Tag: Southern Poverty Law Center

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Report: Hate Groups Hold in Memphis Amid Record Rise Nationally

Jason Leung on Unsplash

The number of hate and anti-government groups operating in the Memphis area last year held at four, according to a new report from the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), amid a record wave of white nationalist and anti-LGBTQ groups. 

Each year, the Montgomery, Alabama-based SPLC issues its Year In Hate and Extremism report, which details hate groups and anti-government extremist groups operating across the U.S. This year’s report found a total of 1,430 active groups (in both categories combined) operated in the U.S. last year, up from the 1,225 groups active in 2022.

The number of active groups in the county marked a record in SPLC’s data tracking. The previous record surge in groups was in 2018 when the number totaled 1,020.  After that surge, the number of hate groups fell for four years year in a row up to 2022. Last year’s rise broke the streak and the record. 

The new report documents 595 hate groups and 835 antigovernment extremist groups, including a growing wave of white nationalism increasingly motivated by theocratic beliefs and conspiracy theories. These groups intensified their efforts over the past year to recruit new members, increase their online presence and in-person demonstrations, exploit international and domestic conflicts, lobby the government and, in some cases, directly participate in elections, especially at the local level.

The report says communities of color, immigrant communities, minority faith communities, and LGBTQ+ communities are all targeted by and experience the negative effects of “hate-filled rhetoric and antigovernment conspiracies through actions such as banning books, protesting drag story hours, and using school boards as political battlegrounds.”

Credit: Southern Poverty Law Center

In Tennessee, 37 hate groups operated here last year, according to the report. They include “racist skinheads,” white nationalists, militia movements, neo-Volkish groups, neo-Nazis, the Ku Klux Klan, anti-Muslim groups, a hate-filled gift shop, and more.

“With a historic election just months away, this year, more than any other, we must act to preserve our democracy,” said Margaret Huang, president and CEO of the SPLC. “That will require us to directly address the danger of hate and extremism from our schools to our statehouses.

“Our report exposes these far-right extremists and serves as a tool for advocates and communities working to counter disinformation, false conspiracies and threats to voters and election workers. Together, we can dismantle white supremacy and ensure all communities see themselves represented in our democracy.”

In Memphis, four groups made the SPLC’s annual report. Moms for Liberty and Proud Boys remain active here, it says.

The local Moms for Liberty group says it is “dedicated to the survival of America by unifying, educating and empowering parents to defend their parental rights at all levels of government.” Jennifer Martin is listed as the county chapter chair on the national group’s website. 

The West Tennessee Proud Boys website shows a photo of the group marching on Beale Street and tells its members to “walk your streets with your head held high.” An obviously fake Memphis address is listed as “Freedom Street, Memphis, TN 38503.” The ZIP Code is for Cookeville, Tennessee.  

In its website’s “Beliefs” section, the local Proud Boys say they are “are proud Western Chauvinists who refuse to apologize for creating the modern world.” They say they want small government, freedom of speech, closed borders, the right to bear arms, to “venerate the housewife,” and more. 

On racism, the Proud Boys site says it “may be alive, but it is not well” as “progress has been made in overcoming racial prejudice.” With that, they don’t want “anti-racial guilt.” … “Let no man be burdened with shame for the deeds of his ancestors,” reads the site. “Let no people be held accountable for things they never did.”

The site also offers a portal to join the group. Another button, for complaints, takes a visitor to a YouTube video featuring a tune called “The You Are A Cunt Song.”

Two Bartlett radio stations also made the SPLC’s list this year, as they have for years. The “about” section of  Blood River Radio says  “genocide is being pursued against white gentile people of the world.” The Political Cesspool hosts have said “we represent a philosophy that is pro-white and are against political centralization.” 

Read more about those stations in a previous story here. Read an in-depth look at them, their hosts, and their guests from the SPLC blog here. Read about the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s latest hate crime report here.  

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Report: Memphis Hate Groups Reduced by Half in Past Two Years

Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash

The number of hate groups operating in the Memphis area was cut in half over the last two years, according to a new report from the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).

Each year, the Montgomery, Alabama-based SPLC issues its  Year In Hate and Extremism report, which details hate groups and anti-government extremist groups operating across the U.S. This year’s report found a total of 1,225 active groups (in both categories combined) in the U.S., up slightly from the 1,221 groups active in 2021.

