Site Map | Archives

Home › News › News Columnists

Gene Grant: Hate cannot incubate in Land of Enchantment

By Gene Grant
Thursday, May 10, 2007

related linksMore News Columnists
related linksMOST RECENT TRIB STORIES

related linksTRIB IN THE BLOGOSPHERE*

*Note: The Tribune does not create and is not responsible for the blogosphere's headlines and stories. These links to blogs talking about ABQTrib.com are automatically generated. Use them at your own risk.
STORY TOOLS

SHARE THIS STORY [?]

While the Bush administration, presidential candidates - including Gov. Bill Richardson - and our congressional delegation jockey for position on a guest-worker program and all other things immigration, a trend tracks behind it: the rise of hate groups that have coalesced and grown over the past few years, almost solely on the issue of immigration.

That's no surprise. But the scope and scale of that rise is troubling, namely because it's not "out there" somewhere. There are New Mexico indicators, including here in Albuquerque.

The Southern Poverty Law Center has released its annual "The Year In Hate" report, tracking the trends of various hate groups across the country.

The report is unsettling on a number of fronts.

It cites a 40 percent rise in hate groups since 2000, from 604 active to 844 in 2006. Nearly all the new activity can be traced to the anti-immigration movement.

"Active," in the law center's terms, includes rallies, speeches, meetings, leafletting, publishing literature and committing criminal acts. It does not count entities that appear only in cyberspace.

Thoughtful people who support, as I do, First Amendment rights for anyone, no matter how much they may philosophically disagree with the message, may want to consider just how far the tentacles have spread.

The Ku Klux Klan, started as a single entity in 1865 now has 165 chapters nationwide. None is reported for New Mexico. We do, however, have a recognized Neo-Nazi chapter, a branch of the 191-chapter National Socialist Movement, headquartered in Minneapolis.

There is also a skinhead chapter in Albuquerque, named the Civilian Combat Squad.

I have heard rumblings of such a group for a bit of time, but I never had anything concrete to go along with it. Until now.

The listings include 88 black separatist groups, whose ideology is very much about race-based hatred. There are no chapters in the state; the closest is in Phoenix. I'd like to have a chat with those folks.

A separate category of 147 so-called "Patriot Groups" that do not necessarily advocate or engage in violence, have two local listings - Border Rescue and the Constitution Party, both in Albuquerque.

The report, including an eye-watering pull-out national map with group symbols for all categories state by state, is a reminder of the fractured state of affairs in which we live. No one escapes.

Mind you, a lot of these groups have their own problems, with many of their leaders either in prison or being pushed out through power struggles. But there's always someone there to step into the void.

White, black or otherwise, what stitches many of these groups together is immigration. And you can't help but wonder how long it will be, as a border state, that more groups like these will seek a New Mexico presence.

You will not find much reporting of this issue here, outside of the Minutemen down south. You may recall the story in 2001 when a Mexican national was apprehended by an Albuquerque SWAT team after a four-hour standoff on Tramway Boulevard. He was wanted for the killing of a skinhead chapter leader in California, as well as for a local murder.

In 1995, FBI hate-crime statistics reported 24 hate crimes in New Mexico. In 2005, there were 18 reported hate crimes. Hate crimes include violence against gays, the most recent examples being cases in Santa Fe and Edgewood.

You might recall how passionate the desire for passage of a hate-crime law was - or wasn't - particularly during the Gary Johnson administration.

It's an oft-cited detail of New Mexico life that hate is not a big problem here. But who really knows what the true numbers are?

We all get along fairly well, so the fact of an existence of hate groups here in the city is sobering. As an immigration bill moves along, so too should our guard.

Grant's column runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Send e-mail to gene@genegrant.c

By

The Southern Poverty Law Center has released its annual "The Year In Hate" report, tracking the trends of various hate groups across the country.

The report is unsettling on a number of fronts.

It cites a 40 percent rise in hate groups since 2000, from 604 active to 844 in 2006. Nearly all the new activity can be traced to the anti-immigration movement.

"Active," in the law center's terms, includes rallies, speeches, meetings, leafletting, publishing literature and committing criminal acts. It does not count entities that appear only in cyberspace.

Thoughtful people who support, as I do, First Amendment rights for anyone, no matter how much they may philosophically disagree with the message, may want to consider just how far the tentacles have spread.

The Ku Klux Klan, started as a single entity in 1865 now has 165 chapters nationwide. None is reported for New Mexico. We do, however, have a recognized Neo-Nazi chapter, a branch of the 191-chapter National Socialist Movement, headquartered in Minneapolis.

There is also a skinhead chapter in Albuquerque, named the Civilian Combat Squad.

I have heard rumblings of such a group for a bit of time, but I never had anything concrete to go along with it. Until now.

The listings include 88 black separatist groups, whose ideology is very much about race-based hatred. There are no chapters in the state; the closest is in Phoenix. I'd like to have a chat with those folks.

A separate category of 147 so-called "Patriot Groups" that do not necessarily advocate or engage in violence, have two local listings - Border Rescue and the Constitution Party, both in Albuquerque.

The report, including an eye-watering pull-out national map with group symbols for all categories state by state, is a reminder of the fractured state of affairs in which we live. No one escapes.

Mind you, a lot of these groups have their own problems, with many of their leaders either in prison or being pushed out through power struggles. But there's always someone there to step into the void.

White, black or otherwise, what stitches many of these groups together is immigration. And you can't help but wonder how long it will be, as a border state, that more groups like these will seek a New Mexico presence.

You will not find much reporting of this issue here, outside of the Minutemen down south. You may recall the story in 2001 when a Mexican national was apprehended by an Albuquerque SWAT team after a four-hour standoff on Tramway Boulevard. He was wanted for the killing of a skinhead chapter leader in California, as well as for a local murder.

In 1995, FBI hate-crime statistics reported 24 hate crimes in New Mexico. In 2005, there were 18 reported hate crimes. Hate crimes include violence against gays, the most recent examples being cases in Santa Fe and Edgewood.

You might recall how passionate the desire for passage of a hate-crime law was - or wasn't - particularly during the Gary Johnson administration.

It's an oft-cited detail of New Mexico life that hate is not a big problem here. But who really knows what the true numbers are?

We all get along fairly well, so the fact of an existence of hate groups here in the city is sobering. As an immigration bill moves along, so too should our guard.