Benson’s Southern Poverty Law Center Problem Is Growing
Before allegations emerged that the group funded Nazis, you couldn’t get her to shut up about her work there
Jocelyn Benson’s ties to the Southern Poverty Law Center were once her unfair advantage in politics. Her affiliation with a nationally known organization, a seeming descendant of the civil rights movement, gave Benson a credibility she used to win statewide office.
Now, all these years later, with the Southern Poverty Law Center facing indictments that cover her time on board, and Benson running for governor, not even a marathon could put enough distance between the candidate and her past.
One of two things is true about Jocelyn Benson’s time on the SPLC board: Either it was a ceremonial position that conducted no oversight. Or Benson helped oversee an organization for years as it allegedly paid the Ku Klux Klan and others to create the very chaos the SPLC rails against.
Benson’s past use of the Southern Poverty Law Center connections makes clear she doesn’t think it was ceremonial.
Her two stints with the organization, one as a recent college grad working as an undercover operative, the other as a law school dean and nonprofit CEO on its board, feature prominently in her memoir, “The Purposeful Warrior.”
Before Benson went silent on the SPLC, you couldn’t get her to stop talking about it.
Mary Sheffield was in this same pickle last year in Michigan Enjoyer’s Detroit Mayoral Forum. Sheffield sat on the board of the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy as an employee robbed it of $40 million. When I pressed her for answers, Sheffield admitted the board position was honorary and symbolic—not true oversight. She’s mayor now.
Benson will face those same questions. And Michigan lawmakers are pushing for answers.
When Benson launched her governor campaign in the Detroit News, she said transparency would be her hallmark—that she would honor FOIA requests even without a law requiring the governor to do so.
House Resolution 313, presented by Rep. Rachelle Smit, demands transparency from Benson. It calls on the Secretary of State “to release all information in her possession related to the Southern Poverty Law Center’s operations, including any details concerning the organization’s alleged payments to individuals associated with extremist groups, and to publicly address her role in the organization.”
Normally, such a request for truth and reconciliation might come from the Lansing media. But they’re too busy lobbing softballs at Benson to break any news. (A question from a recent Detroit News interview with Benson: “Q: Do you think all three of the Democratic candidates running for secretary of state would be a good secretary of state? I know you're not endorsing.”)
Smit’s resolution was passed by the Michigan House. Mike Cox, a Republican running for governor, says he has submitted an “extensive” FOIA request for the records Smit is demanding.
“Benson should immediately turn over every file, email, calendar entry, meeting note, and communication involving SPLC,” Cox said in a statement. “The public deserves full transparency into her time on the board and her time running Michigan’s elections. If there is nothing to hide, release the records.”
Labor Day, the unofficial start of the general election campaign for governor, is coming.
Benson has the right to remain silent, but that would be the wrong move politically. The longer Benson waits to address the many questions about her SPLC ties, the louder those questions will get.
