Jump to content

Southern Poverty Law Center: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Arimareiji (talk | contribs)
2,022 edits
Undid revision 265438833 by Spotfixer (talk) - See Talk - WP:RS has already been refuted wrt OpEds, and being a gasbag doesn't make Smith a fringe minority.
restored previous version -- see discussion page where it appears to be one editor versus everybody else
Line 127: Line 127:


==Fundraising==
==Fundraising==
Perhaps in part due to its successes, the SPLC has been periodically criticized by detractors for its financial practices.<ref>"[http://niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=about.Panel%20Discussion:%20Nonprofit%20Organizations%20May%2099 Attacking a Home-Town Icon]" Jim Tharpe, ''Nieman Watchdog'' 1995. </ref> From February 12 through 14, 1994, a series in the ''[[Montgomery Advertiser]]'' by Dan Morse alleged that the Southern Poverty Law Center practiced financial mismanagement, poor management practices and misleading fundraising practices.<ref>Dan Morse. "A complex man: Opportunist or crusader?", ''[[Montgomery Advertiser]]'', February 14 1994</ref> The paper took a random sampling of donors, and found out that the average donor did not know the Center was so well funded.<ref name=MA1994-02-14> Dan Morse and Greg Jaffe. "Critics question $52 million reserve, tactics of wealthiest civil rights group", ''[[Montgomery Advertiser]]'', February 14 1994</ref> In response to the criticism, Joe Levin told the paper: "The ''Advertiser's'' lack of interest in the center's programs and its obsessive interest in the center's financial affairs and Mr. Dees' personal life makes it obvious to me that the ''Advertiser'' simply wants to [[smear]] the center and Mr. Dees."<ref name=MA1994-02-14 /> The ''Advertiser's'' series was a finalist for but did not win a 1995 [[Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting|Pulitzer Prize in Explanatory Journalism]].<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.pulitzer.org/finalists/1995 | title=1995 Finalists: Explanatory Journalism | publisher=[[Pulitzer Prize]] |year= 1995 | first= | last= | accessdate = 2007-09-18}}</ref><ref>[http://niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=about.Panel%20Discussion:%20Nonprofit%20Organizations%20May%2099 Panel Discussion: Nonprofit Organizations]</ref>
Perhaps in part due to its successes, the SPLC has been criticized by detractors for its financial practices.<ref>"[http://niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=about.Panel%20Discussion:%20Nonprofit%20Organizations%20May%2099 Attacking a Home-Town Icon]" Jim Tharpe, ''Nieman Watchdog'' 1995. </ref> From February 12 through 14, 1994, a series in the ''[[Montgomery Advertiser]]'' by Dan Morse alleged that the Southern Poverty Law Center practiced financial mismanagement, poor management practices and misleading fundraising practices.<ref>Dan Morse. "A complex man: Opportunist or crusader?", ''[[Montgomery Advertiser]]'', February 14 1994</ref> The paper took a random sampling of donors, and found out that the average donor did not know the Center was so well funded.<ref name=MA1994-02-14> Dan Morse and Greg Jaffe. "Critics question $52 million reserve, tactics of wealthiest civil rights group", ''[[Montgomery Advertiser]]'', February 14 1994</ref> In response to the criticism, Joe Levin told the paper: "The ''Advertiser's'' lack of interest in the center's programs and its obsessive interest in the center's financial affairs and Mr. Dees' personal life makes it obvious to me that the ''Advertiser'' simply wants to [[smear]] the center and Mr. Dees."<ref name=MA1994-02-14 /> The ''Advertiser's'' series was a finalist for but did not win a 1995 [[Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting|Pulitzer Prize in Explanatory Journalism]].<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.pulitzer.org/finalists/1995 | title=1995 Finalists: Explanatory Journalism | publisher=[[Pulitzer Prize]] |year= 1995 | first= | last= | accessdate = 2007-09-18}}</ref><ref>[http://niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=about.Panel%20Discussion:%20Nonprofit%20Organizations%20May%2099 Panel Discussion: Nonprofit Organizations]</ref>


