Southern Poverty Law Center Founder Reacts to Charleston Shooting
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Morris Dees, the co-founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center, is speaking out about the tragic shooting in Charleston.
The Southern Poverty Law Center was founded more than 40 years ago…during the aftermath of the Civil Rights Movement. It was founded to fight racism and discrimination in schools and workplaces. But now, officials with the SPLC say they are seeing a new movement of racism.
Authorities continue to investigate a shooting in a Charleston, South Carolina church that claimed the lives on nine people. While many are now scratching their heads and looking for answers, Southern Poverty Law Center Co-founder Morris Dees says he’s not surprised by the hate crime.
“In South Carolina there’s what they call a white genocide movement, founded by a guy there who believes that diversity and African Americans are destroying white America.”
While we don’t know whether Dylann Roof, the alleged gunman, was indeed part of that movement, Dees says what he did was intentional.
“It’s really not the first time that we’ve seen churches used by people who felt like their life in America was threatened.”
While authorities are treating the shooting as a hate crime, some are calling it a crime against the Christian Church, a notion Dees disagrees with.
“This guy goes into a church and screams out racial epitaphs. It’s a crime against African Americans.”
And Dees goes a step further, calling it terrorism.
“If this man who did this was considered a member of Al Queda or ISIS, this country would be in an uproar.”
The SPLC tracks and fights hate groups across the country but Dylann Roof was not on their radar.
“In this particular situation, it comes under the category of what we call, I guess you might say a lone wolf. Somebody who is not connected with a certain group but is maybe influenced by them.”
He says while white supremacists are no longer wearing hoods, the attitude is still the same.
“These people have to blame somebody so they blame jews, African Americans, a black president…so it’s complicated issues.”
