NATION Emerging face of supremacists is female, study says

Women in some white racist groups now range from 25 to 50 percent of members, a sociologist says.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- White supremacist groups are increasingly recruiting women because they tend to be overlooked by police and are less likely to leave the groups than are men, according to research by a University of Pittsburgh sociologist.
But although many groups tout equality and respect, the leadership of such groups remains dominated by males, said Kathleen Blee, who studied women's emerging role in such groups in her latest book, "Inside Organized Racism: Women in the Hate Movement."
"It's a scary idea; they're building a movement with durability," Blee said.
The sociology professor interviewed 34 women of various ages in the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazi groups and so-called Christian Identity groups. Blee said she decided to look into today's makeup of such groups after writing a Pulitzer Prize-nominated book about women in the Klan in the 1920s.
She found that white women are increasingly being recruited into the white supremacist movement as a way for groups to remain discreet, and found the groups use women to help build a wider base by reaching out to their husbands, boyfriends and children.
"They're being manipulated," said Mark Potok, spokesman for the Southern Poverty Law Center. "Bring in the pretty girls and the men will follow. It's not so easy to put a swastika on a guy's forearm and get him to chant 'Death to the Jews."'
Although Potok said there's no way to count the number of women in racist groups, he agrees with Blee's estimate that the number of women in some groups now range from 25 to 50 percent of the membership.
Reasons for joining
Blee found that women tend to join not because they subscribe to racist or anti-Semitic ideology, as men do, but for personal reasons. They will befriend a member of such a group, often without knowing it, and slowly begin to subscribe to the group's beliefs in a cultlike fashion, she said.
And because the bond is based on relationships, a small number of women may even remain in the group despite differing beliefs.
"A number of women simply ignore the parts they don't want to hear. They'll tell me they take their kids to Jewish doctors, have abortions and let their kids play with African-American kids," Blee said.
A member's perspective
A woman who identified herself only as Courtney and described herself as a 23-year-old member of the Aryan Nations said no one recruited her; rather, she said, she was drawn to the group through reading such tracts as Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf" and "White Power" by George Lincoln Rockwell.
"I stay in because I love it. I believe in it," she said. "I love my friends, but that's not why I'm here. I can make friends at a local bridge club."
Courtney said she is treated as an equal by male members and thinks she can walk away from the group without fear of reprisal. She said she's going to college to be a history teacher so she can give back to the community and spend time with her family.
Courtney predicted that although more women have been joining the movement, the groups will remain dominated by men. She estimated that 30 percent of Aryan Nations members are female.
"I don't think women tend to be as political," she said. "I'm happy to be there, but I'm not going to push anybody into it."
'Average white Americans'
Courtney resembled the women interviewed by Blee in that they defy stereotypes of racist people, such as those with few friends. Blee said most of the women had good jobs, received an education and had stable families.
"It's very disturbing. We're talking about average white Americans ending up very violent people," Blee said.
Potok, who agreed with Blee's findings, pointed to this week's arrest of one of the founders of Women for Aryan Unity as a sign of women emerging in racist groups.
Christine Greenwood, 28, was charged along with two men in California in an unspecified plot to allegedly promote hate-related violence.
Authorities said they found a letter in one of the suspects' homes addressed to a white supremacist group advocating that the Aryan Nations align itself with Islamic extremists to target Jews and the U.S. government.
Despite the success some groups have had in recruiting women, Blee said their role remains a source of conflict for the men.
"Women are promised leadership and told their ideas will be respected, but the reality is, they're still expected to make lunch," Blee said.