Sara Bullard is an American writer and

sociological research Social research is a research conducted by social scientists following a systematic plan. Social research methodologies can be classified as quantitative and qualitative. * Quantitative designs approach social phenomena through quantifiable ...

er focused on

hate crimes A hate crime (also known as a bias-motivated crime or bias crime) is a prejudice-motivated crime which occurs when a perpetrator targets a victim because of their membership (or perceived membership) of a certain social group or racial demograph ...

, racism, and the

civil rights movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...

. She is the founding director of

Teaching Tolerance The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is known for its legal cases against white sup ...

, a national project of the

Southern Poverty Law Center The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is known for its legal cases against white su ...

to promote racial and cultural understanding among students. Bullard was the editor of the program's semiannual magazine. She authored the books ''Free at Last'' (1993) and ''Teaching Tolerance'' (1996).

Early life

Sara Bullard was raised in

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. Until 1968, her father Jack Bullard had a

Raleigh Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...

-area Southern Baptist

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...

. He left his position to focus his career on improving race relations and moved the family to

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

. Bullard was part of the first group of students to attend desegregated

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (abbreviated CMS) is a local education agency headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina and is the public school system for Mecklenburg County. With over 147,000 students enrolled, it is the second-largest school ...

, studying at Randolph Middle School. The environment was tense and bomb threats were common.

Career

Bullard worked as a journalist before joining the North Carolina Humanities Council. She joined the

(SPLC) in 1987 where she published the ''KlanWatch'' report and researched extremism. Bullard and SPLC director Morris Dees found that half of the

hate crime A hate crime (also known as a bias-motivated crime or bias crime) is a prejudice-motivated crime which occurs when a perpetrator targets a victim because of their membership (or perceived membership) of a certain social group or racial demograph ...

s in the U.S. involved perpetrators under the age of 21. To combat this, in 1991, Bullard founded the SPLC's Teaching Tolerance division to develop

school curricula In education, a curriculum (; : curricula or curriculums) is broadly defined as the totality of student experiences that occur in the educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view ...

and publish ''Teaching Tolerance'', a semiannual magazine aimed at educators. The division provides instructional materials to schoolteachers to promote racial and cultural understanding among students. Bullard authored ''Free at Last'' (1993), a juvenile nonfiction book about the

. It includes a chronology of prominent and unsung

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

s who died in their efforts. She wrote ''Teaching Tolerance'' (1996), a book aimed at parents and teachers to help explore their personal

bias Bias is a disproportionate weight ''in favor of'' or ''against'' an idea or thing, usually in a way that is closed-minded, prejudicial, or unfair. Biases can be innate or learned. People may develop biases for or against an individual, a group, ...

es to enable the rearing of tolerant and empathetic children. , Bullard has performed

on hate and intolerance for a decade with the SPLC. Based on her research and federal statistics, she believes that "intolerance is the seed of a growing crisis" and predicts that racism and xenophobia is spreading.

Selected works

* Reviews of ''Free At Last'': * * * * * * * Reviews of ''Teaching Tolerance'': * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bullard, Sara Year of birth missing (living people) Writers from Charlotte, North Carolina 20th-century American women writers American women non-fiction writers American women children's writers American children's writers Southern Poverty Law Center American magazine editors