State Department Touts SPLC, Open Society Foundation in Grant

The State Department touted the work of the Southern Poverty Law Center and George Soros's Open Society Foundation in announcing a new grant extended to British organizations to create a program teaching high school students about the United States' tactics in countering hate crimes.

The Embassy of the United States in London included the progressive groups among "organizations of interest" listed in the grant description of the "Youth Exchange on Social Cohesion" program, through which $50,000-75,000 will be awarded for the development of a program that brings UK high school students stateside to learn about American strategies in building communities that prevent violent extremism and radicalization.

The SPLC, a legal advocacy and civil rights watchdog, purports to combat racist organizations and individuals, but has been panned for classifying Muslim moderates as "anti-Muslim extremists." Maajid Nawaz, a prominent UK Muslim reformer who founded an anti-radicalization organization, is suing the SPLC for identifying him as an Islamophobe. The SPLC has also refused to designate "antifa" a hate group, while applying that epithet to politically conservative and religious groups.

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