Via Unfogged

Conservative Group to Meet with State [Mississippi] Lawmakers

By Emily Wagster Pettus
The Associated Press

Some Mississippi lawmakers are scheduled to speak Thursday to the Council of Conservative Citizens, an organization that the Southern Poverty Law Center calls "a patently white supremacist group."

Bill Hinson of Pearl, president of the Great Southern chapter of CCC, announced on the group's Web site that "several House and Senate members" are to speak.

He wouldn't tell The Associated Press the names of lawmakers or where the event is taking place, although AP learned it will be at a south Jackson fish house.

Hinson said he wouldn't release details of the meeting because, "we've had so much negative publicity."

He said the CCC does not make an issue of race.

"Our chapter is more focused on taxation, Southern heritage," Hinson said. "I guess you could call us the Christian right, something like that."

Mark Potok, director of the Intelligence Project for the Montgomery, Ala.-based Southern Poverty Law Center, said it is a "patent falsehood" to say the CCC — also known as the C of CC — is not driven by racial issues.

"I think five minutes on the C of CC Web site will convince anyone that the C of CC is a patently white supremacist group," Potok said.

The CCC's national Web site has a question-and-answer section about race that says: "The C of CC opposes government sponsored race preference programs (e.g. affirmative action, quotas, forced integration) that are bestowed on nonwhites and other preferred minorities at taxpayer expense. The C of CC also stands against the tide of nonwhite, Third World immigrants swamping this country."

Its site also says "the C of CC has been singularly effective in thwarting many schemes by leftwing militants to rob white Americans of their rights and heritage," including an attempt in 2001 to remove the Confederate battle emblem from the Mississippi flag.

Potok said the CCC's Web site "is a vile, Klan-like site."

The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups, issued a report last fall that said at least 38 current federal, state and local office holders in several states had attended CCC meetings since 2000, with most giving speeches to local chapters. It said 23 are from Mississippi.

State Rep. John Moore, R-Brandon, said he's scheduled to speak at the CCC gathering Thursday. He said he'll talk about issues to be considered during the current legislative session.

Moore said he didn't know anything about the group's position on race.

"If I find out for certain they are a racist organization, I am going to confront them," he said.

"You hear that the NAACP is racist, but that wouldn't keep me from talking to them," Moore said.

He said he had never looked at the CCC's Web site, but he sat with an AP reporter and scrolled through it. After looking at the question-and-answer section on race, Moore said: "I didn't get any indication from this that they were racist."

Rep. Rufus Straughter, D-Belzoni, past chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus, said it's "disingenuous" for any politician to say they don't know about the CCC's positions on race.

"If we are concerned about racial healing in the state of Mississippi, individuals who would attend a meeting like that, I'd say they are not concerned about racial healing," Straughter said.

Fontana labs at unfogged links to the CCC mainsite. Where s/he discovers the following on the FAQ page.

Does the C of CC oppose racism?

The word racism was concocted by a communist ideologue in the 1920's. The purpose of racism was to instill guilt and shame in the minds of white people and to inflame racial hostility among blacks. This word play succeeded beyond all expectations. Of course, the word racism has no meaning unless whites react to it. Because racism defines nothing, but instead generates dubious connotations, the C of CC refuses to be held hostage by what the word implies at any given moment. It is normal for white people to be proud of their race and heritage. Is that racist?

Well, actually let see whatelse they have to say on FAQ:

Is the C of CC a racist hate group?

Various leftwing outfits like the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), have branded the C of CC as a racist hate group. Not true. The C of CC advocates and promotes the legitimate causes of European-Americans. Often, support for these causes bring the Council into conflict with the aforementioned groups.

However, the real reason powerful Leftwing operations attack us is because the Council has been politically effective on the local, state, and national levels.

Despite sometimes powerful opposition, the C of CC has been singularly effective in thwarting many schemes by leftwing militants to rob white Americans of their rights and heritage. The C of CC is recognized as the most effective group fighting to keep the Confederate flag at the South Carolina capital and to keep the Mississippi state flag intact. The C of CC has always been at the forefront of the battle to protect Southern heritage

FYI, the Catholic vote in Mississippi was 80/20 in favor of ______. Like Steve Gillard says, there is something about this Bush administration that has emboldened people like this, I wonder what it is? Could it be that wonderful brand of compassionate conservatism that has been much heralded?

So while we on our side with MLK are encouraging Blacks and Whites and Latinos and Natives and everyone to stand side by side in MLK's dream, we don't even want to know who the RNC and Bush want standing side by side.