The Annals of Hate

The expression of hate comes in all shapes, sizes and colors. It is blasted out over the air waves, barging into people's homes via their televisions and radio sets. It appears more quietly, materializing along with colorful graphics on any computer screen connected to the Internet. And it is espoused in that oldest format of all — the printed word.

The American hate movement has long relied on the power of the printed word to proclaim the superiority of one race or group of people over another. From glossy, full-color magazines to crude, homemade tabloids, hate literature has played an important role in recruitment, movement-building and the wide dissemination of conspiracy theories.

Beginning in this issue, the Intelligence Report will take a look at some of the most widely read, influential or just plain bizarre publications within the movement.

Here's a brief introduction to some of the periodicals of leading hate groups. Although these organizations don't necessarily have the largest number of members or the most chapters, they wield an extraordinary amount of influence within the racist world.

· Billing itself as "the most racist newspaper on earth," WAR is the official organ of White Aryan Resistance (WAR), based in Fallbrook, Calif.

WAR was founded in the early 1980s by former television repairman Tom Metzger, who was once the California state leader of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Metzger has concentrated on blue-collar and youthful audiences, recruiting heavily among Skinheads and in prisons.

Illustrated with vulgar cartoons, WAR typically carries articles from imprisoned white supremacists Metzger calls "POWs" of "ZOG," the Zionist Occupation Government; lists of books, tapes and videos for sale; and an array of anti-Semitic and starkly racist articles.

A sampling of last year's headlines: "The N-----ization of America," "Sage Quotes for White Survival," and "More on Polygamy for Aryans."

· Calling Our Nation is the mainstay in the trio of publications from the Aryan Nations/Church of Jesus Christ Christian, one of America's oldest neo-Nazi groups and a leading proponent of the racist and anti-Semitic Christian Identity theology. Based in Hayden Lake, Idaho, the group is led by octogenarian Richard Butler.

The glossy magazine from a group that once drew hundreds of white supremacists for annual congresses remains important. Amid bits of poetry, tracts on Identity and articles from other leading white supremacists, Calling Our Nation carries headlines such as "The Aryan Warrior," "Caucasian Genocide," "The Race War of Black Against White," and "Let's Talk About Immigration."

The magazine also reflects strongly pro-Nazi sentiments, carrying articles like "I Cried Tears for Dresden" and "Nine Million Germans."

· The Struggle, a monthly offering from the World Church of the Creator, is a relative newcomer to the world of hate literature and is markedly different from many other such publications. While many white supremacist groups claim to base their views on the Bible, this group's magazine is patently anti-Christian, as evidenced in titles like "Switzerland: Christianity — A Disaster for Whites" and "Holy Deception."

The World Church of the Creator is the offspring of the now defunct Church of the Creator, which was founded by Ukrainian immigrant Ben Klassen in Florida in the early 1970s. Saying that race was his religion, Klassen formed a theology he called "Creativity," reflecting his view that that was the great attribute of the white race.

The newer group is headed by Illinois law school graduate Matt Hale, who, although only in his 20s, has a long history in the white supremacist movement. It is heavily populated with racist Skinheads and other youths fond of Nazi-like uniforms.

"Dedicated to the survival, expansion and advancement of the white race," The Struggle typically carries an editorial from Hale, who carries the grand title of "Pontifex Maximus," news about the movement, lists of upcoming events and coverage of legal developments.

There also is a listing of Klassen's books and literature — publications that members who seek to become "reverends" of the faith must study faithfully.

· William Pierce, the former physics professor who heads the prominent neo-Nazi National Alliance, strives to appeal to a higher class of racists — articulate, educated and polished — and his publications reflect that. His monthly National Alliance Bulletin mixes appeals for office equipment and "help wanted" ads with highfalutin commentary.

Written personally by Pierce, the Bulletin regularly attacks less astute adherents of the white supremacist movement. In December, for instance, he mocked "the nutcase Bible-thumpers" and those who "lock themselves up in the bedroom, dress up in homemade Third Reich uniforms, click their heels and salute themselves in the mirror."

Pierce offers careful assessments of the state of his group, recruitment, use of the Internet and shortwave radio as propaganda tools. He speaks of the need to develop an elite cadre, rather than trying to win electoral victories. And he writes of his growing European contacts.

Recounting a neofascist meeting in Greece last fall, he rhapsodized about the "slender, shapely legs" of Greek women, whom he compared to "disgusting" Americans.

· American Renaissance is a monthly journal with an academic tone that is the organ of Jared Taylor, who has written books and articles arguing that blacks are genetically inferior to whites. In erudite, sober language, the magazine focuses on non-white immigration and the shrinking of the white majority in America while promoting the thesis of genetic differences between the races.

Backed by footnotes, graphs and statistics, the articles range from relatively arcane scientific discussions of the dentition of extinct hominids like the australopithecines of sub-Saharan Africa to statements such as "blacks have a sheep-like mentality."