How pathetic is the SPLC? – Commentary by Greg Hanson
Special Note: Our High Tech BS detector sniffed out the distortions and misleading information----OK, downright fantasy---in the
SPLC website link below. Our Artic Bureau Chief, Greg Hanson, shares what his research reveals.
Southern Poverty Lie Center
We all have a negative view of the SPLC, and at the same time we fear it. I know for a fact that they monitor the Southern Heritage News & Views Email list. After I mentioned on a few occasions that a "hate group" listed as existing in my town, Apple Valley MN, was nowhere to be found, and no one had ever heard of it, the SPLC dropped it off its list of "hate groups" in Minnesota.
The SPLC is the recipient of tons of free publicity from the dominant media, and millions of dollars in donations. They mail their unintelligent Intelligence Report to police stations all over the country, and sell large quantities of their "training" material to schools all over the country.
With all that money, and publicity, you would think that their website, www.splcenter.org, would be a hopping place. Well, according to Alexa its ranking is 99,609, with a reach of 10 per million Internet users, or approximately 2,000 hits a day. 3,354 sites supposedly link to their site. After reviewing the first ten pages of those that link to their site, they turn out to be businesses, newspapers, and search engines. There were several strange sites, where I could not find their link to the SPLC. Check out the following example:
http://new.xanga.com/skin.asp?user=summer123.
I suspect this list [of links] is very inflated.
They have a map of the U.S. covered with dots, squares, triangles; all signifying the presence of "hate groups." By looking at this layout you would get the impression that you couldn't turn around without running into a "hate group." When you click on the individual state they give you the number of such groups in that particular state, along with the number of "hate crimes" reported in that state.
For the Southern states they list:
| ST |
# Groups |
# Hate Crimes |
| TX |
48 groups |
1 "hate crime" graffiti |
| LA |
20 groups |
1 cross burning |
| AR |
21 groups |
0 |
| MO |
16 groups |
1 attempted murder |
| MS |
27 groups |
0 |
| AL |
34 groups |
3 including 1 literature distribution and a cross burning listed as two incidents because 2 people were involved.
|
| GA |
31 groups |
2 graffiti |
| FL |
44 groups |
10, 6 graffiti, and 4 assaults |
| SC |
42 groups |
0 |
| NC |
31 groups |
4, 3 literature distribution and 1 firearms violation by a supposed Klansman |
| TN |
24 groups |
0 |
| KY |
12 groups |
1 murder of a homosexual man |
| VA |
25 groups |
1 reported case of a racial slur |
| WVA |
6 groups |
0 |
| OK |
6 groups |
0 |
My home state of Minnesota apparently has 7 "hate groups" the number of "hate crimes" is one incident involving two teenagers spray-painting graffiti. This one incident was listed as two separate "hate crimes".
Of course none of these "hate crimes" are actually attributed to any particular "hate group." It is interesting to notice that they list the distribution of fliers or literature as a "hate crime." I've always been under the impression that the distribution of fliers and literature was protected under the First Amendment, even if we don't agree with it.
They also list all the chapters of the League of the South operating in a particular state as separate groups. Of the 42 "hate groups" listed for South Carolina, 33 are LoS chapters, 1 KKK chapter, 2 Neo-Nazi chapters, 2 Nation of Islam chapters, 3 European-American Unity and Rights Organization chapters, and 1 Council of Conservative Citizens chapter. It's indeed surprising that the seething cauldron of hate that South Carolina is that we find 0 "hate crimes," not even a literature distribution. You would think that with this whole range of "hate groups" that there would be bodies all over the place.
This is just how pathetic the SPLC is. Yes, they have a huge sum of money, and an army of newspapers willing to inflate their importance, but in reality it is simply a nest of liars, and charlatans.
Actually, I'm disappointed that they haven't seen fit to add a Confederate flag on the Minnesota map. I guess it's because I'm just one person, their criteria is that a "hate group" has to consist of at least 2 people. My wife has informed me that if I don't stop gaining weight I might be able to be counted as two people, thus qualifying as a group.
Greg Hanson lives in Apple Valley, Minnesota. Contact Greg at lookingsouth03@yahoo.com.
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