Go to the Southern Poverty Law Center's website
Spend at least 30 minutes browsing and reading the site.
What did you learn about the Center and about hate crime? What most surprised you? What theoretical perspectives that we have covered so far best relate to the site or information presented? Why?
The Southern Poverty Law Center is a nonprofit organization that works to fight hate crimes and provide a voice for those who are in need of one. They provide many educational materials in order to provide education for tolerance and an anti-hate perspective. Some topics they focus on are hate and extremism, children at risk, immigrant justice, and teaching tolerance. They create policies for their organization and attempt to lessen crimes by reporting crime and hate, providing education and support, and standing up for vulnerable groups within society.
The part I found most interesting was their policies for children at risk. This program works with kids who have been pushed into the juvenile justice system and are being treated unfairly due to race or social status. Many of these kids are pushed into the system based on failing systems within society alone. They are then treated with abuse and neglect within the system, delinquent facilities, and prisons. The SPLC is working to reform the juvenile justice system and help children fight for injustices once they have entered the system. They also are fighting for safer conditions within the facilities. The SPLC also works with the education system in order to get these kids an education. They are standing up and fighting for the rights of children, who are more often than not pushed to the side and not listened to.
I thought the 'hate map' was really interesting. There are six hate groups in Iowa which really surprised me. Most of them concern race. I also liked the intelligence files. The SPLC provides profiles of different hate groups. One of the feature profiles is the Westboro Baptist Church, which was really interesting to see on there considering they came to UNI during the Standing on Higher Ground project. This is an anti-gay hate group who has been known for violent protests. Reading this profile was infuriating. A man named Fred Phelps is the leader, and his idea of humanity and society is off the wall. I read several of these profiles and they are really interesting to read. It reminds me of how importance tolerance and equality is in this world.
The website also provides ways to get involved and donate if you wish. I thought this website was so interesting. I guess I was a little naive on how many hate groups there really are in the US. Looking at that hate map shocked me. I am thankful there is an organization like this who is aware of the groups and works to provide justice to those who need help with maintaining a voice among the intolerance in society.
The Southern Poverty Law Center does do some great work. I found them to be somewhat hypocritical however. While preaching non-hate and tolerance, the tone they sometimes take is one of intolerance to certain people (conservative right-wingers for example). As a conservative Republican, I found it infuriating that they would take that tone, especially since I don’t condone any kind of hate group. I also found it infuriating that they would say something like “Although the racism of a group like the Nation may be relatively easy to understand, if we seek to expose white hate groups, we cannot be in the business of explaining away the black ones.” They seem to be saying, “Well, if we didn’t condemn white people for saying similar things, we wouldn’t mind you saying or doing what you say and do.” What a load of crap. Lastly, (to go back to the politics for a minute) I found a section that discussed “right-wing extremism.” There they had a disclaimer that not all of the groups were engaged in criminal behavior and weren’t racist. If you’re racist, not breaking the law, and don’t feel superior to others, how can you be a hate group? What are they basing this on? Whether someone agrees with them politically or not? Sorry, that doesn’t make a group a hate group. What about “left-wing extremism”? That certainly exists, although not to the SPLC.
Political agenda aside, I’ll repeat what I said before. The SPLC does do great work. I am all for holding people accountable for what they’ve done. If they break a law, they need to face the consequences. I don’t care what color their skin is or what they believe (politically or religiously). In that area, SPLC has been a wonderful asset to the people that need them. After browsing through the recent areas of concern, I focused mostly on the hatred/extremism area. I read mostly about the black separatist groups, mostly because I don’t know much about them but have heard of both the Nation of Islam and the New Black Panther Party. I did see the area relating to the Westboro Baptist Church, but I have to admit that I didn’t read it, mostly because I know a lot about what they stand for, and because I loathe their ideas and didn’t want to start screaming at the computer. None of what I read surprised me so much as the map of known hate groups in the nation. The fact that Iowa had 6 shocked me. I had no idea that we had any, let alone 6!! I don’t know who they are and have never talked to anyone who I knew was part of a hate group. I don’t understand how people can think it’s ok to hate anybody else, especially to the point where they are violent to others. I thought that Iowa was a pretty tolerant place, and I guess compared to some states we are, but 6 seems like a high number to me, especially given our population. Probably the biggest thing that I learned about hate crime is that, while there are a lot of hate groups, I just didn’t see a lot of information about a lot of hate crimes. Maybe a lot of them aren’t reported. I just expected, after seeing all those numbers, to have heard of more hate crimes than I have, especially in this age of instant and complete news coverage. The longest list I found of hate crimes was when I was reading about “right-wing extremism.” Based on some of my earlier comments, I’m understandly (I think) unconvinced that some of these were motivated by hatred of another group of people different from their own.
One of the theories we’ve discussed was about how groups can be more violent than people individually. (I’m pretty sure we discussed it in this class. Maybe I’m mixing up classes). Get people in a group where they feel valued, accepted, and protected, and it’s much easier for them to participate in violence. This is true with hate groups. While the SPLC website does have a link for individuals, most of their work is trying to break up these organizations. I believe this is because they realize that if the organization is not there, a lot of the violence won’t happen. In that, I applaud their efforts.
