FBI Reports That Hate Crimes Targeting Jews Rose 37% in 2017

Monday night, I had breakfast for supper at the local diner. I sat at the counter and ordered two poached eggs, dry rye toast, fruit and coffee. Sitting a few seats away from me was a man about my age (Old Fart #1). He was watching TV and slowly getting angry. He was dressed in working man's clothing, and was soon joined by another old fart (Old Fart #2), who ordered chocolate cake.

I was more interested in the very pretty waitress than those guys, but it was apparent that Old Fart #1 was very upset. I kept hearing the word "Trump" and figured that he must be a supporter upset about something the libs are doing. After all, he was an angry old white man like I read about on Facebook and various news stories. .

My Trump-profiling was off. Old Fart #1 actually detested Trump, and was angry about something

Maybe he reads my blog.

Old Fart #1 then began to complain about Israel, saying it can do whatever it wants because it has all the money on the world. Old Fart #2 disagreed

Old Fart #1 insisted he was right and then went on to say that Jews run this country, too. Old Fart #2 disagreed.

Old Fart #1 was loud enough at this point that both I and our pretty waitress could hear him. He had no idea whether she or I were Jews.

Instead of interrupting this conversation, I ate my eggs. Old Fart#2 was doing alright.

Maybe I should have said something. On Tuesday, I learned that the FBI is reporting a 17% rise in hate crimes in 2017. Hate crimes targeting Jews rose 37%.

What's scary about this data is that 91 cities with populations over 100,000 either failed to report any data to the FBI or actually said there was none.

According to Voice of America, this surge is the biggest since 9/11.

Hate on the Rise

Pennsylvania is home to 28 different hate groups, including Allentown's Israelite Church of God in Jesus Christ (black separatist) and National Socialist Movement (Lehigh Valley).

From the latest SPLC Intelligence Report:

The number of hate groups in America has been going up for years, rising 54% between 2000 and 2008 and driven largely by an angry backlash against non-white immigration and, starting in the last year of that period, the economic meltdown and the climb to power of an African American president.

According to the latest annual count by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), these groups rose again slightly in 2009 — from 926 in 2008 to 932 last year — despite the demise of a key neo-Nazi group. The American National Socialist Workers Party, which had 35 chapters in 28 states, imploded shortly after the October 2008 arrest of founder Bill White for making threats against his enemies.

At the same time, the number of what the SPLC designates as "nativist extremist" groups — organizations that go beyond mere advocacy of restrictive immigration policy to actually confront or harass suspected immigrants — jumped from 173 groups in 2008 to 309 last year. Virtually all of these vigilante groups have appeared since the spring of 2005.

But the most dramatic story by far has been with the antigovernment Patriots.

The militias and the larger Patriot movement first came to Americans’ attention in the mid-1990s, when they appeared as an angry reaction to what was seen as a tyrannical government bent on crushing all dissent. Sparked most dramatically by the death of 76 Branch Davidians during a 1993 law enforcement siege in Waco, Texas, those who joined the militias also railed against the Democratic Clinton Administration and initiatives like gun control and environmental regulation. Although the Patriot movement included people formerly associated with racially based hate groups, it was above all animated by a view of the federal government as the primary enemy, along with a fondness for antigovernment conspiracy theories. By early this decade, the groups had largely disappeared from public view.

But last year, as noted in the SPLC’s August report, "The Second Wave: Return of the Militias," a dramatic resurgence in the Patriot movement and its paramilitary wing, the militias, began. Now, the latest SPLC count finds that an astonishing 363 new Patriot groups appeared in 2009, with the totals going from 149 groups (including 42 militias) to 512 (127 of them militias) — a 244% jump.

Bigotry Alive and Well in the Lehigh Valley

Last month, I cohosted WGPA Sunny 1000 AM's "At Issue" talk show between 8 and 9:30 AM. I even flew solo the last 45 minutes because the Emperor, Ron Angle, said something about needing a haircut or colonoscopy. I like talk radio. I enjoy dialogue with right wing zealots. Some of them are very nice people.

But last month's discussion about prejudice, prompted by the Imus remarks, really bothered me. I'm surprised I don't see more crosses burning in people's front yards. But I now know why my white sheets always disappear when I do laundry.

An elderly black gentleman from Palmer Township called in to say that he had to struggle most of his life to get decent jobs and housing. I believe him. When I was a kid, blacks weren't allowed to swim in Hellertown's municipal pool. They might pollute the water. Courthouse deeds are still full of restrictions banning home sales to blacks, Jews and even Italians.

But we've come a long way, bippy. Blacks can use swimming pools. Deed restrictions based on ethnicity are unenforceable.

But one fellow from Allentown called in to tell me he wished there were restrictions like that in his neighborhood. He hates living among blacks and Latinos, blaming them for all society's ills. And then a lady from Nazareth, my home town, shrieked at me. I was told to leave Nazareth and live among the minorities in Allentown. She also chastised me for not attending school board meetings for some reason. Her parting shrill was that, when she sells her home, she'll make damn sure that it is sold only yo other Amerikans. I guess she wants Nazareth to remain lilly white.

I know what you're going to say. This is the kind of thing that I should expect from right wing talk radio. But actually, I don't think there's that much difference between this radio audience and the rest of us. We just like to think so. It makes us feel superior.

Let me explain what I mean. Yesterday, I had conversations with two liberals about two different subjects. Although both are lawyers, they're still pretty bright. I've known each for many years, and they're both decent guys.

Liberal #1 told me we need to get the hell out of Iraq now. When I pointed out that we would condemn many Iraqi children to certain death, his response was, "Who cares? They're just Arabs anyway. Let them kill each other."

Liberal #2 has read 38 books about the Bush administration. He's just picked up Tenet's tome. Liberal #2 and I spoke about impeaching Bush. He told me, "We shouldn't stop at Bush. We also need to impeach the Dick, Gonzo, and Aunt Jemima."

Those views have been ingrained in us. We view Secretary of State Condi Rice as Aunt Jemima. Arabs aren't as human as the rest of us. And so on.

Whether it's Lehigh Valley talk radio or our local liberal elite, we're pretty much all bigots. We just don't know it.