Hate Groups Spreading the Word

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) -- Hate groups are on the rise, boosted by the Internet and white-power rock music.

In its quarterly report on extremist organizations, the Southern Poverty Law Center said Tuesday that it counted 474 hate groups nationwide in 1997, a 20 percent increase over 1996. Some of the groups have Web pages.

"It's cheap, it's efficient, it gives you instant communication," project director Joe Roy said. "You can reach anywhere with it. It's a great format to communicate, vent your frustrations.''

Among the groups cited in the report was Detroit-based Resistance Records, a company that distributes CDs with racially tinged lyrics.

The report called Resistance Records one of the more sophisticated hate groups. "You look at their magazine, the albums and they're very professional," extremist-group expert Michael Barkun said in the report.

Executives of the company didn't immediately return calls for comment.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, founded in the 1970s to battle discrimination against minorities, won major legal fights against the Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacist groups.

A separate report by two gay advocacy groups Tuesday said anti-gay violence and harassment increased nationwide by 2 percent last year in 14 areas around country.

There were 2,445 documented cases of anti-gay violence and harassment last year in the 14 areas, according to the report by the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs and the New York City Gay & Lesbian Anti-Violence Project.

However, the number of murders related to anti-gay violence dropped to 18 in 1997 from 27 in 1996, according to the report, based on data gathered by unofficial local groups.

The 14 areas tracked were New York City; Los Angeles; San Francisco; California's central coast; Chicago; Cleveland; Columbus, Ohio; Washington, D.C.; Detroit; El Paso, Texas; Massachusetts; Phoenix; St. Louis; and Virginia.