I first learned about the Southern Poverty Law Center last year while taking Kim’s Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination course so I haven’t learned anything new recently (aside from the financial information they’ve posted online). However, when I first encountered the website, I learned that this organization actually maps and tracks the activities of hate groups around the country. I like how they’ve mapped out all of the current locations of all sorts of hate groups around the nation. For instance, Iowa had 8 hate groups at the time, and my home state had over 60. Also, one can actually ‘click’ on the map and get information about each of the hate groups in that city/state. Before learning about this website, I did not realize exactly how many hate groups are still operating across the country. I figured that the South (e.g. Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee) would have hate groups here and there but when I saw that Texas had 69 hate groups, I was sickened. What was more disturbing was learning that there is a KKK group right up the street from our campus here at UNI.
I think the thing that surprised me the most is that the organization maintains an open record of their finances. Out of the advocacy/awareness websites that we have looked through over the course of the semester, this is the only organization that actually posts a record of their finances that anyone can look through if they were suspicious or curious as to how this non-profit organization remains afloat. To my knowledge, not very many non-profit and profit organizations do this. So I thought that was interesting.
I feel that the sociological/sociocultural perspective is the best fit for the information presented in this website. Not only are the issues (i.e. racism, discrimination, hate group activity) at a macro-level, but the individuals who work in this organization are tackling these issues at the institutional level (i.e. through the criminal justice system). They target several aspects of our society’s infrastructure such as education by providing free teaching materials for all grade levels and subjects and also the criminal justice system by providing free legal services to disadvantaged groups (i.e. immigrants, youth, and other low-income racial groups).
The Southern Poverty Law Center is a nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting against various hate crimes and seeking justice for people who are powerless and forgotten. The SPLC is also dedicated to ensuring that the civil rights movement becomes a reality for all people. The strategy the SPLC uses to battle racial and social injustice has three components: 1. track activities of hate groups and domestic terrorist organization in the U.S. and initiate lawsuits against these groups; 2. use courts and other advocacy organizations to win reforms on behalf of victim of hate crimes; and 3. provide educators with free resources to use in their classrooms to teach kids tolerance. The SPLC is currently focused on hate and extremist groups, immigrant justice, children at risk, and teaching tolerance.
Of those focuses, I decided to look more into immigrant justice. Immigrants have been denied basic protections in the workplace, harassed, discriminated against, and are targets of other hate crimes. This section also has a link specifically talking about immigrant women. Along with suffering from the aforementioned injustices, women are also targets sexual violence in the workplace. To help women in particular, the SPLC created the Esperanza program which files lawsuits against employers who break laws, educates women about their rights, helps women through criminal/civil investigations, and raises public awareness about this issue.
One of the most interesting and surprising things I found on this website was the hate map. The hate map shows the number of hate groups each state has. If you zoom in on a certain area, you can find out what types of hate groups there are in a particular area. For example, in Iowa, there are six hate groups including Neo-Nazi groups, Ku Klux Klan groups, and Racist Skinhead groups all with various names. This map definitely left a lasting impact on me because I became much more aware of just how many hate groups there are out there! I also found the section about the intelligence files interesting and how it offers a lot of information about different hate groups.
I think the sociocultural perspective fits well with the information in the website. This perspective generally states that how a person’s cognitive development process, learning process, behaviors, etc are shaped by the social or cultural environment in which they live. One example that fits well with this perspective is the Westboro Baptist Church. This group’s members are pretty much all related family members that have grown up in a family setting themselves that fosters this group’s ideology. These members then have kids of their own who are basically born into that type of life without really getting a choice in the matter. Those children will most likely grow up to promote the same anti-gay ideology their parents and other relatives without having the best opportunity to voice their own opinion which may be quite different from the rest of the group.
When reading the website, it was fascinating realizing how much effort has been put towards helping out those who have been discriminated against and educating others in the wrongs that infiltrate our societies. Instead of resorting to violence, which could harm the SPLC’s motives for helping others, the Center instead uses fiscal means in which to bring down hate groups. Civil rights lawyers work at this non-profit organization solely for the purpose of compensating those who have been discriminated against. While just suing hate groups for their egregious actions might not seem especially effective in the sense of stopping the actual discrimination and prejudice, but it does stall hate groups in a most efficient way. Due to the financial need for upkeep, when sued the hate groups could become entirely ineffectual.
Also when reading the website, I learned the Center was involved in many other helpful activities besides compensation to victims of such hatred. There were programs dedicated to helping out adolescents education-wise, as well as teaching proper ways in which others should be treated (at such an impressionable age too could be extremely helpful).
It was interesting realizing how long it has been since the Center has been founded in 1971. Many landmark cases were fought and won, including a case mentioned previously in class in the video Hate Nation, which was the Berhanu v. Metzger case (some skinheads beat an Ethiopian man to death with a baseball bat). Throughout all this time, each case is taken pro bono, with no sort of monetary stipulation. It is actually inspiring to see so many wanting to help out their fellow man in our nation’s struggle with equality.
