In times of prosperity, as acceptance of diverse groups and communities rises, hate group and overt racist activity decline. Economic downturn is usually accompanied by scapegoating of minorities and immigrants by those looking for someone to blame for their problems. As in the 1920's and 103-'s, the recession of the 1990's has proved to be an opportune time for a rise in hate group activity. In these difficult economic times, many young people, unless parents, teachers and others are observant, can be enlisted through exposure to continuous hate propaganda aimed at recruiting them to the racist cause. The goal of hatemongers and hate propaganda is to falsely portray a group as inferior, even less than human, undermining the norms and values of a society by potentially taking control of the culture through power or sheer numbers.
Hate propaganda plays on people's doubts and fears.
It feeds on misconceptions, increasing barriers to misunderstanding. Hate propaganda contributes to disunity in society, compromises democratic values and maintains inequality and oppression. When one group is aggrieved, we are all aggrieved. Hate propaganda is not a free speech issue. It is the promotion of hatred against an identifiable minority group and is against the law in Canada.