Having gone to college many years ago in Massachusetts, I have an idyllic view of small-towns in New England. Thus, I was shocked to read this article from InDepth New Hampshire about hate groups that are active in Franklin, New Hampshire. True, NH has its Free Staters, rabid libertarians who want no government at all, but you will read here about a different type of extremism, based on hate.
What’s happening to our country? when I read articles celebrating the last election as a rebuke to Trumpism, I remind myself that many important votes were very close. In many states, reason won by 50.4%. Or 51%.
A new hate incident in Franklin, this time white supremacist graffiti painted on a downtown building, has city leaders looking for answers.
Mayor Jo Brown said the city’s task force to combat hate, formed after a Jewish business owner was targeted by a hate group this summer, is working on stifling hate with education and positivity…
It is not clear who is behind this week’s graffiti, Brown said. This is the second time this year Franklin leaders have dealt with hate-influenced issues. Over the summer, members of the notorious hate group, NSC 131, targeted Miriam Kovacs, owner of the Broken Spoon, which is a Jewish-Asian fusion takeout restaurant.
NSC 131, also known as the Nationalist Social Club, is a neo-Nazi hate group active in New England. The group has a chapter active in New Hampshire. In the past year, the group has targeted businesses on the Seacoast for harassment, and even threatened former Nashua Democratic state Rep. Manny Espitia.
State Rep. Charlotte DiLorenzo, D-Newmarket, recently spoke about receiving a racist email from a different group. Attorney General John Formella is investigating the email from a man who identified himself as the founder and president of a group called the New England White Network.
NSC 131 was founded in eastern Massachusetts and its members are tied to violent Neo Nazi groups like The Base, Aryan Strike and Patriot Front. The group has off-shoot chapters in Europe and some southern states. NSC 131 graffiti has been spotted all throughout southern New Hampshire, and the group has made appearances at Nashua City Hall and Nashua School Board meetings, among other incidents.
This summer, the group hung two banners over a highway in Dover that read: “Keep New England white” and “Defend New England.”
The group is virulently anti-Semitic and calls for expelling Jewish people from the United States. The group also calls for violence against Jews and minorities.
“110 and never again. Jews have been expelled from 109 countries make America 110. Any nationalist of action will agree, 110 and never again,” on NSC 131 poster wrote on Telegram.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Sad to hear that Fascism is on the rise again in the us – part of the 80 year cycle: “The Great Forgetting”.
We had a case in our small town in 2020, a kid from Fremont, CA – an hour away – to plaster stickers with the Swastika and “we are everywhere” all over our downtown. Fortunately a young man confronted him, got it on video and shared with the community. The police showed up and gathered information and the case referred to the Marin County DA who claimed there wasn’t enough evidence for charges. Some members of our community put in the hard work to update California hate crime law. “After Jan. 1, it will be illegal – for the first time – in California to terrorize communities with these hate symbols in public spaces. The new law also brings the punishment for terrorizing with each of these hate symbols into parity.”
https://www.marinij.com/2022/10/12/marin-voice-hard-work-with-lawmakers-helps-group-create-story-of-hope-to-fight-hate/
There is hope, but it takes a lot of hard work
when I read articles celebrating the last election as a rebuke to Trumpism, I remind myself that many important votes were very close”
For what it’s worth, in an all out nuclear war, there are some Democrats who would celebrate if their house was not hit directly with a nuke.
But I only celebrate if it misses by at least 100 feet.
Close only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades, and atomic weapons.
Precisely my joke.
I met a person from New Hampshire who was getting her truck serviced by my mechanic on her way through Tennessee. She drives for a living. She resided solidly to the right of any Tennessean I ever met.
Well, after all, the New Hampshire motto is “Live free in New Hampshire or die in Tennessee. Your choice.”
Deborah Lipstadt, a historian, has been assigned a role as special envoy in the State Dept. to address increased ant-Semitism. At the Vox site, she explains that anti-Semitism can be traced back to the origins of Christianity.
