Hm

[baxil]

Random odd fact of the day: Two states share the smallest number of organized hate groups in the continental U.S. --

Rhode Island and South Dakota.

(Neither of them has any groups in the categories the SPLC tracks. At the opposite end, California and Texas have over 50 apiece.)

--
EDITED TO ADD: Second map with actual numbers. Add Alaska

Comments

[ngarewyrd]

what of the illonois?

where did they come in the list?

Dang illonois nazies =8D

[baxil]

According to the linked maps, a minimum of 10 hate groups statewide. Probably about average.

[baxil]

The chart suggests that packed, poor urban centers tend to attract hate groups along racial lines -- probably for much the same reason that prisons pull people into violent racial gangs. If you're in direct danger, there's a big attraction to hanging out with people who you know on sight will have your back.

Not condoning it, but it does sadly make sense.

[natetg]

That's a rather strange approach to things -- doesn't it make more sense to keep track of the number of people in hate groups than the number of hate groups? 2,000,000 people in 1 hate group is probably worse than 10,000 spread over a hundred. Moreover, wouldn't it make more sense to normalize by state population

[baxil]

> doesn't it make more sense to keep track of the number of people in hate groups than the number of hate groups?

It does, but I'm having a hard time finding those statistics. Either my Google-fu is failing or that sort of data is hard to track. Being vain about my abilities, I would guess the latter. ;-)

The JDL is in fact listed as a hate group -- go to this better map and pick California from the drop-down menu to get an idea for the categories excluded from the original graphic (and to see the JDL listing).

Another metric you might find more informative is the FBI Hate Crime Statistics, showing the raw numbers of crimes committed, which is a better metric as to the actual scope of the problem. But the SPLC disputes the numbers as undercounted, possibly by a factor of 10.

[hafoc]

If I were cynical-- perish the thought!-- I would posit that Rhode Island's tolerance is based on the fact that it was founded based on the strange idea of religious freedom. Massachusetts, for example, was founded based on the idea of religious freedom for Puritans only, which freedom included the right to persecute members of other religions the way the Puritans were persecuted in Britain. The persecuted ran off to Rhode Island, commonly known to good Puritans as Rogue Island in those days due to their godless habit of not torturing heretics.

But I suspect the fact that the populations of these two states are rather small has more to do with it.

[tailypo]

Rhode Island's just not big enough for hate. XD It'd be more interesting to me to find statistics on members of hate groups per capita, but I suppose that'd be hard to track.