Extremism in America Collection

This five-part series, produced in collaboration with The WNET Group’s reporting initiative Exploring Hate, explores key turning points in the growth of the extremist movement, from the 1980s to present day, and the missed opportunities to stop the movement from spreading. This series was recognized with a 2022 Online Journalism Award for Best Digital Storytelling.

Lesson Plan: Extremism in America Student Activity: Extremism in America See Our Entire Education Collection

Emergence of the Order

After Alan Berg, a Jewish talk show host, was shot to death in 1984, federal investigators scrutinized The Order, a white supremacist group, and went after the leaders on charges of sedition, hoping to dismantle the radical militia movement from the top down. This video looks at how and why they failed.

Transcript

The Oklahoma City Bombing

Anti-government propaganda, military deployment and the F.B.I. raid in Waco, Texas, radicalized Timothy McVeigh and led to the Oklahoma City attack.

Transcript

Missed Warnings

The night Barack Obama won his first presidential election, a Black church in Springfield, Mass., was burned, exposing the nation’s deep racial divisions.

Transcript

A Surge in Violence

During the 2010s, violent attacks by white supremacists and other extremists increased, including shootings at a church in Charleston, S.C., and a synagogue in Pittsburgh.

Transcript

Out of the Shadows

According to experts who monitor the radical right, the white supremacist ideology that police say drove the white gunman charged with killing 10 Black people in a 2022 mass shooting in Buffalo has begun moving from the extremes into the mainstream.

Transcript

Extremism in America (full series)

If you prefer to watch the “Extremism in America” series all at once – here is the 30-minute special, presented in collaboration with WORLD Channel.

Transcript

Questions? Tips? Concerns? Reach out to our Director of Education, David Olson: [email protected]

Donate

Extremism in America Collection

Stay Connected With Us!

Get updates on new lesson plans and more free classroom resources from Retro Report.