The Golden State of Hate

California and White Nationalism in the Age of Trump

Almost from the day Donald Trump announced his candidacy for the White House in 2015, California, along with the rest of the country, has experienced an uptick of reported hate and bias incidents. As Capital & Main’s new series reveals, most of these attacks have been directed at immigrants and people of color. But this is hardly new – the Golden State has a long history of violence and discrimination against nonwhites and the foreign born. This week we present the first of our series’ findings:

• California’s Extremist Roots Run Deep Gabriel Thompson surveys California’s far-right landscape, from Klan rallies to Twitter-savvy white separatists. (Co-published by Newsweek.)
• The Golden State of Hate A video overview of a moment when America’s most democratic and generous values are under attack.
• “We Have a New President, Faggot!” A U.S.-born Sikh had no idea he was about to come face to face with hate in Bakersfield when he stepped outside a burger joint to make a phone call, Bill Raden reports.
• Balmeet Singh Interview A video account by a Bakersfield Sikh who was seemingly targeted for his beard and turban.
• How the Internet Made Hate Respectable Ed Leibowitz talks about the mainstreaming of white supremacist ideologies with Professor Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism.
• Is California a Land Without Pity? Photo essay by Joanne Kim.