Since President-Elect Donald Trump's lack of believable dissent towards the KKK and the American Nazi Party, it has risen public awareness that the two continue to heavily exist in the United States. Groups that were once under the radar have taken to Twitter, and other outlets of expression, to proudly state their political grievances and societal views. No, Donald Trump did not create the KKK or the American Nazi Party, but—whether he meant to or not—stoked the flame for extremists, racists, and neo-nazis to openly fight for their "cause." They waited in the hidden corners of society with their views, in the depths of racist internet podcasts and anti-semitic forums, until someone made them feel like it was acceptable by society to be a hateful, bigoted person. Donald Trump may not have meant to cause a rise in the hopes of these hateful groups, but he did give these hateful organizations the permission to be visible with his hateful rhetoric. Though the rhetoric was mainly directed towards Muslims and Latino/Hispanic individuals, it gave other bigoted groups approval to say and do whatever they please because a presidential candidate said and did whatever he pleased.

Donald Trump did not create these parties. These organizations have always existed within the United States; the only difference is that they are now visible. The American Nazi Party has over 11,000+ followers on twitter, which is not representative of how big the party truly is because not every Neo-Nazi is on social media. Every time you go into a tag, there is at least one post of anti-Semitic material by a Neo-Nazi extremist, and it is hard to ignore all of the news circulating about people saluting Hitler at parties or spray painting swastikas on a playground dedicated to a Jewish musician. What many people don't know or don't think about is the fact that, after World War ll, many escaped Nazi's were given asylum in the United States. According to a hidden report by the Justice Department, thousands of Nazis escaped persecution by coming to America. The government collaborated with these Nazis instead of immediately deporting them, where they would ultimately meet an execution. Described as a "safe haven," the Justice Department held these Nazi's in secret and essentially protected them from facing the consequences of mass murdering millions of Jewish men, women, and children. Though many Nazis in America eventually faced their end, many got to live full lives in the same country where Jewish immigrants had sought refuge in an attempt to escape the Nazis. So, is it really all that shocking that Neo-Nazi individuals exist proudly in the United States? Not so much. Is it disgusting, degrading, and a huge embarrassment that these groups still exist today? Absolutely.

Now that these hateful organizations are more visible to the public as they tout their racist pride, it makes people wonder whether or not this transparency of hate is good or bad, since we now see the truth and can fight it head-on. As a white woman of the middle class, I am not directly impacted by what these groups do, but they do harm the people I love—my friends, my neighbors, my classmates, my professors, and all of the people who make this amazing country the most powerful nation in the world. Nazism is not on the rise; it only seems like it is because we can finally see it with our own eyes, but it has always been here. The only thing that we can really do at this point is to argue against anti-Semitic behaviors and hateful, bigoted speech that spurs on such behavior which is rhetoric that Donald Trump does not strongly condemn.