I was surprised by the amount of inequality that still exists, in education and correctional facilities, to name a couple. It was often mentioned in the website, how many youths are stuck in abusive prisons or jails, and how the most of them are disproportionately African-American and Latino. Along with this, is the unfair treatment within the school system that still exists. The website helps the reader to see the racial differences in punishment which is a gargantuan hindrance to our societies.
Also I found very interesting/surprising, was the “hate map,” and how many groups were still in existence. Many states had a ridiculous amount of hate groups, which is quite discouraging to see how much prejudice and discrimination still exist even in such modern times.
Seeing all the hate groups could help, however, in making people do something about the inequality in our society.
I think a sort of cultural/sociological perspective seems to best relate to the site, due to the involvement of individuals, the media and the government. Discrimination is something that can be apparent in one person, but making a website for all (which is use of the media) helps to encompass many who might not understand how prejudice is controlling their lives. This perspective includes the role of the government also, as indicated in many of the landmark cases won.
The SPLC is an amazing place. It seems like they work on just about every type of hate crime/group there is. They are a group that has been working since 1971 at tracking and exposing the activities of hate groups. They are a “nonprofit civil rights organization dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry, and to seeing justice for the most vulnerable members of society.” They are definitely a group that is needed and one that has helped in the fight against hate greatly. They do many things to help fight hate and promote tolerance and respect.
One thing that they do that I found very interesting was their work with children at risk. They realize that many children who are disproportionately imprisoned are pushed out of school and into the system. They use this knowledge to battle this problem and change how children are treated within the juvenile justice system. There were some staggering statistics I thought were important to share. Youths incarcerated with adults are:
• 8 times more likely to commit suicide than in juvenile facilities
• 5 times more likely to be sexually assaulted
• 3 times more likely to be assaulted by prison staff
• 50% more likely to be assaulted with a weapon
• Have a higher recidivism rate than those retained in juvenile court
I think these are important to realize how much of a problem children have in the system. They use legal action, community education and mobilization, and media and legislative advocacy to change these and make sure that students get the educational services that can make the difference between incarceration and graduation. They fight for proven, community-based alternatives to incarceration. One way they fight this is by changing the “zero-tolerance” discipline policies that many schools have. These result in suspensions, dropouts, and arrests for even minor, nonviolent misbehavior. They promote Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS). This keeps kids in classrooms, improves school climates, and improves academic performance. They have shown that implementing this has had a significant effect on the percentage of out-of-school suspensions.
One of the biggest things they do is monitor hate groups and extremists in the United States and expose their activities to law enforcement, media, and public. They actual publish their findings in a report called the Intelligence Report. They use the law to crush hate groups around the country. They sue them for murders and other violent acts committed by their members. I was extremely surprised and sickened that there are currently 1,002 known hate groups operating around the country. The sad part is their numbers continue to grow. Since 2000, they have grown by 54%! Besides providing pro-bono work, receiving no money from clients at all, they train law enforcement at the local, state, and federal level in recognizing and dealing with hate crimes. This training is also free of charge.
One part of what they do is something that many people probably do not see as something they should help with. They do a lot of work representing immigrants and helping them receive fair treatment and pay. They discuss how politicians and media have encouraged the spread of false propaganda about immigrants. This has caused much hate crime against immigrants, specifically Latin Americans. They file lawsuits, expose civil right violations, educate the public and media, and press the federal government to act in such cases.
Lastly, they have a Teaching Tolerance program that is used in classrooms across the nation. They send teaching materials to teachers for free, showing them how they can help provide a tolerant, diverse, and hate-free environment for their students. According to the SPLC, “Our Teaching Tolerance program is working to foster school environments that are inclusive and nurturing – classrooms where equality and justice are not just taught, but lived.” I think this is something that is absolutely necessary and should be a must have at every school. One special project they teach is Mix It Up at Lunch Day. This is where kids sit with kids they do not know at lunch time. This helps them learn diversity and making new friends. Often times the schools use this to jump start a day full of learning about diversity and tolerance. They also develop tools for educators that help them identify their own perceptions and practices that may inhibit the success of students of color in the classroom. I think this is very important because often times children will act how they see an adult, whom they trust, act.
