The (SPLC) is an
American non-profit legal organization, whose stated purpose is to combat
Racism and promote
Civil Rights through
Research ,
Education and
Litigation .
The Center is based in '' 1995.
The Southern Poverty Law Center was organized by Dees and Levin in 1971 during a
Desegregation case (Smith v.
Young Men's Christian Association 2), as a law firm to handle anti-discrimination cases in the United States. The organization's first president was
Julian Bond , formerly of the
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee . Bond served as president of the SPLC until 1979 and remains on its
Board Of Directors . In 1979 the Center brought the first of its many cases against the
Ku Klux Klan . In 1981 the Center began its "Klanwatch" (now "Hatewatch") project to monitor and track the activities of the KKK, which has been expanded to include 7 other types of hate organizations.
3
In July 1983 the Klan
Firebomb ed the center's office destroying the building and records.
4 Federal investigators said "the intruders went to work quickly, dousing files, desks and carpets with a ''petroleumbased liquid,'' perhaps gasoline mixed with motor oil or diesel fuel and concentrating on the four corners of the 6,000-square-foot building." In February 1985 Klan members and a Klan sympathizer pled guilty to federal and state charges to the fire.
5 At the trial, "Joe M. Garner and Roy T. Downs Jr., identified as klansmen, and Charles Bailey pleaded guilty to a two-count information charging them with conspiring to threaten, oppress and intimidate members of black organizations represented by the law center." Over 30 people have been jailed in connection with plots to kill Dees or blow up the center.
6
That same year, Dees became the primary assassination target of
The Order , a revolutionary white supremacist group, for his work with the SPLC.
7 Radio host
Alan Berg was killed by the group outside his Colorado home; he was the number two on its list.
8
In 1987 the group won a case against the
United Klans Of America .
9 This included a $7 million judgment for the mother of
Michael Donald , a black lynching victim in Alabama. In 1987 the Klan again targeted Dees and planned to bomb the SPLC.
10
in
Montgomery, Alabama . ]]
In 1989 the Center unveiled its
Civil Rights Memorial designed by
Maya Lin .
11 The Center's "Teaching Tolerance" project was initiated in 1991, and its "Klanwatch" program has gradually expanded to include other "anti-hate" monitoring projects and a list of reported "hate groups" in the United States.
In October 1990, the SPLC won $12.5 million in damages against
Tom Metzger and his
White Aryan Resistance when a Portland, Oregon, jury held the neo-Nazi group liable in the beating death of an Ethiopian immigrant.
12 While Meztger lost his home and will not be publishing anymore material, the full amount of the multi-million dollar reward was not recovered.
13 In 1995 a group of four white males were indicted for plans to blow up the SPLC.
14
A 1996 ''
1996 , A-7 Starting in 1971, the SPLC set aside money for its
Endowment in future programs, which is currently $111 million in order to "to carry on the struggle for tolerance and justice—for as long as it is needed."
15
In May 1998, three white supremacists were arrested for planning a nationwide campaign of assassinations and bombings targeting "Morris Dees, an undisclosed federal judge in Illinois, a black radio-show host in Missouri, Dees' Southern Poverty Law Center in Alabama, the groups held a rally in front of SPLC headquarters in early 2003.
16
In July 2007, the SPLC filed suit against the
Imperial Klans Of America (IKA) in
Meade County , where in July 2006 five Klansmen savagely beat
Jordan Gruver , a 16-year-old boy of Panamanian descent at a Kentucky county fair.
17 Since filing the suit the SPLC has received nearly a dozen threats "promising the most dangerous threat" ever faced. A
July 29 letter allegedly came from
Hal Turner , a white supremacist talk show host.
The SPLC's initiatives include the website
Tolerance.org . The website has been a past winner of a
Webby Award which is a set of awards presented to the "world's best websites."
18 The website houses multiple initiatives:
- Daily news about groups and individuals working for tolerance and fighting hate;
- Guidebooks for adult and youth activists;
- Practical resources for parents and teachers; ("Teaching Tolerance")19 and
- Entertaining and educational games for young children.
