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The Michigan Messenger going forward

By Staff Report | 11.16.11

I am writing today to announce the closure of the Michigan Messenger. After four years of operation in Michigan, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news into a single site, The American Independent at Americanindependent.com. This is part of a shift in strategy, towards new forms [...]

Colorado-based abstinence program provided false and misleading information to Michigan students

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By Todd A. Heywood | 11.16.11

An abstinence-only presentation provided to numerous school districts in Calhoun and Eaton Counties in October of this year provided false and misleading information to students about HIV, experts allege.

Class action lawsuit filed against MERS over unpaid taxes

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By Todd A. Heywood | 11.15.11

Two county registers of deeds filed a class action lawsuit Monday on behalf of Michigan’s 83 counties alleging that the Mortgage Electronic Registration Services owes millions of dollars in property title transfer taxes.

Schuette fights important mercury regulations

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By Eartha Jane Melzer | 11.14.11

Despite evidence of the impact of mercury on children and public health, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette last month joined with 24 other state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to scuttle new EPA regulations that would reduce mercury emissions from power plants.

Easter eggs from Aryan Nations in Auburn Hills

By Todd A. Heywood | 03.16.10 | 11:06 am

Neighbors in Aurburn Hills were greeted with colorful Easter eggs Sunday — but inside, the eggs were filled with racist and anti-gay rhetoric. Brought to neighbors not by the Easter bunny, but by Aryan Nations, a white nationalist group.

The Oakland Press reports the eggs were stuffed with printed fliers and did not appear to be directed at any one person. The paper also reports there are no suspects in the case, although the fliers did have a website on them.

Fox 2 in Detroit reports that cops say there are “no local groups that are claiming responsibility.”

The Southern Poverty Law Center reports that in 2009, Michigan had 26 active hate groups. Among them are the American Nazi Party in Westland; National Socialist Movement in Detroit; Northern Hammerskins of Detroit; The United White Knights of the Klu Klux Klan of Detroit; Volksfront of Detroit and Vox Nationale of Warren.

Comments

  • RKeefe

    There is no legal definition for “hate group”. It is a meaningless smear the SPLC uses in its ongoing fear campaign, which has successfully frightened untold thousands of mostly elderly donors out of hundreds of millions of donor dollars.

    Professional journalists should not use this inaccurate and misleading term, or in any other way perpetuate SPLC fund-raising propaganda.

    If “hate groups” really did exist in law, the SPLC would be unqualified experts on the subject as the organization was founded by self-avowed Klan lawyer, Morris Dees. (http://wp.me/pCLYZ-F)

    This may account for the fact that NOT ONE of the SPLC's top ten, highest paid executives is a minority. (http://wp.me/pCLYZ-3r)

    The last remaining “Whites Only” sign in Montgomery hangs in the boardroom of the SPLC. Some “experts.”

  • ebrayton

    This is one of the silliest comments I think I've ever seen. I actually agree that sometimes the SPLC applies the term “hate group” too broadly. I agree that there is no legal definition for the term. If a legal argument were being made, that might be relevant. But if the Aryan Nation is not a hate group, we might as well remove the word 'hate' from the language altogether.

    And the fact that Morris Dees once defended a Klan member is utterly irrelevant. The ACLU has defended the Klan's rights along with many other loathsome groups, as well they should; if the Bill of Rights does not apply to them, it is put at risk for all of us. One can, of course, defend their constitutional rights while still condemning their hateful message.

    As for the claim that none of the SPLC's executives are minorities, perhaps you should check the statistics on the number of Jewish people in America. They are a very small minority.

  • RKeefe

    ebrayton, are you seriously suggesting that Jews are underrepresented in the legal profession? Or that Jews are non-White?

    There are even a couple of White women on that list, are you going to pretend that at 52% of the population, WOMEN are a “minority” too? How desperate are you to make a point?

    Did you actually say that one out loud before you typed it?

    My statement that “one of the nation's foremost civil rights groups,” headquartered in Montgomery, Alabama, the very cradle of the American Civil Rights movement, with nearly $190 MILLION donor dollars on hand, cannot, or will not, hire ONE SINGLE person of color to a six-digit-salaried, decision-making office on its board of directors stands true and accurate.

    I'm sorry if it hurts your feelings that your heroes are racists, but like the Ghost said to Scrooge, “I told you these were shadows of the things that have been,' said the Ghost. 'That they are what they are, do not blame me!”

    Take it up with your heroes.

    • ebrayton

      How very clever of you to suddenly change the subject from minorities in the country to minorities in the legal profession (and by the way, the answer is still yes; far less than 50% of all lawyers are Jewish). We weren't talking about the legal profession, we were talking about American society. I think you need to brush up on your intellectual honesty just a bit before trying to engage in rational discussion.

      • RKeefe

        ebrayton, I know when I've been beaten. You win.

        Silly me. I looked at the shiny white faces of the people the SPLC listed in their IRS Form 990 as their top ten, highest paid officers, and for the life of me, I couldn't see one single minority. (http://wp.me/pCLYZ-3r)

        Thanks to your parsing and mincing, the scales have fallen from my eyes and I can now see just how wrong I was. It's a veritable rainbow.