Christianity was a new religion competing with the Jewish religion. The New Testament was written to cast Jews as not just people of a competing and flawed religion but, as a source of evil. The description of Jesus’ death was aimed at that purpose.
Additionally, Lipstadt provides background about Ye and Kyle Irving’s views.
My takeaway- the danger of the powerhouse of the religious right specifically, their involvement in school privatization deserves scrutiny.
Elaine Pagels has done interesting work on this subject as well. And thanks, Linda.
Mark,
I’m genuinely curious.
Does Elaine belong in the same category as Diane and Deborah? The latter two have shown political courage in their respective fields of study.
A cursory review of internet results show Elaine as a scholar at a high-priced legacy admission college. Has she weighed in against fellow Princeton Prof. Robert P George?
Norman Cantor places the rise in European anti-semitism to Franciscan preaching in the twelfth century,
Roy-
Thanks for the comment. The origin of bigotry is important.
In an example about racial prejudice, when the public learned that the monuments to the Confederacy were erected in the 1919’s period, not following the Civil War,
it supported the argument that the statues were constructed to intimidate Black people not as a memoriam (that honored an enemy of the Union).
And another wonderful historian, Norman Cohn, shows how the antisemites among the Christians picked up and used the very same legal language that was used by Romans in persecutions of Christians–sometimes word for word, along with the same charges–unnatural sex acts, baby sacrifices, drinking blood, human sacrifices, flying via witchcraft.
As John Lennon sang
Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion, too
Imagine all the people
Livin’ life in peace
You
You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one
Personally, I have a very hard time imaging no countries and especially no religion, which has been the source of so much killing throughout the ages.
Ironically, the very tribal instincts like religion that were selected for and helped early humans survive are the ones that will eventually lead to human extinction.
Tribal Thinking
Everything about the Tribe
We currently defend
A human future will proscribe
Will kill us in the end
These clowns are in Keene as well, where I have spend some time over the years.
After reading this, I’m not keen on moving to Keene
Hahahahaha! I wouldn’t have thought so, SomeDAM. It’s actually a fairly pleasant town.
I’ve actually been to keene a few times and it seemed nice enough.
They have a nice Home Depot.
Last time I went I drove from West Lebanon to Keene to get some lights cuz the damned Home Depot stores won’t ship from one store to another.
And I actually had to go to the Claremont Home Depot too, cuz I needed 10 lights and none of the stores had enough.
So, I spent all morning driving around southernn New zHamshire cuz of Home Depot’s stupid policy about shipping.
And if that wasn’t bad enough. I had to drive extra far because the bridge between Bellows falls and Keene was out, so I had to go waaay the hell around.
Another reason why I’m not keen on Keene.
Hate is normalized.
No one with any authority and no one with political, media, or any other kind of “power calls them out.
No outrage.
No denouncing.
Has one GOP official – local, state, or federal – stood up and said: “These people do not speak for me and I denounce their actions. Period.”
Have powerbrokers funding the GOP and candidates (we all know the corporations) told their candidates “Denounce these people or you don’t get a penny from us”
The Southern Policy Law Center tracking cites 733 hate groups in 2021. Oddly, there were more in 2020 and 2016. (Many of these are local groups of the same national group).
Without research or data, the simple explanation is the these folks do what they do because they can.
The difference between ‘now and then’ is that these groups have no qualms or hesitation to take their hatred to the streets in the light of day, to be interviewed on tv about it, and show up at other organizations’ events and election polling sites with unprecedented frequency.
And, the children are watching.
The GOP is instrumental in stoking the flames of hate. It has become the party of bigotry and division. Shameful!
The rhetoric of Neo-Naziism and Christian Nationalism go together like a horse and carriage.
Like a horse and manure
Callisto-
Yes.
