David Horowitz Freedom Center
Encyclopedia
David Horowitz
David Joel Horowitz is an American conservative writer and policy advocate. Horowitz was raised by parents who were both members of the American Communist Party. Between 1956 and 1975, Horowitz was an outspoken adherent of the New Left before rejecting Marxism completely...
and his long-time collaborator Peter Collier
Peter Collier (political author)
Peter Collier is a writer, and publisher. He was the founding publisher of Encounter Books in California and held that position from 1998 until he resigned in 2005, when it moved from San Francisco to New York City, and Collier was replaced as publisher by Roger Kimball. He remains a consultant...
. It was established with funding from groups including the Olin Foundation
Olin foundation
Olin Foundation may refer to:*The F. W. Olin Foundation, which established the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering and funded numerous university engineering buildings and programs; or...
, the Bradley Foundation
Bradley Foundation
The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a conservative foundation with about half a billion US dollars in assets. According to the Bradley Foundation 1998 Annual Report, it gives away more than $30 million per year...
and the Sarah Scaife Foundation
Sarah Scaife Foundation
The Sarah Scaife Foundation is one of the American Scaife Foundations. It is controlled by Richard Mellon Scaife. The foundation does not award grants to individuals. It concentrates its efforts towards causes focused on public policy at a national and international level...
.
Change of name
In July 2006 the center changed its name from the Center for the Study of Popular Culture, giving the following explanation:"We took this action for two reasons", said Board Chairman Jess Morgan. "First, when the Center began, just as the Cold War was ending, we thought that the significant issue of our time would be the political radicalization of popular culture. The culture is still a battleground, but after 9/11, it is clear that freedom itself was under assault from the new totalitarianism of terror. Secondly, David Horowitz, the Center's founder, has become increasingly identified with issues of freedom at home and abroad. We wanted to honor him and also support the efforts he has undertaken. The name change does this and rededicates us to the mission at hand."
Purpose and scope
The original intention of the CSPC was to establish a foothold in Hollywood, California. It serves as a platform for conservative speakers and debates between conservative and liberal speakers.In 2003 Horowitz expanded the scope of the CSPC to include monitoring what his organization views as an ingrained hostility towards conservative scholarship and ideas within academia. He established Students for Academic Freedom
Students for Academic Freedom
According to its website, Students for Academic Freedom is "a clearing house and communications center for a national coalition of student organizations whose goal is to end the political abuse of the university and to restore integrity to the academic mission as a disinterested pursuit of...
to further that goal.
DHFC is a 501(c)(3) charity. In 2005 it had revenues of $4.9 million, expenses of $4.0 million, 8.4% of which was $336,000 compensation for David Horowitz. For 2008 the DHFC reported on IRS Form 990 revenues of $5,466,103 and expenses of $5,994,547 with total compensation to David Horowitz of $480,162 and to vice-president Peter Collier of $228,744.
Ongoing programs
The Center has the following ongoing programs.- FrontPage Magazine — a political Web site edited by Horowitz with a focus is on issues pertaining to foreign policyForeign relations of the United StatesThe United States has formal diplomatic relations with most nations. The United States federal statutes relating to foreign relations can be found in Title 22 of the United States Code.-Pacific:-Americas:-Caribbean:...
, warWarWar is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political...
, and terrorismTerrorismTerrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
. - Discover the Networks is a database of left-wing agendas, activists and causes. This description can include Jihadists, "anti-American" strains of anti-Iraq War activists, and libertarians, who in Horowitz's view are "allies of the left". After two years of development, went online in February, 2005, with a staff of two at a cost of about $500,000.
- NewsReal Blog is the team blog of the David Horowitz Freedom Center. Its focus is to analyze and critique cable shows, newspapers, magazines, and the blogosphere to reveal the political Left's methods and agendas.
- Students for Academic FreedomStudents for Academic FreedomAccording to its website, Students for Academic Freedom is "a clearing house and communications center for a national coalition of student organizations whose goal is to end the political abuse of the university and to restore integrity to the academic mission as a disinterested pursuit of...
— Opposes what the organization considers to be far left-wing bias or "indoctrination" in American universities. - Wednesday Morning Club — In 2006 the Center held twenty-one Wednesday Morning Club events with speakers ranging from former Speaker Newt GingrichNewt GingrichNewton Leroy "Newt" Gingrich is a U.S. Republican Party politician who served as the House Minority Whip from 1989 to 1995 and as the 58th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999....
, Victor Davis HansonVictor Davis HansonVictor Davis Hanson is an American military historian, columnist, political essayist and former classics professor, notable as a scholar of ancient warfare. He has been a commentator on modern warfare and contemporary politics for National Review and other media outlets...
