This book investigates the psychological factors that led to the election of Donald Trump and the accompanying escalation of hate violence and intolerance in the United States. It also spells out the challenge for Americans living in a time of political conservatism and unbridled hostility towards minorities, immigrants, and socially progressive individuals—and what democratic-minded people can do to take action. After the U.S. presidential election in November of 2016, it became clear that hostility, intolerance, and violence targeting minorities, immigrants, and socially progressive individuals was more prevalent in the United States than many thought—and that these hateful sentiments had played a significant role in the election of Donald Trump. What are the reasons for this cataclysmic shift in the U.S.? Have these feelings been entrenched and rampant but under the surface for decades? We are now witnessing the consequences of a different kind of "freedom of expression"— one that is challenging our notions of living in a multicultural and internationally-focused society. Hate Unleashed: America's Cataclysmic Change looks at the process by which America moved away from a progressive democratic model of governance in response to themes of economic and cultural vulnerability. Drawing on the notions of authoritarianism and ultranationalism—as well as insights from polling research and the advent of fake news—Hate Unleashed portrays how American politics became a battleground about culture and diversity. Author Edward Dunbar exposes how xenophobia, the synthesis of hate speech into political rhetoric, and appeals to a nationalism of nostalgia are linked to the escalation in hate activity after the November 2016 election. In his examination of election results, hate crime activity, and the history of black lynching, Dunbar places the Trump victory as the latest battle in the unending civil war of the United States.

This collection spotlights the impact of hate violence on individuals and communities as well as how people form biases and are indoctrinated into hate groups, why they participate in violent hate crimes, and how hate may become extreme. This book details the solicitation and indoctrination of members into extremist hate groups. Using theoretical, empirical, and field studies, experts explain the psychological processes of bias formation, hate identity, and the stages of extremism, and detail first-person accounts of hate group membership and critical incidents of hate violence. Contributors draw significantly upon the current wave of reactionary political and racial intolerance witnessed in the United States and Europe in addressing specific groups and forms of hate extremism as found across different cultural and geographic regions. A statistically based analysis of how hate and ideology each contribute to political extremism accompanies the text and provides a long-term perspective of hate-based lifestyles. The book also offers a neuroscientific explanation of hate ideology as a psychological problem presenting a unique perspective, and a discussion of the interplay of governments and stakeholders in the untangling of the legal issues of hate crimes and of domestic and international terrorism. This text will be useful for students, researchers, and professionals in the social and behavioral sciences, law enforcement, criminal justice, and political science. Illustrates conflicts and injuries found in our communities due to the activity of hate groups Presents recruitment and membership retention tactics of various hate groups and approaches to countering them Examines the neuropsychology of hate as a motivator in perpetrating intergroup violence Offers a contrary perspective in the form of personal narratives from people who have been involved in terrorism, lynchings, honor killings, and other hate-motivated violence