Steven Stroud and Randy Blazak have worked with members of hate groups for over ten years and have learned many of the rhetorical tricks they use to convince young people of the rightness of their simplistic world-view. Blazak is a professor of sociology and criminology and Stroud actually spent time as a Nazi skinhead. Here they easily debunk some hate group myths.

Myth #1: There is going to be a race war, so you better only have white friends, because your non-white friends will become your enemies.

Reality: Racist terrorists have been trying to start a race war for decades and have failed miserably. This was The Order's and Timothy McVeigh's goal and the dream of every two-bit Klansman, but it will never happen. America is a melting pot nation. Most "white" people have heritage that includes Africans, Irish, Mexicans, Native Americans, Italians, Greeks, Jews, and many other non-Aryans.

The die-hard Nazis believe that anyone who isn't blonde-haired and blue-eyed will be the enemy in a race war. The REALITY is that if there were a race war, the majority of white Americans would fight AGAINST the racists, as would the rest of the people of Earth.

Myth #2: After the "race war" or the expulsion of minorities, America will be a better place.

Reality: Who would want to live in a land where everyone looked and thought just like them? No Mexican restaurants, no Jewish comedians, no rock or jazz music. Just a bunch of Nazis marching around, listening to Wagner and eating waffles. Besides, "White America" would be isolated by the rest of the world and probably provoke a third world war. The international response to Hitler's Germany, South Africa during apartheid and Serbia in the 1990s should give you a clue. America run by and for racists would be a very boring and lonely place. America is a cultural melting pot by its very nature. For a great example, read Ralph Linton's short essay, 100% American.

Myth #3: America was built by white men.

Reality: Who could possibly believe this? There were millions of white women, African slaves, Indians, Arabs, Chinese and others who helped to build this country. Huge chunks of America used to belong to Mexico. The nuclear power that drives much of America, the penicillin that heals America, and the movie industry that entertains America and exports its culture to the world are the result of the work of Jewish innovators. Since most white Americans' ancestors immigrated to this country between 1880 and 1940 and most black Americans can trace their family roots back to slavery (1609-1865), who is more American?

Myth #4: Blacks are more criminal than whites.

Reality: True, African-Americans are over-represented in the arrest statistics. But this shows us the natural bias in policing toward arresting poor, urban criminals. For example, according to the FBI Uniform Crime Report, the typical arrest for rape is of a young black man. But if you look at anonymous victimization data (which includes all the UNREPORTED and UNARRESTED rape cases), rapists are overwhelmingly white and known to the victims (only 22% are rapes by strangers).

A white woman is much more likely to be raped by her white boyfriend or white relative than by a black man. Here's another example. Self-report data shows us that whites are as likely to use drugs as blacks, but blacks are four times more likely to be arrested for drugs than whites. Many people believe the "War on Drugs" is really a war on blacks, warehousing them in America's prison system.

Myth #5: Gay men want to molest children and rape straight men.

Reality: All statistics on child abuse show that molesters are disproportionately heterosexual and known to the victim. Outside of prison, the rape of males is extremely rare and is typically done by homophobes who are assaulting gay men in hate crimes. Gay men respect their friends just like straight men do and probably don't want to have sex with you.

Myth #6: There is a secret Jewish conspiracy controlling the U.S. government.

Reality: This is one of the oldest tricks in the book. It was used to explain the French Revolution, the Russian Revolution and the German Weimar Republic. The so-called "Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion" that discusses the Jewish plot to rule the world is a work of fictitious anti-Semitic propaganda (for the evolution of the conspiracy theory, see the book Blood In The Face: The Ku Klux Klan, Aryan Nations, Nazi Skinheads, and the Rise of a New White Culture by James Ridgeway).

The high percentage of Jews in President Clinton's cabinet reflects the Jewish culture's emphasis on literacy and education, not an evil plot. Jews generally find this conspiracy theory hilarious (but frightening, since Hitler used it so effectively).

Myth #7: Whites are genetically superior.

Reality: Tell that to Michael Jordan and Albert Einstein! Adolf Hitler tried to promote the idea that Aryans were physically superior and failed miserably. At the 1936 Olympics, he removed all Jews from the German Olympic team to promote his Aryan Ubermen. They were stomped into the race track, by Jesse Owens, black American.

The few American Jews that defied the boycott and traveled to Berlin also did well against the Germans. In the wake of the dominance of black athletes, racists shifted their case to claim that whites are intellectually superior. Standard IQ tests, which are culturally biased in favor of whites, still produce higher scores for Asian-Americans.

Myth #8: Minorities, women and homosexuals want special privileges.

Reality: Civil rights are not special rights, they are for all Americans, including straight white Christian males. Allowing groups who have been traditionally discriminated against to organize (black student organizations, women's groups, gay rights parades) is an attempt to right history's wrongs.

