According to the researcher, many neo-Nazi groups have become bolder, which is a symptom of mainstreaming.
12:56•Updated 13:18
Neo-Nazis waving swastika flags and harassing passers-by have caused more headaches than usual in Nashville, Tennessee, this summer.
Instead of just a protest march, the neo-Nazis took to the streets of Nashville in July for several weeks. The group that came from different parts of the United States and Canada was small but visible.
It marched in popular tourist areas, disrupted the city council meeting with racist slurs, harassed Jews and yelled racist insults at black children, US media reports. The group has also distributed their leaflets in the city.
Neo-Nazi groups have made similar appearances across the United States, but unlike in Nashville they have been isolated, states the news channel ABC.
Nashville residents have asked why the neo-Nazis landed in their city for an extended period of time, and whether they can be stopped without infringing on free speech.
The city of Nashville is liberal while the state is conservative. Under the leadership of the Republicans, Tennessee has, among other things, restricted the activities of activists defending the rights of sexual and gender minorities, as well as immigration.
Member of the Goyim Defense League Nicholas Bysheim told reporters they came to Nashville because it’s the only place where free speech is respected.
Nashville Scene website the neo-Nazis interviewed said that Nashville is one destination in a multi-city tour to attract media attention and promote anti-Semitism.
The neo-Nazis Nashville Scene met said they were from Florida, Ontario and Canada. In addition to the Goyim Defene League, there were members of the Patriot Front.
Far right increasingly visible
The Goyim Defene League and the Patriot Front have emerged as the most visible far-right groups since the far-right’s joint march in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017.
At the same time, for example, the activities of Proud Boys have been disrupted by accusations of involvement in the January 2021 congress attack, says The New York Times magazine.
According to the newspaper, the supporters of white supremacy have brought out their racist and anti-Semitic messages more and more strongly in different parts of the country. Among other things, they have disrupted council meetings in the New England states in the northeastern part of the United States. In New York, they demonstrated at the premiere of a musical about a lynched Jew in 1915.
Mayor of Nashville Freddie O’Connell says that the neo-Nazis came to the city mainly from elsewhere. He calls their exploits terror tourism.
– They come here primarily to cause a disturbance and to terrorize with hate speech. It’s very difficult to stop them from doing that, O’Connell said, according to The New York Times.
Interviewed by the news channel ABC, researcher Jon Lewis from the University of Washington thinks it is significant that so many factions have been so encouraged.
According to him, this is a symptom of mainstreaming.
Groups supporting white supremacy have increased drastically
There were more anti-government groups and hate groups in the US last year than ever before, says the human rights organization Southern Poverty Law Center SPLC, which has been keeping statistics on groups since 1990.
Out of 1,430 groups, 835 were anti-government and 595 were hate groups. The number has increased by 72 in the second year.
The number of white supremacist hate groups increased by 50 percent.
Groups campaign to gain influence in mainstream politics.
– Alarm bells should be ringing, says the CEO of SPLC Margaret Huang According to the Tennessee Lookout website.
According to him, groups are growing, mobilizing and making anti-democratic plans, in some places even implementing them.