In November 2000, ''[[Harper's Magazine]]'' published an article titled "The Church of Morris Dees" by [[Ken Silverstein]], which was critical of the SPLC.<ref name=Silverstein>Ken Silverstein, "[http://www.harpers.org/archive/2000/11/0068709 The Church of Morris Dees]," ''[[Harper's Magazine]],'' 1 November, 2000, No. 1806, Vol. 301; Pg. 54 ; ISSN: 0017-789X. </ref> In it Silverstein wrote that the SPLC is "the wealthiest 'civil rights' group" through years of escalated fundraising and many of its donors do not know about its assets. He asserted that in 2000 the [[American Institute of Philanthropy]] gave "the center one of the worst ratings of any group it monitors" and that it spent as much money on fundraising as it did legal action.<ref name=Silverstein/> In a more recent reiteration of this allegation, Ron Smith asserted in a December 2008 ''[[Baltimore Sun]]'' opinion editorial that the SPLC is "a thriving business. The Alabama-based 'nonprofit' firm has become a font of riches for founder Morris Dees and his associates.... To me and to other observant [[Conservatism in the United States|conservatives]], the Southern Poverty Law Center is a clever [[scam]]."<ref>[http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.smith03dec03,0,504953.column]</ref>
In November 2000, ''[[Harper's Magazine]]'' published an article titled "The Church of Morris Dees" by [[Ken Silverstein]], which was critical of the SPLC.<ref name=Silverstein>Ken Silverstein, "[http://www.harpers.org/archive/2000/11/0068709 The Church of Morris Dees]," ''[[Harper's Magazine]],'' 1 November, 2000, No. 1806, Vol. 301; Pg. 54 ; ISSN: 0017-789X. </ref> In it Silverstein wrote that the SPLC is "the wealthiest 'civil rights' group" through years of escalated fundraising and many of its donors do not know about its assets. He asserted that in 2000 the [[American Institute of Philanthropy]] gave "the center one of the worst ratings of any group it monitors" and that it spent as much money on fundraising as it did legal action.<ref name=Silverstein/>


By contrast, the charity evaluation organization [[Charity Navigator]] gave SPLC an overall rating of three out of four stars in [[fiscal year]] 2007. According to Charity Navigator, their outlays fell into the following categories: program expenses of 68.2%, administrative expenses of 14.2%, and fundraising expenses of 17.4%.<ref name=CN4482>[http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm/bay/search.summary/orgid/4482.htm Charity Navigator Rating - Southern Poverty Law Center<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The SPLC itself states that "During the last fiscal year [2007], we spent approximately 70% of our total expenses on program services. At the end of the fiscal year, our endowment – a special, board-designated fund to support our future work – stood at $201.7 million."<ref>[http://www.splcenter.org/donate/financialinfo/financial.jsp SPLC Financial Information]</ref> With respect to the sources of their funding, the SPLC has said that all activities including litigation are supported by fundraising efforts, and the SPLC does not accept any fees or share of legal judgments awarded to clients it represents in court.<ref name="SPLCFI"/>
By contrast, the charity evaluation organization [[Charity Navigator]] gave SPLC an overall rating of three out of four stars in [[fiscal year]] 2007. According to Charity Navigator, their outlays fell into the following categories: program expenses of 68.2%, administrative expenses of 14.2%, and fundraising expenses of 17.4%.<ref name=CN4482>[http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm/bay/search.summary/orgid/4482.htm Charity Navigator Rating - Southern Poverty Law Center<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The SPLC itself states that "During the last fiscal year [2007], we spent approximately 70% of our total expenses on program services. At the end of the fiscal year, our endowment – a special, board-designated fund to support our future work – stood at $201.7 million."<ref>[http://www.splcenter.org/donate/financialinfo/financial.jsp SPLC Financial Information]</ref> With respect to the sources of their funding, the SPLC has said that all activities including litigation are supported by fundraising efforts, and the SPLC does not accept any fees or share of legal judgments awarded to clients it represents in court.<ref name="SPLCFI"/>

Revision as of 21:03, 21 January 2009

Southern Poverty Law Center
Company typenon-profit organization
IndustryCivil rights law
Founded1971, Montgomery, Alabama, U.S.
HeadquartersMontgomery, Alabama
Key people
Morris Dees, Director
Revenue136,373,624 United States dollar (2017) Edit this on Wikidata
homepage = www.splcenter.org

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American non-profit legal organization, internationally known for its tolerance education programs, its legal victories against white supremacists and its tracking of organizations it calls hate groups.

