By Michael H. Cottman

The hating of Barack Obama, at least on the Internet, is starting to reach a fever pitch.

Since Obama defeated Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary last month, clinched the Democratic presidential nomination and could become America’s first black president in November, racist groups, white supremacy organizations, neo-nazis and skinheads have all increased their activity on the Internet and stepped up their online denunciations of Obama.

Hatred of Obama is in full force in cyberspace and has spread to countless computers in homes from Biloxi to Bakersfield.

"I haven't seen this much anger in a long, long time," Billy Roper, a 36-year-old who runs a group called White Revolution in Russellville, Ark. told The Washington Post. "Nothing has awakened normally complacent white Americans more than the prospect of America having an overtly nonwhite president."

Is this surprising? Perhaps not. But it's troubling nonetheless.

Stormfront.org, for example, is a website launched the site in 1995 by a former Ku Klux Klan leader, Don Black, to promote white empowerment. It’s website boasts the words: "White Pride World Wide."

Here are a few offerings from loyalists of the website.

"How did this scumbag even get nominated?" wrote one reader. "

And the sheep follow him so blindly! This should be front page news and Barack needs to be toasted."

"As I told my co-workers if Obama gets in the White House the major cities will burn," wrote another white supremacist.

For his part, Obama has spoken about race on occasion but plays down his race as a reason for voters to embrace him. He has talked about his multi-cultural heritage from the perspective of an American who is also half-white.

The half-white part of Obama’s lineage seems lost on those posting comments on sites like Stormfront because they view Obama as inferior. "Blacks can never reach their full potential," wrote one hate-filled reader.

The resurgence of hate groups comes as a new poll by The Washington Post-ABC News shows that nearly half of all Americans say race relations in the country are in bad shape and three in 10 acknowledge feelings of racial prejudice.

"Many think Obama has the potential to transform current racial politics. Nearly six in 10 believe his candidacy will shake up the racial status quo, for better or worse. And by nearly 3 to 1, those who think Obama's candidacy will affect race relations said it will have a positive impact," the newspaper reported.

"African Americans are much more optimistic than whites on this score: Sixty percent said Obama's candidacy will do more to help race relations, compared with 38 percent of whites. Two-thirds of those supporting him for president think it will improve the situation," the poll showed.

Bill Murrain, an Atlanta lawyer and former civil rights attorney, said he just returned from visiting the civil war monument to African-American soldiers and the Holocaust Museum with his sons in Washington, D.C..

"They remind me that as a people, we have not and could not permit ourselves to be paralyzed by fear of what others threaten or can do to us. We would still be on the plantation," Murrain said.

"As a nation, we should not permit ourselves to be paralyzed by our basest fears," he said. "We surround Barack Obama in prayer and The Secret Service."

In this uncertain and unprecedented political climate, Obama will certainly need plenty of both.