U.S. citizens live with 'emotional terrorism'

Officers at DHS

Carol Forsloff---For years Homeland Security, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have said right-wing extremist groups and militias are a serious threat, as some of their members attempt recruitment online, even on blogger and newspaper sites, creating a form of “emotional terrorism.”

After an article on this site, a reader wrote in the comment section:
There is one issue that he has initiated (although inadvertently) that will make a percentage of the population of the U.S. safer sumdum, and I suggest you find your state branch.
 The 'Patriot' Movement Explodes. There were only 149 Militia groups/patriot groups in 2008. The American trust in obama has sent that number into a chain reaction of epic proportions and is growing momentum by the day. There are now as of 2011 1,274 and counting. Many have networked and are merging.

obama really is bringing True Americans closer together!

Tourists, new residents add to the negatives of racism in Hawaii

Pokai Bay on the Waianae Coast of Oahu

"Why are you moving?" a journalist asked an elderly couple when they said they were returning to the mainland.  "Too many dirty people," the wife responded.  "Dirty people?" they were asked, and the response tells much of the story about the negatives of racism in Hawaii.

'Everybody does it' a childish defense for bullying in life or politics

President Kennedy assassinated in 1963

"Everybody does it. It doesn't matter who they are, they just can't get along." This childish response to argument helps foster bullying and bad behavior in society and politics, including the Congress and other areas of government as well as in daily life.

Those of us who have raised or taught children know that when there is an altercation between two or three or more children, usually no one takes responsibility for it. The fingers point instead to one another, without anyone admitting or finding out who really started trouble. Often everyone gets punished when the culprit is unknown.  And if that culprit is discovered, then the children begin to talk about "everyone is doing it,"especially if that guilty person has a level of control and/or popularity within the group.

We respond to political figures just like we respond to children's arguments. We punish the group without acknowledging the source of trouble. Often we don't even try to find that source with the argument "everyone does it."

In the case of the episodes of gun violence, demonstrated by the high-profile shooting of Gabriel Gifford, Congresswoman from Arizona a few years ago, the school shooting at Sandy Hook, and most recently in Washington State, the atmosphere of hate has been festering for some time.

Clarence W. Dupnik, the sheriff of the county where Gabriel Gifford was killed, was reported to say shortly afterward in a news conference,about an  "atmosphere of hatred and bigotry,"helping to fuel violence.  He spoke strongly of that atmosphere as provoking those with serious mental health problems to act out their violent fantasies. An atmosphere of hate, he said, facilitates problems. He tells us we must all get at the source.

The source of that,according to the reporting of the Christian Science Monitor, is the extreme rhetoric, building up since 2006. Fox News fosters much of it with its news "commentators," hardly news at all. Whether that is Sean Hannity or Sarah Palin, the right remains central to this ugly speech in a very special way.

For example, as David Neiwart pointed out in Crooks and Liars, how Glenn Beck called for kicking California out of the Union, and also referred to Barack Obama as a Marxist, a communist, a socialist and later a fascist. Emails circulate these rumors, and the larger in bulk they become, the more people believe them before hearing the truth.

The argument 'everyone does it' while applauding the angry and sarcastic rhetoric, reinforces bullying and ugly arguments in places where there is vulnerability for that sort of thing. Folks hear aggressive commentators, and people using epithets in reference to public figures; and then its echoes by their political representatives, and then they believe what they hear. Louisiana is one of those vulnerable places where this takes place.  As an example, a few years ago, shortly after Representative John Fleming of Louisiana won his seat in the House, he encouraged separatism and referred to Obama as a socialist during one of his first meetings with constituents following the election. Senator David Vitter of Louisiana did the same during the health care debates. Both represent central and northern Louisiana where the Klan flourished and still has many members. Yet few in Louisiana in the press have pointed to this aggressive language as initiating political bullying and the lessons from history it undercuts in the process.

In fact that lack of admission of who starts what is the problem in politics now, just as it is with bullying in the classroom or the office. After the heat of the present discussions following the shooting of Gabrielle Gifford and the shooting at Sandy Hook and in Washington State, people will likely continue the same response. Fingers will point around the room, not getting at the source.  In fact after the recent midterm election there was a raft of pictures and political statements attacking not just President Obama's leadership but the character of his wife, Michelle, and elements of their private life.  This has been ongoing since Obama was first elected in 2008, but the increase in bullying continues in a climate where the free-for-all seems to be the accepted standard on social media as well as discourse among people everywhere. Strongly worded epithets are part of the verbal violence that psychologists underline as personally abusive.  On a broader scale, the same type of rhetoric creates a national atmosphere of verbal abuse that can lead to the perpetuation of violence.

The rhetoric has been so abusive that newspapers remind people to keep their comments moderate and to avoid angry, personal attacks on the President and others, especially in relationship to politics.