The SPLC is based in Montgomery, Alabama, in the Southern United States. It was founded in 1971 by Morris Dees and Joseph J. Levin Jr. as a civil rights law firm.[1] Later, Civil rights leader Julian Bond became its president.[2] In addition to free legal service to the victims of discrimination and hate crime, the Center publishes a quarterly Intelligence Report which investigates extremism and hate crimes in the United States.

History

The Southern Poverty Law Center was organized by Dees and Levin in 1971 during a desegregation case (Smith v. Young Men's Christian Association[3]), 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 seven other types of hate organizations.[4]

Southern Poverty Law Center Headquarters in Montgomery, Alabama.

In July 1983 Klan members firebombed the center's office destroying the building and records.[5] Federal investigators said "the intruders went to work quickly, dousing files, desks and carpets with a petroleum based liquid, perhaps gasoline mixed with motor oil or diesel fuel and concentrating on the four corners of the 6,000-square-foot (560 m2) building."[5] In February 1985 Klan members and a Klan sympathizer pled guilty to federal and state charges to the fire.[6] 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."[6] Over 30 people have been jailed in connection with plots to kill Dees or blow up the center.[7]

That same year, Dees became the primary assassination target of The Order, a revolutionary white supremacist group, for his work with the SPLC.[8] Radio host Alan Berg was killed by the group outside his Colorado home; he was the number two on its list.[9]

When Klansmen lynched a black teenager in Mobile Alabama, SPLC lawyers used an unprecedented legal strategy to hold the Klan accountable for the acts of its members. In 1987, the group won its case against the United Klans of America,[10] producing a $7 million judgment for the mother of Michael Donald, the lynched victim.[10] The verdict bankrupted the United Klans of America and resulted in its national headquarters being sold to help satisfy the judgment. In 1987 the Klan again targeted Dees and planned to bomb the SPLC.[11] During the past 25 years, SPLC lawsuits have bankrupted or crippled 12 major hate groups whose members killed, injured or threatened innocent people.[12]

The Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama.

In 1989 the Center unveiled its Civil Rights Memorial designed by Maya Lin.[13] 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.[14] While Meztger lost his home and will not be publishing any more material, the full amount of the multi-million dollar reward was not recovered.[15] In 1995 a group of four white males were indicted for plans to blow up the SPLC.[16]

A 1996 USA Today article claimed that the Southern Poverty Law Center is "the nation's richest civil rights organization", with $68 million in assets at the time.[17] Starting in 1971, the SPLC set aside money for its endowment in future programs, which is currently $111 million in order "to carry on the struggle for tolerance and justice — for as long as it is needed."[18]

In May 1998, three white supremacists were arrested for allegedly 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's Southern Poverty Law Center in Alabama, the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, and the Anti-Defamation League in New York."[19] Several neo-Nazi groups held a rally in front of SPLC headquarters in early 2003.[20]

In July 2007, the SPLC filed suit against the Imperial Klans of America (IKA) in Meade County, where in July 2006 five Klansmen allegedly beat Jordan Gruver, a 16-year-old boy of Panamanian descent at a Kentucky county fair.[7] Since filing the suit the SPLC has received nearly a dozen threats "promising the most dangerous threat" ever faced.[7] A July 2007 letter allegedly came from Hal Turner, a white supremacist talk show host.[7] During the November 2008 trial a former member of the IKA said that the Klan head told him to kill Dees.[21]

In 2008, the SPLC and Dees were featured on the National Geographic's "Inside American Terror" exploring their litigation against several branches of the Ku Klux Klan.[22]

Tolerance.org

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."[23] The website houses multiple initiatives:

  • Daily news about groups and individuals working for tolerance and fighting hate;
  • Entertaining and educational games for young children;
  • Guidebooks for adult and youth activists;
  • Practical resources for parents and teachers; ("Teaching Tolerance")[24] and

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."[25]

"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.[26] 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.[27] 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 multiculturalism in the upbringing of their children.[23] A guide published by the project urges parents to "examine the 'diversity profile' for your children's friends," move to "integrated and economically diverse neighborhoods," and discourage children from playing with toys or adopting heroes that "promote violence." The publication also advises parents on the use of culturally sensitive language such as promoting gender-neutral phrasings such as "Someone Special Day" instead of the traditional Mothers Day or Fathers Day and urges them to ensure "cultural diversity reflected in your home's artwork, music and literature."

