Report says hate groups on the rise

A new report from the Southern Poverty Law Center says 926 hate groups were active in the United States in 2008—a new record and a 50% increase over 2000. Twenty-two hate groups—including Ku Klux Klan, skinheads, black separatists and white nationalists—are active in Louisiana, according to the report. The SPLC says the spike in activity is a result of “non-white immigration, the economy and the rise to power of a black president.” At least two groups, the white nationalist Council of Conservative Citizens and the black separatist Nation of Islam, are active in Baton Rouge, according to the report. Walker is home to the Dixie Rangers Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.—Steve Clark