The concern about violent speech and abusive language was part of the discussion following the death of  President John F. Kennedy, who was shot in Dallas, Texas 61 years ago.  Kennedy, who had become identified with civil rights and social liberalism, was called socialist and Communist at the time by anti-Communist Protestant groups in particular, especially in the South where the angry rhetoric against integration was at its zenith.  In reflection of the events of that time, Forbes magazine writes that modern Democrats would see Kennedy as more like former President Reagan, however, as he was adamantly anti- Communist and although deeply religious, not a pawn of the Catholic Church.  As the images of mourners were shown on television, some folks wondered aloud whether or not the verbal violence created the atmosphere that allowed for the assassination of the President.

Talk show Stan Solomon offers the extreme speech recited in generalities by others not so extreme but who listen and believe that if it is said often enough, it must be true.  Solomon has observed that Obama is a Muslim, married to a transgender woman or a man whom Obama knew in college and that the aim of the President is to help impose Shariah law on America.  He and the Executive Director of Gun Owners of America then declared they were preparing themselves, and others should as well, to fight back.

The Southern Poverty Law Center wonders also about the present political atmosphere and the welfare of the current President, Barack Obama.

Experts at the Department of Justice and the Southern Poverty Law Center have for some time said hate speech has increased and hate groups as well. SPLC has been especially concerned about the hate speech from anti-immigrant groups, many of which exist in Arizona.

And psychologists in numerous citations continue to remind us of the hurtful nature of verbal abuse and its risks to individual welfare, abuse that can create a lifetime of trouble that can exceed physical abuse.  Could it also perpetuate physical violence on a wider scale?  Experts maintain it is possible that it has facilitated the aggressive nature of government and personal interaction as well as the type of school shootings that the socially deprived or emotionally disturbed commit in response.

Instead of countering this with a change of behavior, the defense is, "Well everyone does it." But the truth, in fact, is everyone doesn't. The problem of bullying and bad political and social behavior starts somewhere and has to be stopped. Those who refuse to examine the source, and instead say "everyone does it" allow the bullying and the violent speech to thrive.

It starts in childhood, continues on the playground, and never ends unless those who want bullying to end in all its forms tackle the source itself and will not be satisfied with pointing fingers.

Internet lynching grows in power and influence

A Westboro Baptist Church demonstration

The Internet has been one of the great ways of uniting people and events, allowing instant communication around the globe. Doctors can watch each other perform operations and even be guided by one another in the process. Businesses can sell goods. Consumers can buy almost anything. All of this and far more has been brought by the Internet, but even as it has been a force for good, it has allowed the baser influences of the world's cultures to thrive, recruit and influence and become virtually Internet lynch mobs.



The South Poverty Law Center documents the story of Hal Turner. He is described as a neo-Nazi who has used websites to harass, threat and intimidate and developed a following. He is said to have slandered those he considered enemies whom he suggested be killed. In 2007 he gave the names, addresses and phone numbers of the six African American teens in Jeena, Louisiana who were at the time facing punishment involving a fight at a high school. The fight followed an incident where white students had labeled a tree in the schoolyard as whites only and a place for lynching. Turner's website called for “Lynch the Jena 6!" He also wrote that Mexicans should be shot and killed as soon as they cross the border.



When judges in Brooklyn and Chicago were perceived to have upheld local handgun bans, Turner responded by posting photographs of the judges along with identifying information that included addresses and phone numbers and was said to have intimated they be killed. He was arrested, tried, found guilty for making illegal threats, and lost in the Circuit Court of Appeals in July of 2013.



Turner is one among many who has used the Internet to attract attention to topics that are controversial and negative. Others use it specifically to build a following and to recruit members to carry out certain objectives. In the United States, according to the SPLC, right wing militia groups have grown dramatically as a result of the Internet, while “aboveground” groups have diminished in numbers because of the violence people have found in them. But the underground has flourished.



There are also those in the Christian right who have offered terrorist conspiracies and hate speech. One of these is the Christian Identity Religion, with leadership like Robert McCurry, an identity minister. He was reported to have told a crowd of 500 people who came to hear him in a large conference in Missouri that “war rages in America. The enemy is not coming. The enemy is here,” then added later, “God has ordained that his people be a warring people---Lord of Hosts means Lord of a mass of people organized for war.”The Internet had allowed the growth of the Identity Religion so that it continues to flourish.



Social media facilitates communication among groups of individuals in a crisis. It also helps to organize groups all over the world. In fact in Egypt during the Arab Spring, social media allowed protesters to communicate and organize. The same has been true during other demonstrations or uprisings around the world. During times of disasters, social media has allowed victims to contact sources of assistance and for service organizations and community groups to extend outreach efforts to those in need.



But social media also abounds with hate speech. Some hate groups develop, grow and multiply in places like Facebook, Twitter and Google. Although these sites prohibit hate speech and threats, it is not uncommon to see inflammatory speech on comment threads and threats made as well. Right wing groups have grown by more than 66% during the period from 2000 to 2010, so they number in excess of 1000 in the United States.



