Face to Face: SPLC President Margaret Huang strengthens ties with
Asian American journalists at informal D.C. gathering
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Rhonda Sonnenberg, SPLC Senior Staff Writer | Read the full piece here
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Friend,
Margaret Huang has made a strong mark on the Southern Poverty Law
Center since her 2020 arrival as the president and CEO amid the onset
of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Under her leadership, the SPLC has forged a new strategic direction
that allocates its resources toward rectifying the effects of systemic
racism in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia and Florida -
under the premise "as the South goes, so goes the nation
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," as scholar W.E.B. Du Bois said.
Huang has testified at congressional hearings on threats against
historically Black colleges and universities and on the rise of
far-right extremist groups, their infiltration of mainstream politics
and their direct attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
She has become the public face of the SPLC.
But the pandemic has largely kept the public from meeting her in
person. Until now.
In late June, Huang
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and members of the SPLC's executive leadership team
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welcomed some of the country's most prominent journalists
- all members of the Asian American Journalists Association
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(AAJA) - at an intimate gathering in Washington, D.C.
The event gave the SPLC an opportunity to showcase its deep research
and programmatic expertise, which can inform the journalists'
stories while at the same time extending the SPLC's public
reach.
"We want to support AAPI [Asian American Pacific Islander]
journalists, who bring a unique and valuable perspective to
news," Huang said. "The idea is that we want them to turn
to us when they need a quote or research to enrich their stories. [A
stronger relationship] gives us a chance to reach people who may
listen to an AAJA reporter when they may not listen ordinarily. We all
need to be paying attention to this community because of recent
demographic shifts."
AAPI population growing
As Huang noted, the AAPI population is the fastest-growing in the
nation
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. Huang herself is the daughter of a Chinese immigrant father and a
white mother whose family has been in the U.S. for many generations.
Between 2000 and 2019, this demographic grew 81%, significantly more
than the 70% increase among the Latinx community, according to the Pew
Research Center
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. In the 2020 presidential election, voting among Asian Americans rose
from just under 50% in 2014 to almost 60% in 2020. That was the
second-highest percentage increase for any racial or ethnic group in
the country, according to an AAPI Data blog
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, surpassed only by Pacific Islander Americans, who voted in numbers
14% higher - rising from about 41% in 2016 to 56% in 2020.
AAJA journalists in attendance at the event represented news outlets
including The Washington Post, Politico, Foreign Policy News, The New
York Times, Al Jazeera, and AARP podcast.
Huang noted that education and political reporters she spoke with
already use SPLC resources such as Learning for Justice's
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AAPI-tolerant curricula to educate audiences on hate, extremist state
legislative attacks on inclusive education - a bogeyman
conservatives refer to as "critical race theory" -
and the Intelligence Project's HateWatch
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, which profiles and tracks far-right extremist groups and leaders.
"Attacks on [so-called] critical race theory are attacks on all
American history," Huang said. "The AAJA is one of the
most active and impactful groups of journalists in the country. They
have strong respect from other journalists, and they are very good at
pushing out information less well known by other journalists."
As the guests and their hosts mingled, they discussed serious topics
like the current attack on voting rights, the coming midterm
congressional elections, and criminal justice reform. Huang and SPLC
representatives answered questions about the journalists'
portfolios and how the organization can help them with their research.
Nicole Dungca
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, an investigative reporter for The Washington Post, said the event
was especially welcome after being cut off from other journalists
since 2020.
"Coming out of COVID, it's been hard to meet people in
person," Dungca said. "It was good to meet other AAJA
members and be able to connect the two organizations. The SPLC and the
AAJA both share a concern for misinformation, so we want to check
misinformation about the AAPI community.
"I really just wanted to connect, to talk to people who could
help in the work we do," she said. "The event provided a
space for journalists to be able to meet Margaret and other potential
sources for them and for us. Margaret discussed the direction the SPLC
is moving in, such as expanding into voting rights
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, [a topic] that is important now and that our members will be focused
on in the coming election. I know that our members appreciated hearing
from Margaret what resources the SPLC has."
For Politico reporter Nicholas Wu, the event provided information in
an article
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quoting Michael Lieberman, the SPLC's senior policy counsel on
hate and extremism, about how the SPLC is providing testimony
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and research to the Jan. 6 committee.
SPLC Media Director Araba Dowell said the journalists expressed strong
interest in the organization's efforts to combat white
nationalist narratives because their association also prioritizes this
work.
"They also noted that they recognized how white supremacists are
at the center of pushing division between the Asian community and
Black people - and how they have to be vigilant and
conscientious of this, even in the newsroom," Dowell said.
"They also were curious about how we tracked our impact and
defined success - from a data and analytics standpoint. And,
finally, they identified opportunities in which we can work together
in the future, such as their AAJA Studio
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."
READ MORE
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In solidarity,
Your friends at the Southern Poverty Law Center
The SPLC is a catalyst for racial justice in the South and beyond,
working in partnership with communities to dismantle white supremacy,
strengthen intersectional movements, and advance the human rights of
all people.
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justice and equity in courts and combat white supremacy?
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