And Yet Another List, Alas Another List!
Mikado: Another of the Infinite Variations on a Classic
Update August 28, 2917. I apologize that the Kimberly Strassel WSJ article may now require some of you to log in. At the time I read it, it was easily accessible, and you still may be able to access it through a googling to a third-party news aggregator.
Suffice it to say that the article raises some very interesting questions about the Southern Policy Law Center (SPLC), a “non-profit” organization. The SPLC research is widely cited by those to the “left of center”, although the article focuses on the corporate donations SPLC is receiving aplenty and whether shareholders would approve of such donations.
As of August 28th, the SPLC website reports 917 identified hate groups. If you click on the Hate Map tab on the top of the site page, you can see a map of the U.S. dotted with various icons, each representing an SPLC classified hate group or group activity (i.e., a protest). The SPLC site also notes that: “ This list was compiled using hate group publications and websites, citizen and law enforcement reports, field sources and news reports. Groups that appear in the center of states represent statewide groups.”
Just above the map are two drop down boxes to filter an inquiry: One box for sorting by Groups, the other by States. I tried using both, but the filters in conjunction do not seem to work all that well, although that may be a function of internet download speed.
Three Group categories caught my attention: (1) Christian Identity; (2) Radical Traditional Catholicism and; (3) Black Separatists. When I sorted for the first, I found four icons on the map of the U.S., 14 for the second, and 193 for the third. I am not sure what exactly constitutes a Christian Identity or Radical Traditional Catholicism hate group, and SPLC is not all that illuminating. A quick check of the Black Separatists found Black Panther and Nation of Islam chapters scattered throughout the country.
But what is even more troubling and noted in the WSJ article, is how the list is compiled. You can see that from the quote I took from the SPLC site just above. There seems to be a lot of subjectivism in evidence and very little that would get national consensus, especially from the breadth of the political spectrum. At this stage in the life of the U.S., hate and opinion are often conveniently confused. And similar tactics were used to manipulate mobs related to Communists, Fascists, Terrorists, and in the Jim Crow South, African Americans.
Next come the logical questions about the Hate Map content: (1) If what someone considers as a hate group is not on the map, does that mean that it has just not been identified or that it is not considered a hate group by SPLC and; (2) Obvious omissions include Antifa, but perhaps that is just because it is not considered “organized”. In the case of Antifa, I am sure the SPLC could consider marking it as a hate “entity” if they were indeed serious about violence and hate crimes (Most attacks by Antifa seem to be on the hate groups listed on the SPLC website, so we know that Antifa must hate categorically because they consistently show up at rallies by the other hate groups noted.) Enough said on this: You can spin this until you get a serious case of nausea.
There are no doubt similar sites for the right of center, using the same methods and tactics (There is an internet and google) as the SPLC site. And, if corporations are funneling money to such sites as are JP Morgan to the SPLC, they should be identified so shareholders are made aware. This takes some digging into corporate press releases or financials, but the information is there if someone cares to look.
But apart from the funding, the fact that sites like the SPLC are so widely quoted by others who are in turn widely quoted proves yet again that if you want the real story, you have to DIG and then THINK about what you uncovered!
