I was born into a family that believed in God, loved America and taught that every human being possesses human dignity.Long before prejudice and identity-based politics became fixtures of American life, I learned a simple truth that guided my family’s work and shaped the civil rights movement itself: we are one blood, one human race.My family background is very diverse.
My grandmother’s family came from the west coast of Africa.My grandfather’s family came from Ireland.
My mother’s family included Cherokee roots.I have spent my entire life living the reality that America is not a collection of competing tribes.
America is one people under God.My uncle, the Rev.Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr., did not dedicate his life to teaching Americans to see one another as permanent enemies.He did not divide people into categories of oppressors and oppressed.
He called us to a higher standard — to judge one another by character, to pursue justice without hatred and to recognize our shared humanity under God.That is why I am deeply concerned by the growing industry of division that has taken root in America — and by the role the Southern Poverty Law Center has played in fueling it.DR.BEN CARSON: I KNOW HOW BAD THE SPLC WAS, IT CAME AFTER ME AND PUT ME AT RISKSouthern Poverty Law Center interim CEO Bryan Fair defended the left-wing organization's designation of Turning Point USA as an extremist organization.
(Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Elizabeth Frantz/Bloomberg via Getty Images)For decades, the SPLC has positioned itself as a leading authority in the fight against hatred and extremism.Yet recent allegations detailed in a federal superseding indictment raise serious questions about whether the organization has lived up to the principles it claims to defend.According to those allegations, individuals associated with organizations that the SPLC itself labeled as extremist or hate groups allegedly received substantial payments over many years.
The indictment ...