Reports
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- Dismantling White Supremacy
Whose Heritage? Community Action Guide
Across the South, Americans of all races, ethnicities and creeds are asking why governmental bodies in a democracy based on the promise of equality should display symbols so closely associated with the bondage and oppression of African Americans.
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- Dismantling White Supremacy
Part III: New Forms of Public Memory
Our Heritage Lost Cause mythology holds that Confederate symbols do not represent white supremacy or an attempt to rewrite history but instead embody an innocuous preserving of “Southern heritage.” This is not true. Historical evidence reveals that the existence of more than 2,000 Confederate memorials across the country is the result of an organized propaganda…
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- Dismantling White Supremacy
Part II: The Contemporary Landscape
The Politics of Civil War Memory At no point during the Civil War did any Confederate symbol come within six miles of the U.S. Capitol. Yet on Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol rioter Kevin Seefried carried a Confederate battle flag right inside. What we think of today as the Confederate flag was one of many flags…
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- Dismantling White Supremacy
Part I: Whose Heritage Do Confederate Memorials Represent?
“The Confederacy Is Dead; Long Live the Confederacy!“ In February 1865, two months before the end of the Civil War, the Confederate mayor of Charleston, South Carolina, surrendered. One person who accepted his surrender was William Dupree, Second Lieutenant of the Massachusetts 55th Infantry Regiment — a Black regiment. Imagine the power of an African…
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- Dismantling White Supremacy
Whose Heritage? 4th Edition: Director’s Note
There Is Still Room for Truth Depending on your location, you may find that where statues once stood honoring white supremacist Confederate leaders, there are now plaques explaining the truthful, painful history of Black enslavement and subjugation. Or you may still be forced to bear witness to the carved stone faces of, or buildings named…
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- Eliminating Poverty and Economic Inequality
Ending Business as Usual: The Need for Alabama Civil Asset Forfeiture Data Transparency
Introduction Alabama residents Greg and Teresa Almond lost their home, business and reputation, and were forced to live in a utility shed without running water, after law enforcement raided their home over $50 worth of marijuana that was allegedly not even theirs — all stemming from the practice of civil asset forfeiture. Civil asset forfeiture…
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Annual Report
Even in the most hostile climates, the Southern Poverty Law Center defended people’s rights.
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- Eliminating Poverty and Economic Inequality
Mississippi underfunding worsens a racially disparate education system
Mississippi’s education system has consistently ranked at or near the bottom nationally due to chronic underfunding as well as systemic issues of poverty and racial injustice that are rooted in the legacy of chattel slavery and oppression. For Black and Brown children in Mississippi, who comprise nearly a plurality of the state’s public school students,…
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- Ending Unjust Imprisonment
Georgia’s youth legal system overemphasizes punishment
In 2022, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that three teenagers died within weeks of each other in Georgia’s youth detention facilities – one after participating in a “fight game” in front of a correctional officer – drawing scrutiny to how incarcerated youth in Georgia are treated. However, these reports of abuse told a troublesome narrative of…
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- Dismantling White Supremacy
Hate Crimes, Explained
The starting point for understanding hate crimes and their impact is to recognize that criminal activity motivated by bias is different from other criminal conduct. First, these crimes occur because of the perpetrator’s bias or animus against the victim on the basis of actual or perceived status. The victim’s race, religion, ethnicity, gender, gender identity,…
