Calling Consistency

By Broadside Opinion Columnist Michael Gryboski

The Southern Poverty Law Center takes pride in continually monitoring and tracking hate groups throughout the United States. Indeed, the organization deserves accolades for its legal battles against the Ku Klux Klan as well as spreading awareness of hate groups. SPLC literature on teaching tolerance can be found in many educational facilities, including our own Student Government office, but while staunchly opposing racism, the SPLC tends to oppose any entity that has the slightest support from racial supremacists, even if they are not actually racist.

In 2004, the SPLC took a stand against Alabama Supreme Court Judge Roy Moore, who gained national renown for establishing a large Ten Commandments display in the rotunda of the Montgomery Courthouse of the State Supreme Court. Despite overwhelming support for Moore across the political spectrums, the SPLC released reports on their Web site stressing the presence of white supremacists at the pro-Moore rallies. That minority of supporters led the organization to side with Moore’s opponents.

Recently, the SPLC made a concerted effort against John Tanton of the Sierra Club over his position on immigration. Tanton had concluded that out-of-control illegal immigration was the cause of increased pollution along the border, a theory supported by environmentalists in Border States. SPLC was quick to note that some racists supported Tanton and they have been fighting Tanton’s endeavors since. SPLC founder Morris Dees ran for a position on the Sierra Club board to deter Tanton’s allies. The SPLC calls Tanton “anti-immigration,” a claim Tanton denies: “If, instead of discussing immigration, I were calling for a diet and suggesting different quantities and types of food, would you call me ‘anti-food?’ If I were calling for the regulation of driving, with driver testing, seatbelt laws, strictures on driving and alcohol, would you call me ‘anti-auto’ or ‘anti-driver’?”

SPLC stood against the careers of Moore and Tanton because of their very loose affiliation with racists. Despite the two causes represented not being racist in nature, SPLC disqualified the positions solely on the occasional bigoted supporter. This begs the question of what they will do with the presidential election. As recently reported by none other than the SPLC, a new wave of support is coming for the Barack Obama presidential ticket: white supremacists. As the SPLC reports, “A growing number of white supremacists, and even some of those who pass for intellectual leaders of their movement, think that a black man in the Oval Office would shock white America, possibly drive millions to their cause, and perhaps even set off a race war that, they hope, would ultimately end in Aryan victory.”

David Duke is one of these white supremacists who may cast a vote for Obama. As he wrote, “[Obama] helps make everything very clear to our people. He paves the way for thousands of other candidates on the American horizon, white candidates who stand up for our own people the way that Obama stands up for his.”

However awful the reasoning, the Obama campaign is still getting support from racist entities. The SPLC stood against Moore and Tanton because supremacists were supporting them; will they now do likewise with Obama?

Many reading this would say that this is not fair for Obama. Just because some racists want him in office doesn’t make him a racist. We should not judge the movement based on a few extremists, as any member of the SPLC would undoubtedly say if questioned about this particular incident. What about Moore and Tanton? Could they help having racists favor their causes any more than Obama?

We need an entity that makes sure we are aware of the presence of hatred and bigotry. The SPLC is corrupting its obligations by bashing its political opponents. They decided to disqualify causes they oppose solely because of the occasional extremist while ignoring similar cases among causes they find more appealing. No movement should be judged by its extremists. The SPLC has been intelligent enough to not disqualify the Obama campaign for a few racist supporters, so why not give similar mercies to men like Moore and Tanton? Because the SPLC is a partisan organization that does not want the agendas of Moore and Tanton to exist. For putting their own biases into the much needed operations they perform, the SPLC is a malevolent organization.