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January jobs report: Unemployment rate falls to 4%, wages rise more than forecast; Trump signs order imposing sanctions on International Criminal Court over investigations of Israel; Ten Commandments in public schools debate reaches South Dakota; Virginia ranks among worst states for wage theft; Mexican long-nosed bat makes appearance in Arizona.

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Attorney General Pam Bondi strikes a Trump tone at the Justice Department, federal workers get more time to consider buyouts, and an unclassified email request from the White House worries CIA vets.

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During Black History Month, a new book shares how a unique partnership built 5,000 schools for Black students, anti-hunger advocates say ag communities would benefit from an expanded SNAP program, and Americans have $90 billion in unpaid medical bills.

University of Utah Study Maps Hate in America by Region

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Monday, February 12, 2018   

SALT LAKE CITY – Hate is a national phenomenon, but the way hate is directed varies depending on where you live, according to new research from the University of Utah.

A team of geographers mapped the patterns of active hate groups in more than 360 counties across the United States in 2014, and found that nationwide, less education, population change, ethnic diversity, poverty and conservative politics correlated with more hate groups.

But Richard Medina, assistant professor in the Department of Geography and the report's senior author, says the ways people hate are based on cultures, histories and other factors specific to different regions.

"If you look at the South, they have different racial issues, and areas along the border of the U.S. may focus on anti-immigrant issues," Medina explains. "So, you can start to see this whole map of hate that is really regionally specific."

Medina and his team focused on organized groups that target entire classes of people based on factors beyond their control - including ethnicity, gender, disability and sexual orientation.

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, 2016 saw a near-high in the number of hate groups in the U.S.

Medina says while many people are facing uncertainty and change, those involved in hate groups believe their actions will help secure the future for the people they see as members of their tribe. He notes that fear can turn to hate – and in the worst case, violence.

"You know, the neo-Nazi, the national anti-immigrant hate, I think in a lot ways boils down to this fear of losing identity from what those people consider to be 'other' people," he observes.

Emily Nicolosi, a doctoral candidate who contributed to the study, says places that have a history of large-scale immigration, such as the East and West coasts, are more accepting of people with different backgrounds.

Nicolosi adds that, even in non-coastal regions, counties that experienced an influx of new people over a five-year period tended to have less hate.

"That goes to show that when people perhaps have a chance to interact with people who are different [from] them, that might contribute to more tolerance," she says.

The study was published in the Annals of the American Association of Geographers.




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