Evaluating the Expertness of the Southern Law Poverty Center

Not all information is reliable, even if published in a textbook or written by a respected academic. In Chapter 6 of Thinking Critically, Dr. Peter Facione calls the Southern Law Poverty Center (SLPC) an expert on hate in America and commends it for seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of society (Facione & Gittens, 2016, p. 124). The term expert signifies an untarnished reputation of superior skills and knowledge. However, the SLPC has recently garnered controversy for its list of so-called hate groups and how it spends its half-billion-dollar budget (Price, 2018; Robinson, 2019). Conducting careful research into news stories surrounding the SLPC reveals the discrepancies in Faciones account.

Firstly, facts are necessary when forming an educated opinion, especially when it comes to political issues such as activist groups. Judgments should be made only in the face of objective research and incontrovertible evidence. One of the biggest issues today is the prevalence of misinformation, which makes it all the more important to develop critical thinking skills and learn how to differentiate between truth and propaganda (Li, 2020). Facts are always true, and their purpose is to help people make the best decisions that are not influenced by personal biases or emotions.

In the face of this, Faciones claim rings false because the SLPC does not fit my definition of an expert. To keep being called an expert, it is important to maintain a good reputation within your field. However, SLPCs reputation as an activist organization fighting for minority rights has suffered in the last few years due to the numerous mistakes committed by its employees and the CEO (Price, 2018; Robinson, 2019). Perhaps the organization can be described as possessing good intentions but with some internal issues that should not go unacknowledged in the next edition of Faciones textbook.