        Peace be with you,

        Proverbs 15:2

  • BrookeC

    RKeefe, if you don't think that the Southern Poverty Law Center is doing a good job looking out for the rights of minorities, why don't you found your own group? Anybody can found a private not-for-profit group and solicit donations to support it. That's what the founders of SPLC did. Nobody is forcing anybody to support them. Donors – like myself, who is not “elderly” – do so by our own choice. That's the American way, right?

  • RKeefe

    Brooke,

    You're absolutely right. If you're comfortable with the fact that your pet charity was founded by a self-avowed Klan lawyer, (http://wp.me/pCLYZ-F), and won't hire a single executive of color, (http://wp.me/pCLYZ-3r), that's good enough for me.

    A lot of people would be bothered by the fact that the Better Business Bureau hasn't listed the SPLC as an accredited charity in years, …”due to a lack of commitment to transparency…”, but not us. (http://www.bbb.org)

    Some hate-filled racists would look at the SPLC's own audited financial statement, prepared by their own bookkeepers, and be bothered by the numbers. Not us.

    Who cares if the SPLC took in $31 MILLION donor dollars last year, spent $1.1 million, (about 3.5%) on “legal case costs”, while spending $2.2 million on fund-raising postage, $3 million on fund-raising printing costs, and dumping a cool $4 million donor dollars into their $189 million donor dollar slush fund? Not me.

    Frankly, I'm with you that $12.4 million the SPLC paid in wages to multimillionaires like Morris Dees and Dick Cohen was money well-spent. Lots of non-profits spend 43% of their annual incomes on salaries. That's why they're called non-profits, right? (http://wp.me/pCLYZ-34)

    If none of those minor details bother you, who am I to be concerned? This is still a free country and you have every right to give your hard earned dollars to anyone you please.

    Go in peace.

  • DoubleDuece

    The Board of Directors who I may remind you, is collectively oversees the operations of the SPLC, is quite diverse. The board is as follows:

    http://www.splcenter.org/who-we-are/board-of-di…

    • RKeefe

      If you look at page 7 of the SPLC's latest IRS Form 990, found under the “Financial Information” link in the “Who We Are” section, you'll note that all of the “Directors,” with the exception of Joe Levin, are paid exactly zero.

      (http://www.splcenter.org/sites/default/files/do…)

      On page 132 of his autobiography, “A Season for Justice”, Morris Dees explains how he offered Julian Bond the “largely ceremonial” office of President when he first opened the SPLC in 1971.

      Dees explains that he “needed a name” to put on his first batch of fund-raising letters. Neither man had ever met the other, so it's unlikely Bond gave Dees the use of his name for nothing. This was purely a case of “celebrity endorsement”.

      Bond gets two and a half paragraphs in Dees 353 page book. You have to wonder how much of an impact he had then as the “ceremonial President” and now as one of several “Directors”. (http://wp.me/pCLYZ-p)

      This is more “brownwashing” from the consummate marketeer, Morris Dees. Lot's of “colorful” people, but no pay and no impact on the organization.

      Lecia Brooks may possibly be the highest paid minority at the SPLC. Pages 7 and 8 of the Form 990 lists the “Compensation of Officers, Directors, Trustees, Key Employees and Highest Paid Employees.” Ms. Brooks does not make this list.

      The lowest paid person on that list is Michael Toohey, at $73,454, (The only 5-digit salary on the form). Ms. Brooks must be making less than that.

      My statement that “NOT ONE of the SPLC's top ten, highest paid executives is a minority” is accurate.

      The SPLC “talks the talk,” but that's about all.

  • RKeefe

    If you look at page 7 of the SPLC's latest IRS Form 990, found under the “Financial Information” link in the “Who We Are” section, you'll note that all of the “Directors,” with the exception of Joe Levin, are paid exactly zero.

    (http://www.splcenter.org/sites/default/files/do…)

    On page 132 of his autobiography, “A Season for Justice”, Morris Dees explains how he offered Julian Bond the “largely ceremonial” office of President when he first opened the SPLC in 1971.

    Dees explains that he “needed a name” to put on his first batch of fund-raising letters. Neither man had ever met the other, so it's unlikely Bond gave Dees the use of his name for nothing. This was purely a case of “celebrity endorsement”.

    Bond gets two and a half paragraphs in Dees' 353 page book. You have to wonder how much of an impact he had then as the “ceremonial President” and now as one of several unpaid “Directors”. (http://wp.me/pCLYZ-p)

    This is more “brownwashing” from the consummate marketeer, Morris Dees. Lot's of “colorful” people, but no pay and no impact on the organization.

    Lecia Brooks may possibly be the highest paid minority at the SPLC. Pages 7 and 8 of the Form 990 lists the “Compensation of Officers, Directors, Trustees, Key Employees and Highest Paid Employees.” Ms. Brooks does not make this list.

    The lowest paid person on that list is Michael Toohey, at $73,454, (The only 5-digit salary on the form). Ms. Brooks must be making less than that.

    My statement that “NOT ONE of the SPLC's top ten, highest paid executives is a minority” is accurate.

    The SPLC “talks the talk,” but that's about all.

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