Texas is known for going big, often leading the nation in a number of areas. According to a new report, that distinction also applies to white supremacy propaganda.
Earlier this month, the Anti-Defamation League dropped a report that found in 2022 Texas was home to more than 525 such incidents out of 6,751 nationwide, the highest total the organization has ever recorded. This represented a spike of roughly 60% in Texas and nearly 40% nationwide compared with the previous year. The total, which hit an all-time high last year, includes the distribution or display of antisemitic, racist or anti-LGBTQ stickers, banners, graffiti, posters and laser projections.
The ADL also found that Patriot Front, a hate group based in Texas, accounted for around 80% of the country’s propaganda distributions.
Patriot Front espouses the creation of a white ethnostate (i.e. an all-white America) and is spreading its ideas across the country. Members last year distributed propaganda and graffitied the group’s logo in Ohio, for instance.
Texas is a hotbed for insurrectionists, placing second in the number of alleged J6-ers roughly a year after the Capitol attack.
Beirich said that the state has “one of the most radical Republican parties” in the nation. It passed a “very extreme platform” last year that took aim at immigrants, the LGBTQ community and others.
Plus, some Texans who believe the 2020 election was “stolen” have since run for office, she said.
“All of this is feeding into more and more extremism, and this report is essentially just representing that,” she said. “These people are active, they’re on the streets, they feel emboldened. They’re willing to put out this nasty propaganda. It’s just kind of an ugly scene, and Texas is one of the prime places where this is happening.”
“Hardly a day goes by without communities being targeted by these coordinated, hateful actions, which are designed to sow anxiety and create fear,” said Oren Segal, vice president of the ADL’s Center on Extremism. “These actions are also being documented by the extremists themselves in order to signal back to their communities online, which provides an on-ramp to further engagement with white supremacy and hate.”
Extremism experts have warned for years that white supremacist groups have been targeting Texas communities for recruiting, particularly those in urban areas where they believe they can exacerbate racial tensions and create a broader climate of fear among communities of color.
Last year in Austin, Dallas and Houston — the latter being one of the most diverse cities in the country — white supremacists repeatedly peppered Black and Jewish neighborhoods with antisemitic and racist flyers. Across the state, they flew banners over major highways and defaced schools and homes with swastikas and other hate symbols. And they continue to coalesce around anti-LGBTQ events, including drag show protests, where they’ve sought to recruit and slowly mainstream their more radical views.
