By David Futrelle
A big round of applause for two websites that have featured here on We Hunted the Mammoth from the beginning: A Voice for Men and Return of Kings have both been officially recognized by the Southern Poverty Law Center as hate groups.
The hate-monitoring group announced the news in its latest “Year in Hate” report yesterday. “[F]or the first time,” the report declared,
the SPLC added two male supremacy groups to the hate group list: A Voice for Men, based in Houston, and Return of Kings, based in Washington, D.C. The vilification of women by these groups makes them no different than other groups that demean entire populations, such as the LGBT community, Muslims or Jews, based on their inherent characteristics.
Both groups have more than earned this long-overdue designation. If you need to be reminded just how, take a stroll through the archives here for literally hundreds of examples of hateful rhetoric and actions by both AVFM and RoK, and/or their respective founders, Paul Elam and Roosh V.
You may also notice, in your stroll through the archives, that both AVFM and (especially) RoK have embraced some of the most noxious views of the racist alt-right directly. Indeed, one of the most notorious participants in the racist Charlottesville march last year — a man jailed for his assault on a counterprotester — was a former contributor to AVFM.
Elam’s response so far to his recognition as a hatemonger by the SPLC has actually been somewhat tame, at least by his standards.
https://twitter.com/anearformen/status/966383611841859586
https://twitter.com/anearformen/status/966386487846686725
He also retweeted this lovely sentiment from someone whose Twitter handle is a not-very-subtle reference to the c-word.
https://twitter.com/KruntFrucker/status/966385645743755264
This dude was even more pissed:
https://twitter.com/has_baal/status/966405995999227904
Roosh’s response to his inclusion on the list was a bit, shall we say, ironic as well:
https://twitter.com/rooshv/status/966402313341595652?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
Thanks for proving the SPLC’s point, guys!
The SPLC report also notes a number of other discomfiting facts, starting with this one:
The SPLC’s Year in Hate and Extremism report identifies 954 hate groups – an increase of 4 percent from 2016.
Some of this increase, the report says, was due to a resurgence of fringe black nationalist groups — which the SPLC is quick to distinguish from “activist groups such as Black Lives Matter and others that work for civil rights and to eliminate systemic racism.”
But the real danger comes from the racist right.
[B]lack nationalist groups lagged far behind the more than 600 hate groups that adhere to some form of white supremacist ideology – and they have virtually no supporters or influence in mainstream politics, much less in the White House.
Within the white supremacist movement, neo-Nazi groups saw the greatest growth – from 99 groups to 121. Anti-Muslim groups rose for a third straight year. They increased from 101 chapters to 114 in 2017 – growth that comes after the groups tripled in number a year earlier.
Ku Klux Klan groups, meanwhile, fell from 130 groups to 72. The decline is a clear indication that the new generation of white supremacists is rejecting the Klan’s hoods and robes for the hipper image of the more loosely organized alt-right movement.
The overall number of hate groups likely understates the real level of hate in America, because a growing number of extremists, particularly those who identify with the alt-right, operate mainly online and may not be formally affiliated with a hate group.
These groups not only spew hatred; they have helped to spur a frightening rise in racist violence — and murder.
A separate SPLC investigation, released earlier this month, found that 43 people were killed and 67 wounded by young men associated with the alt-right over the past four years. Seventeen of the deaths came in 2017.
So AVFM and RoK are in some pretty shitty company here.
Wayne LaPierre also ranted about elitists. This from a man whose NRA salary in 2015 was more that 5 million bucks. What the hell is a multimillionaire lobbyist but part of the elite?
Jebus, that LaPierre speech. Brr. Although I did fall over laughing at the “God gave Americans the right to have guns” bit.
This made me laugh even harder; there are just so many ways to have fun with it, and @Respectable Law does a great thread, as always:
re: LaPierre… *sigh*
like Wayne LaPierre would recognize a socialist if his dog dragged one in….
These people LITERALLY define “socialism” as “anything done by the government (or, for that matter by a commercial or non-profit) that does not exclusively benefit white men”…
Back in th’ day, gummint housing was GREAT… when it was Levittown N.J. and “no non-Caucasians need apply”, but the instant it benefited non-white-men, it was pinkos taking over our country!!!
They’re all for new highways, etc., but let the tax dollar go to an “inner-city” program (like it ever does…), and it’s communists behind every tree!!!
Military spending is patriotic as a flag decal on a 4×4 until the military wants to take down a right-wing dictator (like it ever does…) and then it’s deep state U.N. takeaway of our rights!!!
The fantasy of the patriotic gun owners banding together to stop the U.N. Noo World Order Muslim Homosexual Invasion has bored so deep into the conservative psyche it’s completely horse-blindered them to anything that NEEDS to be done.
The purpose of conservative economics is to redistribute wealth to the mega-wealthy.
The purpose of conservative politics is to allow conservatives to believe that’s not what’s happening.
