Supremacist Propaganda Reaches Historical Levels in the US

On Thursday, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) pointed out that the distribution of white supremacist propaganda increased by 38 percent between 2021 and 2022, which constitutes an all-time record in the United States.

RELATED:

Over 16,000 Haitian Migrants Deported From Dominican Republic

Reported propaganda cases rose from 4,876 in 2021 to 6,751 in 2022. To arrive at these numbers, the Center on Extremism tracked the activities of these groups, including the mass distribution of anti-Semitic, racist, and anti-LGBTQ+ flyers.

Among the counted acts are also the dissemination of stickers, banners and posters; laser projections of hate messages on buildings and stadiums; and face-to-face meetings of white supremacists.

"The sheer volume of white supremacist propaganda distribution we are documenting across the country is alarming and dangerous," said Oren Segal, vice president of the Center on Extremism.

In addition to the increase in racist incidents, last year also saw a more than doubling of anti-Semitic events, from 352 in 2021 to 852 in 2022.

White supremacist propaganda was recorded in every state except Hawaii. In descending order, the highest incidence of racist events occurred in Texas, Massachusetts, Virginia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, California, Utah, Florida, Connecticut, and Georgia.

One of the few places where white supremacist propaganda waned was at universities. In the last three years, the number of incidents dropped from 232 to 219.

The report also points out that 93 percent of 2022 supremacist propaganda was distributed by the Patriot Front, Goyim Defense League (GDL), and White Lives Matter (WLM).

Since 2019, the Texas-based Patriot Front has been responsible for 80 percent of supremacist propaganda, for which it uses the colors of the U.S. flag. 

Although it avoids using traditional supremacist language and symbols, it employs ambiguous phrases such as "For Nation Against State," "Revolution Is Tradition," "Take Back America," "America First," and "One Nation Against Immigration."

"There is no question that white supremacists and anti-Semites are trying to terrorize and harass Americans and have intensified their use of propaganda as a tactic to make their presence known in communities across the country," the ADL Director Jonathan Greenblatt said.

He also commented that the supremacists' harassment is "a dastardly attempt" to intimidate those who don't align with their "twisted view" of the world.