JURIST - Paper Chase: Rights group claims immigration fears, gay marriage fueling KKK resurgence

[JURIST] The Ku Klux Klan [JURIST news archive] is experiencing "a surprising and troubling resurgence" largely on the issue of Hispanic immigration, according to a report [summary text] released [press release] Tuesday by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) [advocacy website]. In addition to exploiting fears of non-white immigration, the KKK is also using gay marriage and urban crime to fuel the recent growth of existing Klan groups and to spark the formation of new cells in Mid-Atlantic and Great Plains towns which had previously been free of racial hatred. Breaking from the traditional robes and cross burnings, young Klan members are adopting the shaved heads and hardcore music usually associated with Neo-Nazi groups [JURIST news archive]. This youth movement has also embraced the Internet and "unity rallies" as forums for the hateful ideologies. The ADL also reports that modern Klan members are cooperating with Neo-Nazis and other white supremacy organizations.

The KKK regrouping represents a turnaround for an organization most believed to be dying a slow death. Once a powerful force in the United States [SPLC backgrounder], the organization has seen its membership dwindle in recent decades as other hate groups have taken up the white supremacy banner, and older members such as Bobby Frank Cherry and Edgar Ray Killen [JURIST reports] have been tried and convicted for past hate crimes. UPI has more.

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