According to the SPLC "Teaching Tolerance provides educators with free educational materials that promote respect for differences and appreciation of diversity in the classroom and beyond."
20
"Teaching Tolerance" is aimed at two different age groups of students with separate materials for teachers and parents. One portion of the project targets elementary school children, providing informational material on the history of the civil rights movement.
21 The center's material for children includes a publication entitled "A fresh look at multicultural 'American English'" that explores the cultural history of common words. A project website designed for elementary school children includes an interactive program that allows users to "explore" political topics such as school mascots with
Native American names, the
Confederate Flag , and popular music and entertainment. It alleges that many of these highlighted events exhibit cases of racial,
Gender , and
Sexual Orientation insensitivity.
A similar educational program aimed at teenagers in the middle and high school age groups includes a "Mix it Up" project urging readers to participate in various school activities that encourage interaction between different social groups.
22 Other features of the teenager educational project include political activism tips and reports highlighting examples of student activism. A monthly SPLC publication for teens promotes a highlighted political movement, normally focusing on minority,
Feminist , and
LGBT youth organizations. The program also provides publications to students such as "Ways to fight hate on campus" suggesting ideas for community activism and
Diversity education.
"Teaching Tolerance" also provides advice and materials for parents aimed at encouraging or
Fathers Day and urges them to ensure "cultural diversity reflected in your home's artwork, music and literature."
The SPLC also produces
Documentary Film s. Two have won
Academy Awards for documentary short subject: "Mighty Times: The Children's March," in 2005
and "A Time for Justice, America's Civil Rights Movement" in 1995.[http://www.directcinema.com/dcl/title.php?id=248&list=35,234,86,99,248 Five others have been nominated.
The first SPLC case was filed against the
Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) in
Montgomery, Alabama who "continued to segregate children, going so far as to ban kids who swam at an integrated pool from city-wide meets." In 1969, the YMCA refused to allow two African American children to its summer camp, and the SPLC sued on behalf of the children's parents.
25 In the course of SPLC's lawsuit, Dees "uncovered a secret 1958 agreement between the city and the YMCA in which city officials gave the YMCA control of many city recreational activities." In 1972 the court ruled that Montgomery had given the YMCA control with a "municipal character," and "ordered the YMCA to stop its discriminatory, segregationist practices."
In 1981 the SPLC took the Klan to court to stop racial harassment and intimidation against
Vietnam ese fisherman.
2627 In May 1981 the courts sided with the Vietnamese fisherman and the SPLC forcing the Klan to end harassment.
28 Also in 1981 the SPLC won a case which "ordered an Alabama county to pay salaries to the staff of its first black probate judge, continuing a practice that, in violation of state law, had been in use for more than two decades."
29
's murder.]]
In 1987 the SPLC brought a civil case, on behalf of the victims family, against the
United Klans Of America (UKA) for being responsible for the 1981 the lynching of
Michael Donald , a nineteen year old black man.
30 Unable to come up the $7 million awarded by a jury, the UKA were forced to turn over its national headquarters to Donald's mother who then sold it using the money to purchase her first ever home.
31
On November 13, 1988 three white supremacists who were members of East Side White Pride and .Morris Dees and Steve Fiffer. ''Hate on Trial: The Case Against America's Most Dangerous Neo-Nazi''. Villard Books, 1993. page 277 Metzger still makes payments to Seraw's family.
35
In May 1991 Harold Mansfield Jr., a black sailor/ war veteran in the
United States Navy , was murdered by a member of the neo-Nazi ''Church of the Creator'' (now called the
Creativity Movement ) (COTC). SPLC represented the victim's family in a civil case winning a judgement of $1 million from the "church" in March 1994.
36 However, the church transferred ownership to
William Pierce , head of the
National Alliance , to avoid money being paid to Mansfield's heirs so the SPLC filed suit against Pierce for his role in the fraudulent scheme, and won an $85,000 judgment in 1995.
37 The amount was upheld on appeal and the money was collected prior to Pierce's death in 2002. According to a former member of the Alliance when SPLC sued Pierce was worried it would be the end of the hate group.