I love Respectable Lawyer.
@Mish I think they may have forgotten about Mr.Burns.
(P.S. Posted a link to my pronoun jewelry on the last page.)
@KRUSTY
It sounds like you disagree that they are hate groups, or am I misinterpreting you?
And the least of AVFM’s problems is whining. There are about a million other criticisms one could give that website, especially in light of this news.
He’s not part of the (((elite))). Nudge nudge, wink wink, Hollywood is destroying our family values.
P.S. Hi again all. It’s been a while.
OT: Another big, handsome, talented man who seemingly has the world on a string is the victim of sexual assault.
Brendan Fraser Says He Was Groped by Former HFPA President
The actor told GQ the alleged incident was one of many reasons why he disappeared from Hollywood.
‘God wanted Americans to have guns,’ er, the Constitution goes beyond the Second Amendment (legal separation of Church and State…)
So now Trump’s talking about arming teachers. (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/feb/22/trump-proposal-teachers-guns-schools) No money for anything except the military, tax-cuts to the mega-mega wealthy, and arming teachers.
Of course this means the government will buy a lot of guns. I suspect most people here already know that the NRA says it represents gun owners, but most of their money comes from manufacturers and sellers. i.e. people who might hope for a slice of pie from a large government contract.
It also means the government will spend a lot on training. Why am I suddenly thinking of Whitefish? (I think that’s the name. The firm that got the sweet, sweet contract to charge way over-inflated prices for grotty work getting the power back on in Puerto Rico.) And anyone who objects to (say) Betsy DeVos or her brother getting 10 x the going rate for that training just wants dead kids, right?
Whether it makes kids any safer is completely irrelevant to Mango Mussolini.
But at least we don’t have a president who set up her own email server. /s
Parkland school had an armed guard; he decided not to risk it.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/broward/article201636649.html
To be fair, notwithstanding the bravery of the unarmed chap who threw himself in harms way, I wouldn’t blame a teacher who didn’t fancy engaging an armed attacker either.
ETA: On that note…No, *you’re* crying
@Kat, I read this interview with Brendan Fraser this morning; interesting and poignant story of what he’s been through, including of course the groping assault. A very sweet rescue horse also makes an appearance!
@PeeVee, Respectable Lawyer is just fab. I was about to ask if you followed Julius Goat – but of course you do ?
@TreePerson, thank you for the link! Your stuff is adorbs ?
(and I’m so glad you have a parent who’s supportive)
It’d be nice if we could interview Philando Castile about the ramifications of being a teacher with a concealed carry permOH WAIT.
I think Lisa Simpson is a great role model. Homer not so much. That tweet seems like an own-goal.
Oh man, Twitter last night had a field day with Ted Cruz’s Simpsons idiocy. He’s like Sideshow Bob repeatedly stepping on rakes: he really thinks he gets pop culture and always ends up saying “B’oh” when Homer clearly says “D’oh”!
Wonkette pointed out some great sight gags that make it clear that the Simpsons understood the trajectory of the Republican Party since the Bush Sr. years.
“The party of Lisa Simpson.”
This calls for a celebration.
Mish, but of course!
We follow the *best* people.
Hi, Left Wing Fox! Your avi reminds me I gaven’t checked in on Oglaf for a while.
*Wanders off*
@PeeVee
Oglaf has been on a really good run since Christmas. Every one is brilliant. 🙂
@Mish Thanks for sharing that article. It must have taken a lot of courage for Fraser to be willing to be so open about what had happened.
@kupo on page 2
Yes, that’s the thread I was looking for, thanks!
In other news, the Heathers remake is going along swimmingly….
I never watched the original, but the way this looks, it’s like some bitter 4chan troll just replaced the blondes of the original with “Big Red” or “Trigglypuff” without any trace of irony.
Hi @Left Wing Fox! Welcome back!
Shadowplay, oooh, thanks!
*Wanders off again*
@Katamount:
I have watched the original Heathers. (At the Princess Cinema in Waterloo, which was the main repertory theatre there). Just reading the URL in the link you posted made me twitch.
As the article at the link mentions, homophobia and toxic masculinity were things actively skewered by the movie. In the scene where they’re setting up to murder two of the nastier jocks, J.D. mentions that he plans on making it look like they committed suicide to cover up a gay relationship. From the IMDB quotes page:
And, just to rub it in, the police investigating pick up the mineral water and immediately go ‘Oh my god he was gay.’
It’s definitely a movie of its time (there were a number of ‘high school is hell’ movies in the 1980s) and the number of sympathetic characters isn’t exactly high. It was very much a black comedy about teenage suicide. But it definitely understood where everybody was coming from, while the description there of the ‘reboot’ sounds like a satire of a Fox News Geezer’s views of modern schools. Except that, as Poe’s Law states, it gets impossible to satirize things that are so over the top to start with…