These programs lead me to the theoretical perspective I think relates to the information presented. I think that this information relies on a sociocultural perspective. People act based on how they were raised, either in their separate cultures or the society in which they live. The SPLC really focuses on changing how society views diversity and hopes that changing that can change how people, culturally, view others. I looked into the Westboro Baptist Church on the site. They are a family that believes that America’s problems are because of the homosexuals that live here. They actually went as far as blaming 9/11 on gays because God was taking revenge on us for them. I could not read about WBC without being very angry because the way they raise their children to behave and treat others is disgusting and despicable. I looked at them because they were supposed to show up to protest a gay rights function that was held at UNI. They failed to show, I believe. When they do show up for protests, they hold signs that say things like,
“God hates fags”, “Thank God for AIDS”, and other inflammatory sayings. Their website is actually entitled “God hates Fags”. A sociocultural perspective definitely is applied to them. Fred Phelps has created a culture of his own. He has raised his 13 children inside this culture in a society that is so full of hate. Four of the children have left the compound, but the others have stayed and subsequently raised their children the same way. Hate is something that is passed on from parent to child. Children learn how to act and who to like from their parents. That sociocultural perspective is one that has worked in a very negative way in this situation and what SPLC tries to do is to use that same perspective in a positive way to fight the hate that continues to grow. If you can spread, as a society, tolerance and diversity, it passes itself on. I think of it like dominoes. The more people you affect the more people it affects and so on. It takes a society to change hate, as has been shown during the Civil Rights Movement and more. The SPLC is definitely fighting with a sociocultural perspective in mind.
One other thing I thought was worth mentioning was the “Hate Map” that they have on their site. I was terrified that we have 6 known hate groups in Iowa; there is even a KKK one around here! I know in the big picture 6 doesn’t seem like a lot, but to me it seems like a large amount, especially with our population. On the side of the Stand Strong Map, people from Iowa comment about where they have hate crimes going on. It was scary to see what they had to say. I hope it is something that can be changed and changed soon!
The SPLC’s website is very well organized and extremely informative. Information is easy to access and several additional links are added in order to expand the reader’s knowledge or interest. Different sections include information on the agency, how it was started, a history of the agency, what the center does, as well as providing information on ways to get informed and get involved.
I think it’s awesome that they include a map in order to become more familiar with what hate groups are currently active in the community. For example, Iowa is listed as having six known hate groups including the Fraternal White Knights of the KKK in Charles City and True Invisible Empire Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in Nashua. Others include the American National Socialist Party (neo-nazi), Aryan Nations 88 (neo-nazi), Supreme White Alliance (racist skinhead), and Volksfront (racist skinhead). California and Texas have the largest amount of known hate groups.
The School to Prison Reform Project interested me the most. The goal is to stop the vicious cycle of juveniles being jailed or sent to prison by changing policies within the schools. They implement Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports instead of other disciplining techniques. This has been effective due to decreased expulsions, suspensions, drop out rates, and chances of participating in delinquent behavior. There has been an increase in academic achievement, attendance and school engagement.
The monitoring of hate groups and extremists in the U.S. seems to be a very large responsibility to take on and it is impressive at how much effort and progress the Southern Poverty Law Center has managed to do. Taking down hate groups and following up with lawsuits for murders and hate crimes is something that needs to occur in order for change to happen. Their strategies are ambitious and impressive, with their ultimate goal to battle racial and social injustice: 1) tracking activities of hate groups and terrorists, and creating lawsuits to bring down groups, 2) using the courts and other advocacy programs to change policies for the victims of crimes, and 3) providing educators with resources to teach children how to accept diversity and appreciate differences rather than hating because of them.
They include a section of their current priorities: hate and extremism, immigrant justice, children at risk, and teaching tolerance. I was impressed at how the SPLC reached levels of both macro and micro forms. Attempting to take down nationwide hate groups, but also implementing local programs in schools to reach children. After reviewing the website, it seems that the SPLC fits a strengths perspective approach on how to implement change in the world. They attempt to enforce positive strategies in the legal systems by making laws and policies, as well as implementing positive programs for our youth in order to spread more knowledge on these important issues.
The SPLC’s website is very well organized and extremely informative. Information is easy to access and several additional links are added in order to expand the reader’s knowledge or interest. Different sections include information on the agency, how it was started, a history of the agency, what the center does, as well as providing information on ways to get informed and get involved.
I think it’s awesome that they include a map in order to become more familiar with what hate groups are currently active in the community. For example, Iowa is listed as having six known hate groups including the Fraternal White Knights of the KKK in Charles City and True Invisible Empire Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in Nashua. Others include the American National Socialist Party (neo-nazi), Aryan Nations 88 (neo-nazi), Supreme White Alliance (racist skinhead), and Volksfront (racist skinhead). California and
Texas have the largest amount of known hate groups.
The School to Prison Reform Project interested me the most. The goal is to stop the vicious cycle of juveniles being jailed or sent to prison by changing policies within the schools. They implement Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports instead of other disciplining techniques. This has been effective due to decreased expulsions, suspensions, drop out rates, and chances of participating in delinquent behavior. There has been an increase in academic achievement, attendance and school engagement.
The monitoring of hate groups and extremists in the U.S. seems to be a very large responsibility to take on and it is impressive at how much effort and progress the Southern Poverty Law Center has managed to do. Taking down hate groups and following up with lawsuits for murders and hate crimes is something that needs to occur in order for change to happen. Their strategies are ambitious and impressive, with their ultimate goal to battle racial and social injustice: 1) tracking activities of hate groups and terrorists, and creating lawsuits to bring down groups, 2) using the courts and other advocacy programs to change policies for the victims of crimes, and 3) providing educators with resources to teach children how to accept diversity and appreciate differences rather than hating because of them.
