美国众议院共和党人对这笔拨款的审查，始于美国司法部上月起诉南方贫困法律中心（SPLC）之际
2026年5月22日 美国东部时间早上5:00 / 福克斯新闻
作者：亚历克·谢梅尔
福克斯新闻独家首发： 一家监督机构就至少385万美元的纳税人支持资金敲响警钟，这些资金与南方贫困法律中心有关，其中包括一项由大学牵头的联邦百万美元级拨款项目，该机构称该项目将SPLC的种族正义课程融入中学课堂。
纳税人监督组织“开放账本”（OpenTheBooks）通过公共信息查询权，于周五发布报告，揭露自2016财年以来，学区、州、市、县、大学及其他公共实体向SPLC“直接”支付了1,352,655.07美元的纳税人资金。“开放账本”还发现了一项由美国国立卫生研究院（NIH）资助的密歇根大学项目，其拨款金额达250万美元，该校资料显示该项目将SPLC的“正义学习”（Learning for Justice）课程——前身为“宽容教学”（Teaching Tolerance）——融入中学课堂教学。
该拨款最初通过《信息自由法》获取的申请文件显示，研究人员将把“南方贫困法律中心的宽容教学课程”纳入现有中学项目，并在密歇根州杰纳西县的六所中学进行试点测试。
独家：监督机构发现，SPLC的‘极左翼’‘反种族主义’课程最早已进入幼儿园课堂
2025年3月28日周五，人们走在安阿伯的密歇根大学校园内。（《底特律自由报》 摄）
福克斯新闻数字频道审核的SPLC课程八年级教学材料，引导学生访问“活跃仇恨团体地图”，该地图将“反同性恋”和“激进传统主义天主教”组织与三K党、新纳粹和黑人分离主义者相提并论。“正义学习”的其他青少年材料还鼓励学生将自己视为“正义运动”的一部分，并提供持续行动主义工具包。
唐纳德·特朗普总统任内的美国卫生与公众服务部（HHS）告诉福克斯新闻数字频道，该项目“已不再获得资助”，并已“重新设计”，转而专注于减少青少年和家庭暴力。但“开放账本”指出，密歇根大学目前的项目页面仍显示，这项由NIH资助的在研项目将SPLC的“正义学习”课程纳入其中，并将SPLC列为合作伙伴。通过《信息自由法》获取的NIH记录也显示，原始拨款文件多次提及该项目将SPLC的“宽容教学”课程纳入“YES项目”。
“利用纳税人资源在我们的教育体系中推广有害的左翼言论是不合适的，我支持铲除并揭露SPLC这类组织的努力，”众议院能源与商务委员会主席、肯塔基州共和党众议员布雷特·格思里在回应这笔拨款资金时表示。“我支持众议院司法委员会开展重要工作，揭露南方贫困法律中心的邪恶议程、资金来源和手段。”
2025年5月13日，华盛顿特区，众议院能源与商务委员会主席、肯塔基州共和党众议员布雷特·格思里在对美国总统特朗普的税收法案进行 markup 审议期间。（肯特·西村/彭博社 via 盖蒂图片社 摄）
就在众议院司法委员会举行听证会的同一周，共和党人开始审查这笔拨款。该听证会主题为“南方贫困法律中心：制造仇恨”，委员会将其描述为SPLC在“扭曲民权政策”中扮演的角色，以及新披露的信息——该组织涉嫌将资金 funnel 至其声称要打击的极端分子手中。
听证会邀请了《制造仇恨代价：南方贫困法律中心的腐败》一书作者、《每日信号》高级记者泰勒·奥尼尔作证，他告诉福克斯新闻数字频道：“NIH需要解决家长们对这笔拨款的担忧。”
观看：韦斯利·亨特在激烈的SPLC种族主义听证会上反转民主党人‘吉姆·克劳2.0’攻击言论
“南方贫困法律中心的‘正义学习’项目推行批判性种族理论和跨性别意识形态。与此同时，SPLC利用其‘仇恨地图’谴责反对其议程的家长权利团体，将这些团体与三K党相提并论，以此压制反对声音，”奥尼尔补充道。“联邦纳税人的钱不应在学校推广这种分裂性项目。”
南方贫困法律中心对教育界拥有广泛影响力。美国代理司法部长托德·布兰奇（左）与SPLC临时总裁兼首席执行官布莱恩·费尔的拼接照片，美国司法部正对南方贫困法律中心提起诉讼。（内森·波斯纳/阿纳多通讯社 via 盖蒂图片社 | 今日美国网络 via Imagn图片社 摄）
密歇根大学目前的项目页面显示，这项由NIH资助的在研项目将SPLC的“正义学习”课程纳入旨在解决“种族主义和种族歧视”的中学项目，并衡量学生的“种族主义信仰和行为”。与此同时，SPLC当前的“正义学习”材料将项目围绕“为解放而教育”“种族平等”和“解构白人至上”展开。