Well, you can’t expect much else from a state whose motto is “Live Free Or Die.” It’s a heartbreaking shame because New Hampshire–the White Mountains in particular–are sublimely majestic and wonderful to hike in. My girlfriend and I are currently attempting to complete the NH 48 as part of the overall Northeast 111 (technically 115) and and everyone and everything up that way is very chilled out, cordial, and salt-of-the-earth cool. So to read this is quite alarming, not to mention a stark reminder that below the crystalline and cerulean surface of natural wonder lurks this quasi-Leviathan network of hateful fanatics.
I spent many years hiking those mountains, Yossarian. And they are sublime. Lots and lots of stories about this. Yes, New Hampshire has long been a bit schizo. As you say, lots of very chilled out, cordial, salt-of-the-earth folks. Lots of fellow hippie hikers. LOL. Liberal colleges. But get into the backwoods and some of the small towns, and it’s Deliverance North. One thinks of the line from Emerson: “The god that made New Hampshire taunted the lofty mountains with little men.” Little fascist men worried about their masculinity in some places these days, I guess, using the term “men” quite loosely.
I used to live in Peterborough, a magnificent little town, not far from Keene. I lived across from the McDowell Writers’ Colony. From my home, it was a short hike with my kid on my back to beaver ponds and a short drive into town to go to the Folkway Coffee House and one of the best breakfast diners on the planet. The town Thornton Wilder wrote Our Town about. A beautiful place.
I grew up in Franklin, NH and my family was one of only two Jewish families that lived there at the time. I never recall any antisemitism of the type you describe here. My friends, all non-Jews, were kind, friendly, and supportive. Many of them came to my Bar Mitzvah in Concord when I was 14 (I was a late bloomer).
My parents and their families were small business owners. My mother’s family owned a furniture store, and my father ran a small grocery store — Marty’s Meat Market. My father, who eventually became an elementary school teacher and principal, was a long-time city councilman and served as the mayor of Franklin in 1983. He later went on to be a member of the state legislature fighting for public education. Not easy work then or now.
I can’t tell you how heart-broken I am after reading this post. My parents both passed away many years ago and I am grateful that they didn’t have to witness this kind of hatred in their hometown. I hope the Mayor’s efforts to address these issues gains traction.
Thank you, Diane, for sharing this story. Things are much worse than I imagined.
SCOTUS has codified discrimination into law. I wouldn’t have believed it possible. Trump’s election showed us what the religious right is capable of.
One area of salvageable hope is the removal of the statues to the Confederacy. The military bases need be renamed.
Where is Leo Frank when we need him?
History shows us what it takes to get rid of the fascists. I suspect that history will repeat itself sometime in the future.
What caused the fall of fascism the first time?
“The final collapse of fascism, though set off when Mussolini’s frightened lieutenants threw him overboard, was brought about by allied military victories plus the open rebellion of the people. Among the latter the strikes of industrial workers in Nazi-controlled northern Italy led the way.”
And in 2022, the majority of voters had their say:
“Trump’s picks to oversee elections in key 2024 battlegrounds all lost”
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/11/13/trump-secretaries-of-state-elections-2024-00066627
Elections in Italy in 2022?
In other (but related) news, Philosopher Madison Cawthorn, speaking on the floor of the House of Representatives and taking a cue from Tucker [spell that with an F] Carlson, says,
“Our nation used to believe that there was strength and purpose in taking the hits, lording [sic; he misspoke; he clearly meant “learning”] from your mistakes and growing through the adversity. Our country is weak. Her sons are sickly, and her daughters are decrepit [OK, that’s a weird choice of adjective]. We now face the consequences of enabling a participation trophy society. We are no longer the United States. We have become the Nanny State. Our young men are taught that weakness is strength, that delicacy is desirable and that being a soft metrosexual is more valuable than training the mind, body, and soul. Social media has weakened us, siphoning our men of their willingness to fight, to rise in a noble manner, square their jaw, and charge once more into the breach of life to defend what they love. So, on this precipice of disaster, I ask the young men of this nation a question: will you sit behind a screen while the storied tales of your forefathers become myth, or will you stand resolute against the dying light of America’s Golden Age? Will you reclaim your masculinity? Will you become a man to be feared, to be respected, to be looked up to, or will you let this nation’s next generation be its final generation?”
