Can an “anti-hate group” have a hostile work environment? Will a group that maintains a “hate map” find hate in its own HQ? Can an organization that trades in bogus accusations survive something as bogus as a “workplace cultural compliance” investigation? Will a former Obama insider really expose the depredations of fellow “social justice” crusaders? Stay tuned to find out on the next episode of Southern Poverty Law!
The Montgomery Advertiser is reporting that Southern Poverty Law Center “hired a Chicago-based lawyer well-versed in gender and racial equity issues to review its workplace environment and policies” to give it “an immediate, top-to-bottom external review of our workplace culture” and policies.” That lawyer is former Michelle Obama Chief of Staff Tina Tchen, and the moves comes just days after SPLC canned its co-founder, Morris Dees, for “undisclosed misconduct issues.”
“Tchen on Monday would not specifically speak to the issues her SPLC review might focus on,” according to the Advertiser, “though she said it would look ‘holistically’ at its workplace culture to ‘build diverse workplaces’ for all groups of people.”
The Advertiser does say “the center's 2019 board and senior staff reveals that senior leadership at SPLC remains largely white,” and that “multiple employees sent a signed letter to SPLC leadership outlining concerns about workplace culture as well as sexism and racism, according to a Los Angeles Times report. Former employees tell the Advertiser the SPLC has been a "toxic" work environment for some time, with high employee turnover.”
That’s gotta hurt.
This is the kind of development ethics scholars refer to as “delicious.” SPLC is a progressive direct mail giant — a lefty hate group that makes gobs of money screaming “Hate Group” at anyone to the right of The World Workers Party. These include mainstream Christian and religious freedom groups. With its fraudulent charges and “hate map,” SPLC has inspired more political violence than any conservative “hate” mongers it’s slandered.
Despite a formal request from conservative leaders to cut ties with SPLC, media outlets pass on its smears and quote SPLC as an authority (NPR recently called SPLC a “revered civil rights watchdog,” while hyping its latest phony hate statistics). They’ll sometimes note that SPLC’s hate judgements are “controversial.” But few go into details, like a British court ordering it to cough up $3.4 million and an abject apology to a Muslim anti-Sharia activist it had smeared, or the fact that that the Department of Defense and the FBI cut ties to the SPLC.
So the prospect of SPLC suffering through an audit by a professional feminist is, er, entertaining. In addition to working for the First Lady of identity politics, Tchen is a veteran of gender equity initiatives, as well as in the formation of the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault. She is also a co-founder of the TIME'S UP Legal Defense Fund. Will she go easy on the fellow travelers she calls an “incredible institution?” Time will tell. But the meantime won’t be pleasant for SPLC.
Couldn’t happen to a nicer group.