福克斯新闻数字频道已联系密歇根大学，包括该拨款项目负责人马克·齐默尔曼教授，以及负责研究副校长办公室媒体关系工作的通讯经理凯特·巴恩斯，但未立即收到回复。
2025年4月3日，密歇根州安阿伯，密歇根大学学生走在校园内，旁边是展示该校“核心价值观”的标识。在这张照片拍摄前后，该校宣布将关闭多元化、公平与包容办公室，健康公平与包容办公室及其DEI 2.0战略计划，以回应唐纳德·特朗普总统关于DEI的行政命令。（比尔·普利奥/盖蒂图片社 摄）
福克斯新闻数字频道审核的“正义学习”八年级课程材料，将“反同性恋”和“激进传统主义天主教”与“三K党”“新纳粹”和“黑人分离主义者”归为同一“仇恨团体”类别。
同一教学材料引导学生访问SPLC的“活跃仇恨团体地图”，这是SPLC更广泛的仇恨团体追踪工作的一部分，该组织曾表示该项目曾得到现已解散的线人计划支持。美国司法部指控该计划秘密将捐赠资金转拨给极端主义团体内部的线人，但SPLC否认存在不当行为。
新纳粹、‘虐待狂’摩托党和夏洛茨维尔组织者：SPLC最令人震惊的5名线人
福克斯新闻数字频道审核的“正义学习”其他青少年材料，鼓励学生参与“正义运动”，并提供非暴力直接行动、公开集会、社交媒体运动和社区组织的资源。针对6-8年级和9-12年级的材料包含任务，指导学生写信给企业或民选官员呼吁采取行动，并组织实时社交媒体聊天以提高对社会正义问题的认识。
“开放账本”认为，他们发现的资金数额可能低估了SPLC获得的纳税人支持规模，因为免费课堂资源和教师培训材料通常不会出现在支出数据库中。
2020年3月，阿拉巴马州蒙哥马利的南方贫困法律中心（SPLC）大楼。美国司法部上月起诉SPLC，指控其与检察官描述的涉及极端主义团体相关人员的秘密付费线人计划相关的电信欺诈、虚假陈述和洗钱共谋罪名成立。（巴里·刘易斯/InPictures via 盖蒂图片社 摄）
“‘开放账本’仅通过提交《信息自由法》申请并等待十周，才发现了‘宽容教学’和SPLC课程的细节。这表明，纳税人可能无法轻易看到对该非营利组织的更多间接支持，”该监督机构的报告称。“轶事证据表明情况确实如此，”报告继续说道，并指出“开放账本”正在对五角大楼的K-12公立学校进行第二项调查，该调查也发现了SPLC的学习材料。
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福克斯新闻数字频道此前的一篇报道援引保守派非营利组织“捍卫教育”的调查显示，SPLC的“正义学习”项目已被纳入42个州及华盛顿特区的169个学区的K-12教案和材料中，最早甚至进入了幼儿园课堂。
“捍卫教育”表示，这些材料宣扬了“反种族主义”、白人特权、白人至上、“白人身份”、性别意识形态、“酷儿理论”等主题。
“纳税人有权知道，像南方贫困法律中心这样资助种族敌意的组织，正在如何使用他们的钱，”“开放账本”主席约翰·哈特说道。
福克斯新闻数字频道的彼得·皮内奥为本报道贡献了内容。
Massive SPLC-linked grant under fire as watchdog exposes ties to middle school programs
GOP scrutiny of the grant comes after the Justice Department indicted the Southern Poverty Law Center last month
May 22, 2026 5:00am EDT / Fox News
By Alec Schemmel
FIRST ON FOX: A watchdog is sounding the alarm over at least $3.85 million in taxpayer-backed support tied to the Southern Poverty Law Center, including a multimillion-dollar federal grant for a university-led project that it says integrates SPLC’s racial justice curriculum into middle school classrooms.
