After the white nationalist rally for hate groups protesting the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee turned violent in Charlottesville this month, one might have wondered where the groups got their riot shields, batons, and automatic weapons (not to mention their tickets to Virginia). Sadly, these hate groups are often extremely well-funded by online donations.
All four major card companies and PayPal appear to have facilitated transactions with the majority of 100 hate groups identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center. That’s the conclusion of “Blood Money,” an online tracker from the nonprofit group Color of Change, an online racial justice organization, that charts what payment processing companies allow funding to hate groups.
Rashad Robinson, the executive director of Color of Change, notes that for white power hate groups the impact of militant actions like the one in Charlottesville is twofold: First, they get to publicly share their agenda and terrorize those who disagree with it. Second, that publicity helps encourage others who are equally radical to give more, often through the semi-anonymous process of online donations.
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