SPLC Collapses Black Separatist Listing from “Hate Map” Because Black Separatism is “Rooted in Valid Concerns”

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Feb 12, 2021

America’s largest hate group, the Southern Poverty Law Center, tweeted on Monday that they were “collapsing the Black Separatist listing” on their so-called “hate map” because “black separatism was born out of valid anger against very real historical and systemic oppression.”

The tweet included a link to an article from October that initially announced the change, titled “Equity Through Accuracy: Changes to Our Hate Map.”

The SPLC stated, however, that they were not necessarily going to scrub black separatist groups from their website. They claimed they would still “monitor” them while “transferring them to hate ideologies […] that better describe the harm their rhetoric inflicts.”

“Black separatist groups land on the SPLC’s hate map because they propagate antisemitic, anti-LGBTQ and male supremacist views, not because they oppose a white supremacist power structure,” the article said.

The SPLC then digs into the specific reasons why they decided to make the change. They do not wish to appear like they’re “suppressing” black activism or supporting “criminalizing and over-policing.”

“Black separatism is a response to white supremacy and white nationalism; it has not, however, received the same mainstream attention as white nationalism. Nor do Black separatists have the overwhelming share of racially motivated violence attributed to their overall goals of separation. Yes, some Black nationalists have committed violence against Jewish communities, but those are fueled by antisemitism, not separatism. Additionally, Black separatism is rooted in valid concerns about how federal and state institutions treat Black people,” they argue.

The SPLC also appeals to “power dynamics” and claims that “white supremacy” represents the country’s actual threat. Although acknowledging the anti-whiteness of black separatists, the “realities of racial power dynamics” dictate that “black separatism” and “white supremacy” are false equivalents. One is understandable, one is completely abhorrent.

But would the SPLC maintain the same logic for a so-called “black supremacist” state that oppressed its white minority, such as South Africa? Would they grant that “white separatism” is understandable and “rooted in valid concerns”? Of course not. Oppressed whites still have “privilege” at the end of the day.

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