Heidi Beirich, director of research at Southern Poverty Law Center’s Hatewatch, an intelligence project devoted to stopping hate groups in America, spoke to members of the Blount Undergraduate Initiative Monday.
Beirich spoke about how hate groups are increasing each year and explained which are more predominant.
“In America today, there are 1,002 hate groups, two-thirds of them being white extremist groups,” Beirich said. “The Department of Justice did a study in 2005 showing in America there were 200,000 hate crimes that year. Since 2007, many hate groups started to emerge. [President Barack] Obama is a huge factor.”
Beirich also spoke about specific instances of hate crimes and explained the SPLC’s role in responding to some of them in the past.
“The last lynching of the South was in 1981 and took place in Mobile, Alabama,” she said.
She said Michael Donald was lynched by two members of the United Klans of America. Eventually, the SPLC won the case and UKA could not pay the damages imposed by the lawsuit, so they were forced to sell their headquarters.
At the end of the convocation, a student asked about the rise of gay hate groups in America.
“There is a growing number of gay hate groups in America,” Beirich confirmed. “The American Family Association and Family Research Council are two of the hate groups.”
“The convocation was interesting and shocking,” said Lexi Poston, a freshman majoring in international studies. “I have enjoyed the convocations I’ve been to.”
Convocation is a way for students in Blount to hear different speakers talk about relevant topics from books they are reading and current events. The organization began in 1999, according to Joe Hornsby, director of Blount.
“We are a living-learning program part of the Blount Curriculum,” Hornsby said. “Most students go to graduate school from Blount, approximately 10 to 15 percent go to medical school and about 20 percent go to law school.”
At the convocation, Beirich said she joined the SPLC in 1999 after getting her doctorate in political science at Purdue University. Currently, she serves as contributing editor for the SPLC’s publication “Intelligence Report” and as the SPLC spokeswoman on matters of domestic extremism.
According to Beirich, the SPLC was created in 1971 by founders Morris Dees and Joe Levine Jr. in Montgomery. The mission of the organization is to eventually destroy what they classify as hate organizations around the nation.
“We are a nonprofit organization, aiding in getting rid of hate groups,” Beirich said. “Our goal is to stop these extremist groups from attacking and causing harm.”