Dr. Andre Oboler has dedicated great effort to combating online hate. He has fought against online hate against groups of minorities in Australia and established The Online Hate Prevention Institute. He says this about hate speech in social media: “Mainstream social media platforms facilitate hate speech when they don't stop it. Social media networks have a very powerful communication platform and if they allow it to be used for evil effectively, then that puts the public at risk. When it's out there in the public sphere it puts more people at risk to accepting the hate, and also deciding that the hate is just a normal part of the discussion. This leads them to being people who just stand there, accept it and don't say anything, and that sort of harmful behaviour becomes normalized.”



All sorts of media platforms on the Internet are used to spread the message of hate, according to The Leadership Conference. Anti-Semitic rhetoric and racist comments are made in the comment section of online media sites. It is there that readers themselves become radicalized, foster attention to hate, and promote following a violent form of response to those events and individuals who are the targets of hate. This includes not just those groups who argue about handguns, Second Amendment rights, and immigration, the popular topics that arouse hate speech. It also includes radical animal rights individuals and groups who use hate-filled rhetoric to rail against government groups, private organizations and individuals concerning their treatment of animals. The comment sections of online sites allow readers to vent their views in such harsh ways, that some newspapers have had to close down the comments sections.



Video-sharing sites like YouTube are also platforms for hate groups and individuals to offer their ideas and to recruit members.  This way members actually see and hear the information and thereby find some sort of intimacy and connection with those whose ideas seem attractive but who may not overtly reveal the violent nature of their messages.



Oboler's remarks about the development of hate groups on the Web offer us a summary of the risks of the Internet, as a power for good or evil. Just like the mobs of yesteryear, people gather in large groups and are led by opinions that may be wrong and hurtful. The problem becomes, as it has before, that some people join the harsh and negative style, even the hate itself, as others simply ignore it and say nothing. Both, as Oboler reminds us, will make acceptance of the hate behavior as normal and in that fashion will facilitate its growth.

Islamophobia, violence fueled by prejudice in the US

[caption id="attachment_17435" align="alignright" width="368"] Pamela Geller, blogger who fosters prejudice against Muslims[/caption]

Carol Forsloff — A man was attacked and thrown to his death in New York in December 2012.  The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR - New York chapter) has called for America's political and religious leaders to speak out against intolerance and the growing anti-Muslim hate in the United States.

The recent declaration from CAIR follows the event in New York where a woman was arrested for allegedly pushing a man to his death on the tracks of a subway station. She thought he was Muslim and cited 9/11 terror attacks as her motive. The victim, in fact, was a Hindu, not a Muslim.

The New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NY) said the alleged killer, who has been charged with second-degree murder as a hate crime, told police the attack was "an act against Muslims" and cited the 9/11 terror attacks as a motive for her actions. Her alleged victim was reportedly Hindu, not Muslim.

CAIR gave the following hate incidents targeting Muslims or Islam as examples of the problem of violence:

* A designated hate group headed by blogger Pamela Geller is placing Islamophobic advertisements in transit systems nationwide, including in New York subway stations. CAIR-NY reached out to the transit authority with concerns that the ads might incite violence.

* A New York man of Afghan heritage was attacked and stabbed a number of times, as his assailant shouted anti-Muslim comments. He was stabbed repeatedly outside a mosque by an attacker shouting anti-Muslim comments.

The increasing violence has been fueled by an evolution of feelings from the initial attack in New York on 9/11, with an ongoing distrust of people from the Middle East, many of whom are assumed to be Muslims, although many are not. The prejudice against an entire group of people has created a climate that precipitates events like the recent attack in New York, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a watchdog group against the prejudice of minorities in the United States. The SPLC writes "in Muslims, those inclined to bigotry may have found their perfect bogeyman."

Experts in violence and terrorism, as well as watchdog groups, remind Americans that prejudice has spurred terrible crimes in the past against a whole people for the crimes committed by a minority of people of various faiths, races, and opinions. The most famous representation of that prejudice was the imprisonment of thousands of loyal Japanese citizens following the attack on Pearl Harbor.  Many Americans of that era continue to express the prejudices of that time, despite the fact that decades have since past; and Japan is now an ally of the United States.

In tracking the treatment of minorities by the majority in Korea, Professor Na Jeong-ju reminds us that many crimes against minorities are committed by those who feel left out of the competition or out of the major areas of society in schools, workplaces and social groups. Thus those who have long-term unemployment or feel they are outcasts themselves, such as ex-convicts, are more apt to be prejudiced against others, as they need to feel superior to someone, given their own feelings of inadequacy. This is what can happen in a "Winners only" society, according to Professor Na Jeong. On the other hand prejudice within these socially isolated individuals does not exclude others from having the problem, however, whose foundations of prejudice may be religious instead.

Ted Pike, whose wife and supporter died 2012 in a drowning accident in Oregon, has often been on the forefront to confront Christian Zionists and others who foster hate and bigotry against others. He writes,

These racist ideologies, like Geller’s Islamophobia, degrade large populations to such inferior, even subhuman status that Christians need no longer share Christ with them – or even care what happens to them. The Bible says all men are created in the image of God, endowed with free will souls capable of choosing for or against their Creator.

Pike's message may not get the headlines of the moment; however, his message is a reminder of SPLC concerns and that fighting prejudice and the violence it precipitates is a responsibility of everyone.