Today, MSNBC featured a story on the growth in hate groups and increas in hate crimes. Since the year 2000, the number of hate groups has increased by 54%, adding up to 926 such groups across the country. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) contends that this growth is due almost entirely to the exploitation of the immigration issue by these groups. Statistics show that these groups are mainly targeting Latinos. The piece states that the combination of an economic crisis, a rapidly changing demography (it is estimated that by 2042 most of the U.S. population will be of a "minority", and this will happen by 2023 among 18-year olds), and the first black President have served to stir the storm of hate crimes and hate groups - a storm that "only knowledge and understanding" can eliminate. Let's hope this small percentage of our population starts becoming more informed, and more accepting of the demographic reality of 21st century America. See the video, with coments by John Amaya from MALDEF and the SPLC, dedicated to tracking such groups.