The number of hate groups fell for the fourth year in a row in 2022. A record number of such groups (1,020) was recorded in 2018. This fell to 733 in 2021 and to 523 in the 2022 report. However, the number of anti-government groups rose. The number of such groups totaled 566 in 2020, fell to 488 in 2021, but rose steeply to 702 in the 2022 report. 

”This report clearly shows the impact of these groups and hard-right figures in the mainstream and on Main Street, demonstrating the growing harm and threat they pose to individuals, communities and democracy itself,” reads the report. 

The SPLC researchers noted that hate groups, “extremist activists,” and the Republican Party had become “increasingly intertwined since Donald Trump’s presidency began.” 

“Republican politicians now mingle freely with members of the organized white nationalist movement and employ their rhetoric more freely than at any other time in recent American history,” reads the report, citing Trump’s dinner with anti-semitic rapper Ye and a GOP gala in New York that included a Pizzagate theorist and many white nationalists.

The Southern Poverty Law Center tracked 33 groups in Tennessee. I Credit: Southern Poverty Law Center.

In Memphis, four groups made the SPLC’s annual report. That’s down from the eight groups reported in 2020.

Gone from the report this year four are Black nationalist groups — Great Millstone, Israel United in Christ, Nation of Islam, and the New Black Panther Party for Islam. The SPLC said “Black nationalists typically oppose integration and racial intermarriage, and they want separate institutions — or even a separate nation — for blacks.” The groups are also ”anti-white and antisemitic,” the group said. No reason was given as to why these groups were not listed in this year’s report.

Also gone from this year’s report is Confederate 901, a seemingly inactive group that surfaced in 2017. Its leaders were opposed to the removal of Confederate statues in Memphis, especially the former Nathan Bedford Forrest statue in what is now Health Sciences Park. The group organized a protest rally in 2018 that brought a rolling convoy of supporters to the roads around Memphis.  

However, the group’s last tweet was issued in 2018.

Two new groups have been added to the SPLC’s report on Memphis over the last two years. The Proud Boys and the Shelby County chapter of Moms for Liberty are now active here. 

The local Moms for Liberty group says it is “dedicated to the survival of America by unifying, educating and empowering parents to defend their parental rights at all levels of government.” Jennifer Martin is listed as the county chapter chair on the national group’s website. 

Credit: Moms for Liberty Shelby County via Facebook

The local Proud Boys group also made the list. The group’s profile rose last year as they counter-protested a pro-choice rally here. 

The West Tennessee Proud Boys website shows a photo of the group marching on Beale Street and tells its members to “walk your streets with your head held high.” An obviously fake Memphis address is listed as “Freedom Street, Memphis, TN 38503.” The ZIP Code is for Cookeville, Tennessee.  

In its website’s “Beliefs” section, the local Proud Boys say they are “are proud Western Chauvinists who refuse to apologize for creating the modern world.” They say they want small government, freedom of speech, closed borders, the right to bear arms, to “venerate the housewife,” and more. 

On racism, the Proud Boys site says it ”may be alive, but it is not well” as “progress has been made in overcoming racial prejudice.” With that, they don’t want “anti-racial guilt.” … “Let no man be burdened with shame for the deeds of his ancestors,” reads the site. “Let no people be held accountable for things they never did.”

The site also offers a portal to join the group. Another button, for complaints, takes a visitor to a YouTube video featuring a tune called “The You Are A Cunt Song.”

Two Bartlett radio stations also made the SPLC’s list this year, as they have for years. Blood River Radio believes “genocide is being pursued against white gentile people of the world.” The Political Cesspool hosts have said “we represent a philosophy that is pro-white and are against political centralization.” 

Read more about those stations in a previous story here. Read an in-depth look at them, their hosts, and their guests from the SPLC blog here. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation issued its annual report on hate crimes in the state earlier this year. Read our story on it here. 

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Report: Memphis Has Most Hate Groups in Tennessee

A 2018 white nationalist rally in Downtown Memphis

The Memphis area had more hate groups than any part of Tennessee last year, according to a new study by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). 

Memphis and Bartlett were home to eight hate groups last year. Five of these groups were listed as “general hate,” one was listed as neo-Confederate, and two were listed as white nationalist. 

Bartlett-based Blood River Radio believes “genocide is being pursued against white gentile people of the world.”

“Blood River Radio is one of the only media outlets in North America with the intelligence, courage, and vision to realize and state openly that the global white race is in the early to middle stage of being exterminated,” reads a quote on the show’s website from Eddie Miller. “We are one of the very few media outlets with the courage and selflessness to swear on the holy altar of god to fight against our genocide. As other media fiddles while the white race burns, Blood River Radio shall fight to the death to defend our people against extermination.”