Documentaries

The SPLC also produces documentary films. 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.[28] Five others have been nominated.

Notable cases

The Southern Poverty Law Center provides free legal services to the victims of hate crime, and has won many notable civil cases with large money awards for the plaintiffs. Additionally, the SPLC has said it does not accept any portion of monetary judgments.[29][30][31] In addition to providing free magazines and videos on race relations to more than 50,000 schools, Dees and the SPLC "have been credited with devising innovative legal ways to cripple hate groups, including seizing their assets."[32]

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.[3] 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."[3] 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."[3]

In 1981 the SPLC took the Klan to court to stop racial harassment and intimidation against Vietnamese fisherman.[33][34] In May 1981 the courts sided with the Vietnamese fisherman and the SPLC, forcing the Klan to end harassment.[35] 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."[36]

In 1987 the SPLC successfully brought a civil case, on behalf of the victim's family, against the United Klans of America (UKA) for the 1981 lynching of Michael Donald, a nineteen year old black man in Mobile, Alabama.[37] Unable to come up the $7 million awarded by the jury, the UKA were forced to turn over its national headquarters to Donald's mother, who then sold it and used the money to purchase her first house.[38]

On November 13, 1988 three white supremacists who were members of East Side White Pride and White Aryan Resistance beat Mulugeta Seraw, an Ethiopian man who came to the United States to attend college, to death.[39] In October 1990 the SPLC won a civil case on behalf of the deceased's family against WAR's operator Tom Metzger and Tom's son, John Metzger for a total of $12.5 million.[40][41] The Metzgers declared bankrupcty, and WAR went out of business. The cost of work for the trial was absorbed by Anti-Defamation League as well as the SPLC.[42] Metzger still makes payments to Seraw's family.[43]

In May 1991 Harold Mansfield Jr, a black 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). SPLC represented the victim's family in a civil case winning a judgement of $1 million from the church in March 1994.[44] The church transferred ownership to William Pierce, head of the National Alliance, to avoid money being paid to Mansfield's heirs; the SPLC filed suit against Pierce for his role in the fraudulent scheme, and won an $85,000 judgment in 1995.[45] The amount was upheld on appeal and the money was collected prior to Pierce's death in 2002.[45] According to a former member of the Alliance, when SPLC sued Pierce was worried it would be the end of the hate group.[46]

The SPLC won a $37.8 million verdict for Macedonia Baptist Church, a 100-year-old black church in Manning, South Carolina, against two Ku Klux Klan chapters and five Klansmen (Christian Knights of the Ku Klux Klan and Invisible Empire, Inc.) in July 1998.[47] The money was awarded stemming from arson convictions in which the Klan burned down the historic black church in 1995.[48] 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."[49] According to the Washington Post the amount is the "largest-ever civil award for damages in a hate crime case."[49]

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.[1] 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.[50] Bullets struck their car several times then the car crashed and an Aryan Nations member held the Keenans at gunpoint.[50] As a result of the judgement, Richard Butler turned over the 20-acre (81,000 m2) compound to the Keenans who then sold the property to a philanthropist who subsequently donated it to North Idaho College, which designated the land as a "peace park."[51] Because of the lawsuit members of the AN drew up a plan to kill Dees, which was disrupted by the FBI.[52]

File:Moore monument.jpg
Ten Commandments monument commissioned by Roy Moore.

In 2002 the SPLC and the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit against Alabama Supreme Court justice Roy Moore for authorizing a two ton display of the Ten Commandments on public property.[53] Moore, late at night and without telling any other court justice, had installed a 5,280 pound (2400 kg) granite block, three feet wide by three feet deep by four feet tall, of the Ten Commandments.[54] After refusing to obey several court rulings Moore was eventually removed from the court, and the monument was removed as well.

