Rasp
Senior Editor
The Ku Klux Klan Is Reinventing Itself [This is from a nigger site so be warned.]
The Ku Klux Klan Is Reinventing Itself
When Joe Huerta and his longtime friend Luis Acosta slipped across the Mexican border into San Diego in the middle of the night nearly three years ago, they hoped to find a better life far from the dangerous, impoverished streets of Tijuana.
These days the two day laborers are wrestling with a new foe: the Klan.
First Blacks - then Catholics and Jews. Now the Ku Klux Klan has found new targets for its hatred.
Last month Huerta and Acosta sitting in their crammed Fontana apartment heard noises in the backyard. In Spanish they said..... "el perro ladro". Dos hombres que usaban las capillas blancas corrieron lejos." "The dog barked....two men wearing white hoods ran away..."
Huerta and Acosta say they picked up the phone to call police - then put it down.
"We don't call, because they send us back to Mexico."
Juana Flores who is also in this country illegally called a private security office after her 15-year-old son received a cellphone text message, "It said go home wetback," claims Flores. She said she is afraid to contact police for fear of being deported.
Gay marriage and urban crime are part of the picture. But, in particular, it is the debate over what to do about the nation's nearly 35 million immigrants, of whom about 11 million are in the US illegally that has become the fuel for the Klan's resurgence.
The Ku Klux Klan, which just a few years ago seemed static or even moribund compared to other white supremacist movements such as the Neo-Nazis, experienced "a surprising and troubling resurgence" during the past year due largely to the successful exploitation of hot button issues including immigration, gay marriage and urban crime according to the Anti Defamation League (ADL).
"If any one single issue or trend can be credited with re-energizing the Klan, it is the debate over immigration in America," says Deborah Lauter, the ADL's civil rights director. "New groups are sprouting up in parts of the country that have not seen activity in years.
The League, which monitors the activities of racist hate groups and reports its findings to law enforcement and policymakers, say the Huerta, Acosta and Flores experiences are on the rise. It has documented a noticeable spike in activity by Klan chapters across the country. The KKK believes that the U.S. is "drowning" in a sea of non-white immigration and is vigorously trying to bring its message to Americans concerned or fearful about immigration.
There is no centralized organization, and membership numbers are estimates at best - 5,000 to 8,000 in as many as 179 Klan groups, according to the ADL, a group that fights bigotry and hate crimes.
Walter Jarman, president of the Inland Empire chapter of the NAACP confirms the spike in "hate-related activity."
He says the NAACP, ADL and like organizations usually record a spike in complaints following highly publicized immigration rallies, Gay Pride events and headline grabbing urban gang activity. That's changing.
"Hate related complaints are becoming more common." He says many of the complaints center around local school campuses. "We are monitoring name calling, bullying, on campus recruitment, distributing racist literature and "hate activity" using modern technology such as the Internet, text and photo messaging and cellphone harassment."
Fontana, San Bernardino and Rialto city and school police have also documented rises in hate related complaints. Victor Quevedo, a veteran officer with the U.S. Immigration & Naturalization Service (INS), says many immigrant victims of hate crime won't report non-violent incidents to police. "The fear of being deported far outweighs the fear of being intimidated by the Ku Klux Klan. The number of incidents is severely underreported. We're looking at the tip of the iceberg," said Quevedo.
Civil rights watchdogs say the Klan has adopted new publicity tricks, such as burst e-mailing racist fliers to school teachers during Black History month, and has embraced the Internet as a means to spread anti-Semitism and racism.
One group, the Empire Knights of the KKK runs an Internet-based radio station, dubbed "KKK Radio," which broadcasts white power music and racist and hatred propaganda.
The ADL says the troubling Klan resurgence has manifested itself in a number of ways:
Longstanding groups have increased their activity and experienced a rapid expansion in size. New groups have emerged, causing racial tensions in communities and schools previously untroubled by racial issues. They hold anti-immigration rallies and recruitment drives for so called "keepers of the land" gun-toting vigilante border protection groups.
"Although some Klansmen may still hold cross burnings dressed in robes and hoods, today's young card carrying Klansmen are more likely to look virtually indistinguishable. They could be the invisible next door neighbor. "Today's Klansmen are more likely to gather at white power music concerts, and anti-immigration rallies or socialize at so-called "unity rallies" with other white supremacists," said Ms. Lauter.
Jarman says the collusion and cross pollination of Klan chapters with other American racists groups is troubling. He says as America turns browner - fighting hatred, prejudice and bigotry will get tougher. "People need to be aware - while the 60's era of Klan cross burnings and lynching by people donning white robes and hoods may be fading - we all need to remember a zebra never changes its stripes."