They include a section of their current priorities: hate and extremism, immigrant justice, children at risk, and teaching tolerance. I was impressed at how the SPLC reached levels of both macro and micro forms. Attempting to take down nationwide hate groups, but also implementing local programs in schools to reach children. After reviewing the website, it seems that the SPLC fits a strengths perspective approach on how to implement change in the world. They attempt to enforce positive strategies in the legal systems by making laws and policies, as well as implementing positive programs for our youth in order to spread more knowledge on these important issues.
SPLC works to help victims of unfair treatment such as children, minorities, and gays/lesbians. They also work to create awareness about hate crimes. They do this with media and by bringing certain groups or acts to the attention of legal workers. They have had many, many court cases in which they have helped victims and they do not take payment for their services. I think one thing that really makes SPLC stand out is the fact that it is a nonprofit organization. They also provide many tools to help teach children to be accepting of and embrace diversity. They provide aids for teachers such as videos that will help in the classroom. SPLC publishes an award winning magazine called “Teaching Tolerance” and an entire other website with the same name (Teaching Tolerance).
Needless to say, this organization has amazing goals and accomplishments but the part of the website that really caught my attention, because we have been talking about it in class, was the sections on hate and supremacy groups. I had no idea there were so many. I think I counted something like 36 different groups. I also looked at the hate map. Iowa has 6 different known hate groups including neo-Nazis, the KKK and racist skinheads. This seems like a lot but not when compared to some other states. Texas has 59 known hate groups. The SPLC monitors these hate groups and works to expose their activities. They have a magazine called the “Intelligence Report” that provides updates on these groups and their activities and like the other magazine I mentioned is award winning. The SPLC has ended a few hate groups in court and continues to fight hate in court. Their case docket in also on their website and it describes the case and outcome.
SPLC is trying to stop and prevent hate and intolerance with a specific focus on hate groups. We know that these groups become larger and gain members by telling prospects about some sort of threat. Leaders also use a person’s existing environment to their advantage when recruiting. They prey on people who may not have much of a family or many friends. They also target young people (children) because they are more impressionable. These groups try to gain members because numbers mean power. As these groups grow, they may become more aggressive and display more and greater acts of hate. The GAM says that the larger an aggressive group is, the more likely they are to act aggressively towards others. By exposing these groups and their acts, the SPLC may be working to decrease the groups’ power. Also helping to decrease the hate groups’ power is the education of children about the importance of tolerance and acceptance. This is a prevention method for the children and maybe even the community and a reduction method when it comes to the groups. I think this site is more of a tangent of what we have been talking about in class. It can be related to class through group aggression and violence, prevention, reduction, and elimination. Also, we have read about the importance of media. SPLC has a great deal of media to spread awareness about hate groups. I think this site in important when talking about how to end the acts of hate groups and acts of discrimination and mistreatment.
I must say that, while this site does make some good points, I have to agree with Tasha that they do, in fact, seem slightly hypocritical. Even as a self-proclaimed liberal, I feel that it is always important to keep an open mind about things and make sure you listen to both sides of the story before making a final decision about anything.
According to the website, the Southern Poverty Law Center "is a nonprofit civil rights organization dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry, and to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of society." They provide a lot of interesting information about the number of hate groups that are out there and what we can do to stop spreading hate around.
One thing that they provide is resources where people can learn more information about different hate groups or even just learning about racism and hatred in general. Some of these books look like great reads and I would be interested in looking at them. However, I do feel as though hate groups seem to be turning into something more political than anything. There are a couple of these books that they list that are clearly political. For example, the book "Attacking the Constitution: State Legislators for Legal Immigration & the Anti-Immigrant Movement". This seems like an interesting read in of itself, but is immigration really an issue when it comes to hatred? There are other similar titles that I could potentially make the same argument for and this is only one person's opinion, so I digress.
The most interesting thing that I found on this website were the hate map and the stand strong map. It was interesting to see how many hate groups there are that are still active in the world. What is even more interesting is how, while most of them are in California, they are concentrated more so in the south. Regardless, every state has at LEAST two active hate groups. This is a very scary thought. What would be even more interesting is if they would be able to gather information about how many people are in each group, on average.
The stand strong map was also interesting because it allowed people to take a stand and say that they hate hate groups. Conversely to the hate map, you can see how many people there are in each different state that have put themselves on the map as a person who wants to stop the hatred in the world and make their state a safer place.
I think that intergroup violence really fits in well with the website. Hate groups commit acts of violence towards anyone of a race, religion, or sexual orientation that they do not approve of. This kind of group violence has drastically escalated over history and so I think that hate groups are a great addition to intergroup violence.