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 beaten and dumped along a desolate road by four white men in September 2003. The lawsuit was brought on Johnson's behalf by the SPLC.[55] Four white males took Johnson to a party where he was knocked unconscious then dropped on his head, referred to as a nigger, and left in a ditch bleeding.[56] Due to the event, "Johnson, 46, who suffered serious, permanent brain injuries from the attack, will require care for the rest of his life."[57] At a criminal trial the four men received sentences of 30 to 60 days in county jail.[58] 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".[59]

In November, the SPLC's case against the Imperial Klans of America (IKA), the second largest Klan organization, in Meade County, Kentucky began.[60] The SPLC filed suit in July 2007 on behalf of Jordan Gruver and his mother against the IKA in Kentucky where in July 2006, five Klansmen savagely beat Gruver at a Kentucky county fair.[61] 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."[61] Unprovoked, two members of the Klan started calling the 16-year-old boy of Panamanian descent a "spic".[61] Subsequently the boy, (5-foot-3 and weighing 150 pounds) was beaten and kicked by the Klansmen (one of whom was 6-foot-5 and 300 pounds). As a result, the victim received "two cracked ribs, a broken left forearm, multiple cuts and bruises and jaw injuries requiring extensive dental repair."[61]

In February 2007, Jarred Hensley and Andrew Watkins were sentenced to three years in prison for beating Gruver.[62] On November 14, 2008, an all-white jury of seven men and seven women awarded $1.5 million in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages to the plaintiff.[63] The large judgment against Ron Edwards, Imperial Wizard of the group, and Jarred Hensley, who participated in the attack, financially cripples the nation’s second largest Klan group, which may have to relinquish its 15-acre (61,000 m2) compound near Dawson Spring, KY to pay it. Both defendants are expected to have their wages garnished for perhaps 15 years. The two other defendants, Andrew Watkins and Joshua Cowles, previously agreed to confidential settlements and were dropped from the suit.[64]

Intelligence Report

The SPLC's Intelligence Project monitors organizations and individuals whom it deems "hate groups" and "extremists" in the United States with their Intelligence Report.[65] The report is published quarterly since 1981 and provides information regarding organizational efforts and tactics of hate groups. In addition to the Report, the SPLC publishes HateWatch Weekly that follows racism and extremism.[66]

Professors of sociology Betty A. Dobratz, PhD (Iowa State University) and Stephanie L. Shanks-Meile, PhD (University of Nebraska-Lincoln), authors of The White Separatist Movement in the United States: "White Power, White Pride” wrote about SPLC and several other “watchdog” groups: “What the ‘watchdog’ groups focus on is at least partially influenced by the fact that these organizations depend on public financial support, and the public is likely to contribute to groups that they perceive are struggling against some major threat to America. We relied on SPLC and ADL reports for general information, but we have noticed differences between ways events have been reported and what we saw at rallies. For instance, events were sometimes portrayed in Klanwatch Intelligence Reports as more militant and dangerous with higher turnouts than we observed.”[67]

While acknowledging the possibility of some statistical bias by the SPLC,, Rory McVeigh, the Chair of the University of Notre Dame Sociology Department, wrote:  

Such measurement bias, if it exists, would be more likely to show up in claims concerning membership or in descriptions of the movement's goals, rather than in a listing of organizations. The SPLC's lists of U.S. racist organizations are by far the most comprehensive available. Its outstanding reputation is well established, and the SPLC has been an excellent source of information for social scientists who study racist organizations.[68]

Intelligence Report has been named at least twice by the Society of Professional Journalists in their Green Eyeshade journalism excellence awards [1] [2] and is considered a reliable source.

"Hate group" listings

The SPLC says "All hate groups have beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people, typically for their immutable characteristics.... Listing here does not imply that a group advocates or engages in violence or other criminal activity."[69] 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. The SPLC counted 888 active hate groups in the United States in 2007.[70] As of 2008, several of these have been moved into new categories, such as "Racist Music" and "Anti-Immigrant".