The Bartlett-based “Political Cesspool” show has been listed in the SPLC’s hate report for years. Show hosts say “we represent a philosophy that is pro-white and are against political centralization.” 

“You can trust The Political Cesspool Radio Program to give you the ‘other side of the news’ — to report on events which are vital to your welfare but which would otherwise be hushed up or distorted by the controlled press,” reads the “our mission” section of the show’s website. “We make no attempt to give you ‘both sides.’’’

Six hate groups were active in Memphis last year including Black Nationalist groups Great Millstone, Israel United In Christ, New Black Panther Party for Self Defense, and Nation of Islam, as well as the neo-Confederate Confederate 901.

Thirty-four hate groups operated statewide last year, according to the report. These included two Ku Klux Klan groups, Proud Boys, United Skinhead Nation, Dixie Giftshop, Straight Arm Media, and more. Only Nashville compared to Memphis in the concentration of hate groups in Tennessee with four hate groups operating there last year.

Southern Poverty Law Center

The number of hate groups fell nationally in 2020, but the level of hate did not, according to the report. 

The agency’s “The Year in Hate and Extremism 2020” report says the number of hate groups in the country fell to 838 last year. That’s down from the 940 groups reported by the SPLC in 2019 and down from a record-high 1,020 groups the law center reported in 2018. 

“It is important to understand that the number of hate groups is merely one metric for measuring the level of hate and racism in America, and that the decline in groups should not be interpreted as a reduction in bigoted beliefs and actions motivated by hate,” reads the report. 

As an example, SPLC polling data found that 29 percent of Americans personally know someone who believes that white people are the superior race. The group also recorded 4,900 incidents of “flyering,” noting that white nationalist groups used the tactic 12 times more than all other groups combined. 

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Week That Was: Hate Groups, Back to Business, and Drake Hall

A 2018 White Nationalist rally in Downtown Memphis


Hate Groups Rise in Memphis
There were eight active hate groups in the Memphis area in 2019, according to data from the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).

Each year, SPLC releases a comprehensive look at hate groups in the country, broken down by state and city. In Tennessee, there were a total of 38 hate groups, with the majority of those groups concentrated in the Memphis area. The number of groups in Memphis is up from the six recorded last year and double the number of groups here in 2015.

The SPLC defines a hate group as one having “beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people, typically their immutable characteristics.” Last year, Memphis had one Neo-Confederate group, one White Nationalist group, and four Black Separatist groups. In Bartlett, there were two White Nationalist groups.

Statewide, groups range from anti-LGBTQ to Racist Skinheads. The most prevalent group was Black Separatists with eight recorded groups in the state. According to the SPLC, Tennessee has two more total recorded groups than last year.

Drake Hall Is Off the Air
Astute listeners to WXMX 98.1 The Max noticed this week that their favorite morning radio personality, Drake Hall, was not on the air.

Hall, who’s won the Flyer‘s Best of Memphis awards in several radio categories for, well, forever, issued the following statement in response to a query from the Flyer:

“As many of you have noticed, I’m not on the radio at the moment. I’m very excited about our future plans and we’ll be letting you know what’s next, very soon. You can follow us on the Drake Hall Memphis Facebook page and at drakehallmemphis.com.

“I owe a debt of gratitude to all the good people I’ve worked with for the past 16 years, especially Wes Yahola and Syd Nabors and my late, great partner of 23 years, Zeke Logan. My main goal for now is not getting up at 3 a.m. Wishing you good health and peace until we meet again.”

As yet, there has been no statement from Cumulus Media, the corporate owner of WXMX, regarding Hall’s departure.

“Back to Business” Announced
 Facebook/Mid-South Food Bank

Volunteers load food into a car at a mobile food pantry.

Leaders from across Shelby County announced Thursday that phase one of the Back to Business plan was to begin on Monday, May 4th.

“After careful study of the data, and on the advice of our medical experts including the Shelby County Health Department, the mayors of Memphis, Shelby County, and the six surrounding municipalities have determined that May 4th, 2020 is the date that we can begin phase one of our Back to Business framework. 

Mayor Strickland

“As we said at the beginning of this week, our data was trending in the right direction,” said Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland. “Along with our doctors, we believe it’s time to slowly start opening our economy back up and get Memphians working again.

“As we enter the first phase of the economic recovery, I have to note that members of our community have made serious sacrifices,” said Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris. “We have residents who have put their livelihoods and their ability to take care of their families on the line. We have healthcare employees and other frontline workers who have continued to serve through a very tough period of hardship.

“As we enter Phase 1, we must continue to be vigilant as a community. We must expand our efforts to protect vulnerable groups. And, if there is a significant flare-up, we must be prepared to be honest about it.”

“We have been watching the data carefully and have continued to improve, particularly in hospital capacity and testing capacity, both of which continue to expand,” said Dr. Alisa Haushalter, director of the Shelby County Health Department. “Over this next phase, we will need to commit to expand our public health capacity to conduct investigations and aggressively respond to clusters as they emerge.”

U.S. Attorney Combats Sexual Harassment in Housing

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee is increasing its efforts to combat sexual harassment in housing as many struggle with housing insecurity amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant is asking that Tennesseans who have witnessed or experienced sexual harassment by a landlord, property manager, maintenance worker, or anyone with control over housing to report it to the Department of Justice.

U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant

This increased effort comes as the COVID-19 pandemic has caused many to experience housing insecurity and an inability to pay rent on time. The department is working with state and local partners to identify incidents of sexual harassment in housing and will investigate such allegations, pursuing enforcement actions where necessary.

“Every person in this district deserves the right to live in a place of their choosing without fear of sexual harassment,” Dunavant said. “This is not a small town issue or a big city issue, but an issue of respect and dignity. We want women and men throughout all of West Tennessee to know that there’s someone they can turn to if you feel unsafe in your home, no matter where their home is.”

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Hate Groups Down Nationally, Up in Tennessee, Memphis: Report

There were eight active hate groups in the Memphis area in 2019, according to data from the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).

Each year, SPLC releases a comprehensive look at hate groups in the country, broken down by state and city. In Tennessee, there were a total of 38 hate groups, with the majority of those groups concentrated in the Memphis area. The number of groups in Memphis is up from the six recorded last year and double the number of groups here in 2015.

SPLC

The SPLC defines a hate group as one having “beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people, typically their immutable characteristics.”

Last year, Memphis had one Neo-Confederate group, one White Nationalist group, and four Black Separatist groups. In Bartlett, there were two White Nationalist groups.

Statewide, groups range from anti-LGBTQ to Racist Skinheads. The most prevalent group was Black Separatists with eight recorded groups in the state. According to the SPLC, Tennessee has two more total recorded groups than last year.

Across the country, the SPLC reports that for the second year in a row White Nationalist groups are on the rise. From 2017 to 2018, that number increased from 100 to 148. While last year, the number went up by seven. Here, there were two more White Nationalist groups than in 2018.

SPLC also reports that last year there was a national jump in anti-LGBTQ groups from 49 to 70. This increase is largely due to President Donald Trump’s administration’s embracing anti-LGBTQ leaders and their agendas, the SPLC said.

But overall, there was a decline in the total number of hate groups in the country, dropping from an all-time high of 1,020 in 2018 to 940 last year.

SPLC

SPLC

Still, Lecia Brooks, a spokesperson for SPLC said there is a “crisis of hate and extremism in our country.

“The toxic ideas propagated by these hate groups not only lead to violence, but erode the very foundations of our democracy. The attacks in El Paso, Texas, and Poway, California, are stark reminders of the serious threat posed by white supremacist ideology and those it motivates to act. Each of these attacks, as well as thousands of hate crimes across the country, was inspired by white supremacist propaganda.”

Read the full report below.

[pdf-1]

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Manuel Duran Has Seen ‘Disastrous Effects’ of Trump’s Immigration Policy

CREDIT: Maya Smith

Maya Smith

Manuel Duran and SPLC attorney Gracie Willis

Manuel Duran, the Memphis journalist who was released on bond last week after being detained for 15 months, said he’s seen firsthand the “disastrous effects” of President Donald Trump’s anti-immigration policy and the “cruelty of the mass incarceration of immigrants.”

At a Wednesday press conference, Duran called these policies “unnecessary and inhumane.”

“I’ve witnessed firsthand the pain and suffering caused by family separation,” a translator said on behalf of Duran. “ICE is destroying our families for no reason. What is the purpose of these attacks on our communities?”

After Duran was arrested in April 2018 while covering an immigration protest for Memphis Noticias, the local Spanish-language newspaper he owns, the misdemeanor charges against him were dropped by the Shelby County District Attorney’s office, but Duran was then handed over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and sent to an ICE processing center in Jena, Louisiana.

Duran would then spend the next 450 days in four different detention centers. The most recent was the Etowah County Detention Center in Gadsden, Alabama.

