PREFATORY STATEMENT

 

This document is a continuing research record maintained by the Southern Legal Resource Center (SLRC), a 501(c)(3) educational and legal organization headquartered in Black Mountain, North Carolina.

 

The purpose of this publication is to document organizations, institutional initiatives, funding structures, advocacy campaigns, and public activities connected to the removal, suppression, renaming, reinterpretation, or reframing of CSA American historical heritage in public spaces, educational institutions, government property, and civic life.

 

While this report focuses specifically on CSA American historical heritage, many of the documented activities intersect more broadly with ongoing national debates concerning constitutional history, public memory, civic identity, educational standards, and the interpretation of American history.

 

This publication was developed in recognition of the growing influence of institutional classification systems, activist campaigns, funding networks, and public databases used to identify, pressure, marginalize, or delegitimize organizations and individuals associated with CSA American historical heritage.

 

The activities documented in this report frequently involve the public stigmatization, institutional marginalization, reputational targeting, or removal from civic recognition of organizations, symbols, memorials, and individuals associated with Confederate or CSA American historical identity. The SLRC maintains that these activities raise significant concerns involving historical viewpoint discrimination, unequal cultural treatment, and the selective exclusion of CSA American heritage from public life and historical memory.

 

The cumulative effect of many of the activities documented herein has been the disproportionate targeting of Confederate and CSA American heritage communities for public condemnation, symbolic removal, institutional exclusion, and reputational harm.

 

This report is ongoing and will be expanded as additional information is documented and verified through publicly available sources, including IRS filings, court records, legislative proceedings, organizational publications, government documents, public statements, and documented media reporting.

 

Inclusion in this document does not constitute an allegation of criminal conduct or unlawful activity.

 

DEFINITION OF “CSA AMERICAN”

CSA American - As used within this document, the term “CSA American” refers to Americans of any race, religion, or ethnicity who identify culturally, ancestrally, historically, or regionally with the people, history, constitutional tradition, military service, civilian experience, or inherited cultural legacy associated with the Confederate States of America and the historic American South. The term is used in a historical and cultural context within this publication and does not imply membership in any political organization or endorsement of unlawful activity.

 

 

 

METHODOLOGY

 

Organizations may be included in this record when documented sources demonstrate one or more of the following:

 

• Public advocacy for the removal or renaming of Confederate monuments, memorials, symbols, schools, military installations, or historical markers.

 

• Financial, legal, institutional, or strategic support for campaigns involving the removal or suppression of CSA American historical heritage.

 

• Participation in litigation, legislative lobbying, curriculum initiatives, public demonstrations, media pressure campaigns, or organized activism connected to the above activities.

 

• Publication or distribution of educational materials or advocacy frameworks directed toward the reinterpretation or removal of Southern or CSA historical symbols or narratives.

 

Financial information reflects the most recent publicly available organizational filings or disclosures available at the time of publication.

 

SECTION I

 

ORGANIZATIONS

 

SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER (SPLC)

Montgomery, Alabama

 

Maintains the “Whose Heritage?” database cataloging Confederate monuments, memorials, and symbols nationwide. Publicly advocates for Confederate monument removal, funds organizations engaged in monument-removal campaigns, and maintains the “neo-Confederate” designation within its hate-map classification system.

 

The SPLC’s classifications and publications are frequently cited by media organizations, educational institutions, advocacy groups, financial institutions, and technology platforms in connection with reputational risk assessments and public controversies involving Confederate heritage organizations.

 

Financial Information

• Approximately $822 million in 2024 total assets

• Annual revenues exceeding $129 million

 

Sources

• SPLC IRS Form 990 filings

• SPLC “Whose Heritage?” project

• SPLC public grant announcements

• SPLC Intelligence Report materials

 

BLACK LIVES MATTER GLOBAL NETWORK FOUNDATION

National

 

Black Lives Matter organizations and affiliated activists participated in monument-removal demonstrations and campaigns during the nationwide unrest of 2020, a period that saw the largest single wave of Confederate monument removals in modern American history.

 

Financial Information

• Approximately $90 million raised during 2020

• Assets exceeding $42 million in subsequent filings

 

Sources

• SPLC “Whose Heritage?” project data

• Organizational disclosures

• IRS filings and documented reporting

 

TIDES FOUNDATION

San Francisco, California

 

Donor-advised funding organization supporting activist and advocacy initiatives nationwide, including organizations involved in monument-removal campaigns, historical reinterpretation initiatives, and social justice activism.

 

Previously served as a fiscal sponsor for Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation.

 

Financial Information

• Approximately $534 billion in 2024 total assets

• Annual revenues exceeding $1 billion in multiple reporting years

 

Sources

• Tides Foundation IRS Form 990 filings

• Tides Foundation public statements

• Public reporting regarding BLM fiscal sponsorship

 

 

COUNCIL ON AMERICAN-ISLAMIC RELATIONS (CAIR)

 

Washington, D.C.

