Who is the SPLC?
SPLC was founded by Morris Dees, an Alabama attorney, in 1971. Since that time SPLC has raised hundreds of millions of dollars “outing” organizations they deem to be right-wing hate groups. While their often wild accusations are still reported by an unquestioning mainstream media, SPLC was itself “outed” in the November 2000 issue of Harper’s Magazine, a venerable and independent mainstream publication (see below). According to contributing editor Ken Silverstein in an article entitled, “The Church of Morris Dees,” the SPLC is little more than a direct mail outfit that has raised heaps of money hyping hate crimes—real and imagined—while doing virtually nothing for the victims. At the time his article appeared, Silverstein claimed that the SPLC had $120 million in the bank. This included the surplus from $27 million it had raised the previous year through its direct mail operation, though it had spent only $13 million on its civil rights’ activities. The group spends twice as much on fu
