According to an annual Southern Poverty Law Center report, America may be becoming less racist.
The report states that the number of hate groups in the United States remains on the decline for the second year in a row. Declining 17 percent between 2013 and 2014, The Intelligence Report says that these hate groups are at their lowest level since 2005. “But those numbers may be somewhat deceiving,” the report said. “More than half of the decline in hate groups was of Ku Klux Klan chapters.” Unfortunately, instead of disbanding, most of those chapters have just gone underground.
According to the report, hate groups and chapters are tracked, not individuals. So, while the groups are declining, there is no record of whether or not their memberships have increased.
The number of KKK chapters began to be monitored by the SPLC in 1990. They reached an all-time high after President Barack Obama was elected, but have since been on a steady decline. The SPLC reports the current number of KKK chapters to be 72, a significant decrease since last year’s 163.
Another significant note in the SPLC’s report is that more people may be operating as so-called lone wolves. The report says that lone wolves are a threat because 90 percent of all domestic terror attacks in the past six years were carried out by individuals or pairs. According to the SPLC, these individuals may be operating more on the Internet than in organized groups. This allows them to be more anonymous.
The use of the Internet has been a huge factor in recent racism concerns. Following the Trayvon Martin case in Florida, the Michael Brown incident in Ferguson, Missouri, the proceedings in Madison, Wisconsin and most recently, the racist video of the Oklahoma State University’s Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter, the country is critically watching racism like never before. Social media has become the biggest tool for watching, allowing the entire country to be directly connected to the progression of each concern.
The most recent event, at Oklahoma State University, in which a video showing members of SAE singing a racist chant, displays how racism can quickly and easily go viral.
“The atmosphere has changed,” said Mark Potok, editor-in-chief of The Intelligence Report.
Unfortunately, racism is not just isolated to black and white. With the growing amount of ISIS media coverage, the SPLC is expecting a wave of Islamaphobia.
While the SPLC suggests America may currently be growing less racist, recent events and growing, accessible racial tension may cause more hate to surface. How much hate, if any, will be determined by next year’s SPLC report?