 

National advocacy organization that has publicly supported the removal of Confederate symbols, names, flags, holidays, and monuments through public statements and advocacy campaigns connected to Confederate Heritage Month controversies and related historical debates.

 

Sources

 

• CAIR press releases and public statements

• Mississippi legislative records

• Public reporting archives

 

 

 

NEW VENTURE FUND

Washington, D.C.

 

Large nonprofit grantmaking organization associated with the Arabella Advisors network. Public IRS filings document extensive pass-through funding activity supporting progressive advocacy initiatives and organizations.

 

IRS filings document grants to E Pluribus Unum following the New Orleans Confederate monument-removal campaigns.

 

Financial Information

• Approximately $1.8 billion in annual revenue

•  Hundreds of millions in annual grant distributions

 

Sources

• New Venture Fund IRS Form 990 filings

• Public grant disclosures

• Organizational records

 

E PLURIBUS UNUM

Washington, D.C.

 

Founded by former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu following the removal of multiple Confederate monuments in New Orleans during his tenure as mayor. Advocates for civic and historical initiatives involving race, identity, and historical interpretation in public life.

 

Financial Information

• Multi-million-dollar annual revenues

• Major grant support from New Venture Fund

 

 

 

Sources

• E Pluribus Unum IRS Form 990 filings

• New Venture Fund IRS filings

• Organizational publications

 

TAKE EM DOWN NOLA

New Orleans, Louisiana

 

Organization publicly advocating for the removal of Confederate monuments, memorials, and related public symbols in New Orleans. Active in the 2017 monument-removal campaigns and subsequent renaming initiatives involving streets, schools, and public facilities.

 

Sources

• Public statements by Take Em Down NOLA

• News coverage of the 2017 New Orleans monument removals

• SPLC grant program materials

 

TAKE EM DOWN JAX

Jacksonville, Florida

 

Organization advocating for the removal of Confederate monuments and memorials in Jacksonville, Florida. Publicly identified by the SPLC as a recipient of grant funding connected to Confederate symbol-removal initiatives.

 

Sources

• SPLC public grant announcements

• Public statements by Take Em Down Jax

• Local news reporting

 

 

 

STONE MOUNTAIN ACTION COALITION

Atlanta, Georgia

 

Advocates for the removal or alteration of the Confederate memorial carving at Stone Mountain, Georgia, and supports related renaming initiatives involving the memorial site and associated facilities.

 

Publicly identified by the SPLC as a recipient of grant funding connected to Confederate symbol-removal initiatives.

 

Sources

• SPLC public grant announcements

• Public statements by Stone Mountain Action Coalition

 

THE NEW YORK TIMES / THE 1619 PROJECT

New York, New York

 

Educational and editorial initiative promoting interpretive frameworks emphasizing slavery as a central organizing institution in American history. Curriculum materials associated with the project have been distributed nationally through educational partnerships and curriculum initiatives.

 

Several historians publicly challenged aspects of the project’s historical interpretations and factual assertions following publication.

 

Financial Information

• Approximately $2.6 billion in 2024 annual revenue

 

Sources

• The New York Times Magazine (August 2019)

• Pulitzer Center educational materials

• Public historian correspondence and responses

• Corporate annual reports

 

AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION (AHA)

Washington, D.C.

 

Professional historical association that has issued public statements supporting the removal or reinterpretation of Confederate monuments and symbols and has published institutional commentary regarding Confederate historical memory and public display.

 

Financial Information

• Approximately $15 million in total assets

 

Sources

• AHA public statements

• Perspectives on History publications

• AHA IRS Form 990 filings

 

MEDIA MATTERS FOR AMERICA

Washington, D.C.

 

Media pressure and opposition research organization that publishes campaigns targeting commentators, organizations, and public figures involved in Confederate heritage advocacy and related historical debates.

 

Activities have included advertiser pressure campaigns, public targeting campaigns, and organized media criticism directed toward individuals and organizations defending Confederate symbols or Southern historical identity in public discourse.

 

Financial Information

• Approximately $18 million in annual revenue

 

Sources

• Media Matters public archives

• IRS Form 990 filings

• Documented media campaigns

 

CONTINUING REVIEW

 

The SLRC anticipates future editions of this document will expand as additional organizations, funding structures, institutional partnerships, advocacy campaigns, curriculum initiatives, and documented activities are identified and verified.

 

Future editions may include:

 

• Additional monument-removal organizations

• Funding and grantmaking networks

• Curriculum and educational initiatives

• Litigation support organizations

• Institutional partnerships

• Public policy advocacy campaigns

• Corporate and philanthropic involvement in heritage-removal efforts

 

This document is intended to function as an ongoing research and documentation project and will be periodically revised and expanded.

Organizations may be revised, updated, or removed from this record as activities, public positions, institutional relationships, or documented conduct materially change over time.

 

WWW.SLRC-CSA. ORG SLRC PO Box 1235 Black Mountain, NC 28711 828-712-2115