Southern Poverty Law Center

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The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC, German as "Rights Center poverty of the South ") is a non-profit US organization with the aim of racism combat and civil rights through research, education and civil complaint procedures to encourage.

The SPLC is the organization most commonly associated with persecuting hate groups in the United States. She maintains lists of hate groups, which she defines as groups that "have beliefs or practices that attack or defame an entire class of people, typically because of their unchangeable properties." She says hate group activities may include speeches, marches, rallies, gatherings, publications, leaflets, and criminal acts such as violence. Since the 2000s, the SPLC's classification and listing of hate groups (organizations that describe the SPLC as either "attacking or slandering a whole class of people") and extremists have often been described as authoritative and are used in academic and media coverage of such groups Groups and related topics widely accepted and cited.

founding

SPLC headquarters in Montgomery, Alabama

In 1971 lawyers Morris Dees and Joseph Levin and Julian Bond founded the SPLC originally as a law firm in Montgomery , Alabama , where the 1955 bus boycott by Rosa Parks took place. The occasion was an ongoing process of racial segregation (Smith vs. YMCA). As a fundraiser in the presidential election campaign for George McGovern (Democrat), Dee had developed a lucrative system that had been copied since then, in which potential small donors were contacted directly, so that despite losing the election, there was still money left over. McGovern gave Dee 700,000 addresses for this, which he brought into the SPLC. Julian Bond headed the firm from 1971 to 1979.

In 1981 the SPLC began the project to monitor activities of the Ku Klux Klan ("Klan-Watch"). This project was extended to other groups in the following years. In 1983 an incendiary bomb attack was carried out on the office. In 1985, members of the clan and a sympathizer found themselves guilty of setting the fire in court. The lawsuits led by the SPLC include the lawsuit against United Klans of America for the murder of Michael Donald , which resulted in United Klans being fined $ 7 million in 1987.

activities

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Since 1991 the center has supplied 55,000 American schools with teaching materials to promote tolerance. It distributes brochures to students such as "Ways to Combat Hate on Campus" and suggestions for "Diversity Education."

It finances a “Klan Watch” program that relates to the Ku Klux Klan and within it a “Militia Task Force” that monitors 800 of its so-called “hate groups”. These groups are divided into racial segregation ( Nation of Islam ), Ku Klux Klan, Neo-Nazis, Christian Identity , Skinheads , Neo-Confederate and “Others” ( Jewish Defense League ). Activities of individuals such as Kevin B. MacDonald and Pat Robertson are monitored by the center, and organizations such as the Constitution Party are classified as groups of concern.

SPLC conducted numerous lawsuits widely circulated by the national press, which incidentally earned him substantial funds in the courtroom and through case-related donations. In 1987 the group won a lawsuit for the mother of a black lynch victim (Michael Donald) against the United Klans of America and won US $ 7 million, which the convicts could not pay. The association's property, a $ 51,000 building, was assigned to the mother. In 1990 a Portland, Oregon court found a neo-Nazi group guilty of the death of an Ethiopian emigrant, after which Tom Metzger and the White Aryan Resistance were sentenced to pay $ 12.5 million in bankruptcy. It also led numerous lawsuits against the Ku Klux Klan.

In 1989 it funded the construction of the Civil Rights Memorial by artist Maya Lin in downtown Montgomery. It produces documentaries (for example: "Gods and Generals" - the whitewashing of the Confederates), publishes the Intelligence Report magazine and a youth magazine, and sends out a "Klanwatch newsletter."

SPLC rated the Family Research Council as homophobic .

Harassment allegations

In March 2019, the SPLC fired founder Morris Dees for reasons unknown and removed his biography from its website. In a statement accompanying the layoff, the SPLC announced that it would "use an outside organization to conduct a comprehensive assessment of our internal climate and workplace practices."

After the dismissal, a letter signed by two dozen SPLC employees was sent to management expressing concern that "allegations of ill-treatment, sexual harassment, gender discrimination and racism threaten the moral authority of this organization and thereby our integrity ".

