaware officials had no idea Huber, who taught physics to about 100 student last session, harbored racist beliefs until contacted by The News Journal.

On Friday, Roselle added that although Huber is not currently teaching, his status at UD has not changed. Doctoral candidates "teach as needed. Their job is to work for a faculty member. ... Typically they teach in summer school or winter session. I don't know if they're planning on having him teach more, but there's been no change in anything."

Roselle said Huber had no student complaints lodged against him, nor did he have any kind of record with campus police. Professor George Hadjipanayis, who heads the university's department of physics and astronomy called Huber "a good student"

Drat! If only he's been wearing his standard-issue beat-up John Deere cap in class I could have recognized him for what he was. I'm going to write the meanest letter to his organization to have him fined for being out of uniform.

Raw Shark · Post by **Raw Shark** » 2006-02-23 05:32am

An overall decline in White Supremacy movements in the US is not mutually exclusive with an increase in Klan membership. They could be reaching out to younger racists and using the veneer of legitimacy and respectability their long history and widespread notoriety buys them in those circles to win a greater and greater share of a shrinking market, for example.

General Brock · Post by **General Brock** » 2006-02-26 12:53am

The young klansman has problems and has found a social group within which he has some stature and personal validation.

Really dangerous racists to not wear their hate on their sleeve. While the ongoing existance of traditional racist groups is discouraging, of more concern are those who can repackage themselves convincingly and operate in informal cliques without the need to brag about it. Furthermore, it would be a mistake just to focus on white people, as racial and ethnic centrism can occur within any such identifiable group.

Maybe he'll come around, maybe not; he's only 23. A lot of racists are just frustrated people who need to be ugly to someone, and race is just an excuse. In the absence of viable targets to pick on, they tend to turn on each other and that may convince him to look beyond skin colour for human values at some point.

I would say, racial/cultural identification is on the rise; not just among whites but among blacks, hispanics, jews and asians etc. In Canada, the multicultural policy does not encourage a melting pot ethos; people are encouraged to be proud of where they came from in a positive manner and those who are mainstreamed are encouraged to be tolerant of difference.

Some argue this is just polite segregation, or cheap ethnic politics. Others like the freedom not to mainstream entirely and hang on to the good things of their roots a little longer, but again, the other side of the coin is that less desireable attitudes and practices may be preserved.

One of the reactions to 'globalization' and urban alienation is the need for some individuals to identify with a community; race is obvious but at the same time shallow and ultimately unworkable, as it does not address differences in individuals and shared cross-racial interests.

Whether or not pride in one's ancestry curdles to supremacism is a serious concern. White supremacism alone is not an accurate barometer of intolerant attitudes that could lead to violence and injustice.

The 'mainstream' itself can sometimes be difficult to discern, but the example it sets is important.