The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has faced criticism after its controversial decision to label several parental rights organizations, including Moms for Liberty, as “antigovernment groups” on its 2022 “hate map.” These groups, according to the SPLC, have been a part of concerted right-wing attacks on school curricula, particularly under the banner of parents’ rights.
The SPLC claims that these movements emerged partly as a response to the COVID-19 related public safety measures implemented in schools, but have evolved into a campaign against student inclusion, especially in relation to content about race, discrimination, and LGBTQ identities.
Among the most active of these groups is Moms for Liberty, a Florida-based organization with strong ties to the GOP. Members of the group have been seen at school board meetings nationwide, vocally asserting their opposition to government intervention in child-rearing. However, the SPLC report has been accused of presenting a one-sided view, omitting the promotion of sexualized content for children and controversial subjects like gender identity by left-leaning groups.
Historically, the SPLC has categorized conservative Christian groups, national security organizations, and immigration-related entities as hate groups based on their perceived anti-LGBTQ, anti-Muslim, and anti-immigrant stances. In its 2022 report, it introduces a new category: the “antigovernment movement,” characterizing such groups as part of America’s far-right fringe that rejects pluralism and equity, striving for a society dominated by hierarchy.
In the 2023 report, as shown below, the SPLC even overlayed Moms for Liberty chapters with KKK chapters in a map of the United States.
The SPLC’s emphasis on parental rights groups was previously hinted at in April when its representative, Maya Henson Carey, controversially compared such advocates to white supremacists seeking to uphold segregation post the Supreme Court’s 1954 ruling in Brown v. Board of Education. The SPLC itself has been embroiled in multiple scandals, including allegations of racial discrimination and sexual harassment that led to the dismissal of co-founder Morris Dees in 2019.
The categorization of parental rights groups as “antigovernment” by the SPLC has provoked backlash from these organizations. Nicole Neily, President of Parents Defending Education, criticized the SPLC’s attacks as “malicious” and “ridiculous.” She affirmed her organization’s commitment to fight against government-sponsored segregation programs and asserted that no attempts at discrediting them by organizations like SPLC would hamper their work for students.
