Tolerance.org: U.S. Map of Hate Groups
Find out how many freaks live in your neighborhood. Apparently there have been two incidents in recent years of neo-Nazi fliers being distributed around Grand Rapids, MI. (Oh, and suburb Caledonia has a chapter of the Council for Conservative Citizens (formerly known as the White Citizens Council) — you know, the genteel Southern white supremacist group that racist southern Republicans have to curry favor with while trying not to let anyone else notice).
25 hate groups is pretty extreme for a state Michigan’s size, but Michigan is a pretty diverse state — you’ve got the Ruby Ridge types hanging out in the Northern and Western woodlands, and on the flipside you’ve got Detroit with an ample selection of Black Separatist groups. From such a diverse cultural milieu we produce such prodigies as Ted Nugent, Pete “No Seriously, Iraq DID Have WMDs, REALLY REALLY, ask my buddy Santorum” Hoekstra (R-MI), Eminem, and Kid Rock. And that’s just the white guys.
I grew up in the northern MI woods, and have spent quite a bit of time with the salt of the earth on the western side. I know of only ONE person that would qualify as a “Ruby Ridge” type, and he’s soon moving out of state because local sentiment is that he’s a quack, and should leave. So, my impression based on experience is that northern and western mi is mostly “old people who live in Florida in the winter” types.
I’m sure the vast majority of anywhere is sane. I’m just saying we have the potential for a lot of different types of crazy.
BTW, a year or three ago, wasn’t there some big news story about a lone nut stockpiling weapons and a police standoff somewhere north of Grand Rapids?