Another concept we have learned about in class through one of our reading options was the relation between hatred and anger. These hate groups start off as people that are angry. It seems to be the case that members of hate groups are angry at the people they choose to attack because they feel they are taking over jobs that they do not deserve or are trying to take over the neighborhood. From the Gangland show that we watched last time in class, we also learned that propoganda being spread that the caucasion population will be extinct one day if people don't do something to change it is also something that could contribute to anger. This anger has clearly escalated into hatred overtime. Through reading that particular chapter in the book, we learned that when both anger and hatred are high, it makes it more likely that violence and aggression will escalate. This being said, it is no wonder that hate groups find it so easy to lash out in random acts of violence towards people that have done nothing to them. Of course, I am not condoning their actions, but it at least puts it into perspective and can even give us ideas on how to put an end to this stupid violence.
In summation, the website was overall very good. It seems to be fighting fire with fire towards the hate groups. The hate groups would spread their conservative, right-winged propoganda and this website seems to be preaching left-wing ideals. However, we need to abandon the politics of it all and focus on the bigger picture: making the world a safer place for our children and the future of our society.
I thought the SPLC website was very interesting and informative. The website not only provides a significant amount of education regarding hate groups it also provides a significant amount of resources that may be available to victims. The website also appears to be a significant advocate for civil rights for all and can be viewed as a resource for everyone. It was very encouraging to learn that they are well supported throughout the country.
The amount of information that was available regarding the individual leaders and the groups themselves was amazing. It is obvious the amount of time and dedication the individuals put into this program to ensure they are increasing awareness for all. The individuals gathering this information are also putting the safety of themselves and potentially their family at risk to increase awareness for all and advocate for those who are in need. The fact that they risk themselves shows so much dedication it is very encouraging. Another fact that I found to be truely alarming was the fact that since 2000 the number of hate groups has increased by 54%. The website reported that some of the causes are due to fears of Latino immigration, the election of the first African American president and the economic crisis. It is very disturbing to me that although we have access to all of this information on hate crimes, their numbers continue to increase. It is rewarding to see the intervention programs and advocacy that is occurring, but I did not read a lot of information on the prevention specifically. I realize that there has been an increase in legal rammifications, which one would hope would deter the continued development of hate crimes, but the numbers continue to grow. I believe this information indicates the continued need for our nation to address the issue of hate crimes.
I believe that more than one theoretical framework could be applied, but I think a primary focus should be on the psychological aspect. I feel this is very important to analyze because I think that by addressing the way in which individuals think and process information that is presented to them would be an effective way to assess hate groups. The SPLC's program Teaching Tolerance focuses on promoting tolerance and respect. I feel that this directly relates to the psychological perspective. Although I feel that the other perspectives could be applied, I think it would be most effective to begin with the psychological framework. By applying and gaining a better understanding of this framework I feel that you would be better able to develop intervention and prevention programs. I also believe this perspective would help identify why individuals become engaged in the groups and address why it may be very difficult for them to remove themselves from the group.
The Southern Poverty Law Center is a nonprofit organization that works to fight hate crimes and provide a voice for those who are in need of one. They seek justice for the most vulnerable members of society and are dedicated to stop hate crime. It was founded by civil rights lawyers and is known for exposing the hate crimes that groups produce. The Teaching Tolerance program produces and distributes books and lesson plans free of charge, and have also bankrupted many white supremacist groups in the nation.
In addition to their board of directors, they also have a Senior Program Staff, which focuses on hate and extremism, immigrant justice, children at risk, and LGBT rights. I found that to be really interesting because before reading through this site I thought that it mainly only dealt with racism. The SPLC employs a three step strategy to battle these racial and social injustices. They are tracking the activities of hate groups and domestic terrorists, using the courts and other forms of democracy to win systematic reforms on behalf of the victims, and to provide educators with the free resources to teach school children to reject hate. I think that these are all crucial steps in order to educate people about hate, stop hate crimes, and spread the word of the amount of racial injustice going on in our nation.
The part of the website that really surprised me was the amount of hate groups in Iowa; especially how close a few of them are to Cedar Falls! I guess that I don’t really socialize with the type of people who may be involved in such a group, but I was unaware of any hate groups in Iowa. I think that this is because it is somewhat “hushed” even though it really shouldn’t be.
The cultural/sociological perspective is definitely related to this website. This is because of the involvement with the media, the local communities, and the government. The West Boro Baptist Church is a prime example of this. It is a local “church” even though it goes against the social norms of what a church really is. Obviously the community and the surrounding areas, (basically the nation) is affected by their crimes and antics. They play off the media and seem to think that they are above the government by expressing their First Amendment rights. Also, I believe that a psychological perspective is in relation to the SPLC because people who express such hate most likely suffer from some sort of disorder such as Anti-Social Personality Disorder, which is more commonly known for being a sociopath.
I learned that the center is a place where an individual can come and get pretty much any information they want about hate crimes and everything that comes with it. From the groups to the crimes itself, the center will educate you very well and help you to become more aware. I also learned that living in Iowa has caused me to underestimate how abundant hate crimes still are today. You hear about the major hate crimes of racism and sexism back in the 50's and 60's, but once schools were desegregated and now that there's a black president we tend to forget that hate crimes are still happening at a higher rate than they need to be.
