Rebranding Hate

Whenever I come across an article or video (there were plenty during the election) that shows just how deeply racist and close-minded some people in the U.S. still are I'm taken a tiny bit by surprise, afterall this is the 21st century, the age of the Internet, hip-hop, tanning salons, interracial marriages, and an African-American President. I scratch my head and wonder, "how can people STILL be like this?"

I don't understand it but at least I know one way it gets perpetuated, it gets passed along from parents to children.

A disturbing, ridiculous, and in some ways sad article from Newsweek...

It's not about hate, it's about love. Love of white people. That's the message in songs, speeches and casual conversation during a weekend retreat in Zinc, Ark., sponsored by the Christian Revival Center and the Knights Party, an offshoot of the Ku Klux Klan.

The kids draw pictures of white-hooded Klanspeople and sing songs about the oppressed Aryan race; rousing sermons are read from Bibles decorated with Confederate flags. Aryan souvenirs are for sale, including baseball caps proclaiming IT'S LOVE, NOT HATE and advertising THE ORIGINAL BOYZ IN THE HOOD.

During the Knights weekend in Arkansas, Roy, a guest speaker, advised white recruiters to "keep it subtle. Don't hit 'em with anything too hard right off the bat or you will shock them. Find a chink in their armor and make friends. If you are too radical, they won't listen."

At least one group has become more fashion-conscious. The National Socialist Movement—a descendent of the American Nazi Party—tweaked its uniform last year, switching from Nazi brown shirts to a more Italian Fascist look.