Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a left-wing activist organization, recently added the parental rights group “Moms for Liberty” to its “Hate Map” list last month. Its reasoning was that the parental rights group associated with the extremist ‘Proud Boys’ group, which claim was disputed by Moms for Liberty.
Moms for Liberty added that it is “empowering parents” and is not an extremist organization.
Moms for Liberty has become a lightning rod for criticism by the Left, the liberal mainstream media, and progressive activist organizations because of its efforts to de-politicize public schools, school boards, and public school districts. It has taken a public role in pushing for accountability for local school boards nationwide and, in the 2022 election cycle, endorsed candidates in school board elections. The media mocked the parental rights group for not winning enough elections where it had endorsed a candidate, which could be said of other politically-active groups such as the conservative Club for Growth or left-wing Senate Majority PAC.
Conservative organizations know they have “made it” on the big scene when the left-wing organization Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) labels their organization as “antigovernment” on their so-called “Hate Map.” Some of the more prominent organizations on the SPLC’s map are:
- American Family Association
- Alliance Defending Freedom
- American College of Pediatricians
- Center for Immigration Studies
- Center for Security Policy
- ProEnglish
SPLC lumped in conservative organizations, such as the ones listed above, with more outspoken fringe groups such as the Nation of Islam and Black Panthers. It is a rather baffling standard.
Conservatives have raised concerns about the SPLC’s “Hate Map” since a man tried to kill employees at the Christian non-profit Family Research Council’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. in 2012. The perpetrator, who wounded one person, said that the SPLC’s “Hate Map” inspired his attack. FRC’s President, Tony Perkins, condemned SPLC’s map and said, “Once again, I call on the SPLC to put an immediate stop to its practice of labeling organizations that oppose their promotion of homosexuality.”
SPLC’s initial statement read, “We’ve seen news of the shooting of a security guard today at the Family Research Council office in Washington, D.C., and are getting media inquiries about it. There are unconfirmed reports that the shooting was ideologically motivated. We condemn all acts of violence and are following the story closely.”
Later, in a longer statement, SPLC did not address the shooter’s claim that he found the Family Research Council on their map and instead blamed the council for its opposition to gay marriage. Part of the statement said:
“Perkins’ accusation is outrageous. The SPLC has listed the FRC as a hate group since 2010 because it has knowingly spread false and denigrating propaganda about LGBT people — not, as some claim, because it opposes same-sex marriage. The FRC and its allies on the religious right are saying, in effect, that offering legitimate and fact-based criticism in a democratic society is tantamount to suggesting that the objects of criticism should be the targets of criminal violence.”
The quote above suggests that once an organization is on the SPLC’s map, it will likely never be removed unless the organization renounces their core values to appease the SPLC.