The lady doth protest too much, methinks.
What a strange speech from a very poorly educated guy. The “crisis of masculinity” seems to be the new Republican rallying cry. Josh Hawley wrote a book about it. Can’t wait to hear Lindsey Graham on the subject. Will we next see knuckle-dragging he-men dragging their beloved down the street by the hair? With a gun in one hand and the fair lady in the other.
Haaaaa!!!!
I like your term — “ammosexual” — for these folks.
But camosexual also works.
Not my coinage, SomeDAM. Not sure where I picked it up. It’s around.
A fine Republican Whine
Our he-men are sickly
Our daughters decrepit
Our country is quickly
Becoming a cesspit
With decrepit daughters, there is no hope for the Republican party.
In the religious right view, the daughters wouldn’t find a place in your stanza any more than a piece of pottery would- it’s worth- only as an inanimate vessel.
The Female Vessel
A vessel for penis
And vessel for fetus
A vessel to clean us
And vessel to feed us
The order is significant.
A vessel to have
And a vessel to hold
A vessel that’s half
Of a man, so I’m told
The half to be seen
But not to be heard
The half that should clean
And not say a word
That completes “A Fine Evangelist Whine”
well said, someDAM
“Our nation used to believe that there was strength and purpose in taking the bong hits, learning from your mistakes (paraquat is not good for plants) and growing through the adversity (when cops shut down your operation)”
“masculine fantasies are patriarchal authoritarianism”- Independent.co- UK., in reference to Cawthorne.
I lived in Greenfield long ago.
I worked as a teacher at an environmental ed center (Otter Lake/Camp Union)
We went to Folkway’s in Peterborough almost every weekend.
Hiked Crotched Mountain with a bunch of 6th graders more times than I’d like to admit.
Not exactly something to put on your climbing resume.
The kids called it Crotch ache Mountain.
I had to agree.
Supposed to be a reply to Yossarian above.
I believe there is now a ski lift up Crotched to relieve the crotch ache.
Apparently the ski lift was there since 1964! But I don’t remember it for some reason.
Too much crotch ache, apparently.
All I wanted to do was sit down and rest at the top.
An excerpt from the book by Peter Marendy (2005) , “Anti-Semitism, Christianity and the Catholic Church” – “Until recently, historians have typically distinguished between this religious form of anti-Semitism and the race oriented modern anti-Semitism which came in the late nineteenth century.” Marendy’s book links the two. He “challenges the accuracy of the Roman Catholic Church’s official position on the issue represented in the Vatican document, “We remember: A Reflection on the Shoah (Holocaust).”
In 1998, the referenced Shoah report from a John Paul II- instituted Vatican commission, was issued – the document denied that the Roman Catholic Church had any responsibility for the demonization of Jews. In 2001, the USCCB wrote that the document should be used, “as a resource for all levels
of Catholic education.”
Is there a parallel between what is described above and the anti- CRT movement i.e. a denial or white-washing of history? Does the interview with Pat Buchanan by Ryan Girdusky (founder of the 1776 PAC) suggest that awake people should look in the direction of right wing religious origins?
In the 1970’s, the public was sidetracked about the Catholic church’s long game when it appeared the Church was modernizing, when the Newman Societies on campuses were liberal. Blue state liberal Catholics, some prominent in media, perpetuate a image that is betrayed by the rulings of the conservative Catholic SCOTUS and the Federalist Society, steered by Leonard Leo.
You’re a white woman, of course you had an idyllic view and haven’t experienced good ole New England racism – something many of us know too well. Let me guess, you went to a liberal arts school? It is so disgusting how oblivious so many of you are. Reading about your “shock” learning that MASSississippi is full of white supremacists literally makes me feel physically ill.