DATE=7/20/99
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
NUMBER=5-43921
TITLE=HATE GROUPS WORKSHOP
BYLINE=MICHAEL LELAND
DATELINE=CHICAGO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: A SHOOTING SPREE IN TWO MIDWESTERN STATES THIS MONTH,
APPARENTLY MOTIVATED BY HATE, HAS RESULTED IN MORE ETHNIC, RACIAL
AND RELIGIOUS MINORITY GROUPS WANTING TO KNOW MORE ABOUT
SO-CALLED "HATE GROUPS." POLICE IN THE STATES OF ILLINOIS AND
INDIANA SAY A MAN NAMED BENJAMIN SMITH WENT ON A THREE-DAY
SHOOTING SPREE IN EARLY JULY, KILLING TWO PEOPLE AND WOUNDING
NINE OTHERS. HIS TARGETS WERE JEWS, ASIANS AND
AFRICAN-AMERICANS. SMITH HAD BEEN A MEMBER OF A WHITE
SUPREMACIST GROUP CALLED THE "WORLD CHURCH OF THE CREATOR." FROM
CHICAGO, VOA'S MICHAEL LELAND TELLS US THE WORLD CHURCH IS ONE OF
MANY HATE GROUPS OPERATING IN THE AMERICAN MIDWEST.
TEXT: AT A DOWNTOWN CHICAGO WORKSHOP FOR LOCAL MINORITY
ORGANIZATIONS WANTING TO KNOW MORE ABOUT IDENTIFYING AND, MORE
IMPORTANTLY, COMBATTING HATE GROUPS, DEVIN BURGHART OF THE LOCAL
HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP "CENTER FOR NEW COMMUNITY," SAID THERE ARE
MORE THAN 270 HATE GROUPS OPERATING IN THE AMERICAN MIDWEST. HE
ALSO SAYS THIS SURPRISES A LOT OF PEOPLE.
// FIRST BURGHART ACT //
THERE OFTEN EXISTS A "VEIL OF DENIAL." FOLKS BELIEVE
THAT THIS SORT OF ACTIVITY OCCURS EITHER IN THE DEEP
SOUTH OR THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. OUR RESEARCH SHOWS US
THAT HATE IS ALIVE AND WELL RIGHT HERE IN THE HEARTLAND.
// END ACT //
KATHLEEN BLEE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH, WHO STUDIES HATE
GROUPS, SAYS THEIR MEMBERSHIP IS OFTEN NOT COMPOSED OF PEOPLE
ON THE FRINGES OF SOCIETY.
// BLEE ACT //
THEY ARE INCREASINGLY TRYING TO RECRUIT FROM THE
MAINSTREAM OF THE POPULATION. THEY ARE INCREASINGLY
TRYING TO RECRUIT WOMEN, FOR A VARIETY OF REASONS. SOME
OF THE GROUPS THINK WOMEN ARE LESS LIKELY TO HAVE POLICE
RECORDS AND ARE LESS LIKELY TO BE ABLE TO BE TURNED INTO
INFORMANTS.
// END ACT //
// OPT // THE GROUPS ARE ALSO RECRUITING MORE YOUNG PEOPLE.
CHICAGO POLICE SAY THEY HAVE FOUND CHILDREN AS YOUNG AS 12 YEARS
OLD IN THESE ORGANIZATIONS. MR. BURGHART SAYS ONE POPULAR
RECRUITING TOOL IS SO-CALLED "HATE MUSIC," WHICH HE CALLS THE
"SOUNDTRACK OF THE WHITE REVOLUTION."
// OPT SECOND BURGHART ACT //
MANY FORMER WHITE SUPREMACISTS WE HAVE TALKED TO,
ESPECIALLY AMONG A YOUNGER GENERATION, HAVE TALKED ABOUT
HOW IT WAS MUSIC THAT GOT THEM INTO THE MOVEMENT. IT
HELPED DO TWO THINGS: ONE, IT HELPED TO HARDEN THEIR
IDEOLOGY, AND SECOND, IT HELPED PROVIDE FOR THEM A
JUSTIFICATION FOR THEIR VIOLENCE.
