Friend,
Testifying today before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime,
Terrorism, and Homeland Security, SPLC President and CEO Margaret
Huang urged government action to address the recent spate of bomb
threats against Historically Black Universities and Colleges (HBCUs)
and attacks against other minority communal institutions.
HBCUs have been essential for the education and elevation of Black
leaders and intellectuals for over 150 years and are renowned as
indispensable hubs of Black excellence. Of the 107 HBCUs in the United
States, 44 are in the five states where the SPLC has a significant
presence - Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi.
These threats have a grave impact on the communities we work
alongside. They are a symptom of the white supremacy that the SPLC was
founded to dismantle and are alarmingly reminiscent of this
country's long history of white supremacist attacks on Black
leaders and Black churches - attacks aimed explicitly at
terrorizing Black communities to assert control.
In her testimony, Huang addressed the current threat of extremist
violence and hate crimes and urged support for victims and for
programs designed to prevent radicalization. She also underscored the
necessity for digital literacy and for inclusive education that
grapples with our nation's hard history of discrimination and
oppression.
You can read the full testimony here.
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Press reports indicate that the FBI has focused its investigation on
six radicalized, "tech-savvy" youthful suspects who
appeared to time their threats to disrupt Black History Month. One of
the young offenders reportedly claimed a connection with the
Atomwaffen Division
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, a terroristic, neo-Nazi organization the SPLC has been tracking over
the past five years. This kind of radicalization is increasingly
common as extremist propaganda reaches vast audiences through social
media.
Dangerous and false conspiracy theories like the "great
replacement" theory now circulate widely in extremist spaces and
infiltrate the political mainstream. This racist premise asserts that
there's a systematic attempt to replace white people in the U.S.
and broader Western world with non-white immigrants to dilute white
power. And it lays the groundwork for terrorist violence. Since 2015,
extremists inspired by this theory have launched deadly terror attacks
in Charleston, South Carolina; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Christchurch,
New Zealand; Poway, California; and El Paso, Texas - killing
dozens of people. Despite its clearly violent implications,
politicians and pundits now repeat the myth regularly.
To help address this problem, the SPLC and American University's
Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab (PERIL) have
published a guide for parents and caregivers
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to help them recognize the signs of radicalization.
At the conclusion of her testimony, Huang shared the following five
policy recommendations to encourage Congress to take action to prevent
future violence and halt increasing radicalization:
Speak out against hate, political violence and extremism
Words matter, especially from our leaders. It is impossible to
overstate the importance of elected officials, business leaders and
military commanders using their public platforms to condemn hate
crimes, threats to HBCUs and vandalism and violence against houses of
worship and other minority institutions.
Improve government response to domestic extremism
The Biden administration and Congress should continue to closely track
and assess the nature and magnitude of domestic extremism and should
fund resilience and digital literacy initiatives and government and
academic research on best evidenced-based prevention programs.
Enforce current laws
Every state prohibits private militias, and many states have laws that
prohibit political violence, restrict firearms in state
capitol/government buildings and near polling places, and ban
paramilitary training in furtherance of, or in preparation for, civil
disorder. Federal and state authorities should take action to raise
awareness about these laws - and enforce them.
Promote online safety and hold tech and social media companies
accountable
It is frighteningly simple for racists and extremists to disseminate
propaganda, recruit followers, generate profits and spread
intimidation on major social media platforms. Tech companies must
create - and enforce - Terms of Service and policies to
ensure that social media platforms, payment service providers and
other internet-based services do not enable the funding or
amplification of white supremacist ideas, or otherwise provide a safe
haven for extremists.
Teach truth and fund prevention initiatives to steer individuals away
from hate and extremism
Disinformation and conspiracy theories are galvanizing attacks on
democracy and government institutions. Many groups sharing conspiracy
theories offer their potential supporters simple answers to complex
questions. We must confront the insidious nature of this
disinformation and conspiratorial thinking, which can lead to
ideologically motivated violence.
In Solidarity,
The Southern Poverty Law Center
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