Using the power of public records requests, taxpayer watchdog OpenTheBooks released a report Friday highlighting $1,352,655.07 in taxpayer dollars it said had been paid “directly” to the SPLC from school districts, states, cities, counties, universities and other public entities since fiscal year 2016. OpenTheBooks also found an active National Institutes of Health-backed University of Michigan project grant worth $2.5 million, which materials from the university say integrates the SPLC’s “Learning for Justice” curriculum, previously called “Teaching Tolerance,” into programming for middle school classrooms.
The grant’s original Freedom of Information Act-obtained application said researchers would integrate “the Teaching Tolerance curriculum from the Southern Poverty Law Center” into an existing middle school program and test it across six Genesee County, Michigan, middle schools.
EXCLUSIVE: SPLC’S ‘FAR-LEFT’ ‘ANTI-RACISM’ CURRICULUM FOUND IN CLASSROOMS AS EARLY AS KINDERGARTEN: WATCHDOG
People walk on the campus of the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor on Friday, March 28, 2025.(Detroit Free Press)
Eighth-grade lesson materials from the SPLC’s curriculum, reviewed by Fox News Digital, directed students to a “map of active hate groups” suggesting “anti-gay” and “radical traditionalist Catholic” organizations are equivalent to the Ku Klux Klan, Neo-Nazis and Black-Separatists. Other Learning for Justice youth materials encourage students to see themselves as part of a “movement for justice” and include toolkits for sustained activism.
President Donald Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) told Fox News Digital the program “is no longer being funded” and has been “redesigned” to focus on reducing teen and family violence. However, OpenTheBooks points to University of Michigan’s current project page, which still says the active NIH-backed project integrates SPLC’s Learning for Justice curriculum and lists SPLC as a partner. FOIA-obtained NIH records also show the original grant documents repeatedly described the project as integrating SPLC’s Teaching Tolerance curriculum into the YES program.
“Utilizing taxpayer resources to promote harmful, leftwing rhetoric in our education systems is inappropriate, and I support efforts to root out and expose organizations like SPLC,” Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee Rep. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., said in response to the grant funding. “I support the important work of the House Judiciary Committee to expose the nefarious agenda, funding, and tactics of the Southern Poverty Law Center.”
Representative Brett Guthrie, a Republican from Kentucky and chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, during a markup of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tax package, in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, May 13, 2025.(Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The grant scrutiny comes the same week the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing titled “The Southern Poverty Law Center: Manufacturing Hate,” examining what the committee described as SPLC’s role in “distorting civil rights policy” and newly released information that the group allegedly funneled money to extremists it was claiming to combat.
The hearing featured testimony from author of “Making Hate Pay: The Corruption of the Southern Poverty Law Center” and Daily Signal senior reporter Tyler O’Neil, who told Fox News Digital that “the NIH needs to address parents’ concerns about this grant.”
WATCH: WESLEY HUNT FLIPS SCRIPT ON DEMS’ ‘JIM CROW 2.0’ ATTACKS AMID HEATED SPLC RACISM HEARING
“The Southern Poverty Law Center’s Learning for Justice project pushes critical race theory and transgender ideology. Meanwhile, the SPLC uses its ‘hate map’ to condemn parental rights groups on the other side of the issue, silencing opposition to its agenda by comparing these groups to the Ku Klux Klan,” O’Neil added. “Federal tax dollars should not promote this divisive program in schools.”