A former associate wrote that the "uncontrolled power of the lavishly compensated white men at the top" of the SPLC contributed to a culture of black and women workers being targeted for harassment. The SPLC appointed Tina Tchen, a former chief of staff to former First Lady Michelle Obama , to review and investigate any issues with the organization's work environment.

A week later, President Richard Cohen and Legal Director Rhonda Brownstein announced their resignation amid internal investigations. The assistant manager of the legal department announced his resignation on the grounds that there were concerns about the workplace culture. Cohen said, "Whatever the problem with the SPLC, it came under my supervision, so I take responsibility for it.

criticism

The SPLC's lists have also been criticized by others who argue that some of the SPLC's lists are excessive, politically motivated, or unjustified. There have also been allegations of misuse or unnecessarily wasteful use of funds by the organization, leading some staff to call the headquarters the "Poverty Palace".

Finances

It is the civil rights organization with the largest financial reserves in the United States. In 1996 it raised $ 14 million and had $ 68 million in reserves at the time. In 2004 it was $ 152 million with now 49.8 million income, of which 29.7 million through donations. With annual salaries ranging from $ 171,000 to $ 297,000, its directors are among the 50 highest-paid boards of directors of nonprofits in the United States. Donors include Apple, Cisco Systems , Picower Foundation, Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund, and Grove Foundation.

Web links

Commons : Southern Poverty Law Center  - Collection of Pictures, Videos, and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Barbara Perry: Hate Crimes . Greenwood Publishing Group, 2009, ISBN 978-0-275-99569-0 ( google.com [accessed April 28, 2020]).
  2. ^ Carol M. Swain: The New White Nationalism in America: Its Challenge to Integration . Cambridge University Press, 2002, ISBN 978-0-521-80886-6 ( google.com [accessed April 28, 2020]).
  3. ^ SPLC: Hate Map .
  4. ↑ Everyone has the right to hate ( Memento from December 16, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), Fluter February 2007
  5. ^ Southern Poverty Law Center: Smith v. Young Men's Christian Association ( Memento September 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive ).
  6. ↑ Fiffer, Steve .: A season for justice: the life and times of civil rights lawyer Morris Dees . New York, ISBN 0-684-19189-X .
  7. ^ Fire Damages Alabama Center that Battles the Klan . In: The New York Times , July 31, 1983. 
  8. ↑ 2 Klan Members Plead Guilty To Arson . In: The New York Times , February 21, 1985. 
  9. ↑ The Nation Klan Must Pay $ 7 Million . In: Los Angeles Times , February 13, 1987. 
  10. ↑ Teaching Tolerance Marks Its 10th Year . In: Teaching Tolerance: A Project of The Southern Poverty Law Center . Retrieved July 2, 2012.
  11. ^ Dees Turning Anti-Hate Focus Away From Law to Education . In: Moscow-Pullman Daily News , April 4, 1997.
  12. ↑ Jim Tharpe. Nieman Foundation website
  13. ^ John Bowden: Southern Poverty Law Center fires co-founder. March 14, 2019, accessed April 28, 2020 .
  14. ^ Southern Poverty Law Center chief Richard Cohen announces resignation amid internal upheaval. March 23, 2019, accessed April 28, 2020 (American English).
  15. ^ A b Bob Moser: The Reckoning of Morris Dees and the Southern Poverty Law Center. Accessed April 28, 2020 (English).
  16. ↑ Nick Valencia and Pamela Kirkland CNN: Famous civil rights group suffers from 'systemic culture of racism and sexism,' staffers say. Retrieved April 28, 2020 .
  17. ↑ Niraj Chokshi closeNiraj ChokshiReporterBioBioReporter: The year of 'enormous rage': Number of hate groups rose by 14 percent in 2015. Retrieved on April 28, 2020 .
  18. ↑ Ben Schreckinger: Has a Civil Rights Stalwart Lost Its Way? Accessed April 28, 2020 (English).
  19. ↑ Annual report cites rise in hate groups, but some ask: What is hate? In: Christian Science Monitor . February 23, 2011, ISSN  0882-7729 ( online [accessed April 28, 2020]).
  20. ↑ SPLC Annual Report 2005
  21. ↑ Chronicle of Philanthropy's annual survey of top nonprofit executive salaries, published September 28, 2005