38
The SPLC won a $37.8 million verdict for
Macedonia Baptist Church ,a 100-year old black church in
Manning, South Carolina , against the two Ku Klux Klan chapters and five Klansmen (
Christian Knights Of The Ku Klux Klan and Invisible Empire, Inc.) in July 1998.
39 The money was awarded stemming from arson convictions in which the Klan burned down the historic black church in 1995.
40 Morris Dees told the press, "If we put the Christian Knights out of business, what's that worth? We don't look at what we can collect. It's what the jury thinks this egregious conduct is worth that matters, along with the message it sends." "Klan Chapters Held Liable in Church Fire; Jury Awards $37.8 Million in Damages," ''Washington Post'' July 25, 1998 According to the ''
Washington Post '' the amount is the "largest-ever civil award for damages in a hate crime case."
In September 2000 the SPLC won a $6.3 million judgment against the
Aryan Nations from an Idaho jury who awarded punitive and compensatory damages to a woman and her son who were attacked by Aryan Nations guards.
41 The lawsuit stemmed from the July 1998 attack when security guards at the Aryan Nations compound in Idaho shot at Victoria Keenan and her son.
42 Bullets struck their car several times then the car crashed and Aryan member held the Keenans at gunpoint. As a result of the judgement,
Richard Butler turned over the 20-acre compound to the Keenans who then sold the property to a philanthropist that subsequently donated it to
North Idaho College , which designated the land as a "peace park."
43
On April 20, 2007 a civil jury in
Linden, Texas awarded $9 million in damages to
Billy Ray Johnson , a mentally disabled black man, who was beat and dumped along a desolate road by four white men in September 2003.
44 Four white males took Johnson to a party where has was knocked unconscious then dropped on his head, referred to as a
Nigger , and left in a ditch bleeding.
45 Due to the event "Johnson, 46, who suffered serious, permanent brain injuries from the attack, will require care for the rest of his life."
46 At a criminal trial the four men received sentences of 30 to 60 days in county jail, whereas the victim lost the ability to walk, talk, and control bodily functions.
47 The jury hoped that the verdict would improve race relations in the community stemming from a
United States Department Of Education investigation and other controversial verdicts. During the trial one of the defendants, Cory Hicks, referred to Johnson as "it."
48
In July 2007 the SPLC filed suit on behalf of
Jordan Gruver and his mother against the
Imperial Klans Of America (IKA) in
Meade County, Kentucky where in July 2006, five Klansmen savagely beat Gruver, a 16-year-old boy of Panamanian descent, at a Kentucky county fair.
49 According to the lawsuit, five Klan members went to the
Meade County Fairgrounds in
Brandenburg, Kentucky , "to hand out business cards and flyers advertising a "white-only" IKA function." Then, unprovoked two members of the Klan started calling the 16-year-old boy of Panamanian descent a "
Spic ." Subsequently, the boy, (5-foot-3 and weighs just 150 pounds) was beaten and kicked by the Klansmen (one of which is 6-foot-5 and 300 pounds). As a result of the beating, the victim had "two cracked ribs, a broken left forearm, multiple cuts and bruises and jaw injuries requiring extensive dental repair." In February 2007,
Jarred Hensley and
Andrew Watkins were sentenced to three years in prison for beating Gruver.
50
See Also: List of purported hate groups
The SPLC says "All hate groups have beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people, typically for their immutable characteristics.
{Link without Title} Listing here does not imply that a group advocates or engages in violence or other criminal activity."http://www.tolerance.org/maps/hate/index.html The SPLC categorizes these groups as
Black Separatist (such as the
Nation Of Islam ),
Ku Klux Klan ,
Neo-Nazi ,
Christian Identity ,
Racist Skinhead ,
Neo-Confederate , and ''other''. Some organizations described by the SPLC as hate groups object to this characterization, particularly those in the ''other'' category. As of 2005, there were 161 organizations in the
United States categorized as ''other''.http://www.splcenter.org/intel/map/hate.jsp?T=29&m=4
The Southern Poverty Law Center is the principal group reporting on the
Neo-Confederate movement. A 2000 special report by the SPLC's Mark Potok in their
Magazine , ''Intelligence Report'', describes a number of groups as neo-Confederate. The SPLC has also carried subsequent articles on the neo-Confederate movement. "Lincoln Reconstructed" published in 2003 in the ''Intelligence Report'' focuses on the resurgent demonization of
Abraham Lincoln in the
Southern United States .
