Anti-Defamation League Report: White Supremacist Propaganda Doubled In 2019

The Anti-Defamation League reports a 120% rise in white supremacist ideologies in the U.S. last year, increasing from 1,214 cases in 2018 to 2,713.

The ADL measured the spread of print propaganda specifically for the report released Wednesday, including explicit instances of messaging against minorities, Jews and the LGBTQ community, as well as less obvious examples. The increase in 2019 also comes on the heels of a 180% spike from 2017 to 2018.

The report measured activity in 49 states, but found the most instances of propaganda in California, Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Texas, Virginia and Washington. Instances of propaganda circulated on universities were also found to have doubled in 2019, spreading to 433 campuses. However, 90% of these schools saw only one or two waves of distribution.

Roughly two-thirds of the material tracked by the ADL was traced back to one source, Patriot Front. The league described the group as made up of “disaffected members” of Vanguard America, the white supremacist group responsible for organizing the Charlottesville, Virginia, rally in 2017.

Oren Segal, director of the ADL’s Center of Extremism, noted newer forms of white supremacist propaganda have taken on more subtle language. These materials tend to use rhetoric that emphasizes general empowerment and patriotism “without some of the blatant racism and hatred,” Segal explained.