The Council of Conservative Citizens (CofCC), claim the SPLC's criticism that the CofCC is tied to "White Supremacists" is inaccurate.[71]

The SPLC has frequently targeted the immigration reform Web site VDARE, which it deems a "hate group." VDARE editor-publisher Peter Brimelow has responded to the SPLC's allegation that VDARE is a "hate group," "We've named them [the SPLC] a treason group."[72]

Neo-Confederate movement

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.[73] The article quotes Father Alister Anderson, national chaplain of the Sons of Confederate Veterans as giving an invocation which recalled "the last real Christian civilization on Earth", and also denounced "hypocrites and bigots", who dismiss "the righteous cause for which our ancestors fought."[73] In the SPLC article "Whitewashing the Confederacy", George Ewert claimed that Gods and Generals presented a false, pro-Confederate view of history.[74] 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.[75]

The Southern Legal Resource Center (SLRC) has been identified by the SPLC as a neo-Confederate organization, and it was criticised for misleading its supporters in order to get donations.[76] The SLRC was criticized because its founder, Kirk D. Lyons' pre-SLRC defended controversial far right figures such as Tom Metzger and members of Aryan Nations.[77]

Fundraising

Perhaps in part due to its successes, the SPLC has been criticized by detractors for its financial practices.[78] From February 12 through 14, 1994, a series in the Montgomery Advertiser by Dan Morse alleged that the Southern Poverty Law Center practiced financial mismanagement, poor management practices and misleading fundraising practices.[79] The paper took a random sampling of donors, and found out that the average donor did not know the Center was so well funded.[80] In response to the criticism, Joe Levin told the paper: "The Advertiser's lack of interest in the center's programs and its obsessive interest in the center's financial affairs and Mr. Dees' personal life makes it obvious to me that the Advertiser simply wants to smear the center and Mr. Dees."[80] The Advertiser's series was a finalist for but did not win a 1995 Pulitzer Prize in Explanatory Journalism.[81][82]

In November 2000, Harper's Magazine published an article titled "The Church of Morris Dees" by Ken Silverstein, which was critical of the SPLC.[83] In it Silverstein wrote that the SPLC is "the wealthiest 'civil rights' group" through years of escalated fundraising and many of its donors do not know about its assets. He asserted that in 2000 the American Institute of Philanthropy gave "the center one of the worst ratings of any group it monitors" and that it spent as much money on fundraising as it did legal action.[83]

By contrast, the charity evaluation organization Charity Navigator gave SPLC an overall rating of three out of four stars in fiscal year 2007. According to Charity Navigator, their outlays fell into the following categories: program expenses of 68.2%, administrative expenses of 14.2%, and fundraising expenses of 17.4%.[84] The SPLC itself states that "During the last fiscal year [2007], we spent approximately 70% of our total expenses on program services. At the end of the fiscal year, our endowment – a special, board-designated fund to support our future work – stood at $201.7 million."[85] With respect to the sources of their funding, the SPLC has said that all activities including litigation are supported by fundraising efforts, and the SPLC does not accept any fees or share of legal judgments awarded to clients it represents in court.[31]