52 The article quotes the
Chaplain of the
Sons Of Confederate Veterans as giving an invocation which recalled "the last real Christian civilization on Earth." In the SPLC article "Whitewashing the Confederacy", George Ewert noted that ''
Gods And Generals '' presented a false, pro-Confederate view of history.
53 David Horowitz 's ''
Front Page Magazine '' responded, as part of what is known as the
David Horowitz Freedom Center Controversy . The David Horowitz Freedom Center itself was identified as a neo-Confederate group by the SPLC.
54
The , Inc.
The SPLC has attracted controversy surrounding its methods of identifying and monitoring "hate groups", and its fundraising practices. As a result of several high-profile cases the SPLC has been criticized by various rightwing groups and have received dozens of death/bomb threats.
57
The SPLC was described by
Thomas Edsall of the
Washington Post in 1998 as a "a controversial, liberal organization that tracks conservative militia and '
Patriot ' organizations" that has uncovered much information on extremist groups.
58 In 1996 ''USA Today'' stated "... in a recent report on arsons at black churches in the South, his Klanwatch newsletter included five 1990 fires in Kentucky. The article doesn't
mention they were set by a black man." The article reported
Stephen Bright of the "
Southern Center For Human Rights " stated that Dees "is a fraud who has milked a lot of very wonderful well-intentioned people. If it's got headlines, Morris is there."
On February 13 and 14 1994 , June 20, 2007''
In November 2000, '' who gave "the center one of the worst ratings of any group it monitors, estimating that the SPLC could operate for 4.6 years without making another tax-exempt nickel from its investments or raising another tax-deductible cent from well-meaning 'people like you'."
The charity evaluation organization
Charity Navigator gives SPLC an overall rating of three out of four stars.
According to Charity Navigator: Program Expenses are 66.4%, while Administrative Expenses are 16.9%, and fundraising is 16.6%.[http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm/bay/search.summary/orgid/4482.htm The Center states that "During its last fiscal year, the Center spent approximately 65% of its total expenses on program services. The Center also placed a portion of its income into a special, board-designated endowment fund to support the Center's future work. At the end of the fiscal year, the endowment stood at $120.6 million."
SPLC Financial Information
Chip Berlet , writing for the SPLC, identified
David Horowitz 's Center for the Study of Popular Culture (now called
David Horowitz Freedom Center ) as one of 17 "right-wing foundations and think tanks support
efforts to make bigoted and discredited ideas respectable." Berlet accused Horowitz of blaming Slavery on "'black
Africa ns ... abetted by dark-skinned
Arab s'" and of "attack[ing minority 'demands for special treatment' as 'only necessary because some blacks can't seem to locate the ladder of opportunity within reach of others,' rejecting the idea that they could be the victims of lingering racism."
59 Responding with an open letter to
Morris Dees , president of the SPLC, Horowitz stated that his reminder that the slaves transported to America were bought from African and Arab slavers was a response to demands that only whites pay blacks reparations, not to hold Africans and Arabs solely responsible for slavery, and that the statement that he had denied lingering racism was "a calculated and carefully constructed lie." The letter said that Berlet's work was "so tendentious, so filled with transparent misrepresentations and smears that if you continue to post the report you will create for your Southern Poverty Law Center a well-earned reputation as a hate group itself."
60 Berlet responded: "The Center for the Study of Popular Culture has produced a vast amount of text marked by nasty polemic and exceptional insensitivity around issues of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual identity. Writers for the CSPC tend to use language that exacerbates societal tensions rather than seeking some form of constructive critical discourse. They are mainstreaming bigotry—and this is precisely the topic of my article in ''Intelligence Report.''"Berlet, Chip. "Response to David Horowitz's Complaint." ''FrontPageMag''. 14 September 2003.
Subsequent critical pieces on Berlet and the SPLC have been featured on FPM.[http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=9830 61
