John Racist

1) Hidden racism

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America may be growing less hateful. That's according to an annual Southern Poverty Law Center report that says the number of hate groups in the United States remains on the decline for the second year in a row. In the "Intelligence Report" released Tuesday, the SPLC says the number of hate groups operating in the U.S. declined 17% between 2013 and 2014. They are now at their lowest levels since 2005, the watchdog organization said.

One of the oldest and most infamous hate groups in the United States, the KKK took its foothold after the Civil War, terrorizing the African-American population with intimidation and violent actions, including lynching. The Klan's growth slowed after the establishment of Jim Crow laws in the American South, according to the SPLC. The KKK's last resurgence came during the civil rights movement of the 1960s. The group was again responsible for large-scale terror against the South's African-American population. In 1990, the SPLC started to keep track of the number of KKK chapters, which reached a high of 221 in 2010, in response to President Barack Obama's election, according to the report. Since then, the numbers have been on the decline. The SPLC now reports 72 chapters, down from 163 a year ago.

The reason for the decline of the Ku Klux Klan is not totally clear, though the report even suggests the groups may be going deeper underground. "It appears that most of the groups simply faded as their leaders and members got older, but it is also very possible that many simply stopped announcing where their chapters were," the report said. The center estimates that between 5,000 and 8,000 people are Klan members in the United States. The SPLC report also notes that more people may be operating as so-called lone wolves. Lone wolves are a concern, the report said, because 90% of all domestic terror attacks since 2009 were carried out by individuals or pairs.

The overall number of hate groups peaked in 2011 and has been on the decline since. However, the number of registered users to Stormfront -- a website claiming to be "the voice of the new, embattled White minority!" -- has doubled since 2008. It now has nearly 300,000 users. 

The SPLC refers to this and other indicators to say that many individuals may be moving from organized groups to the Internet, to become more anonymous. Looking towards next year, SPLC is "expecting a real wave of Islamophobia" because of the proliferation of ISIS and the heavy media coverage of the extremist group, Potok told reporters. 

2)  Burn the Quran pastor 

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With pressure building on potential nominees for the 2016 U.S. presidential election to declare their candidacy, a surprise entrant who added colour to the race this week was controversial Florida pastor Terry Jones.

Jones who is avowedly “anti-Obama,” and described as a “fringe front-runner” in the race, made headlines in 2010 when he declared his intention to burn the Koran on the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, causing deep consternation in the U.S. administration, which feared a violent backlash.

When Jones announced his plans to hold an “International Burn a Koran Day,” he faced major pressure from world leaders and U.S. President Barack Obama to call off the event.