The number of hate groups as defined by the Southern Poverty Law Center dropped by one in North Carolina in 2010, while the number grew by about 7 percent nationally.
In 2008, North Carolina had 30 hate groups as defined by the civil-rights organization. In 2009, the number dipped to 29. In 2010, the number was 28.
Although the state total changed by only one, there was a lot of volatility behind the number.
Fourteen groups in 2009's count were dropped for various reasons in 2010, and 13 groups were added.
And different chapters of the same organization are included in the total.
For example, there are five separate entries for Ku Klux Klan groups in North Carolina.
Nationally, the center identified 1,002 hate groups, compared with 932 the previous year, an increase of about 7 percent, said Mark Potok, director of the center's intelligence project.
The center has been tracking hate groups and other extremist organizations since the 1980s.
Potok defined hate groups as any organization that considers an entire group as somehow less than the members of their organization.
The North Carolina groups included white supremacists, black separatists, racist skinheads, neo-Confederates, neo-Nazis and KKK groups. Among the groups is the Council of Conservative Citizens, which the center said has a racist national agenda.
Nationally, several politicians — including former U.S. Rep. Bob Barr and former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott of Mississippi — have been criticized for speaking at council functions. Former Winston-Salem Mayor Jack Cavanagh was criticized in the late 1990s for pledging allegiance to the Confederate flag during a local meeting of the group.
According to the council's statement of principles, it believes the U.S. is a Christian, European country and that Americans are part of the European people.
"We also oppose all efforts to mix the races of mankind, to promote non-white races over the European-American people through so-called 'affirmative action' and similar measures, to destroy or denigrate the European-American heritage, including the heritage of the Southern people, and to force the integration of the races," according to the statement of principles on the council's website.
A.J. Barker of Clemmons, the organization's executive director in North Carolina, said calling the council a hate group is unfair.
"That's totally ridiculous," Barker said.
He said there are good and bad people among both races, and he doesn't consider blacks worse than whites.
Barker said the council has been criticized by groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center because of the council's stand on such issues as affirmative action and illegal immigration.
"When you take a stand like that, you're automatically stigmatized by groups like that," he said.
Potok said it's difficult to tally the number of people involved in hate groups, but estimated that between 150,000 and 250,000 people are involved nationally.
pgarber@wsjournal.com
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