Hate Groups: How Do Hoosiers Prefer their Hate?

Muncie, IN – We just received our Spring Issue of Intelligence Report which is written by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and shared to those interested in tracking hate groups across the country. When I began using the SPLC as a reference for articles, I was astounded by the number of hate groups which are located throughout the United States.

How about Indiana? Does the conservative Hoosier state have any hate groups?

Surprisingly, next to Ohio, we have the largest number in the Midwest. Ohio has 31 while Indiana has 26 known hate groups.

According to the SPLC website, there are 939 known hate groups operating across the country, including neo-Nazis, Klansmen, white nationalists, neo-Confederates, racist skinheads, black separatists, border vigilantes and others. All of these groups are considered radical right groups.

There are also 1,096 active anti-government “Patriot” groups which 240 were armed militias. These groups are against what they call the “New World Order”, engage in conspiracy theories and adopt extreme antigovernment doctrines. Indiana has 33 known Patriot groups.

As we’ve mentioned many times in Muncie Voice, the number of hate groups has grown dramatically since the election of Barack Obama to the Whitehouse. The growth has been fueled by “patriot groups” and white supremacists.

According to the Intelligence Report, the growth in 2013 is declining in several areas. Several factors contributed to the decline: an improving economy, shock and dismay at the re-election of Obama, law enforcement crackdowns, and, perhaps most importantly, co-optation of the far right’s issues by mainstream politicians.

We cannot stress the last point enough since the extreme right Tea Party republicans has indeed picked up many of the hate groups causes and use them as their own.

Let’s first take a look at the different kind of hate groups Hoosiers prefer, and learn where they’re located.

Ku Klux Klan – the oldest hate group known, dating back to 1865, has 6 chapters in Indiana located in Elwood, Kokomo, Monroe City, Scottsburg and West College Corner. Kokomo actually has two different chapters.

Neo-Nazi – these groups share a hatred for Jews and a love affair with Hitler and Nazi Germany. Indiana has 3 chapter located in Wakarusa and Warsaw.

White Nationalist – these groups are all about the supreme nature of whites and specifically the inferiority of people of colour. We have three chapters in Indiana located in Bloomington, Roanoke and Muncie. The group in Muncie is called the Southern European Aryans League Army (SEAL) and their website seems to have a server problem, but we were able to grab this nugget before it locked up, “Obama claims to be a Christian but defies the book of GOD by supporting same-sex marrage. what a joke America.” (sic)

Racist Skinhead – these are the violent element of white supremacists and are known as “shock troops” because of their appearance and acts of violence against others. Indiana has 2 known chapters located in Knightstown.

Black Separatist – members of these groups strongly oppose integration and racial intermarriage, and want separate institutions for blacks. They are located in Indianapolis.

Christian Identity – this group is fundamentally racist and anti-Semitic. This is a strange group of religious practitioners. They believe Jews descended from Satan while non-whites are seen as soulless “mud-people. We have 9 known chapters in Indiana known as the “Abundant Life Fellowship” in Morgantown, and “Identity Nation” in Franklin, Evansville, Indianapolis, Kokomo, Martinsville, Rochester, and Shelbyville. There is another chapter called the “Knights of the Holy Identity”. You might want to check out the “belief structure” of these haters at http://www.religioustolerance.org/cr_ident.htm.

Neo-Confederate – as the name would show, these groups are wanting to resurrect the principles of slavery and practices of the antebellum South. The “Livin the Legacy” group is in Nashville.

General Hate – under this general class, Indiana had one hate group called Culture Wars/Fidelity Press in South Bend which practices radical traditional Catholicism. The leader was a professor at Notre Dame, but spent his first year bashing their version of Catholicism so his contract wasn’t renewed. He is available for speaking engagements.

If this wasn’t enough hate groups for Indiana, we also have 33 active “Patriot” groups. According to the SPLC, “Generally, Patriot groups define themselves as opposed to the “New World Order,” engage in groundless conspiracy theorizing, or advocate or adhere to extreme antigovernment doctrines.”

So, check out the Patriot groups in Indiana: