Rosslyn Has Its Very Own Hate Group, Advocacy Organization Says

ARLINGTON, VA — Most people imagine hate groups as shadowy organizations residing in rural areas, but the Southern Poverty Law Center says we have one right here in Rosslyn: ProEnglish, an anti-immigrant group that aims to make English the official language of the United States.

ProEnglish is located at 1601 N. Kent Street in the Rosslyn Plaza C building. They describe themselves as the "nation’s leading advocate of official English."

"We work through the courts and in the court of public opinion to defend English’s historic role as America’s common, unifying language, and to persuade lawmakers to adopt English as the official language at all levels of government," their website states.

SPLC calls them a hate group.

"For decades, ProEnglish and its predecessor English Language Advocates have pushed to implement English-only laws," the organization says in a statement. "These laws would require the government operate in English and, ultimately, discriminate against those with limited proficiency in English. While ProEnglish argues that passing these laws is an inclusionary measure designed to promote assimilation, it’s own history of racism undercuts its claim."

SPLC says that ProEnglish was founded in 1994 by a white nationalist named John Tanton, who spearheads the modern-day anti-immigrant movement.

SPLC also says that ProEnglish's current executive director, Robert Vandervoot, is the former head of a satellite group for the American Renaissance, a white nationalist organization.

SPLC is a non-profit organization that dedicates itself to "monitoring the activities of domestic hate groups and other extremists – including the Ku Klux Klan, the neo-Nazi movement, neo-Confederates, racist skinheads, black separatists, antigovernment militias, Christian Identity adherents and others," according to their website.

Image via Southern Poverty Law Center