Deep-pocketed donors flocked to the SPLC to heal America’s divisions. Did it pay off?

Published September 13, 2026 6:05am ET



The Southern Poverty Law Center made a name for itself by using lawsuits to dismantle widely condemned racist groups, such as Ku Klux Klan chapters. But decades after its 1971 founding, controversies keep piling up on the charity: an employee arrested in Georgia in 2023 alongside antifa-style protesters, a growing “Hate Map” painting conservatives as extremists, and now, a criminal prosecution for fraud.

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