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Friend, Fifty-three summers ago, in 1971, the SPLC was founded with the mission to ensure civil rights for all. With the generous financial support of hundreds of thousands of people across the country just like you, the SPLC won case after case, helping to stamp out remnants of Jim Crow segregation, putting violent white supremacist groups like the United Klans of America out of business, and protecting the rights of communities of color, children, women, people with disabilities, migrant workers and immigrants, LGBTQ people and others who faced discrimination and exploitation. “In the beginning, we were using the courts to enforce the civil rights laws enacted in the 1960s, with the aim of helping to make the promise of the civil rights movement a reality in the South,” SPLC co-founder Joe Levin said. “Even though Congress had passed the Civil Rights and Voting Rights acts a few years earlier, legal action was still needed to root out the remnants of Jim Crow segregation that were so deeply embedded in the laws, culture and customs of the South.” Today, we’re still doing that inaugural work — and so much more. Guided by clearly defined values and a renewed dedication to collaboration, the SPLC is the preeminent organization in the Deep South fighting for racial justice and an equitable world where all can thrive. And we don’t take that responsibility lightly. The next 50 years of progress in the march for justice must be a turning point. Our fragile, imperfect democracy is in crisis. White supremacy and political violence have become dangerously normalized. There is a backlash against the gains we’ve made and the growing power of Black and Brown communities, and that backlash seeks to erode our safety and our civil rights. Whatever you can give to support our mission makes a real, measurable difference in the ongoing movement to dismantle white supremacy and advance the human rights of all people. Please, friend, consider making a special gift today to ensure our work continues when it’s needed most.
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