Exposing Hate: Prejudice, Hatred, and Violence in Action

Named a 2020 Bank Street Best Children’s Book of the Year

Interest Level: Grade 8 – Grade 12
Reading Level: Grade 8

Experts have documented an explosive rise in the number of hate groups since the turn of the century, driven by anger over immigration and demographic projections showing that whites will no longer hold majority status in the United States by 2040. The rise accelerated with the elections of presidents Obama and Trump. Extremists are increasingly diffuse, moving to the web and away from organized, on-the-ground activities. What is a hate group and how does it operate? How do we legally define hate speech and hate crimes? What is the history of organizing around hate and how do we recognize and confront it? These are the salient issues readers will investigate in this overview.

From the book cover:

On August 12, 2017, marchers flooded the streets of Charlottesville, Virginia. The Unite the Right rally drew in huge crowds of extreme alt-right, neo-Nazi, and white supremacist groups to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee. Counter-protesters gathered in force. Tensions flared and violence erupted. Twenty year-old white supremacist James Alex Fields Jr. drove his car into a group of counter-protestors, killing thirty-two year-old civil rights activist Heather Heyer. Fields was arrested and faced federal hate crime charges. This is just one example of the hate violence sweeping the nation and the globe.

Hate groups and hate crimes have a long history in the United States, but they also present a current threat to the peace of the country. Experts have documented an explosive rise in the number of US hate groups since the beginning of the twenty-first century. That rise accelerated with the election of President Barack Obama—the nation’s first black president—in 2008. Then, it exploded during the campaign and presidency of Republican Donald Trump, elected in 2016 to lead the nation.

What is a hate group? How do they form and what draws individuals into a group that may encourage its followers to commit violence? What are the legal definitions of hate crimes and hate speech? And how do we recognize and confront them?

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Violence Erupts: Extremism Turning to Hate
2. A Long History: Hate in the United States
3. Organizing Hate: Hate Groups
4. Enacting Hate: Hate Crimes
5. Promoting Hate: Hate Speech
6. Drawn In: Why Some Choose Hate
7. Resist: Combating Hate

REVIEWS

“A necessary book on a hot-button social issue that can help students develop critical thinking skills while learning more about heinous organizations.” — Booklist

• Saved in: Young Adult Nonfiction
• Tagged: Book, Hate, Library, Nonfiction, Teens, Young Adult