One key promoter of the legislation is the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)—the old civil rights organization whose main project today, “Hatewatch,” monitors alleged hate groups.
Leaving aside the question as to whether such legislation is redundant (the FBI already monitors hate crimes), any bill that adopts the SPLC’s perspective on what defines a hate group will be highly problematic.
The first problem is that the SPLC is ideologically skewed. Do an internet search for the SPLC, and the first “hit” is their website. Under the main heading are four links. The first is for their “Hatewatch” project, the subtitle of which is “The latest on the activities of the American radical right.” Fine, but why the omission of hateful activities on the radical left?
It’s absurd to imply that conservative groups certainly have a monopoly on hate, assaults, and violence. In fact, the socialist left has deep roots in hatred. Karl Marx boasted that he was “the greatest hater of the so-called positive.” In 1923, Vladimir Lenin chillingly declared to the Soviet Commissars of Education, “We must teach our children to hate. Hatred is the basis of communism.” In his tract, “Left-Wing Communism,” Lenin went so far as to assert that hatred was “the basis of every socialist and Communist movement.”
Strains of hatred are in clear evidence in progressive, liberal, socialist, and Democratic circles today. An obvious example is Antifa, which periodically engages in violent assaults against conservatives. Alas, the SPLC isn’t interested in cataloging Antifa’s deeds.
For years, elements on the left have churned out such undeniably hate-feeding literature as “The I Hate Ann Coulter, Bill O’Reilly, Rush Limbaugh ... Reader,” “The I Hate George W. Bush Reader,” and the “I Hate Republicans Reader.” People such as Gillibrand may denounce a particularly egregious attack on their political opponents, such as when a hate-filled man shot Republican Rep. Steve Scalise two summers ago, but they’re conspicuously silent in denouncing any of the rhetoric that feeds the hatred that leads to such crimes.
‘Hate’ Groups
Returning to the internet search, another link takes you to the SPLC’s “Hate Group Map.” It includes a “filter by ideology” feature that cites specific targets of hatred—e.g., groups that are anti-immigrant, radical traditional Catholicism, white nationalist, etc.I decided to poke around on that webpage.
One of the alleged hate groups on the SPLC’s Hate Map is San Diegans for Secure Borders. Here, I may be on thin ice, because I had never heard of this group before, but the Hate Map would be more convincing to me if they cited any acts of violence or advocacy of violence rather than simply listing the group. Maybe they did this somewhere on their site, but I used their search function and couldn’t find a thing beyond the listing.
Another group that’s branded a hate group by the SPLC is the John Birch Society (JBS). Unlike the San Diegan group, I have some familiarity with the JBS. Although I have only met a couple of members in person, my graduate research led me to read a number of JBS publications. Frankly, to call the JBS a hate group is libelous. Yes, the Birchers have an esoteric (quirky? strange? far out?) theory about a unitary worldwide conspiracy, but otherwise, they are typical conservative Americans.
Paul has dedicated his life to preserving life, not threatening it. As a libertarian, he adheres to and practices the nonaggression principle. As an obstetrician, he has welcomed babies into this world and (unlike many libertarians) believes that the most defenseless of all human beings—the unborn—are entitled to the same legal protection of their lives as the rest of us. In Congress, he often voted with progressives in opposition to deploying U.S. troops into harm’s way in far-off lands in undeclared wars. You may disagree with Paul’s policies, but to lump him together with alleged haters is warped.
The SPLC wants to ruin the reputation of innocent American conservatives. As The Epoch Times article reported, in 2007, a spokesperson for the SPLC declared, “I want to say plainly that our aim in life is to destroy these groups ...” To achieve its goal of destroying ideological opponents, the SPLC has weaponized hate. For them to accuse innocents of hate is itself hateful. Instead of exposing hate, as they claim, the SPLC is exploiting hate, wielding it as a club against opponents.
It’s more than a little hypocritical that the SPLC denounces hate and then stirs up hatred against conservative groups by often falsely characterizing them as dangerous haters.
Such ideological warfare isn’t going to go away, but it certainly shouldn’t be enacted into law. As long as the NO HATE Act coincides with the SPLC’s political agenda, members of Congress should vote it down.
