Friend,

Last year was challenging yet transformative for our nation and our communities. Together, we faced new barriers in the fight against hate and bigotry brought on by the coronavirus pandemic and an energized anti-democratic hate movement.

With your help, the Southern Poverty Law Center expanded its work for justice and equity, supporting the rights and dignity of those most harmed by COVID-19 and its rippling social and economic effects. And we wholeheartedly turned our focus to the systems of oppression that affect ourselves and our society.

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Confronting Hate and Extremism

The SPLC has tracked hate groups and domestic extremists’ activities for four decades. We found that the events of 2020 – a deadly global pandemic, racial justice protests and fraudulent claims about the presidential election – were used as opportunities for hatemongers to sow racial division, circulate propaganda and recruit members.

Here are the results of our work combating hate by the numbers.

• We identified 1,404 hate groups and anti-government groups.
• 168 Confederate monuments and symbols were removed from public spaces.
• Our Sounds Like Hate podcast, which investigates hate in modern America, was downloaded 179,282 times.
• Intelligence Project materials, which report on hate and extremism, received 18.7M+ page views.

Additionally, we testified before Congress on alarming incidents of white supremacy in the U.S. armed forces. We alerted poll workers and state election officials to threats posed by extremists to intimidate voters and disrupt the election process ahead of the presidential election and Senate runoffs in Georgia. We defended conversion therapy bans from attacks by anti-LGBTQ hate groups and held hate groups accountable for their harassment and violence through innovative legal action. And, in partnership with American University’s Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab (PERIL), we provided free resources designed to help caregivers, educators, and others recognize and respond to radicalization in the COVID-19 era.  

Voting Rights and Civic Engagement

The South has been historically overlooked as a viable national political organizing force, a perception that changed for many in 2020. The region is home to some of the most robust and transformative change movements in our nation’s history. To effectively counter the structural racism and other forms of oppression in this region, we’re heavily investing in building capacity for democratic organizing and civic participation.

Here are the results of our work on voting rights and civic engagement by the numbers.

• $12M provided to grassroots Get Out the Vote efforts in five Deep South states.
• 7,425 voters contacted through Vote Your Voice efforts.
• 100K+ students participated in social justice projects made possible by SPLC funding.
• 1.4M+ voters contacted through the efforts of SPLC’s Ballot Cure Program.
• 53,000+ media stories citing SPLC research and advocacy. 

We sued Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana to ensure equitable access to the ballot amid COVID-19 and onerous absentee voter restrictions that harmed Black voters, high-risk voters, voters with disabilities, low-propensity voters, membership organizations and voter engagement organizations. We increased the capacity of 40 civic engagement organizations with $12 million in Vote Your Voice initiative grants for grassroots mobilization activity. And, we halved the absentee ballot rejection rate in the Georgia elections compared to the June primary by contacting 7,425 voters in Georgia whose ballots would otherwise be rejected for procedural errors.

Equity, Justice and COVID-19

During 2020, the pandemic laid bare longstanding systemic racism and exacerbated an already severe wealth gap. The spread of COVID-19 and its rippling economic and social consequences disproportionately harmed the communities we work alongside for equity and justice. We quickly mobilized, leveraging our resources to address critical needs during this national crisis.

Here are the results of our work on equity, justice and COVID-19 by the numbers.

• 19,000+ incarcerated people received information on CARES Act stimulus benefits.
• 91 active cases currently being litigated.
• 41 new lawsuits filed.
• 115,880 educators joined our online network.
• 24.5M page views of Learning for Justice material.
• 190,000+ participants in the SPLC’s in-person and online professional learning through Learning for Justice.
• 140 people in detention granted bond or parole.

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Southern Poverty Law Center
400 Washington Avenue
Montgomery, AL 36104
334.956.8200 // splcenter.org
Copyright 2021