Thanks

Alvin Poussaint and Edward Dunbar have written about extreme racism as a mental pathology.  I think it is important to broaden the question to the hatred of any group, whether racial, ethnic, religious, caste or whatever.  (For a little-known example, look up Cagots.  I had never heard of this European outcaste group before, but when I read about them I felt as if I were reading a story I already knew....) The big difficulty is to distinguish between normal (if loathesome) racists/groupists and pathological ones.  I make the distinction according to the degree of obsession and the strength of the impulse towards physical violence.  Breivik (the assassin in Norway) and Hitler were misics, in my view.  Both initiated hateful activity in the absence of any ongoing violent conflict between their own group and their enemy group.  They were self-driven.  If you haven't already read my piece on the subject, you may want to:  http://web.mit.edu/cis/pdf/15-48.MICHENER.pdf.  I would be interested in your paper.  You can email me at [email protected] to discuss it.  Good luck!  Willa