April 12, 2019

Rosalind G. Brewer
Member, Amazon Board of Directors
Group President, Americas & Chief Operating Officer
Starbucks Corporation

Fed Ex & Email:

Dear Ms. Brewer,

Citizens for Corporate Accountability is a coalition of politically diverse individuals supporting free
speech and free markets. On April 4th we asked Jeff Bezos to terminate immediately Amazon’s use of the
Southern Poverty Law Center’s so-called “hate group” list in determining eligibility for the Amazon Smile
Charitable Support program. Today, we are asking you to support this request.

Since at least 2013, Amazon has used the SPLC’s so-called “hate group” list to make decisions about
eligibility for inclusion in the Amazon Smile program, as confirmed by an Amazon spokesperson.1 The
letter to Mr. Bezos (attached) delivers a clear and compelling case against the use of SPLC data for three
reasons:

1. The SPLC’s hate group list mixes racist and violent organizations together with peaceful
conservative political and religious advocacy groups, and falsely portrays them as equivalent.2
2. As described by SPLC insiders, this cynical and inaccurate list was developed as a fundraising tool
to generate contributions from wealthy liberal political partisans by continuously expanding the
list as the Ku Klux Klan faded as a threat.345
3. The SPLC has recently been rocked by terminations and resignations arising from decades-long
claims of corruption and misdeeds at the highest levels of leadership. It has not responded to
employees’ assertions that SPLC suffers from “a systemic culture of racism and sexism within its
workplace.”67

1
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/03/facebook-amazon-smile-fundraising-hate-discrimination/
2
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/magazine/wp/2018/11/08/feature/is-the-southern-poverty-law-center-
judging-hate-fairly/
3
https://www.npr.org/2019/02/20/696217158/u-s-hate-groups-rose-sharply-in-recent-years-watchdog-group-
reports
4
https://nypost.com/2019/03/19/the-southern-poverty-anti-hate-racket/
5
https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-reckoning-of-morris-dees-and-the-southern-poverty-law-
center
6
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/03/29/us/splc-leadership-crisis/index.html
7
https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/southern-poverty-law-center-media-coverage/
 Page 2

Despite this, Amazon continues to rely on the SPLC’s corrupt and propaganda-driven data, harming
mainstream nonprofit organizations by denying them access to financial support originating in their
supporters’ purchases from Amazon. It’s time for this practice to end.

On April 4th, we placed an open letter to the SPLC in the Montgomery Advertiser (attached). We have
created a website and social media presences designed to educate the public about the SPLC and the
corporations that continue to use their data in decision making. We believe that the case against a
continued relationship with SPLC in business decision making is clear and compelling.

In our letter to Mr. Bezos, we requested the following:

1. Amazon immediately terminate use of SPLC’s “hate group” list and associated materials in
determining eligibility for the Amazon Smile program.

2. Amazon publicly announce their decision to discontinue the use of SPLC’s “hate group” list and
associated materials in decision-making about any aspect of Amazon’s business, just as they
have previously publicly endorsed it.

If Amazon does not respond favorably, we will ask Amazon shareholders, customers, employees, and
vendors for their support, with the intention of running a public information campaign.

We would appreciate your support in this matter in your role on Amazon’s board of directors. We
welcome further communication with you to clarify our position.

Best Regards,

Brian Glicklich
Executive Director
Citizens for Corporate Accountability

Enc. (2)
April 4, 2019

Amazon
Mr. Jeff Bezos, Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Jay Carney, Senior Vice President Global Corporate Affairs

Dear Mr. Bezos & Mr. Carney,

Citizens for Corporate Accountability is a coalition of politically diverse individuals supporting free
speech and free markets. We request and require that you terminate immediately your use of the
Southern Poverty Law Center’s so-called “hate group” list in determining eligibility for the Amazon Smile
Charitable Support program. The “hate group” list falsely purports to identify dangerous organizations
promoting hate and violence, and Amazon has acceded to the demands of SPLC that Amazon terminate
participation of named organizations in the Amazon Smile program.1 However, this list mixes together
racist and violent organizations like the Ku Klux Klan with those that simply espouse mainstream political
and social views with which the SPLC and apparently many of its donors disagree.2 For this reason, the
list is permanently compromised, and cannot be relied upon for business decisions by Amazon or any
other organization.

