The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) recently garnered negative press after the Justice Department announced criminal indictments against the group for allegedly defrauding donors.
But the organization’s activities go far beyond paying millions of dollars to informants in white supremacist organizations. It is even influencing public education.
Defending Education released a report revealing that the Southern Poverty Law Center’s materials are embedded in teacher preparation programs across the country. The report noted that “Colleges of Education (COEs) across the country have incorporated the Southern Poverty Law Center’s (SPLC) Learning for Justice (formerly Teaching Tolerance) resources, lessons, and Social Justice Standards (SJS) into pre-service teacher preparation programs, coursework, departmental frameworks, and educator training initiatives."
These colleges are responsible for training teachers who go on to educate children in government-run schools. "Because COEs are the primary institutions responsible for preparing future K-12 classroom teachers, as well as the continuing education of present teachers and administrators, they play a major role in what content, materials, ‘best practices,’ and perspectives shape educators,” Defending Education noted.
The report examined programs in 38 states and Washington, D.C. and 100 Colleges of Education and noted that the SPLC’s influence typically runs under the radar. "Importantly, few COEs outwardly acknowledge their use of SPLC materials; instead, many COEs hide their usage and promotion behind faculty login pages,” Defending Education explained.
Examples include grant money supporting lessons based on the SPLC’s materials. "A $275,000 grant-funded National Science Foundation Computer Science for All program between Northern Arizona University (AZ) and Flagstaff Unified School District features curriculum that incorporates Learning for Justice’s Social Justice Standards into lessons,” Defending Education asserted.
Another example involves the University of Michigan, where a teaching framework focuses on equity while also using the organization’s materials. The school’s framework is focused on a “more just and equitable elementary science teaching” that features developing a “critical consciousness” and “draws from or connects to” Learning for Justice’s Social Justice Standards.”
A federal grand jury in Montgomery, Alabama, indicted the SPLC back in April on 11 counts of wire fraud, false statements to a federally insured bank, and conspiracy to commit concealment money laundering.
Prosecutors allege that the organization secretly funneled over $3 million in donated funds to individuals tied to violent extremist groups including the Ku Klux Klan, United Klans of America, Aryan Nations, and the National Socialist Party of America.
The organization claims it paid these individuals to act as informants and provide the SPLC with critical information on the groups’ activities. Some of the funds paid for cross burnings, recruiting new members, and purchasing various materials these groups use.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the organization “engaged in a massive fraud operation to deceive their donors, enrich themselves, and hide their deceptive operations from the public.”
The SPLC did not inform donors that their money would be used for this purpose, according to the Justice Department. Prosecutors allege that the organization funneled the money through shell companies and employed other methods to conceal the purpose of the payments.
The organization argues that this was done to conceal the identities of their informants.
Many have criticized the SPLC for years over its cynical practice of labeling members of its political opposition as being on par with bigoted extremist groups like the KKK and others. They are quick to portray regular conservative individuals and organizations as extremists in order to discredit them.