Source: The Atlantic
White supremacist violence is growing in the U.S. and with the help of Internet recruitment and hate groups, it’s becoming easier for white nationalists to carry out hate crimes.
The Atlantic interviewed a former white nationalist who now runs an organization that is dedicated to providing counseling for those who are trying to leave extremist movements. The Free Radicals Project, as it is called, works to offer support to those who have been trapped in a cycle of hatred among white supremacists, and Christian Picciolini, former white supremacist, has headed the organization for 30 years.
During the interview Picciolini explained that the Internet has made these hate groups more powerful in the last decade, providing wrongful encouragement to those who want to carry out hate crimes against others, which have been seen all across America in the form of mass shootings. He explains that it’s becoming more “mainstream” because there aren’t “checks and balances to counter” white supremacists.
“There aren’t programs being funded to help people disengage from extremism,” he said, and the problem will only get worse.
He explained that white supremacy is expanding because of these virtual platforms and is finding funding through online ads, like through Youtube. “Deplatforming,” he says, helps a lot to slow them down.
Though hate and racism has existed for many years, it’s at the forefront now more than ever before because of the platforms that these hate groups have access to and the praise they get from one another for acting on their hate.
Read full story: The Atlantic.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column]