The information I found out the most was that we have two groups of Ku Klux Klan's and two groups of Racist Skinheads in the state of Iowa. I'm actually not too shocked about the skinheads because they're more of a neutral group, but the fact that this small state still has a KKK group. I know they were huge in the south, so I guess I didn't expect them to be in Iowa in 2011.
This site best relates to our class discussions of Gang Violence and Hate Groups and the readings in Chapters 13, 17, and 18. This relates because our focus was on hate crimes rather it was because of racism, sexism, or social groups.
I began checking out this website with a bit of scepticism, and it didn't take long to begin to be impressed with this group and their acheivements. I frist took notice that the groups offices are located south of the mason-dixon line. I immediately assumed they were mainly associated with only hate crimes involving blacks. I stand corrected, this group has quite a few irons in their fire! while browsing through the landmark cases showcased on the site I became increasingly aware of just how many different types of discrimination they deal with. Prisons and juvenile detention centers have been exposed and reformed due to the actions of the SPLC. grade school education programs and anti bullying campaigns are in place due to their efforts. Immigrants have gained rights and found services to ensure fair wages, fight against sexual harrasment, and voice complaints against unfair working conditions and policies. I was very impressed with the number of documentaries produced (and emmy award winners too, not those dull badly produces ones)and with the various types of discrimination they focus on. It seems like the SPLC it the "go to" place for those facing any sort of discrimination.
one of the more interesting parts of the sight were the intelligence files. While looking through the different genres of hate groups I was surprised at some. I had no idea that the holocaust deniers had enough support and believers to be considered a hate group. I've heard of people who argue that the holocaust was a hoax, i've even met people that don't think it was a bad thing. I always figured these were just random a-holes trying to find just about anything to argue about. I read up a bit on them, and I really think you have to a few bolts loose to really by into these ideas, but it's nice to feel as if I have a better grasp of what exactly their theories are. The most interesting of the hate groups to me were the Radical Traditional Catholicism groups. I have never heard of this type of group before, so I took a look at them. There is an interesting article about a conference held by this group on geocentrism (the idea that the earth is the center of the universe). I thought Galileo settled this one for us? I did feel as if some of the articles written for the intelligence report (the SPLC's magazine) tend to be written in a way that mocks these groups and their beliefs (like this geocentrism one). I am one of those opiniated people who has a broken sensorship button and a bit of a sarcastic personality, so I found myself mocking the whole idea of satan making it appear that the earth turns when in fact it is stationary. However i think if you are going to have a publication like this it should attempt to sound a little less condescending. I may have enjoyed it, but someone else may get offended.
I think that because of the groups multi-modal approach to tackling just about any type of discrimination or hate crime it really applies to a multitude of things we have covered this semester so far. Gangs, hate groups, bullying, etc. I like that they not only take a reactive approach to combating hate crimes and such, but they actively use techniques for prevention, like the educational resources they make readily available. I like that the group has evolved through the decades to tackle some of the newer problems (like anti muslim groups and bullying) so the focus is not only on those types of discrimination being challenged in the 70's when the group formed.
Wow, this site had so much information! Clicking through all the links lead to many interesting sites with various view points on violence and violence prevention. Many of the articles that I clicked on entailed very disturbing issues and topics, some of which really related to both our class and my expert topic. I also really liked how there was info on how to get involved with this program, and speak out against violence and really make a difference in the battle with hate crimes. The site provides detailed information about the prevalence of hate crimes in American and what we, as a society, need to do to make our country a more peaceful place to live.
I thought that one of the most striking things about this website was the Hate Map. To actually be able to see and visualize where our country is having the most problems really helps to but this issue into perspective and makes it feel more real. Seeing those astonishingly high numbers in California, Texas, and throughout the East Coast really targets those areas and increase the recognition of this problem. Even Iowa’s number of 6 is higher than I expected, which is a great example of how it is so difficult to really see a problem until the stats are laid out in front of you.
I was also drawn to the “Teaching Tolerance” blog, because I will be attending graduate school in the fall for School Psychology. Increasing tolerance and understanding of different cultures is one of the major goals of School Psychologists, so I thought it was really interesting to take a look at other people’s thoughts on the topic. Within the blog, there were so many articles and blog posts that hit home for me! People advocating for Early Education (which I am a HUGE supporter for!!) and Head Start programs (again-Huge support for these government programs!) really made me take a look at what I need to be doing to increase awareness of these things I care about. It also made me think, why haven’t I heard of this site before? Maybe if these things were posted on more public sites that are visited by the more general public we would be able to increase prevention of violence, awareness, and really make more people listen and care about these issues.
I kind of got caught up in the Teaching Tolerance page, so I spend a lot of time looking at the classroom aids and the tools for teaching things, all of which were really cool! I like how they have incorporated things that we know work in the classroom to a topic like this that really matters. My expert topic looks at cultural differences in bullying and violence, so these tolerance tools are really helpful in looking at what we can do to increase awareness of culture differences within the classroom. I also took the time to look at the Recommended Readings page, which lists even more resources on the topic of violence and hate crime reduction. There is just so much information out there, I’m surprised at how little our general public has really heard of these sites and topics. It would be interesting to see if there was some way to increase the hits to these sites or getting the word out in a more broadly viewed way. As a School Psychologist, I’m sure that I will use some of these skills in my career and I hope to make a difference in the way that people view diversity and culture in the schools!
