White supremacist groups are not the only racist organizations active in prisons. The Nation of Islam, the Black Muslim group led by Minister Louis Farrakhan, has organized an extensive prison outreach program since 1984. NOI has fought, sometimes in court, to have its prison emissaries recognized as chaplains separate from the mainstream Muslim chaplaincy. Supporters of the prison outreach program argue that NOI's message of discipline and morality helps rehabilitate prisoners; moreover, NOI's prison emissaries help inmates find jobs and housing upon their release. However, critics worry that Farrakhan's rhetoric -- including a long record of anti-Semitic and anti-white statements -- may spill over into NOI's prison outreach program and radicalize prisoners.

Despite efforts to integrate prisons across the country, prison officials and inmates have reported that prisoners identify themselves primarily along racial lines. This makes it easier for racist prison gangs -- with the help of white supremacist "outreach" programs -- to attract new members, especially those seeking protection. In such a racially charged environment, enmity toward members of other races often grows uncontrolled -- a fact which may lead some inmates to commit race-based violent crimes when they are released. This makes prison gangs a problem not only for law enforcement officials, but for the law-abiding general community as well.