The SPLC Backs Woke History at James Madison’s Montpelier – By Brenda M. Hafera (Real Clear Public Affairs) / July 28, 2022
Virginia is for history lovers. George Washington’s Mount Vernon, Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, and James Madison’s Montpelier – a triad of epicenters of our nation’s past – are all within driving distance.
Those who own and operate these historic houses have a significant say over how the American Founding is taught. Unfortunately, as described in a new Heritage Foundation report, the Southern Poverty Law Center’s (SPLC) work has been influential at James Madison’s Montpelier.
You might think Montpelier would focus on Madison’s numerous accomplishments, particularly his role in shaping the Constitution and the nation. You would be wrong. They now concentrate almost exclusively on slavery, its “central role in the framing of the nation” and its “lasting legacies.” In so doing, Montpelier ignores and diminishes Madison and puts identity politics over the American Founding.
The SPLC is famous for maintaining a list of “hate groups” that has come to include individuals and organizations they disagree with like the Family Research Council, which was targeted by a gunman who found them on the SPLC’s “hate map.” Another of the SPLC’s initiatives is “Teaching Tolerance” (rebranded “Learning for Justice”). The project provides educational resources, including guides for “Teaching Hard History” (what they refer to as “frameworks”) for addressing slavery in classrooms. Their materials are often sent directly to schools, bypassing parents.
