George Clooney and wife Amal add their voices – and financial assistance – to the ongoing fight against extremism, bigotry and hatred.
Legendary film actor George Clooney and his wife Amal have teamed up with the Southern Poverty Law Center, providing “$1 million in funding to immediately expand the Center’s efforts to combat hate groups in the United States.”
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) reports that “In the wake of the deadly violence at a white nationalist gathering in Charlottesville, Virginia, [the center is] partnering with the Clooney Foundation for Justice to increase the capacity of the SPLC to combat hate groups in the United States.”
“Amal and I wanted to add our voice (and financial assistance) to the ongoing fight for equality,” George and Amal Clooney said in a statement. “There are no two sides to bigotry and hate.”
“We are proud to support the Southern Poverty Law Center in its efforts to prevent violent extremism in the United States. What happened in Charlottesville, and what is happening in communities across our country, demands our collective engagement to stand up to hate,” the couple added.
SPLC President Richard Cohen stated that: “Like George and Amal Clooney, we were shocked by the size, ugliness, and ferocity of the white supremacist gathering in Charlottesville. It was a reflection of just how much Trump’s incendiary campaign and presidency has energized the radical right. We are deeply grateful to the Clooney Foundation for standing with us at this critical moment in our country’s fight against hate.”
George and Amal Clooney established the Clooney Foundation for Justice in 2016 “to advance justice in courtrooms, communities, and classrooms around the world.”
The foundation’s website states that:
We believe that justice means fighting for the rights of individuals unfairly targeted by oppressive governments through the courts. But justice is more than what is meted out in courts, it is litigated in communities as well. Advancing the cause of justice also means advancing justice for marginalized and vulnerable communities targeted by hate; justice for displaced children deprived of opportunities to learn; justice for refugees seeking to rebuild their lives abroad.
George and Amal Clooney serve as the foundation’s presidents and David Pressman, the U.S. Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations for Special Political Affairs, serves as the executive director.
The SPLC was founded in 1971 by civil rights lawyers Morris Dees and Joseph Levin Jr. “to ensure that the promise of the civil rights movement became a reality for all.”
The SPLC is dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry and to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of our society. Using litigation, education, and other forms of advocacy, the SPLC works toward the day when the ideals of equal justice and equal opportunity will be a reality.
The SPLC “currently tracks more than 1,600 extremist groups operating across the country, and has used litigation to win crushing court judgments against 10 major white supremacist organizations and 50 individuals who led them or participated in violent acts.”
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