Tracking Hate and Nativism: The Southern Poverty Law Center and Non-Violent Resistance

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC | Founded in 1971 by Morris Dees and Joseph Levin Jr. as a civil rights law firm, the Southern Poverty Law Firm dedicated its efforts to fighting hate and bigotry and to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members in society. Over the years, it has used litigation, education, and other forms of advocacy to achieve social justice and equal opportunity. In 1979, for instance, it filed a civil suit for monetary damages on behalf of the victims of violence from the Ku Klux Klan with all damages recovered given to the victims or donated to other organizations.

While the SPLC also became involved in other civil rights causes such as racial segregation and discrimination, inhumane and unconstitutional conditions in prisons, discrimination based on sexual orientation, and mistreatment of Immigrants, it is perhaps best known for its efforts to track hate groups. That work, however, has been criticized by conservatives and others who have argued that some of its classifications and listings of hate groups and extremists are unwarranted and, indeed, used as a political weapon.

Join us on March 8th, when Lecia Brooks, Outreach Director, Southern Poverty Law Center will discuss SPLC and its work, particularly in the fields of tracking nativist and hate groups whose numbers and efforts have risen dramatically in recent years.

This talk is part of the Consortium on Forced Migration, Displacement, and Education Speaker Series. The Consortium, comprised of Bennington, Bard, Sarah Lawrence, and Vassar Colleges, is committed to developing new, horizontal, and more egalitarian models of global educational solidarity to address the refugee crisis and to educate our students to be engaged citizens in an increasingly complex and interconnected world.