Why I No Longer Support the Southern Poverty Law Center

It is conventional wisdom that social media in general, and Twitter in particular, is a cesspool where people let their basest instincts run wild, engaging in shouting matches rather than even trying to engage others in honest discussion.

There's a lot of truth to that.

But it IS possible to make a difference, and I want to record here that Twitter actually changed my mind about something.  It is thanks to Twitter that I have decided to end my support of the Southern Poverty Law Center, and instead switch my support to the Southern Center for Human Rights.

For those who aren't yet familiar, the SPLC has undergone an upheaval in recent weeks.  It ousted its founder, Morris Dees, for unspecified reasons which likely have to do with allegations of sexual harrassment.  Then a few days later, Richard Cohen, who took over leadership of the SPLC from Dees 2003, also stepped down.

This can be viewed either as a good thing or a bad thing.  It's bad because these changes appear to be driven by long-standing institutional sexism and bigotry within the organization --- which, needless to say, was news to me.  But it can also be viewed as good if --- that is, IF --- the changes are a harbinger of an organization working to remain true to the values it proclaims itself to champion.  So when I first heard about these changes, I was on the fence about whether to continue my support.

What finally changed my mind was this essay by Nathan J. Robinson, which I first encountered via Twitter.  While Robinson also recounts the ideological contradictions within SPLC, he further makes the point that SPLC often spends the money it collects unwisely --- if it spends it at all.  For the fiscal year ending October 2017, for example, SPLC took in more than twice as much money as it spent.  I make donations to a civil rights and justice organization so that my dollars can be working for civil rights and justice, not gathering interest.

(It should be noted that even SPLC's critics --- if they're honest --- acknowledge that the organization has done a lot of good.  While Mr. Robinson's essay is about 90% critical, he does point out that "The SPLC could run through a very long list of its admirable legal triumphs.")

So I have taken Mr. Robinson's suggestion to donate to the Southern Center for Human Rights, instead, an organization which takes in far less money than SPLC, but actually spends most of what they collect --- and so far as I can tell, they already have their house in order when it comes to their organizational structure.

Anyway, considering that I've been advocating for the SPLC for a few years now, I felt an obligation to let any readers who might accidentally be reading this know about that organization's problems.

And also, parenthetically, to point out that in rare cases, it is still possible to change someone's mind on social media.