We don't need a "White History Month" because, traditionally, every month has been a white history month. We don't need a "masculinist" movement, because men have always held the controls of power in America. We don't need a "National Association for the Advancement of White People" or a "Straight Rights Parade" because straight whites have always had their interests supported by the status quo.

Myth #9: Calling black people "African-American" proves that they aren't true Americans.

Reality: Most non-black Americans are aware of their ethnic identity through their last names. Our names are Scottish or German or French or Italian. Johnson, Jefferson and Jordan are not African names. They are slave names. But blacks' history doesn't begin with slavery. There were hundreds of cultures and ethnicities in Africa before the slave trade. While Europeans were still living in caves, Africans were making leather shoes, building structures and calculating mathematics on paper. The term "African-American" is an attempt to connect black Americans with their pre-slavery history. We don't mind when Irish-Americans use the hyphen.

Myth #10: All non-whites do is complain about America.

Reality: Ever been to a Klan rally? It's just a bunch of whining white guys. Americans have the right to peacefully protest. Where would we be if our forefathers never complained about taxation without representation?

Myth #11: America would be better off if the races were separate.

Reality: According to polls, the vast majority of Americans enjoy the diversity that is America. We enjoy our Asian silk and our Arabian coffee. We don't want to give up soul music, bagels or burritos. And, most importantly, we love our friends of various ethnicities. "White Separatism" isn't even possible.

What if you were biracial? Where would you go? Would Italian-Americans have to be separated from Franco-Americans? What about whites with brown hair? Are they REALLY white? Could you have a Chinese restaurant, as long as the food was cooked and served by whites? Would white kids be allowed to listen to rock 'n' roll, which is black music? Who would pay to move the races to separate areas? Our attempt to do this with American Indians was a huge failure. America would be better off if the races learned to respect and appreciate each other.

Myth #12: Love for the white race is not "hate".

Reality: It's possible to love the uniqueness of being a white American. Most whites love the privilege that comes along with their racial status (i.e., racism is someone else's problem). The reality is that most "pro-white" groups spend most of their time discussing their hatred for other groups who they think want to take away their racial privilege. People who are "pro-black" are not usually anti-white, just anti-racist. Unfortunately, the converse is rarely true. Being proud of being white is not the same as being proud of your Irish, German, Mexican or Swedish heritage. "White pride" is associated with bigotry.

Myth #13: The Bible says gay men should be killed.

Reality: The Bible also says people who work on the Sabbath should be killed. The Christian Bible has thousands of interpretations. The Presbyterians, Baptists and Methodists all have different takes on it. Martin Luther King, Jr. used The Bible as a civil rights manual. Some people believe that God is white, others show evidence that Jesus was black. In America, everyone has the constitutional right to interpret The Bible any way they want. You can believe that Adam & Eve were from Mars! But when you use your interpretation to violate the rights of other Americans, including gay Americans, then you are a dangerous religious fanatic.

Myth #14: All crimes are hate crimes.

Reality: Actually, most crimes are committed over domestic disputes. Many crimes are motivated by financial need, not hate. While most crimes are intraracial (white-on-white, black-on-black, etc.) the overwhelming majority of black-on-white crimes are motivated by a need for money. Hate crimes target and victimize whole categories of people. Targets are picked simply for their symbolic value. Hate crimes undermine the fabric of our society.

Myth #15: The white race is in danger of extinction.

Reality: The white race isn't going anywhere! According to the 1990 U.S. census, there were 209,180,000 white people in America, 83.9% of the population. Using birth rates and immigration trends, the Census Bureau has projected what America will look like in the future. In 2050, it is predicted that there will be 213,782,000 white Americans, 75.7% of the projected population, still an overwhelming majority! High birth rates are associated with poverty. If racists really cared about preserving their 83.9%, they would work to reduce urban poverty in America.

Commentary from Dr. Blazak: Bigots are masters of manipulating the facts. They can convince kids that there is a Jew or a black rapist under every bed, just like they used to with communists. The reality is that a white woman is much more likely to be raped and killed by her white husband, but the racists won't tell you that.

They'll ignore all the white serial killers and schoolyard shooters and all the horrible acts done by whites and focus on the horrible acts done by minorities, ignoring the vast majority of law-abiding minorities. It's called "selective perception" and it's a flimsy basis for a world-view that is easily taken apart.

It is not enough for people to say that they aren't racist, sexist or homophobic. They must be anti-racist and anti-sexist and anti-homophobic. When someone makes a bigoted comment, we must refuse to accept it.

Source from Citizens Against Hate compliments of 2002 Oregon Spotlight "All Rights Reserved "