Are Hate Groups on the Rise in America?

I live and work out of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Earlier this week local news "headlined" a story that realy caught me by surprise. The news story stated that about 45 miles southeast of Baton Rouge in the rural Louisiana town of Sun a burutal killing took place. It went on to say that a Klux Klux Klan (KKK) cell located in Sun, Louisiana recruited an Oklahoma woman to join their chapter. Most of teh initial recruiting was done via the internet and their web site. Once this woman agreed to join she was flown down, for a welcome ceremony, i.e. initiation. During the initiation something went terribly wrong. When the “recruit” changed her mind and decided she no longer wanted to be a part of the group she was killed. The Klan leader killed her in cold blood by shooting her in the back of the head. After this brutal killing took place the local Klan leader and some members went to a local convenience store to clean up. They literally went in the bathroom to wash the blood off. After washing up, the leader mentioned to the convenience store cashier that someone was killed that night in their little town. The cashier had a bad feeling about what she had just been told and called police. After a short investigation 8 members of this KKK cell were arrested on murder charges and are behind bars. Hopefully these animals will never be released and will be forced to pay for their crimes by lethal injection. To be honest, I thought the KKK had faded away years ago. With all the local news coverage this was a big story in Baton Rouge. So I started to do some research on hate groups and was astonished at what I found. Please take the time to review this site http://www.splcenter.org/intel/map/hate.jsp Do you realize there are over 800 active hate groups in the U.S. This site lists the total by state, then drills down to the specific organizations. California has the most with 80 groups actively spreading hate messages throughout the state. The groups include Neo Nazi, Skinheads, Black Separatist, and many more. The list seems to go one forever, but the most important thing and my reason for posting this blog is to educate you. I encourgage you to do your own research and to tell your family and friends. This is 2008 in America, not 1960 in the deep south. We need to stand strong against these hate groups. Educate your family and friends about this disturbing “trend”. Let them know that there has been an increase of over 48% since 2000. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center hate groups are on the rise in nearly every state. These groups are very dangerous and they are actively recruiting children as young as 7 years old! The good news is together we can stand up to these hate organizations. You can go to http://www.splcenter.org/center/petitions/standstrong/ then add yourself to the “Stand Strong Against Hate” campaign. Guardian Self Defense & Security Products LLC