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During his time detained, Duran said he’s seen “working men, men with businesses, men who have lived their whole lives in this country, who have committed no crimes, crying and longing to be reunited with their families.”

Duran said his experience in each of the detention facilities were similarly difficult. The conditions are “not adequate,” he said. The detention centers were infested with pests, cockroaches, and spiders, Duran said.

At Etowah, Duran said he and other inmates had to bathe with water hoses in “very cold water,” and that the temperature in the facility wasn’t well-regulated.

“The air conditioner was under repair for most of the spring and we had to endure very high temperatures,” Duran said. “At Etowach, for weeks, for no reason, the heater was turned on to its full capacity. This happened during the summer and it was very difficult to sleep.”

In addition, Duran says detainees don’t have access to the outdoors or recreational spaces and are “locked up without being able to see the sunlight.”

Duran also noted that on two occasions, inmates were denied phone use for days at a time without being given an explanation.

He said prisoners aren’t served a substantial amount of food and the only way to get additional food is from the center’s commissary.

However, Duran said many of the inmates go hungry because they don’t have the financial support of their families or don’t have any family in the country.

“This experience has been very difficult for me and my family, psychologically and economically,” Duran said. “I feel that my life has turned 180 degrees and I’m still trying to adapt.”

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Gracie Willis, an attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center, said Duran’s next step is to file an asylum application. She said the court hearing for that is likely to be scheduled for the immigration court in Atlanta, but the SPLC will try to have it moved to Memphis so Manuel can “fight his case closer to home.”

Mauricio Calvo, executive director of Latino Memphis, said Duran’s case is unique in that he had legal resources and community support.

“But this is not the norm,” Calvo said. “There are thousands and thousands of families around the country and here in Shelby County that are being separated every single day. It is happening here. Our ICE office is fully staffed and they are kicking doors every single day and racially profiling people for no other reason than political purposes.”

Calvo said people are being detained without judicial orders and “they are taking people’s rights away.”

“We’re not going to stop,” Calvo said. “We’re extremely excited that Manuel is here, but the battle is not over. We’re not going to stop until this American value of freedom, dignity, respect, and the chance at the American dream is the prevailing factor for most people.”

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Hate Groups on the Rise Nationally, But Not in Tennessee

A 2018 white Nationalist rally Downtown Memphis

The number of hate groups in the United States rose by 7 percent in 2018, according to a recently released report by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).

In its yearly report titled “The Year in Hate: Rage Against Change,” the group said there are now 1,020 active hate groups in the country, up from 954 in 2017. The SPLC defines a hate group as one having “beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people, typically their immutable characteristics.”

Tennessee is home to 36 of those groups, including neo-Confederate, neo-Nazi, White Nationalist, and Black Nationalist groups, according to the report.

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In Memphis, there were six active hate groups last year — Black Nationalist groups Great Millstone, Israel United, New Black Panther Party for Self Defense, and Nation of Islam, as well as the neo-Confederate group League of the South and the White Nationalist group The Right Stuff.

Although nationally the SPLC reports that the number of hate groups has risen by 30 percent over the last four years, the number of groups in Tennessee has seen a slight, but steady decrease since 2015. In 2015, there were 41 hate groups in the state, 38 in 2016, 37 in 2017, and then 36 last year.

SPLC

Number of hate groups in U.S. over time


However, in Memphis, the numbers have been following the national trend, going from four groups in 2015 to six in 2018.

The SPLC also found that White Nationalist groups nationwide surged by almost 50 percent last year, increasing from 100 chapters in 2017 to 148 in 2018. Meanwhile, the center found that Black Nationalist groups have also been more prevalent, growing from 233 in 2017 to 264 last year.

This trend has been apparent locally and statewide. From 2017 to 2018, the number of White Nationalists groups in Tennessee went from two to four. In Memphis there were no active White Nationalists groups in 2017, and then in 2018 one group, The Right Stuff became active.

At the same time, last year the number of Black Nationalists groups in the state went from six to seven and from three to four locally.

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The report attributes the rise in the number of both groups to Donald Trump’s presidency.

“Most Americans are now fully aware that Trump is emboldening white supremacists and helping to grow their ranks,” the report reads. “An October poll by the Public Religion Research Institute shows a majority believe Trump has “encouraged white supremacist groups.”

The SPLC also cites that the U.S. Census Bureau’s projection that by 2044 white people will no longer be the majority in the United States “helped propel hate to a new high last year.”

Read SPLC’s full 2019 report here.