March 9, 2000
SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER REPORTS ON HATE CRIMES
Recent Findings Presented at Holocaust Museum
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Mark Potok, Director of Publications and Information for the Southern Poverty Law Center, will present the findings of the Center’s annual Intelligence Report on right wing extremism at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum on Tuesday, March 14, 2000, at 7:00 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public, but reservations are required. To reserve seating, call tickets.com at (800) 400-9373. Tickets.com service fees apply.
The Birmingham, Alabama-based Center’s Intelligence Report is a leading indicator of hate group activity. The report documents the number of hate groups across the nation and crimes committed against racial and ethnic minorities, homosexuals and others. Last year’s report found that the number of hate groups had increased 40% during 1998, and the number of hate group Web sites had grown from 163 to 254. Statistics for 1999 will be released at Tuesday’s program.
Mr. Potok will discuss the frequency and targets of hate crimes recorded in 1999, the state of organized white supremacy, antisemitism, the consolidation of hate groups and the changing shape of extremism in America.
“We’re seeing a marked consolidation and strengthening of certain larger extremist groups,” said Mr. Potok. “Tracking these groups is crucial for recognizing how extremism evolves and the danger it poses to others.”
A unique public-private partnership, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has welcomed more than 13.5 million visitors since it opened in April 1993. This May, it will mark two decades of its founders’ visionary leadership with the opening of its newest exhibition, Flight and Rescue, the national Days of Remembrance ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda, and an evening honoring the work of the President’s Commission on the Holocaust and its successor, the United States Holocaust Memorial Council.
For more information regarding the presentation, or to arrange for a copy of the Intelligence Report on hate crimes, please contact the Media Relations Department at the Holocaust Memorial Museum: Andy Hollinger (202) 488-6133 or ahollinger@uhsmm.org.
