Posted on 09/09/2001 2:45:33 PM PDT by vrwc54
They are on the radio, on CD, on college campuses, all over the Internet and, they claim, increasingly likely to be living in a neighborhood near you.The National Alliance, the hate group that covertly dumped racist fliers in Arlington last weekend and anti-Semitic literature in Sharon a few weeks earlier, says the controversy generated from the two actions has helped boost its ranks locally - exactly what the group intended.
And those new followers, the group vows, will soon be spreading their message of hate to even more Bay State communities in the dark of night.
``Our membership is increasing. There will be one town after another after another,'' said a man who identifies himself as Jeff Hackworth, a Cape Cod resident and Massachusetts spokesman for the West Virginia-based National Alliance. The neo-Nazi group is described by the Anti-Defamation League as ``the single most dangerous organized hate group in the United States today.''
The group's fliers sparked outrage in Sharon, where there is a large Jewish population, and in Arlington, where a local church supported the resettlement of Sudanese teenagers.
One of those teenagers recently pleaded innocent to charges he raped an Arlington woman on Aug. 24 - an incident seized upon by the National Alliance in its fliers, which described all of the Sudanese teens as ``HIV-infected rapists from Africa'' who should be shipped back.
While the National Alliance declines to release information detailing the size of its membership or their identities, Hackworth said members in Massachusetts range in age from 18 to 50, with an average age of about 30. He said the group is increasingly attracting college students and young professionals.
``We have people who work for town governments and a couple who work for state government,'' Hackworth said. ``People would be surprised to find out who our members are.''
The Anti-Defamation League, which tracks hate groups, says the National Alliance has about 1,500 members nationwide and likely has fewer than a dozen in Massachusetts.
``They have come up with a strategy that seems to generate a lot of media response,'' said the ADL's New England director, Rob Leikind. ``Their purpose is to gain attention and membership.''
At the Somerville-based Political Research Associates, which also tracks hate groups, analyst Chip Berlet said the Alliance's Massachusetts chapter has greatly expanded its public presence since the launch of its Web site in July 2000.
``This is a very sophisticated Web page,'' Berlet said. ``This is persuasive propaganda for people who are thinking that some group has stolen their life.''
The technology and tactics of the Massachusetts chapter mirrors those of the National Alliance across the country.
The Alliance is led by former Oregon State University physics Prof. William Pierce, who penned ``The Turner Diaries,'' a 1978 novel about a race war by an all-white army. The book, which describes the blowing up of a federal building using a bomb made of ammonia nitrate, is believed to have inspired Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.
Two years ago, Pierce pumped up the volume considerably when he bought Resistance Records, described by experts as the most lucrative hate enterprise in the country. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups, Resistance Records is the leading U.S. label for hate music, churning out a reported 70,000 CDs last year and generating more than $1 million that is funneled back to the National Alliance.
``The two key recruitment tools into the belief system of white supremacy is music and the Internet,'' said Abby Ferber, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Colorado. Ferber, who researches hate groups, said the National Alliance is the most active in recruiting on college campuses.
``With the Internet, they are clever. A student may be studying the Holocaust, and it takes them to a white supremacist Web site,'' Ferber said. ``They are creating a community over the Web where people can talk anonymously, not like a cross-burning where everyone can see you.''
The Web site for the National Alliance of Massachusetts is filled with hate music and videos that can be downloaded or ordered. Visitors can also download the weekly half-hour radio broadcast of founder Pierce. His show, ``American Dissident Voices,'' is transmitted over shortwave radio and several stations across the country - including one in Providence, R.I., that can be heard in southern Massachusetts.
``Because of the Internet, they can reach tens of thousands of American teenagers who never realized they had so much company in hate,'' said Jack Levin, professor of sociology and criminology, and director of the Brudnick Center on Violence at Northeastern University
Nationally, the number of hate crimes - distributing hate literature is not considered a criminal act - has held steady over the past few years, according to the FBI. But the number of groups and Web sites has grown significantly.
``There has been a splintering of hate groups into small cells,'' Levin said. ``It makes it very difficult for the FBI to investigate.''
Levin said that no more than 5 percent of all hate crimes nationwide are commited by members of organized groups. But Levin and other experts said that what makes the groups, such as the National Alliance, so dangerous is that they tend to inspire individuals to commit violent acts.
``The organized groups pass out fliers or post material on the Web saying blame Jews, blame blacks, blame immigrants. Someone sitting a block away gets the material, their anger is focused on a target and they act out on the target,'' said Berlet, of Political Research Associates.
Ultimately, say experts, the recent activities by the National Alliance of Massachusetts may also produce a positive effect.
``In a perverse way, they are doing a public service,'' said the ADL's Leikind. ``They are letting people know that there are pockets of hate in society, that they are out there. For many people it's a wake-up call.''
Leikind added, ``It gives people the opportunity of seeing the importance of teaching their children and grandchildren respect.''
Town Turns Tables On Hatemongers....
many jumped on the bandwagon and said the Jews of Sharon, Mass did it to themselves. Well, it looks like they were wrong.
Most of us knew that already.
Very wrong, especially with a National Alliance guy living in Cape Cod.
How many people got banned from just that one thread you posted the link to? I counted two, but I may have missed a couple.
OOooooo the stolen-life loons have a site all their own. LOL...
YUCK. And I'd bet got his threads pulled in a heartbeat.
When these National Alliance creeps put their stickers up in Green Bay this spring, no one really knew who they were. And then folks found out...they haven't been back--yet. I doubt if they'll get a warm welcome.
But these guys are hit & run--dump their disgusting literature on people's lawns in the middle of the night, then won't even take credit for it. So much for their alleged "racial pride."
LOL...some antibiotics as a follow up might be the ticket too after going there....(-; and cootie shots...
As for the National Alliance, they pulled the same thing here a few years back when Boise was settling Sudanese Christians displaced by their nation's war. Their local representative was identified and she's been too embarassed to try anything since. Typical coward behavior.
Hey, slimeball--sorry, make that newbie National Alliance defender slimeball--has this person been convicted of the crime? Ever hear of the Constitution? Ever hear of trying to influence the jury pool? And why did you refer person you refer to as a "beast" (making him not quite human) not allowed to go to court because that's only reserved for white folk? And why don't you share with us your version of "a civilized society?" Why do I think that blacks and Jews would be noticeably absent?
And did the folks in Sharon and the other towns invite the National Alliance to spew the National Alliance's racist and anti-semitic garbage all over their lawns in the middle of the night? I don't think so. They don't want the National Alliance in their towns. And if the National Alliance wants to protest, let them go to the courthouse & join up with the losers in the white robes and pointy hats to vomit their venom.
Good for Boise! These nitwits have no idea what it's like in Sudan, nor do they care. All they see is the color of their skin and say, "We can't have Their Kind around here."
This is so stupid.
1) If people can't tell Nazi propaganda when they see it, they shouldn't be allowed on the internet.
2) Cross-burnings were anonymous, because people wore hoods. Duh!
The commentary on VNN said the exact samething as you did. People were more concerned about the leaflets than the rapes.
It's unfortunate that VNN has occasionally linked to Free Republic articles on its website. They have frequently disparaged Mr. Robinson. That's a compliment to him.
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