Mrs. Schroeder's Website

Please read the information below. Print out all worksheets and answer all questions. This assignment is due tommorrow.

INTERNET HATE

For years extremists have used printing of every kind -- books, pamphlets, posters, newspapers, magazines -- to get their message out. They have also tried to use modern inventions such as movies. radio, television, recorded audio and video tape and even telephone messages to spread their beliefs. So it is not surprising that they have decided to take their hate to the Internet. The Internet lets them reach millions with a click of a mouse.

Haters use the World Wide Web with its colorful web pages, sounds, and images to push propaganda attacking their enemies. Some of these pages suggest that violent action is needed. Old lies are reprinted and new ones are created. Neo-Nazi Skinheads try to sell the latest CDs filled with calls for "racial holy war."

In newsgroups and chat rooms on Internet Relay Chat (IRC) they can talk to one another. They also can try to peddle their racist and anti-Semitic messages to anyone who surfs in. In addition, they can write private e-mail to the people they meet on line.

People who had only heard about such ideas can now read them up-close and personal. Pictures of burning crosses, claims that groups with a particular skin color or religion are inferior, the assertion that others are out to control the world - this is the stuff of hate group propaganda. Haters used to reach relatively few people. Today, on the Internet, they can reach a very large audience with little effort and money.

It is fairly easy to create a simple Web page. Many bigots have. They often try to create the false impression that many people are involved in their activities. This frightens their targets and encourages supporters.

BELOW: A LIST OF HATE TERMS AND THEIR DEFINITIONS...

Internet Hate describes the rapidly expanding practice utilized by racists and extremists to place anti-Semitic, racist, and other hateful material on the World Wide Web. The growth of the Internet has enabled bigoted and sometimes violent messages to reach a much wider and broader audience than ever before. Consequently, these messages of hate have become widely accessible online - in homes, offices, schools, and libraries.

Racism is the belief that a particular race is superior or inferior to another, that a person’s social and moral traits are predetermined by his or her inborn biological characteristics. Racial separatism is the belief, most of the time based on racism, that different races should remain segregated and apart from one another.

Anti-semitism : The belief or behavior hostile toward Jews just because they are Jewish. It may take the form of religious teachings that proclaim the inferiority of Jews, for instance, or political efforts to isolate, oppress, or otherwise injure them. It may also include prejudiced or stereotyped views about Jews.

Identity churches use Christianity to justify racism and anti-Semitism; they became widely-known as a violence-prone movement in the United States in the late 1970's and early 1980's. Identity followers believe that white Anglo-Saxons - not Jews - are the real Biblical "Chosen People;" that Jews are descendants of a sexual union between Eve and Satan; that the white race is superior to others, and that Blacks and other nonwhite races are "mud people" on the same level as animals, and therefore have no souls.

Homophobia is the hatred or fear of homosexuals - that is, lesbians and gay men - sometimes leading to acts of violence and expressions of hostility. Homophobia is not confined to any one segment of society, and can be found in people from all walks of life. Organized hate groups have viciously attacked homosexuals and have used especially violent language in attempting to persecute and intimidate them.

The Ku Klux Klan is a racist, anti-Semitic movement with a commitment to extreme violence to achieve its goals of racial segregation and white supremacy. Of all the types of right-wing hate groups that exist in the United States, the Klan remains the one with the greatest number of national and local organizations around the country.

ASSIGNMENTS:

Part One:

Print out the worksheets below by clicking on the link.

POWER AND RESPONSIBILITY 

Part Two: In the section of your reading entitled "Hate Terms..." you learned about various different hate groups that exisit today. Take the Citizenship Challenge below. Can you match the types of hate groups to their logo or representation?

CITIZENSHIP CHALLENGE: 

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