Washington State has eight, repeat, eight active hate groups in operation, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. This organization, which reported an apparent increase in incidents of hate crimes and hate speech in the days following the U.S. presidential election, lists hate groups based in Seattle, Bellevue, Mount Vernon, Colville and Spokane.

The groups’ ideologies are respectively, racist, anti-Muslim, white nationalism, neo-Nazi, and anti-Semitic. A few call themselves Skinheads, one is a motorcycle club and two of them, both following variations of anti-Semitism, are in churches.

That’s a lot of hate brewing, and about twice as much fear — our fear of what they might do, and their fear of anything different from them, which is the seed for all that hate.

Locally, only one incident has been reported recently, although there are several rumors.

A Snoqualmie family did receive a threatening letter, Snoqualmie Police have confirmed. Capt. Nick Almquist said the recipients of the letter shredded it before an officer arrived at the home, so their investigation has been limited. No other incidents have been reported to police.

Snoqualmie Valley School District spokesperson Carolyn Malcolm said last week that parents contacted two elementary schools in the district with concerns. One had questions unrelated to any incident. The second was a report of possible hate speech between two students, which was investigated but never confirmed.

Last week, Malcolm said the district held its regular meeting of all principals and the issue of hate speech was brought up. No one knew of any specific incidents, Malcolm said, and all were reminded to encourage their staff members to “make sure that students know if they ever feel like they’ve been intimidated or bullied, to speak up.”

Speaking up, for a student, means telling an adult. “Either a principal or a teacher or a playground assistant,” said Malcolm. “If they either witnessed something or experienced something themselves, definitely report it.”

School administration will investigate, interviewing students and following up according to school policy.

For the rest of us, the procedure isn’t so simple, although it is clear-cut. We need to intervene against hate, whether we experience it ourselves, or see it happening across the street. We need to ask an adult to tell the bully to stop. We are, each of us, that adult.