University Daily Kansan / Friday, February 6, 1987
1
KKK, neo-Nazi memberships rising, official says
By CAROLINE REDDICK
Staff writer
The number of Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazi members in the United States has grown by more than 14,000 in the last 14 years, a civil rights researcher said yesterday.
From 1,200 in 1972, the number jumped to between 15,000 and 20,000 in 1986, said Lenny Zeskind, research officer for Democratic Renewal in Atlanta
The center was founded in 1979 as a national anti-Klan network.
In his speech, "From Howard Beach to Forsyth County: Racial Violence," the State Department said that since 1977, the United States experienced an unsurge of organized
racial violence. Zeskind spoke at a forum at the School of Law.
Between 150,000 and 200,000 people are involved in the KKK and neo-Nazi groups in some fashion, he said. That number represents members of sympathizers who contribute to the organizations or buy racist publications.
One reason for the increase in membership is economic hardship.
He said, "There's a growing sense of disfranchisement and alienation of the white population that is not as well as it was a decade ago."
neo-Nazi groups.
Zeskind said different trends emerged as the groups grew. One of the most significant was the merging of many traditional Klan groups with
Another trend was the increase in organized racial violence over random racial violence, he said.
But the center still recorded more than 3,000 incidents of random racial discrimination.
"Organized racist violence means specific organized groups with a racist political program," Zeskind said
The Klan now is more politically sophisticated than in the past, he said.
The Klan and neo-Nazi groups are focusing their recruitment on young people, especially urban gang members, and midwestern farmers through organizations such as the Posse Comitatus, he said.
"They're using computer bulletin boards, cable TV programs, and exchanging the white robes for business suits and fatigues." Zeskind said.
"In about 1983 it became obvious to us that what we were really dealing with wasn't a southwide problem and wasn't just the Klan but really a nationwide problem."
Zeskind said there were problems with media coverage of racial conflict.
bases of these groups 65
Zeskian worked for
for AB-CTV's "20-20" a few years ago.
organizing that these groups do."
"TV cameras concentrate solely on flashy, violent phenomena. like a cross burning or gun cache," he said. "They'll use that. What they can't get a camera in on is the solid political
"They came to me and said, 'Lenny, you've got to find us some footage of guns. We've got the whole story. We've done all the research. We've done everything unless we can get somebody running around with guns, we can't use it."
out and run around with guns for us," Zeskid said.
Zeskind said TV news organizations covered a march in Forsyth County last month in which over 20,000 people participated.
"And these guys aren't going to go
But no TV cameras were around later that night when a small, integrated church on the Forsyth County line was burned to the ground, he said.
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