Expert Solutions

What constitutes a hate group? The Southern Poverty Law Center, which attempts to track such groups, has identified more than 500 different active hate groups. This number has increased in recent years, with a pronounced spike in hate group activity reported in the immediate wake of Barack Obama’s election in November 2008. Explain this increase. Is it due to economics? Increased racial and religious tension? Is it an artifact of watching for these groups more vigilantly?

Not all of these groups have been named without controversy. The Nation of Islam, a prominent African-American group that organized the “million man march” and which is led by Minister Louis Farrakhan,has also been listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Try to define a hate group. You can also visit the web site of the Southern Poverty Law Center at http://www.splcenter.org/