The Ku Klux Klan Is Reinventing Itself
When Joe Huerta and his longtime friend Luis Acosta slipped across the Mexican border into San Diego in the middle of the night nearly three years ago, they hoped to find a better life far from the dangerous, impoverished streets of Tijuana.
These days the two day laborers are wrestling with a new foe: the Klan.
First Blacks - then Catholics and Jews. Now the Ku Klux Klan has found new targets for its hatred.
Last month Huerta and Acosta sitting in their crammed Fontana apartment heard noises in the backyard. In Spanish they said..... "el perro ladro". Dos hombres que usaban las capillas blancas corrieron lejos." "The dog barked....two men wearing white hoods ran away..."
Huerta and Acosta say they picked up the phone to call police - then put it down.
"We don't call, because they send us back to Mexico."
Juana Flores who is also in this country illegally called a private security office after her 15-year-old son received a cellphone text message, "It said go home wetback," claims Flores. She said she is afraid to contact police for fear of being deported.
Gay marriage and urban crime are part of the picture. But, in particular, it is the debate over what to do about the nation's nearly 35 million immigrants, of whom about 11 million are in the US illegally that has become the fuel for the Klan's resurgence.
The Ku Klux Klan, which just a few years ago seemed static or even moribund compared to other white supremacist movements such as the Neo-Nazis, experienced "a surprising and troubling resurgence" during the past year due largely to the successful exploitation of hot button issues including immigration, gay marriage and urban crime according to the Anti Defamation League (ADL).
"If any one single issue or trend can be credited with re-energizing the Klan, it is the debate over immigration in America," says Deborah Lauter, the ADL's civil rights director. "New groups are sprouting up in parts of the country that have not seen activity in years.
The League, which monitors the activities of racist hate groups and reports its findings to law enforcement and policymakers, say the Huerta, Acosta and Flores experiences are on the rise. It has documented a noticeable spike in activity by Klan chapters across the country. The KKK believes that the U.S. is "drowning" in a sea of non-white immigration and is vigorously trying to bring its message to Americans concerned or fearful about immigration.
There is no centralized organization, and membership numbers are estimates at best - 5,000 to 8,000 in as many as 179 Klan groups, according to the ADL, a group that fights bigotry and hate crimes.
Walter Jarman, president of the Inland Empire chapter of the NAACP confirms the spike in "hate-related activity."
He says the NAACP, ADL and like organizations usually record a spike in complaints following highly publicized immigration rallies, Gay Pride events and headline grabbing urban gang activity. That's changing.
"Hate related complaints are becoming more common." He says many of the complaints center around local school campuses. "We are monitoring name calling, bullying, on campus recruitment, distributing racist literature and "hate activity" using modern technology such as the Internet, text and photo messaging and cellphone harassment."
Fontana, San Bernardino and Rialto city and school police have also documented rises in hate related complaints. Victor Quevedo, a veteran officer with the U.S. Immigration & Naturalization Service (INS), says many immigrant victims of hate crime won't report non-violent incidents to police. "The fear of being deported far outweighs the fear of being intimidated by the Ku Klux Klan. The number of incidents is severely underreported. We're looking at the tip of the iceberg," said Quevedo.
Civil rights watchdogs say the Klan has adopted new publicity tricks, such as burst e-mailing racist fliers to school teachers during Black History month, and has embraced the Internet as a means to spread anti-Semitism and racism.
One group, the Empire Knights of the KKK runs an Internet-based radio station, dubbed "KKK Radio," which broadcasts white power music and racist and hatred propaganda.
The ADL says the troubling Klan resurgence has manifested itself in a number of ways:
Longstanding groups have increased their activity and experienced a rapid expansion in size. New groups have emerged, causing racial tensions in communities and schools previously untroubled by racial issues. They hold anti-immigration rallies and recruitment drives for so called "keepers of the land" gun-toting vigilante border protection groups.
"Although some Klansmen may still hold cross burnings dressed in robes and hoods, today's young card carrying Klansmen are more likely to look virtually indistinguishable. They could be the invisible next door neighbor. "Today's Klansmen are more likely to gather at white power music concerts, and anti-immigration rallies or socialize at so-called "unity rallies" with other white supremacists," said Ms. Lauter.
Jarman says the collusion and cross pollination of Klan chapters with other American racists groups is troubling. He says as America turns browner - fighting hatred, prejudice and bigotry will get tougher. "People need to be aware - while the 60's era of Klan cross burnings and lynching by people donning white robes and hoods may be fading - we all need to remember a zebra never changes its stripes."