Where does your state fall?
SPLC
Watching the news footage of white men walking down the streets of Charlottesville, Virginia brazenly waving around Confederate flags, torches, and giving Nazi salutes — a lot of people were probably shocked.
You know who wasn’t even mildly surprised? The people working at The Southern Poverty Law Center.
The organization dedicated to monitoring hate groups and extremists in the United States has documented a nearly 300% increase in anti-Muslim hate groups since 2015 and a drastic rise in overall harassment incidents in the last two years.
“2016 was an unprecedented year for hate,” Mark Potok, the editor of the group’s yearly Intelligence report, said. “The country saw a resurgence of white nationalism that imperils the racial progress we’ve made, along with the rise of a president whose policies reflect the values of white nationalists.”
After the “Unite the Right” rally over the weekend, where 32-year-old Heather Heyer was killed by a white supremacist in a Dodge Challenger, the SPLC released an updated “Hate Map” to show where all of these jerks are coming from.
They documented 917 hate groups, which they define as groups with “beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people, typically for their immutable characteristics,” actively operating in the U.S. Here’s where every state falls:
1. California: 79
2. Florida: 63
3. Texas: 55
4. New York: 47
5. Virginia: 42
6. Pennsylvania: 40
7. Tennessee: 38
8. Ohio: 35
9. Illinois: 32
9. Georgia: 32
11. North Carolina: 31
12. Michigan: 28
13. Alabama: 27
14. Indiana: 26
15. Missouri: 24
16. Kentucky: 23
17. Washington D.C.: 21
17. Washington: 21
19. Mississippi: 18
19. Arizona: 18
19. Maryland: 18
22: Arkansas: 16
22. Colorado: 16
24: New Jersey: 15
25. Louisiana: 14
26. South Carolina: 12
26. Idaho: 12
28. Massachusetts: 12
29. Oregon: 11
30. Minnesota: 10
31: Wisconsin: 9
32. Kansas: 7
32. Montana: 7
32. South Dakota: 7
35. Oklahoma: 6
35. New Hampshire: 6
37. Nebraska: 5
37. Connecticut: 5
39. Nevada: 4
39. Idaho: 4
39. West Virginia: 4
39. Delaware: 4
39. Iowa: 4
44. Maine: 3
44. Utah: 3
46. Wyoming: 2
46. New Mexico: 2
48. Rhode Island: 1
48. Vermont: 1
48. North Dakota: 1
51. Alaska: 0
51. Hawaii: 0
Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesA man makes a slashing motion across his throat toward counter-protesters as he marches with other white nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the “alt-right” during the “Unite the Right” rally?
Of course, these numbers aren’t accounting for the size of each state’s population. A February analysis of SPLC data from 24/7 Wall St. found a different ranking when it ranked the state’s by the number of hate groups per capita:
1. Montana: 9.6 hate groups per 1 million residents
2. Idaho: 7.1 per million
3. Mississippi: 6.0 per million
4. Tennessee: 5.7 per million
5. Alabama: 5.6 per million
6. Arkansas: 5.4 per million
7. Kentucky: 5.2 per million
8. Virginia: 4.6 per million
9. Missouri: 3.9 per million
9. Indiana: 3.9 per million
Luckily, the SPLC also released a new list of “Ten Ways to Fight Hate” in the U.S. — which includes supporting victims, signing petitions, and educating yourself on hate crimes.
“The ugly bigotry and hate on display in Charlottesville underscores a growing sickness in our country – one that’s become all too commonplace and increasingly lethal,” Lecia Brooks, the group’s director of outreach, said in a statement. “It’s vital, especially right now, that compassionate people everywhere speak out for tolerance and inclusion.”
Next, read about how the Internet is playing “Name That Racist” after the Virginia riot. Then, learn about the time Donald Trump’s dad was arrested at a KKK rally. Finally, read up on the Aryan Brotherhood, one of the world’s worst prison gangs.