References

  1. ^ a b "Attorney Morris Dees pioneer in using 'damage litigation' to fight hate groups". CNN. September 8, 2000. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
  2. ^ Dees, Morris, and Steve Fiffer. 1991. A Season For Justice. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, pp. 132-133.
  3. ^ a b c d "Smith v. Young Men's Christian Association". Southern Poverty Law Center. June 11, 1969. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  4. ^ "Active U.S. Hate Groups in 2006". Southern Poverty Law Center. 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  5. ^ a b "Fire Damages Alabama Center that Battles the Klan". New York Times. July 31, 1983. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  6. ^ a b "2 Klan Members Plead Guilty To Arson". New York Times. February 21, 1985.
  7. ^ a b c d Klass, Kym (August 17, 2007). "Southern Poverty Law Center beefs up security". Montgomery Advertiser. Retrieved 2007-09-18.[full citation needed]
  8. ^ "Death List Names Given to US Jury". New York Times. September 17, 1985.
  9. ^ "Jury Told of Plan to Kill Radio Host". New York Times. November 8, 1987.
  10. ^ a b "The Nation Klan Must Pay $7 Million". Los Angeles Times. February 13, 1987. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  11. ^ "Five Tied to Klan Indicted on Arms Charges". New York Times. January 9, 1987. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  12. ^ Intelligence Report, Spring 2008, 78.
  13. ^ "Monument Maker". New York Times. February 24, 1991. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  14. ^ "Metzger Leaves Former Home A Mess, but its Undamaged". The Oregonian. September 19, 1991.
  15. ^ "Metzger Home Worth Only A Tiny Fraction of $12.5 Million Sum". The Oregonian. August 28, 1991.
  16. ^ "4 Are Accused in Oklahoma of Bomb Plot". New York Times. November 14, 1995. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  17. ^ Andrea Stone, "Morris Dees: At the Center of the Racial Storm," USA Today, August 3, 1996, A-7
  18. ^ "Endowment Supports Center's Future Work". Southern Poverty Law Center. June 2003. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  19. ^ "Group is accused of plotting assassinations, bombings. 2 others will plead guilty Thursday." St Louis Post-Dispatch (MO) (May 13, 1998): pB1.
  20. ^ "40 to Watch". Southern Poverty Law Center. Fall 2003. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  21. ^ "Former member: Ky. Klan plotted to kill attorney". Associated Press. November 13, 2008. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  22. ^ "Micheal McDonald clip on KKK: Inside American Terror". National Geographic. 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-18.
  23. ^ a b "Tolerance.org: About us". Southern Poverty Law Center. 2005. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
  24. ^ "Teaching Tolerance". Southern Poverty Law Center. 2005. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
  25. ^ "About Teaching Tolerance". Southern Poverty Law Center. 2005. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
  26. ^ "Planet Tolerance". Southern Poverty Law Center. 2005. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
  27. ^ "Mix it up:Our Story". Southern Poverty Law Center. 2005. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
  28. ^ "Mighty Times: The Children’s March", 77th Academy Awards
    ^ "Time for Justice, A (VHS)", directcinema.com
  29. ^ "Bringing the Klan to Court," Newsweek, May 28, 1984
  30. ^ "Two Sides of the Contemporary South: Racial Incidents and Black Progress". New York Times. November 21, 1989. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  31. ^ a b Southern Poverty Law Center, Financial Information. http://www.splcenter.org/donate/financialinfo/financial.jsp [accessed 1-14-09]
  32. ^ Sack, Kevin (May 12, 1996). "Conversations/Morris Dees; A Son of Alabama Takes On Americans Who Live to Hate". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  33. ^ "Klan Inflames Gulf Fishing Fight Between Whites and Vietnamese". New York Times. April 25, 1981. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  34. ^ "Klan Official is Accused of Intimidation". New York Times. May 2, 1981. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  35. ^ "Judge Issues Ban on Klan Threat to Vietnamese". New York Times. May 15, 1981. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  36. ^ "Black Judge in Alabama Wins Staff Salary Case". New York Times. December 29, 1981. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  37. ^ "Donald v. United Klans of America". Southern Poverty Law Center. 1988. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  38. ^ "Paying Damages For a Lynching". New York Times. February 21, 1988. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  39. ^ "Lawyer makes racists pay". USA Today. October 24, 1990. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  40. ^ The jury divided the judgement against the defendants as follows: Kyle Brewster, $500,000; Ken Mieske, $500,000;, John Metzger, $1 million; WAR, $3 million; Tom Metzger, $5 million; in addition, the jury awarded $2.5 million for Mulugeta's unrealized future earnings and pain and suffering.
  41. ^ "Sending a $12.5 Million Message to a Hate Group". New York Times. October 26, 1990. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  42. ^ Dees & Fiffer 1993, p. 277
  43. ^ "Hate-crime case award will be hard to collect, experts say". The Press-Enterprise. August 24, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-25.
