New Tolerance Campaign Launches Hate Map to Challenge Perceptions of Hate Groups

The New Tolerance Campaign (NTC), a nonprofit organization, has introduced a hate map aimed at countering what it perceives as a one-sided narrative regarding hate and violence in the United States. Gregory Angelo, the president of NTC, expressed concern that the public has been led to believe that hate is predominantly a far-right issue, a viewpoint he attributes to mainstream media and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). Angelo emphasized the need for a more comprehensive approach to addressing hate, stating, “If we’re truly going to address all hate in the United States, we need to be honest about it.” The NTC's hate map diverges from the SPLC's definition of hate groups, which includes organizations that promote or engage in violence against specific classes of people. The SPLC does not require criminal conduct for an organization to be labeled a hate group, leading to criticisms of its consistency. For instance, the NTC argues that if the SPLC were consistent, it would have to classify the Catholic Church as a hate group. Notably, the NTC's map includes groups like Black Lives Matter and various Antifa chapters, which have been absent from the SPLC's listings. While the NTC's map features significantly fewer groups than the SPLC's, it aims to address perceived oversights, including the inclusion of Jewish Voice for Peace and the SPLC itself. The latter has faced scrutiny after a 2012 incident where a terrorist used its hate map to target a conservative organization, raising questions about the implications of labeling groups as hate organizations.