White supremacy and the SS Bolts. Find out the history of the neo-Nazi SS Bolts, and the current usage of one of the most powerful hate symbols in history.
ALTERNATE NAMES: Cracker Bolts, SS Lightning Bolts, Lightning Bolts
ALTERNATE NAMES: Supreme White PowerSWP is an acronym for the white supremacist slogan "Supreme White Power." It seems to have originated on the West Coast, probably in California's prison system, though it has spread from there. Supreme White Power and SWP are both common prison tattoos. One popular version displays the words "Supreme White Power" in a circle around a swastika made up of battle-axes. Usually, below the swastika is a Viking ship. Additional Images:
The United Society of Aryan Skinheads (USA) is a white supremacist gang active in the prisons and on the streets. Although it originated in Oregon, it is essentially based in California. USAS members primarily use one or more of three symbols: the white power fist, the Valknot, and bindrunes.
White Aryan Resistance (WAR) is the name of a large, Arkansas-based white supremacist prison gang, who borrowed the name from California white supremacist Tom Metzger. Their main symbol is an elaborate pyramid-shaped tattoo that contains symbols representing rank and other meanings.
WPWW is a common white supremacist acronym that stands for "White Pride World Wide." The phrase is used as part of the logo for Stormfront, the largest white supremacist website on the Internet, which accounts for its widespread use by white supremacists. Additional Images:
ZOG is a white supremacist acronym for "Zionist Occupied Government," which reflects the common white supremacist belief that the U.S. government is controlled by Jews. This has resulted in white supremacist slogans such as "Smash ZOG," "Kill ZOG, or "Death to ZOG." Although the term originated with white supremacists, ZOG is also occasionally used by some anti-Israel activists in the United States, particularly since the Hamas-led terror attacks of October 7, 2023. Additional…
Civics Lesson
GRADE LEVEL: High School What Were the Multiple Perspectives of the Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court Based on During the Repeal of DOMA?
According to the Supreme Court Decision, Who Has the Right to Marry?
What Assurances Do We Have that the Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court are Able to Be Non-partisan and Avoid Bias When Deciding a Case?
The Judicial branch of the U.S. government is headed by the Supreme Court. This court analyzes and judges cases…
Antisemitism and Anti-LGBTQ Rhetoric Mar Poland’s Presidential Election
Article
July 20, 2020 Incumbent President Andrzej Duda defeated Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, 51%-49%, for a second five-year term. While the presidency is supposed to be non-partisan, the contest clearly pitted the nationalist populist Law and Justice party, which supported Duda, against the pro-European liberal supporters of Trzaskowski. Duda was the early favorite, but the race tightened as election day neared. In response, Duda’s campaign turned negative, including the…
Civil Rights Campaign Targets Facebook Ads; SCOTUS Upholds Federal Law Protecting LGBTQ Workers; Hezbollah School Textbooks Promote Antisemitism and Terrorism
Article
June 19, 2020 THE WEEK’S BIG 3
ADL convened a coalition of civil rights groups encouraging corporate advertisers to pull spending from Facebook during the month of July to protest the company’s failure to make its platform a less-hostile place. The Supreme Court ruled that federal civil rights law protects gay, lesbian and transgender workers from discrimination. School textbooks used in institutions controlled by the terror group Hezbollah are teaching children “egregious…
Small Group of Neo-Nazis Protest Michigan Pride Festival with Homophobic, Anti-Semitic Slurs
Article
June 11, 2019 On Saturday, June 8, ten neo-Nazis associated with the National Socialist Movement protested Detroit’s Motor City Pride Festival, carrying guns and shouting homophobic and anti-Semitic slurs.
NSM leader Burt Colucci and Aric Lemieux, NSM’s South Michigan chapter leader, headed up the protest, which included participants from Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, Massachusetts and Michigan. Lemieux expressed his intention to protest the festival months ago, and other group…
GRADE LEVEL: High School
COMMON CORE STANDARDS: Reading, Writing, Speaking & Listening, Language On June 28, 1969, the Stonewall uprising took place. It began in the early morning at the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City. As was typical during that time period, police officers entered the bar and arrested employees for selling alcohol without a liquor license, roughed up customers, cleared the bar and arrested customers for not wearing at least three articles of …
March 13, 2019 When the U.S. Supreme Court last summer ruled in favor of a Colorado baker who refused to sell a wedding cake to a same-sex couple based on religious beliefs, its decision was a wake-up call – and underlined the need for further legislative action by elected officials and communities. While disappointing, the Court’s narrow decision reaffirmed the right of LGBTQ individuals to be free from discrimination, and left in place statewide nondiscrimination protections…
What is Everyday Bias? (In English and en español)
Tools and Strategies
Table Talk: Family Conversations about Current Events For Parents, Families, and Caregivers Topic SummaryIt seems like we are seeing more and more news and social media stories about people experiencing bias as they go about their daily lives—riding the subway, shopping in a store, dining in a restaurant and hanging out with friends. Indeed, the surge of such stories makes it seem like racism, sexism, antisemitism and other forms of bias and discrimination are becoming more pervasive…
It's Not OK for Businesses to Discriminate in the Name of Religion
Article
December 01, 2017 By David Barkey, Religious Freedom Counsel & Southeastern Area Counsel
The U.S. Supreme Court soon will hear oral arguments in a case called Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. Cakeshop’s owner is asking the Court do something unprecedented – allow him based on religious objections to refuse service to customers for who they are.
ADL recently joined an amicus brief to the Court filed by a coalition of civil rights and religious…
Kentucky Appeals Court Issues Convoluted Decision in Pride Festival T-Shirt Case
Article
May 16, 2017 Last week, the Kentucky Court of Appeals issued a convoluted decision upholding a lower court decision in a case involving LGBT Pride Festival t-shirts. The Court’s ruling overturned a local human rights commission’s determination that a business violated a county anti-discrimination ordinance when it refused to take an order from an LGBT rights organization for the t-shirts.
The Lexington, KY-based Gay and Lesbian Services Organization (“GLSO…
For Law Enforcement This document is an archived copy of an older ADL report and may not reflect the most current facts or developments related to its subject matter. Introduction
The Topeka, Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) is a small virulently homophobic, anti-Semitic hate group that regularly stages protests around the country, often several times a week. The group pickets institutions and individuals they think suppor t homosexuality or otherwise subvert what they believe is…
Interview with Ami Polonsky, Children's Book Author
Podcast
For Educators | For Parents, Families, and Caregivers In this podcast, Ami Polonsky talks about why she wrote the book, how parents and teachers can discuss gender and transgender identity with young people and the importance of being an ally.
Ami Polonsky is a children’s book author and teacher. Published in 2014, Gracefully Grayson, a middle grade book, is her debut. Formerly a Chicago Public Schools teacher, Ami spent nine years out of the classroom to…
What the Women’s March Teaches Us about Intersectionality
Article
January 24, 2017
On Saturday, January 21, 2017, the day after the inauguration of President Donald Trump, 500,000 people gathered in Washington, DC for the Women’s March–to express their unity for women’s issues and to speak out against the demonizing and hateful rhetoric that pervaded the past election cycle. An additional 400,000 marched in New York City , 250,000 in Chicago and according to Women’s March organizers, there were 673 “sister marches&rdquo…