By Rachel Carroll Rivas
The SPLC tracks white supremacist flyering in the United States. Hate groups use flyers to publicize, recruit and intimidate. Here are six steps you can take when hateful leaflets litter your community.
1. Research and Prepare
Know what you are looking for by reviewing the symbols, slogans and names of hate groups in your area. Make a plan on who to call for assistance and what you’ll do if you spot hate group propaganda by joining or creating anti-hate organizing groups in your community.
2. Document
Take pictures of the flyer and capture how and where it is displayed. Documenting the location, packaging, words and images can lead to identification of those responsible. Resist the urge to immediately share the image online without censoring the group’s message. Don’t repeat their hate or give them the publicity they seek. If the flyer is left at a place of worship, community center or strewn across lawns, check with the victims before sharing anything publicly.
3. Remove
If the location is not threatening, use a safe tool to remove the flyers and organize your community quickly if the distribution was widespread, such as when hate groups litter their propaganda across car windshields or light posts in a neighborhood.
4. Contact authorities
Tell SPLC about the flyers you found in your community by filling out this form, which will be used to help track hate group activity and identify the culprits. Depending on your location and relationship with local government or police, contact them about the propaganda you found. The incident may constitute a crime or could be connected to past or future targeting of Black, Brown, Jewish, Muslim, LGBTQ+, immigrant or other communities.
5. Support
Gather friends, neighbors, community leaders and a diverse group of people together to support targeted community members. Start small, but don’t be afraid to go big. From a meal-train to handwritten notes, a rally or a letter to the editor and social media campaign, be creative but don’t delay in acting. During these moments, silence is deafening for those being targeted and can make the hate seem more widespread and accepted when there isn’t a supportive response.
6. Prevent
Use evidence-based radicalization prevention resources to help young people identify and resist extremist manipulation. Implement non-judgmental, non-carceral approaches when responding to hate.
This information does not constitute legal advice and is only recommended to be undertaken under safe circumstances after careful analysis of the situation and with support, as deemed necessary.
Image at top: Photo illustration by the SPLC; original image from Getty