Additionally, dozens of media reports in recent weeks—including at the Washington Post and the New
York Times—have detailed the current internal turmoil within the Southern Poverty Law Center brought
on by corruption and misdeeds at the highest levels of leadership.3 4 In addition to the termination of its
co-founder and resignation of its long-time president, many current and former employees have come
forward with stories that reveal “a systemic culture of racism and sexism within its workplace.”5 SPLC
has refused to discuss the reasons for these leadership changes in any detail, and has hired a political
operative to conduct a secret investigation with no public accountability. This alone should be enough to
cause Amazon to re-think its collaboration with SPLC, which has cynically billed itself for decades as a
discrimination watchdog.

Coupled with the overt political motivations that compel the SPLC to associate mainstream conservative
groups with members of the KKK, the toxic environment within the SPLC raises overwhelming concerns
about the organization’s credibility. However, these reports also confirm an equally insidious conspiracy
– that the “hate group” list is a deceptive ongoing direct mail pitch designed to raise millions by sowing
fear, division, and hate in American life.

1
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/magazine/wp/2018/11/08/feature/is-the-southern-poverty-law-center-
judging-hate-fairly/
2
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/magazine/wp/2018/11/08/feature/is-the-southern-poverty-law-center-
judging-hate-fairly/
3
https://www.npr.org/2019/03/14/703526235/southern-poverty-law-center-fires-morris-dees-its-co-founder /;
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/03/23/southern-poverty-law-center-president-steps-down-
organization-begins-workplace-review/; https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/25/us/morris-dees-leaves-splc.html.
4
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/22/us/splc-richard-cohen-resigns.html
5
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/03/29/us/splc-leadership-crisis/index.html
 Page 2
Numerous employees and journalists have reported that the SPLC’s so-called “hate group” list is not a
principled database, but rather a highly successful and cynical fundraising tool. Former employees have
described in great detail how the now-terminated SPLC founder developed the list to generate large
donations from “gullible northern liberals.”6 Indeed, the lack of research or rationale for many
organizations on the list, other than being deemed undesirable by the SPLC and its politically active,
wealthy donors, has caused it to rightly be called an “outright fraud” and “willful deception.”7

By dishonestly redefining hate to include mainstream conservative organizations, SPLC has been able to
urgently demand larger donations annually to combat what they define as an increasing problem, one
that fits nicely with the politics of those receiving their hyperbolic appeals.8 This has been a disturbingly
effective fundraising strategy. SPLC has parked nearly a half billion unused donor dollars in an
endowment, with over $100 million hidden in offshore accounts9. And with the help of corporations like
Amazon, who accept their demands, they are able to show their politically driven donors that they are
successful in redefining and suppressing speech SPLC and their donors find objectionable.

It is regrettable that Amazon has played a part in this corrupt speech suppression effort by using the
SPLC’s lists in the Amazon Smile program. Today, however, there is no legitimate reason for Amazon to
continue its reliance on this fraudulent and fatally flawed product. We request and require the
following:

1. Immediately terminate use of SPLC’s “hate group” list and associated materials in determining
eligibility for the Amazon Smile program.

2. Publicly renounce the use of SPLC’s “hate group” list and associated materials in decision-
making about any aspect of Amazon’s business.

We believe that the moral bankruptcy of the SPLC and its politically-motivated “hate group” list is so
clear, convincing, and well reported that no further detail is required in this letter. If you do not respond
favorably, please know that we will ask Amazon shareholders, employees, and vendors, and the general
public, for their support, with the intention of running a public information campaign.

We would appreciate your confirmation that you will terminate the use of SPLC’s “hate group” list in
your business no later than ten days from the date of this letter. We welcome further communication
with you to clarify our position.

Best Regards,

Brian Glicklich
Executive Director
Citizens for Corporate Accountability

6
https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-reckoning-of-morris-dees-and-the-southern-poverty-law-
center
7
https://www.currentaffairs.org/2019/03/the-southern-poverty-law-center-is-everything-thats-wrong-with-
liberalism
8
https://www.splcenter.org/hate-map
9
https://www.cotton.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=1096
 ADVERTI
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