// END ACT //
// OPT // IN THE WEEKS SINCE THE BENJAMIN SMITH SHOOTINGS,
CHICAGO POLICE SERGEANT TOM SCALLI SAYS THERE HAS BEEN A SLIGHT
INCREASE IN HATE-RELATED ACTIVITY, MOSTLY VANDALISM OF PROPERTY
OWNED BY MINORITIES.
// OPT SCALLI ACT //
SOME MAY FEEL MORE BOLD. THERE ARE SOME PEOPLE OUT
THERE WHO MAY HARBOR THOSE PHILOSOPHIES BUT WOULD NEVER
ACT ON THEM, THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN FEEL MAYBE THEY CAN
GET TEN MINUTES OF FAME OUT OF IT, AND MAY TRY
SOMETHING.
// END ACT // // END OPT //
WHAT TO DO WHEN HATE GROUPS DISTRIBUTE THEIR LITERATURE, OR
DEMONSTRATE PUBLICLY, IS OFTEN A PROBLEM FOR THOSE GROUPS
TARGETED IN THE MESSAGES. MARLENE HINES OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS
GROUP "NORTHWEST COALITION," SAYS WHEN AN ANTI-GAY REVEREND CAME
TO PROTEST AT THE FUNERAL OF A GAY MAN IN THE STATE OF WYOMING
WHO HAD BEEN BEATEN TO DEATH, HER GROUP THOUGHT OF A CREATIVE,
NONVIOLENT WAY TO FIGHT HIM.
// HINES ACT //
ONE OF THE THINGS WE DID IN WYOMING WAS WE HAD PEOPLE
SHOW UP IN ANGEL COSTUMES. WE ALLOWED HIM TO EXERCISE
HIS FREE SPEECH, BUT WE HAD PEOPLE AROUND HIM WITH BIG
WINGS, PARTICULARLY GAY MEN KIND OF FLOATING ABOUT.
BASICALLY, WE MADE IT SO THAT PEOPLE COULD NOT SEE
HIM, AND THEY DIDN'T HEAR HIM BECAUSE THEY WERE WATCHING
THESE PEOPLE FLITTER AND FLOAT.
// END ACT //
THE WHITE SUPREMACIST GROUP "WORLD CHURCH OF THE CREATOR" IS
HEADQUARTERED IN THE CITY OF EAST PEORIA, ILLINOIS, WHERE IT'S
LEADER, MATT HALE LIVES. IT IS ONE OF THE FASTEST-GROWING HATE
GROUPS IN THE UNITED STATES TODAY. ANDRE BOHANNON SERVES ON THE
COMMUNITY'S HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION AND SAYS THE GROUP AND ITS
LEADER ARE AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT CAN HAPPEN WHEN HATE-FILLED
MESSAGES ARE NOT CHALLENGED STRONGLY ENOUGH.
// BOHANNON ACT //
I THINK THAT THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE IN OUR COMMUNITY, AS
WELL AS PROBABLY ACROSS THE NATION, ARE PROBABLY AT A
LOSS AS TO WHAT THEY CAN DO. PEOPLE DO HAVE THE RIGHT
TO SAY WHAT THEY WANT TO SAY, AND I THINK MOST PEOPLE
GUARD THOSE RIGHTS. I HAVE MIXED FEELINGS, BECAUSE I
SUPPORT MATT HALE IN TERMS OF HIS RIGHT TO SAY WHAT HE
SAYS, ALTHOUGH I VEHEMENTLY DISAGREE WITH WHAT HE HAS TO
SAY.
// END ACT //
MR. BOHANNON SAYS NEIGHBORS SHOULD BE AWARE OF PEOPLE LIKE MATT
HALE AND BENJAMIN SMITH, CHALLENGE THEIR MESSAGES, AND MAKE SURE
THEY AND THEIR FOLLOWERS ARE PROSECUTED IF THEY BREAK LOCAL LAWS
WHILE CONDUCTING THEIR WORK. (SIGNED)
NEB/MJL/PT
20-Jul-99 5:09 PM EDT (2109 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
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