ADL Launches Hate-Symbols Database
Oct. 18, 2000 -- A picture is worth a thousand words, and a symbol may be worth more, according to a database posted on the Internet today that decodes the secret meanings of tattoos and emblems often used by hate groups.
The database, titled “Hate on Display: A Visual Display of Extremist Symbols, Logos and Tattoos,” features different symbols — from the omnipresent swastika to cryptic numbers — with links to what each one means and which groups use them.
The idea behind the site, which was created by the Anti-Defamation League, is to give parents, law enforcement and educators more tools to identify hate groups cropping up in schools and communities, organizers said.
Marilyn Mayo, associate director of the fact-finding department at the ADL, said the symbols they included in the growing interactive database are used regularly on extremist groups’ Web sites, in pamphlets, and also in tattoos.
“We were constantly getting calls from community leaders and law enforcement, who see these symbols in their communities, and want to know what these symbols mean” Mayo said. “To see the symbols, and what they mean, and the background to what these symbols mean can be an important tool.”
Are All Symbols Harmless?
The database, she said, is a work in progress, and people who see something in their community or on the Web that’s not in the database can give the information to the ADL to investigate.
Mayo said early feedback has been mostly positive, but there have been some complaints from people who feel their symbols have been wrongfully included, such as the Confederate Flag, which the ADL links to white supremacy, while others see it as a symbol of Southern pride.
Some symbols seem harmless, such as the numbers 14 and 88, but Mayo said they have sinister meanings when linked to extremist groups.
“‘88’ means ‘Heil Hitler,’ and ‘14’ is a reference to the ‘Fourteen Words’ that white supremacist organizations use as their motto,” Mayo said. “We know the context of the symbols, numbers, and abbreviations because we see them repeatedly in literature, in their Web sites. They are also seen in acts of vandalism.
“In terms of violence, words and symbols have meaning,” she said. “People get caught up in the ideology, and spray-paint these symbols on a synagogue to intimidate people.”
Some of the people who use emblems listed on the site said the ADL is going too far in its characterizations.
“Many of the symbols [the ADL] finds offensive on the Internet are traditional to our culture, such as the Celtic Cross,” said Don Black, publisher and director of Stormfront, an online publication that represents the interests of white supremacists and neo-nazi groups. “We, of course, describe the symbols as white nationalism and white pride. They don’t entail hatred of other people. We are defending our heritage and values, just as the ADL defends Jewish values.
“Some of these symbols have a lot of appeal to teenagers,” he said. “They represent a pride in their own accomplishments as a member of a white culture, which has not been taught in their own schools.”
Mayo said the ADL is not interested in suppressing the free-speech rights of groups like Black’s, but in revealing another side to them.
“The Web is a tremendous resource, in that it gives people a chance to reach out ot each other, and communicate with other neo-nazis around the world,” Mayo said. “But they are not just promoting pride, but they are promoting hatred, and there’s a difference.”