The Southern Poverty Law Center has widespread influence on education. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, left, and SPLC interim President and CEO Bryan Fair are shown in a split image as the Justice Department pursues charges against the Southern Poverty Law Center.(Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images | USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images)
University of Michigan’s current project page says the active NIH-backed program integrates SPLC’s Learning for Justice curriculum into a middle-school program aimed at addressing “racism and racial discrimination” and measuring students’ “racist beliefs and behaviors.” Meanwhile, the SPLC’s current Learning for Justice materials frame the program around “educating for liberation,” “racial equity” and the “deconstruction of White supremacy.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the University of Michigan, including the grant’s project leader, professor Marc Zimmerman, and Kate Barnes, a communications manager for the university’s Office of the Vice President for Research whose staff bio says she handles media relations for various projects, but did not immediately receive a response.
University of Michigan students walk on the UM campus next to signage displaying the University’s “Core Values” on April 3, 2025, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Around the time of this photo, the university stated it was closing its Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Office of Healthy Equity and Inclusion and its DEI 2.0 Strategic Plan, all in response to President Donald Trump’s executive orders concerning DEI.(Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)
Learning for Justice materials that included curriculum instruction for 8th graders, reviewed by Fox News Digital, categorized “Anti-Gay” and “Radical Traditionalist Catholic” under the same “hate group” banner as the “Ku Klux Klan,” “Neo-Nazi[s]” and “Black Separatist[s].”
The same teaching materials directed students to SPLC’s “map of active hate groups,” part of SPLC’s broader hate-group tracking work that the organization has indicated was once supported by its now-disbanded informant program. The Department of Justice alleges that the program secretly funneled donor money to informants inside extremist groups, but SPLC has denied wrongdoing.
NEO-NAZIS, ‘SADISTIC’ BIKERS AND CHARLOTTESVILLE ORGANIZER: 5 OF THE MOST SHOCKING SPLC INFORMANTS
Other Learning for Justice youth materials reviewed by Fox News Digital encourage students to take part in a “movement for justice” and include resources for nonviolent direct action, public rallies, social media campaigns and community organizing. Materials for grades 6-8 and 9-12 include tasks directing students to write letters to corporate or elected officials calling for action and organizing live social media chats to raise awareness for social justice issues.
OpenTheBooks argued the dollar figures they uncovered may understate SPLC’s taxpayer-backed footprint because free classroom resources and teacher-training materials often do not show up in spending databases.
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) building seen in March 2020 in Montgomery, Alabama. The SPLC was indicted by the Department of Justice last month over allegations of wire fraud, false statements and conspiracy to commit money laundering tied to what prosecutors described as a covert paid-informant program involving individuals associated with extremist groups.(Barry Lewis/InPictures via Getty Images)
“Open the Books only came upon the details of ‘Teaching Tolerance’ and the SPLC curriculum by submitting a FOIA request and waiting ten weeks. That suggests there could be plenty more indirect support for the nonprofit that’s not readily visible to taxpayers,” the watchdog’s report states. “Anecdotal evidence suggests that’s true,” it continues, pointing to a second investigation OpenTheBooks has been working on into the Pentagon’s K-12 public schools, which also turned up SPLC learning materials.
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A previous Fox News Digital report, citing an investigation by conservative nonprofit Defending Education, found SPLC’s Learning for Justice program had been integrated into K-12 lesson plans and materials in 169 school districts across 42 states and Washington, D.C., including in classrooms as early as kindergarten.
Defending Education said the materials promoted themes including “anti-racism,” White privilege, White supremacy, “whiteness,” gender ideology, “queer theory,” and more.
“Taxpayers have the right to know what groups, like the Southern Poverty Law Center, which has financed racial animosity, are doing with their money,” said John Hart, president of OpenTheBooks.
Fox News Digital’s Peter Pinedo contributed to this report.