The SPLC is quite noble in their quest to eliminate hate and bigotry in the nation. By utilizing the court system and other resources, they monitor the operations of hate groups and attempt to make systematic reforms to put an end to hate and social injustice. They also provide information to schools and other settings to help teach tolerance.
What surprised me the most is how the SPLC specifically endorsed the PBIS program (my expert topic)which can be found here: http://www.splcenter.org/what-we-do/children-at-risk. PBIS is a program that definitely incorporates a ton of theories that we've discussed in class (i.e. the theories surrounding attachment, respect, social information processing, etc). Because of their endorsement of PBIS, they are recognizing the need to implement these strategies to help reduce violence, aggression, and hate and increase tolerance, respect, and teaching behavioral expectation. Additionally, they are recognizing that the school systems need to approach education quite differently and focus on implementing strategies that help keep kids in the schools rather then suspending them.
The Southern Poverty Law Center is a nonprofit organization that was started in the 1970s to fight hate crime in the United States and to promote civil rights. Their main goals are to seek justice for hate crimes as well as to promote education about hate crimes.
One of the first things I browsed was different hate ideologies. I was shocked at how many different types of hate groups there are. There are groups against difference races, sexual orientations, and religions. What most surprised me is that there is a group who actively denies that the Holocaust ever occurred. I have heard rumors about people denying the Holocaust, but did not think that was possible. I simply could not understand how a documented event in world history could be completely denied. In reading further about these groups, they claim that some aspects of the Holocaust were exaggerated or did not exist, such as the gas chambers used to murder Jewish people. They also claim that Jewish people were dying in the same way as others, such as disease or death. Their main purpose in this is to promote the idea of national socialism.
Another thing I found interesting was that the Ku Klux Klan still exists. Perhaps I have been sheltered, but I had absolutely no idea that this group still existed. They have branched out into promoting other ideas in addition to white supremeness. I was blown away when I read that they claim their cause to be "civil rights for whites." It is appalling to me that they could claim that they do not have civil rights as whites, considering what that same group has done to other races in the past. The KKK is infamous for lynching and attacking people of other races, particularly during the Civil Rights Movement.
I would say that chapter 17 and the perspective about intergroup violence most relate to this website because hate crimes are often performed by groups. Also, this website lists and documents the actions and members of different hate groups across the United States. What is interesting is the absence of an actual threat. In other words, I cannot seem to understand why an anti-gay hate group would feel a long term threat from gays, and thus retaliate by fighting gay ideologies. Hate groups are extremely complex and difficult to dissect. In my personal opinion, they are senseless.
I had heard of the SPLC and their focus, but I was not aware of how long they had been around. The website is more than just a support group or an anti-violence site. They actually step in and have made major changes to some of these nationwide hate groups. I really like their use of supplying resources to educate the public about all kinds of racial violence. It is not specific to preventing one hate group, but is a movement against all of them to create a more peaceful country. They also aim to help immigrants and children, as well as teaching tolerance. I am impressed that they have the map of the current locations of documented hate groups by state. It is interesting to be able to see exactly where they are and which ones are currently causing issues. It shows a lot of dedication that they track the incidents that closely to make sure the public is aware.
I agree with those above who think this website presents a sociocultural perspective. People act based on how they were brought up, no matter what culture they come from. The SPLC really focuses on changing how society views diversity. It is unfortunate that people like the Phelps family who started the Westboro Baptist Church continue to bring more children into their mindset and perpetuating the hatred to new generations. Those children do not have a choice, and instead grow up with such strong negative feelings toward other groups they have never met.
I was surprised to see the six groups that exist in Iowa, however, I have heard about them in recent years in this area. It’s terrible to know that this kind of racial hate is still so evident today when we have come so far in the fight for civil rights. To know that there are still people who identify as the KKK living somewhere so close to me right now just makes me sick. I cannot fathom how this group thinks what they do is okay. They have no respect for certain racial groups just because they are different.
I remember reading the article in the Northern Iowan by one of the leaders of the Fraternal White Knights. http://www.northern-iowan.org/ku-klux-klan-1.2188683
To see how those views are currently still operating and especially his last words, “We have some things we are working on now – some near completion, some still in the infiltration stages, so stay tuned!” gives me chills. I don’t want to know what they are planning on doing, because it can in no way be anything good. I do appreciate what the SPLC is doing in what they publish to spread awareness.
One of the articles on the main page titled “Injustice on Our Plates” targets immigrant women working in the food industry. I have a personal connection to this story because it includes some Iowan women who have endured mistreatment and harsh conditions working in meat plants simply trying to make ends meet. The fact that the SPLC shows these kind of in-depth stories showing the other side of what usually gets hidden proves that they are truly dedicated to their cause of furthering education and teaching tolerance.