Recent Southern Poverty Law Center Commentaries

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Ignore Trump? I Was Wrong!
Last week, I wrote that the media needs to ignore former president Donald Trump. I was wrong. None of us should ignore Donald Trump. Time and time again, Trump has proven himself to be a bigoted, misogynistic, narcissistic and dangerous liar. Now, he’s crossed the Rubicon . . . no course correction . . . no going back . ....
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December 6, 2022
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What We Need to Be
“We can’t become what we need to be by remaining what we are.” — Oprah Winfrey Confederate statues are coming down. Quaker Oats is dropping Aunt Jemima from its maple syrup. Even the new streaming service, HBO Max, has withdrawn, for the time being, the 1939 film, Gone with the Wind, due to its racist depictions. From appearances, the country...
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June 22, 2020
Read Some of the Most Recent Articles
The Latest... And Often Greatest
What J.D. Vance No Longer Stands For
Once celebrated as the thoughtful author of Hillbilly Elegy, Vance’s rise to the vice presidency is a lesson in political transformation—and not for the better....
Waiting for Mr. Smith
It may seem obvious, but it couldn’t be more urgent: we need about a thousand Mr. Smiths in Washington right now. We need the idealism,...
The Sword of Damocles
Harvard University now stands at an ethical crossroads—not just for itself, but for every educational entity in the country. While I never attended Harvard, you...
Why I Love Baseball
Reading sportswriter Joe Posnanski’s book Why We Love Baseball, I was struck by his storytelling—one tale after another about heroes, flubs, and the improbable moments...
Profiles in Republican Courage
Three U.S. Senators. Three Republicans. All support the Constitution and their conscience: Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, and Rand Paul of Kentucky—have...
Facts Matter
In recent years, many news stories have come under fire for misrepresenting or distorting facts, fueling public skepticism about the credibility of mainstream reporting. While...