SAN JOSE, Calif., April 02, 2001 - The Cisco Foundation and Cisco Systems Inc. have joined with the Southern Poverty Law Center to harness the power of the Internet to expose hate and promote tolerance through the new www.tolerance.org web site.

The Southern Poverty Law Center launched Tolerance.org to provide easy access to information about hate groups and their web sites and to find innovative ways to promote and teach tolerance. The Center is a national civil rights organization that combats injustice and hatred.

As the Internet has revolutionized communication, some hate groups have abused it to promote destructive behavior. News of the Columbine school shooting, for example, included reports of students and others exchanging information about explosives over the web. Cisco and the Southern Poverty Law Center are committed to creating a positive on-line community where educators and students alike can find resources and share ideas in the hopes of promoting understanding in the classroom and beyond.

As part of a four-year commitment, the Cisco Foundation donated $1.6 million to help launch the project. In addition, Cisco Systems Inc. donated more than $150,000 in networking equipment that will be used to host the Tolerance.org web site and help build the Center's network infrastructure"We want to expose people to the reality of hate and intolerance," said Morris Dees, the Center's co-founder. "But we also want to highlight the concrete things people are doing in their homes, their schools, and their communities to promote justice and understanding."

The website, which is in Spanish and English, will enable visitors to view a searchable "hate map" showing where hate groups operate across the country and a "human rights map" with links to hundreds of groups that promote tolerance. Visitors can take an interactive psychology test to measure hidden biases. Pop-up "truth panels" will debunk the propaganda of infamous hate sites. At Planet Tolerance, children can see and display their own art and writing on an on-line mural, the largest online collection of images and words celebrating tolerance. In the fall of 2001, Tolerance.org will unveil even more educational materials developed by Teaching Tolerance, the Southern Poverty Law Center's award winning education project."Tolerance.org is a testament to the way the Internet can help people of various backgrounds learn more about each other. At Cisco, we believe the Internet can empower people in communities around the world to learn and reach their potential," said Maideh Radpour, Director of Community Development for Cisco Systems, Inc.

Radpour said Tolerance.org shows how the Internet can be an effective teaching tool, using special sections for teachers, including a suite of on-line activities and three educators-only forums, for parents and guardians, where they can discuss the challenges of parenting for a diverse world, and for kids, which has a safe and engaging place where young people can contribute art, read and hear stories about a just and caring world.

"Through Tolerance.org, people everywhere - students and teachers, parents and neighbors - now have a place to go on-line where they can learn how they can make a difference in other people's lives - and their own," Radpour said.

Cisco is among a group of technology and entertainment companies helping to support and promote Tolerance.org. Other participating companies include Razorfish and Yahoo.

About The Southern Poverty Law Center:

The Southern Poverty Law Center is a non-profit organization that combats hate, intolerance, and discrimination through education and litigation. Its programs include Teaching Tolerance and the Intelligence Project, which incorporates Klanwatch and the Militia Task Force. The Center also sponsors the Civil Rights Memorial, which celebrates the memory of forty individuals who died during the Civil Rights Movement. To learn more go to www.splcenter.org.

About The Cisco Foundation:

The Cisco Systems Foundation was established in 1997 by a gift from Cisco Systems, Inc. The Foundation funds community organizations that provide education, generate and sustain community service or meet basic human needs. It focuses on those programs that extend useful innovation and attempt to make lasting positive change.