, Wafa SultanWafa SultanWafa Sultan is a medical doctor who trained as a psychiatrist in Syria, and an American author and critic of Muslim society and Islam.-Life and career:Sultan was born into a large traditional Alawite Muslim family in Baniyas, Syria....
, General Georges SadaGeorges SadaGeneral Georges Hormiz Sada is an Iraqi of Assyrian descent, an author and retired general officer of the Iraqi Air Force....
,Judge Charles W. PickeringCharles W. PickeringCharles Willis Pickering, Sr. is a retired federal judge who served on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.- Background :...
, Dennis PragerDennis PragerDennis Prager is an American syndicated radio talk show host, syndicated columnist, author, and public speaker. He is noted for his conservative political and social views emanating from conservative Judeo-Christian values. He holds that there is an "American Trinity" of essential principles,...
, Shelby SteeleShelby Steele-Awards:*National Book Critics Circle Award in the general non-fiction category for the book The Content of Our Character.*Emmy and Writers Guild Awards for his 1991 Frontline documentary film Seven Days in Bensonhurst.-External links:**...
and Melanie MorganMelanie MorganMelanie Morgan is an American radio personality. She was formerly a host at KSFO in San Francisco where her husband, Jack Swanson, was the General Manager. She was recently laid off due to budget cutbacks and declining ad revenue. She has also previously worked as a reporter for KGO-TV in San...
with Catherine Moy. Speakers in 2007 include Dinesh D'SouzaDinesh D'SouzaDinesh D'Souza is an author and public speaker and a former Robert and Karen Rishwain Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. He is currently the President of The King's College in New York City. D'Souza is a noted Christian apologist and conservative writer and speaker....
, Dore GoldDore GoldDore Gold is an Israeli statesman who has served in various diplomatic positions under several Israeli governments. He is the current President of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs...
, Bruce HerschensohnBruce HerschensohnStanley Bruce Herschensohn is an American political commentator and senior fellow at the Pepperdine University School of Public Policy in Malibu, California....
and John O'SullivanJohn O'SullivanJohn O'Sullivan is the name of:*John O'Sullivan , British, coordinator and co-author of 'Slaying the Sky Dragon: Death of the Greenhouse Gas Theory'...
. In previous years speakers have included then-Governor George W. BushGeorge W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
(1999), then-Secretary of Defense Dick CheneyDick CheneyRichard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....
, Robert BorkRobert BorkRobert Heron Bork is an American legal scholar who has advocated the judicial philosophy of originalism. Bork formerly served as Solicitor General, Acting Attorney General, and judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit...
, Representatives Tom DeLayTom DeLayThomas Dale "Tom" DeLay is a former member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1984 until 2006. He was Republican Party House Majority Leader from 2003 to 2005, when he resigned because of criminal money laundering charges in...
and Henry HydeHenry HydeHenry John Hyde , an American politician, was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1975 to 2007, representing the 6th District of Illinois, an area of Chicago's northwestern suburbs which included O'Hare International Airport...
, Senators Trent LottTrent LottChester Trent Lott, Sr. , is a former United States Senator from Mississippi and has served in numerous leadership positions in the House of Representatives and the Senate....
, Bill FristBill FristWilliam Harrison "Bill" Frist, Sr. is an American physician, businessman, and politician. He began his career as an heir and major stockholder to the for-profit hospital chain of Hospital Corporation of America. Frist later served two terms as a Republican United States Senator representing...
and Joseph Lieberman, Christopher HitchensChristopher HitchensChristopher Eric Hitchens is an Anglo-American author and journalist whose books, essays, and journalistic career span more than four decades. He has been a columnist and literary critic at The Atlantic, Vanity Fair, Slate, World Affairs, The Nation, Free Inquiry, and became a media fellow at the...
, Bill Kristol, Fred BarnesFred Barnes (journalist)Frederic W. Barnes is an American political commentator. He is the executive editor of the news publication The Weekly Standard and regularly appears on the Fox News Channel program Special Report with Bret Baier...
and George WillGeorge WillGeorge Frederick Will is an American newspaper columnist, journalist, and author. He is a Pulitzer Prize-winner best known for his conservative commentary on politics...
. - Jihad WatchJihad WatchJihad Watch is a blog affiliated with the David Horowitz Freedom Center, which is run independently by American author Robert Spencer. It is considered an important platform for the counterjihad movement....
(or Jihadwatch; also Dhimmi Watch) — blogs and articles attacking IslamismIslamismIslamism also , lit., "Political Islam" is set of ideologies holding that Islam is not only a religion but also a political system. Islamism is a controversial term, and definitions of it sometimes vary...
