PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A new report out this month from the Anti-Defamation League shows a sustained increase in the distribution of white supremacist propaganda in Pennsylvania.
The report from the ADL’s Center on Extremism, showed that incidents of racist, antisemitic and anti-LGBTQ propaganda across the United States remained at historically high levels in 2021.
Among the striking findings in the report: Pennsylvania is the state with the highest levels of propaganda in the country. That’s according to Robin Burstein, the ADL’s deputy director for the Philadelphia region.
"Pennsylvania reported 473 incidents. The next closest state behind us was Virginia with 375. That's almost 100 less," Burstein said.
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She attributes much of that activity to the Patriot Front White Supremacist Group, which has an active movement in the state.
"Part of their initiation is that they need to do a certain number of propaganda drops in order to be joining into the group. Therefore, a lot of incidents happen in areas that are convenient to those folks,” Burstein said.
With those campaigns, a small number of people can give the appearance of larger numbers and have an outsized effect on communities, unlike with more public activities.
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"They can stay mostly anonymous and minimize their risk while having an impact," she said.
The ADL has documented 4,851 cases nationwide. Compared to the 5,125 cases reported in 2020, the 2021 data shows a 5% drop in incidents. Despite that, there was a 27% increase in antisemitic propaganda distributions in 2021.
“And if the spike that we're seeing in January and February of 2022 is any indication, those trends are going to continue," Burstein said.
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She says it’s important that people are aware of propaganda when they see it and that they do not dismiss it. It may not be overtly hateful, but rather disguised as nationalism. Those messages can serve as a warning of other more serious actions to come, she adds.
"We're never going to be able to fight this unless we're going to be able to truly document it," Burstein said.
Burstein says anyone who sees hateful propaganda — stickers, flyers, posters, graffiti — should contact police and report it to the ADL right away.
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