File spoon-archives/marxism-international.archive/marxism-international_1998/marxism-international.9803, message 116


Subject: M-I: Net called boon to hate groups (fwd)
Date: Mon, 9 Mar 1998 10:43:58 -0500 (EST)
From: "hoov" <hoov-AT-freenet.tlh.fl.us>


forwarded by Michael Hoover

> The number of hate groups in the United States rose by 20 percent last
> year in part because the Net makes it easier to preach intolerance and
> to recruit new members, the Southern Poverty Law Center said today.
> 
> According to the center's Intelligence Project, there are now 474 hate
> groups in the country, a surge that it says is fueled by captivating
> racist sites, the grassroots power of the medium, and a boom in "white
> power rock 'n' roll music."
> 
> "A few years ago, for a lone Klansman to produce a pamphlet that would
> maybe reach 100 people, it would take a lot of money and work, not to
> mention having to find a sympathetic printer," said Mark Potok, editor
> of the center's Intelligence Project. "Today that same man, for a few
> dollars, can put up a slickly packaged Web page and potentially reach
> millions." 
> 
> The center documented 163 Web sites allegedly promoting white supremacy,
> such as the Ku Klux Klan's sites, and others encouraging the hatred of
> non-Christians. However, 12 of the sites belonged to black separatist
> groups, the center says. The count doesn't include sites that deny the
> occurrence of the Holocaust.
> 
> Almost half the sites were erected by organized groups that can be
> contacted and joined or offer to mail out bigoted materials, Potok
> added.
> 
> "The world has shrunk for haters. Now they feel a part of a
> movement--the Internet gives them a sense of community felt among
> racists," he said. "Plus these movements need youth, and the Net is
> providing access."



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