How Many Hate Groups Are in Northern Colorado?

A lot of us were rightfully shocked and appalled by the events that occurred in Charlottesville this weekend, and after the tragedy, many spoke out.  Late night hosts like Seth Meyers, Stephen Colbert, and Jimmy Fallon all made emotional statements on their shows and celebrities reacted via their social media pages to show their support to the victims of the violence and hatred.

Now, there are reports that alt-right rallies will continue as other hate groups crawl out of the woodwork, which made me wonder-- how many hate groups are right in our own backyard?

First, it helps to know exactly what we're dealing with. The Anti-Defamation League defines a hate group on their website as "an organization whose goals and activities are primarily or substantially based on a shared antipathy towards people of one or more other different races, religions, ethnicities/nationalities/national origins, genders, and/or sexual identities. The mere presence of bigoted members in a group or organization is typically not enough to qualify it as a hate group; the group itself must have some hate-based orientation/purpose."

With that in mind, the Southern Poverty Law Center put together a map of the hate groups by state, and the number of groups based out of Colorado may surprise you.

There are several groups pinpointed here-- 16, to be exact.  You can read the names of the exact groups at the link below.

If these statistics aren't convincing, the SPLC makes it a point on their website to cite their sources, noting that "This list was compiled using hate group publications and websites, citizen and law enforcement reports, field sources and news reports." (Source: SPLC)

To see the entirety of the map, click here.  Of course, we don't want to always acknowledge the hate that attempts to be prevalent in our community, but by knowing what's around us, we have more awareness for the future.

Thanks to our friends in West Michigan, who gave us the idea here.