Number of active hate groups hits new high.
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/splc-annual-hate-count-record-high-2018
A few observations:
1) I put it in this thread, but I don't see Trump as being a primary or even large cause of this. Presidents get too much blame and credit for larger economic and social forces that produce certain outcomes that happen on their watch. But he has made his own small contribution to this and I wouldn't want to completely absolve him.
2) I'v seen theories about this being a reaction to Obama. The hypothesis is that having a classy black man and family in the White House has proven to be too much for some. Not buying this one.
3) Other theories have focused on the impact that the increasing diversity of the population (including some very successful minorities) has had on the psyches of some people who feel their privileges are being eroded. The most striking thing about this is that these feelings seem to be strongest in areas with little minority representation, not the larger cities where the minority populations have grown. It is interesting to me that even in the South race relations seem to be getting better in most larger cities. Of course, since I visit those cities just for a couple days at a time, my impressions my be off. I haven't spent much time in recent years in the rural South or Appalachia. Maybe time for a field trip.