A 2020 study has found that Texas leads the United States in reported sightings of white supremacist propaganda as well as leading the nation in terms of white supremacist rallies conducted within its boundaries.
The Center on Extremism monitored and tracked the number of fliers, stickers, banners, emails and many other type of propaganda being spread by white supremacist, and complied the data into a national report.
The results were damning..
Not only were there signs that the anti-Black propaganda had diversified in terms of distribution methods, but new data showed a huge increase of incidents from the previous year, with a total of 5,125 cases reported (averaging more than 14 incidents per day), compared to 2,724 in 2019, equivocating to highest number of white supremacist incidents center has ever recorded
“Propaganda gives white supremacists the ability to maximize media and online attention, while limiting the risk of individual exposure, negative media coverage, arrests and public backlash that often accompanies more public events.” The report emphasizes.
There were 574 documented incidents in the state last year. Texas was followed by Washington state, which saw 345 incidents.
The report claims that at least thirty white supremacist groups distributed propaganda, but three groups—Patriot Front, New Jersey European Heritage Association and Nationalist Social Club—were responsible for 92 percent of the activity. The report asserts that a single native Texas group, the Patriot Front, was responsible for 80% of these incidents nationwide.
“Propaganda gives white supremacists the ability to maximize media and online attention, while limiting the risk of individual exposure” It continues.
The propaganda overwhelmingly features veiled white supremacist language with a patriotic slant, in an effort to normalize the white supremacists’ message. There were at least 130 incidents of white supremacist banner drops, many of them being dropped over highway overpasses, most containing anti-Black or pro police rhetoric.
It does note that at least five unannounced white supremacist events took the form of counterprotests, or unannounced designed to directly respond to BLM protestors.
The report also documented 56 white supremacist events, with an majority of the meetings taking place in privately planned unannounced fashions or ‘flash demonstrations’. The report indicates possible usage of private communications platforms by hostile actors in order to better coordinate events in secrecy.
Finally, the report concludes that racist writings appeared in every state except Hawaii, with the highest levels of activity in Texas, Washington, California, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Virginia and Pennsylvania.
–Terrence Dorner, B1Daily
B1Daily 