States With the Most Hate Groups

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5. Indiana
> Hate groups: 4.5 per million people
> Number of hate groups: 30
> Pct. pop. identifying as white: 83.5% (18th highest)
> Pct. pop. foreign born: 5.3% (19th lowest)

The SPLC identifies 30 active hate groups in Indiana, nearly the most of any state when adjusted for the population. Some of the most popular ideologies among hate groups in the state include white nationalism, neo-Nazism, Islamophobia, and the Ku Klux Klan.

The Ku Klux Klan has an active history in Indiana. The Indiana Klan initially rose to prominence in the aftermath of World War I, and by 1923 had the largest KKK membership of any state. Several years later, an estimated 30% of U.S.-born white men in Indiana belonged to the Indiana Klan, including Gov. Edward L. Jackson and more than half the members of the state legislature. The power and influence of the Indiana KKK has significantly declined in the decades following the 1925 conviction of its Grand Dragon of the rape and murder of a young woman. Still, several hate groups affiliated with the KKK remain active in the state. Examples include the Confederate White Knights, the Ku Klos Knights, and the United Northern and Southern Knights of the KKK.

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4. Alabama
> Hate groups: 4.7 per million people
> Number of hate groups: 23
> Pct. pop. identifying as white: 68.2% (13th lowest)
> Pct. pop. foreign born: 3.4% (6th lowest)

The number of active hate groups in the United States climbed from 917 in 2016 to 954 in 2017. However, not all states reported an increase. In Alabama, the number of active hate groups fell from 27 in 2016 to 23 last year. Still, the state has among the greatest number and concentration of hate groups in the country.

A focal point of the civil rights movement, Alabama is where Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat at the front of the bus and where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. participated in the march from Selma to Montgomery. The legacy of racial strife remains today as evidenced by the number of racially motivated hate groups operating in Alabama. Of the 23 active hate groups the SPLC identified in the state, 21 are preoccupied by racial identity. Such groups include five KKK chapters, five neo-Confederate chapters, and six black nationalist groups.

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3. Mississippi
> Hate groups: 5.0 per million people
> Number of hate groups: 15
> Pct. pop. identifying as white: 58.5% (3rd lowest)
> Pct. pop. foreign born: 2.0% (2nd lowest)

The number of active hate groups in the United States climbed to 954 in 2017 from 917 the previous year. Much like Alabama, its neighbor to the east, Mississippi represents a break from the national trend. The number of hate groups in the state fell from 18 in 2016 to 15 in 2017. Mississippi still has one of the highest concentrations of hate groups in the country.

Like other parts of the Deep South, hate groups in Mississippi are primarily focused on racial identity. Some 38% of Mississippi’s population identifies as black or African American, the largest share of any state nationwide. Meanwhile, two-thirds of all hate groups in the state are anti-black or white supremacist, including seven chapters of the KKK. The only hate group in Mississippi that is not overtly racist is the American Family Associate, an anti-LGBT group headquartered in Tupelo.

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2. Tennessee
> Hate groups: 5.6 per million people
> Number of hate groups: 37
> Pct. pop. identifying as white: 77.8% (25th lowest)
> Pct. pop. foreign born: 4.8% (16th lowest)

The SPLC identifies 37 active hate groups in Tennessee, nearly the most of any state when adjusted for the population. Tennessee has one of the larger U.S-born populations in the country, and many of the hate groups in the state are known to harbor white nationalist or Islamophobic sentiments.

Also as one of the major battlegrounds of the Civil War, Tennessee has the most neo-Confederate hate groups of any state other than Florida, with which it is tied. These include Identity Dixie, several local chapters of League of the South, and the Mary Noel Kershaw Foundation.

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1. Idaho
> Hate groups: 7.1 per million people
> Number of hate groups: 12
> Pct. pop. identifying as white: 89.7% (7th highest)
> Pct. pop. foreign born: 5.8% (22nd lowest)

One-quarter of the active hate groups in Idaho are overtly anti-Muslim. Anti-Muslim groups in the state include ACT for America operating out of Meridian, the Committee to End the CSI Refugee Center in Buhl, and Pig Blood Bullets in Priest River. Such groups are known for pressuring lawmakers to introduce anti-Sharia law legislation. Anti-Sharia law proposals serve little purpose beyond vilifying Muslims, as the U.S. Constitution already denies authority to any foreign law. Earlier this year, the Idaho House passed a bill sponsored by Rep. Eric Redman — who has warned for years of the potential for Sharia influence in U.S. courts — banning the application of foreign laws in Idaho courts.

Other hate groups identified by the SPLC in the state include multiple groups espousing white nationalist ideology and one Christian identity group.