  44. ^ "Mansfield v. Church of the Creator". Southern Poverty Law Center. 03/07/1994. Retrieved 2007-08-17. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  45. ^ a b "Mansfield v. Pierce". Southern Poverty Law Center. 03/07/1994. Retrieved 2007-08-17. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  46. ^ "Inside the Alliance". Southern Poverty Law Center. Winter 1999. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
  47. ^ "Klan Must Pay $37 Million for Inciting Church Fire". New York Times. July 25, 1998. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  48. ^ "Macedonia v. Christian Knights of the Ku Klux Klan". Southern Poverty Law Center. June 7, 1996. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  49. ^ a b "Klan Chapters Held Liable in Church Fire; Jury Awards $37.8 Million in Damages," Washington Post July 25, 1998
  50. ^ a b "Keenan v. Aryan Nations". Southern Poverty Law Center. 2000. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
  51. ^ "Richard G. Butler, 86, Dies; Founder of the Aryan Nations". New York Times. September 9, 2004. Retrieved 2007-08-22.
  52. ^ Dees2008, p. 194
  53. ^ "Ten Commandments judge removed from office". CNN. November 14, 2003. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  54. ^ Glassroth v. Moore (PDF) (M.D. Ala. 2002).
  55. ^ "Center Wins Justice for Billy Ray Johnson". Southern Poverty Law Center. April 20, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
  56. ^ "The Beating of Billy Ray Johnson". Texas Monthly. February 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
  57. ^ "Johnson v. Amox et al". Southern Poverty Law Center. 2005-09-19. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
  58. ^ "Ex-jailer denies part in assault cover-up". Texarkana Gazette. April 19, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
  59. ^ "A jury's stand against racism reflects hope". USA Today. April 26, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
  60. ^ "No. 2 Klan group on trial in Ky. teen's beating". New York Examiner. November 11, 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-22. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  61. ^ a b c d "Jordan Gruver and Cynthia Gruver vs. Imperial Klans of America". Southern Poverty Law Center. July 25, 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  62. ^ "Reputed Klan leader denies role in Meade Co. beating". Louisville Courier-Journal. August 15, 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  63. ^ "Jury awards $2.5 million to teen beaten by Klan members". CNN. November 14, 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-18.
  64. ^ Kenning, Chris. 2008. “$2.5 million awarded in Klan beating,” The Courier-Journal (Louisville, Kentucky), November 15, 2008, p. 1.
  65. ^ "Intelligence Report". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  66. ^ "Hatewatch Weekly". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  67. ^ Betty A. Dobratz, Stephanie L. Shanks-Meile, The White Separatist Movement in the United States: "White Power, White Pride!", The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000, 1-3.
  68. ^ Rory McVeigh. Structured Ignorance and Organized Racism in the United States. Social Forces, Vol. 82, No. 3, (Mar., 2004), p. 913 JSTOR
  69. ^ SPLCenter.org: Hate Groups Map
  70. ^ SPLCenter.org: Hate Groups Map
  71. ^ Edsall, Thomas (December 19, 1998). "Conservative Group Accused Of Ties to White Supremacists". Washington Post. Retrieved 2006-11-18.
  72. ^ Freedom Folks/Blogs4Borders Interview With Peter Brimelow, Interviewed by Jake Jacobson, Vdare.com, October 7, 2008.
  73. ^ a b "Lincoln Reconstructed". Southern Poverty Law Center. Summer 2003. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  74. ^ "Whitewashing the Confederacy". Southern Poverty Law Center. Summer 2003. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  75. ^ "Into the Mainstream". Southern Poverty Law Center. Spring 2003. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
  76. ^ "Cashing in on the Confederacy". Southern Poverty Law Center. Spring 2003. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
  77. ^ "In the Lyons Den: Kirk Lyons, a white supremacist lawyer whose clients have been a 'Who's Who' of the radical right". Southern Poverty Law Center. Summer 2000. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
  78. ^ "Attacking a Home-Town Icon" Jim Tharpe, Nieman Watchdog 1995.
  79. ^ Dan Morse. "A complex man: Opportunist or crusader?", Montgomery Advertiser, February 14 1994
  80. ^ a b Dan Morse and Greg Jaffe. "Critics question $52 million reserve, tactics of wealthiest civil rights group", Montgomery Advertiser, February 14 1994
  81. ^ "1995 Finalists: Explanatory Journalism". Pulitzer Prize. 1995. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  82. ^ Panel Discussion: Nonprofit Organizations
  83. ^ a b Ken Silverstein, "The Church of Morris Dees," Harper's Magazine, 1 November, 2000, No. 1806, Vol. 301; Pg. 54 ; ISSN: 0017-789X.
  84. ^ Charity Navigator Rating - Southern Poverty Law Center
  85. ^ SPLC Financial Information

Bibliography

  • Dees, Morris, and Steve Fiffer. 1991. A Season For Justice (Dees' autobiography). New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, ISBN 068419189X
  • Dees, Morris, and Steve Fiffer. Hate on Trial: The Case Against America's Most Dangerous Neo-Nazi. New York: Villard Books, 1993. ISBN 067940614X
  • Hall, Dave, Tym Burkey and Katherine M. Ramsland. 2008. Into the Devil’s Den. New York: Ballantine. ISBN 9780345496942
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Southern_Poverty_Law_Center&oldid=265558535"