. - The Individual Rights Foundation — Organization of lawyers to fight speech codes and political correctnessPolitical correctnessPolitical correctness is a term which denotes language, ideas, policies, and behavior seen as seeking to minimize social and institutional offense in occupational, gender, racial, cultural, sexual orientation, certain other religions, beliefs or ideologies, disability, and age-related contexts,...
on campuses and elsewhere. Participated as Amicus Curiae in Boy Scouts of America v. DaleBoy Scouts of America v. DaleBoy Scouts of America et al. v. Dale, , was a case of the Supreme Court of the United States overturning the New Jersey Supreme Court's application of the New Jersey public accommodations law, which had forced the Boy Scouts of America to readmit assistant Scoutmaster James Dale...
, the successful defense of the Boy Scouts of AmericaBoy Scouts of AmericaThe Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...
against the ACLU in the Supreme Court. - Restoration Weekend — Annual conservative political activism conference and fundraising/networking event.
Heterodoxy was a newsmagazine
Newsmagazine
A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published piece of paper, magazine or a radio or television program, usually weekly, featuring articles or segments on current events...
published in a tabloid format by the center, edited by David Horowitz and Peter Collier
Peter Collier (political author)
Peter Collier is a writer, and publisher. He was the founding publisher of Encounter Books in California and held that position from 1998 until he resigned in 2005, when it moved from San Francisco to New York City, and Collier was replaced as publisher by Roger Kimball. He remains a consultant...
. Its focus was on exposing the excesses of political correctness
Political correctness
Political correctness is a term which denotes language, ideas, policies, and behavior seen as seeking to minimize social and institutional offense in occupational, gender, racial, cultural, sexual orientation, certain other religions, beliefs or ideologies, disability, and age-related contexts,...
on college
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
and university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
campus
Campus
A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls and park-like settings...
es across the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Funding of Congressional travel
Between July 2000 and February 2006, the center (under its old name) was the sponsor of 25 trips by U.S. Senators and Representatives, all Republicans, to six different events. Total expenditures were about $43,000.Criticism
Chip BerletChip Berlet
John Foster "Chip" Berlet is an American investigative journalist, and photojournalist activist specializing in the study of right-wing movements in the United States, particularly the religious right, white supremacists, homophobic groups, and paramilitary organizations...
, writing for the Southern Poverty Law Center
Southern Poverty Law Center
The Southern Poverty Law Center is an American nonprofit civil rights organization noted for its legal victories against white supremacist groups; legal representation for victims of hate groups; monitoring of alleged hate groups, militias and extremist organizations; and educational programs that...
(SPLC), an organization positioned to "combat racism and promote civil rights through research, education and litigation," identified the CSPC (now DHFC) as one of 17 "right-wing foundations and think tanks support[ing] efforts to make bigoted and discredited ideas respectable." Berlet accused Horowitz of blaming slavery on "'black Africans ... abetted by dark-skinned Arabs'" and of "attack[ing] minority 'demands for special treatment' as 'only necessary because some blacks can't seem to locate the ladder of opportunity within reach of others,' rejecting the idea that they could be the victims of lingering racism."
Response
Responding with an open letter to Morris DeesMorris Dees
Morris Seligman Dees, Jr. is the co-founder and chief trial counsel for the Southern Poverty Law Center , and a former direct mail marketeer for book publishing. Along with his law partner, Joseph J...
, president of the SPLC, Horowitz stated that his reminder that the slaves transported to America were bought from African and Arab slavers was a response to demands that only whites pay blacks reparations, not to hold Africans and Arabs solely responsible for slavery, and that the statement that he had denied lingering racism was "a calculated and carefully constructed lie." The letter said that Berlet's work was "so tendentious, so filled with transparent misrepresentations and smears that if you continue to post the report you will create for your Southern Poverty Law Center a well-earned reputation as a hate group itself." The SPLC replied that they stood by the accuracy of the report, and subsequent critical pieces on Berlet and the SPLC have been featured on Horowitz's website and personal blog.
Allegations of Islamophobia
In its 2011 report, "Fear Incorporated: the Roots of the Islamophobia Network in the United States" the Center for American Progress cited Horowitz as a prominent figure instrumental in demonizing Islam and spreading fear about an Islamic takeover of Western society. Horowitz's response was that the Center had "joined the Muslin Brotherhood." In an address at Brooklyn College in 2011, Horowitz declared "No people has shown itself so morally sick as the Palestinians ... Not only are they sick, nasty terrorists, but they're racists."External links
- David Horowitz Freedom Center website Official Website.
- Discover the Networks Guide to the Political Left.
- NewsReal Blog Focused to analyze and critique cable shows, newspapers, magazines, and the blogosphere to reveal the political Left's methods and agendas.
- Jihad Watch