Some 150,000 to 200,000 people subscribe to publications, attend marches and rallies, and donate money to hate groups. The spectrum of groups such as various Klans, Aryan Nations, Christian Identity, Skinheads, neo-Nazis and others have fluid, overlapping memberships and share certain basic premises. Almost two-thirds of hate crimes in tye US are committed by whites against blacks. Most are not perpetrated by formal group members. While Pataki's new bill addresses property damage suffered by targeted groups, legislating human relations is harder.
Most hate crimes occur as areas undergo rapid integration.
This has certainly been so in Watertwon and Jefferson County since the large-scale expansion of Fort Drum a dozen years ago. Hate groups exploit white fears of change imposed from above or outside during times of economic hardship. Other clashes have occurred in upstate New york, for example, with the influx of large numbers of seasonal migrant workers. African Americans in particular are scapegoated for white suffering. At the southern edge of our Western and central New York region, the Klan is preparing to march in Pittsburgh on April 5.