Year: 2013

Derek Black, son of Don Black, who runs WN forum Stormfront renounced his former views.
Read the story here.

This is why it is good to shine light in dark places.
Defending the indefensible often leads to backpeddling.
In actuality, Sonny Thomas, the fellow who showed up at the Springboro School Board meeting and defended the Constitution course written by a League of the South board member didn’t back off much. He now says he was trying make a point about symbolism. I guess in a way he did what he set out to do. However, the symbolism which most people associate with the Confederate flag is repulsive.  He acknowledged that most people viewed it as racist, a sentiment which was confirmed in the Cincinnati.com article by Cincinnati area minister, Damon Lynch.
Not sure how Sonny’s reframing of the situation will sit with his ideological peers. On at least one white nationalist blog, he was getting cheers for his efforts. Occidental Dissent posted a link to the Daily Caller article on the subject with the headline, “Go, Sonny, Go.” According to the blogger, Sonny was in attendance at the unabashedly white nationalist Council for Conservative Citizens 2013 conference.
Kelly Kohls, president of the school board, told me in an email that she was surprised by Thomas’ remarks. She told me that board policy allows prearranged speakers to talk about whatever they want to talk about for three minutes. She said she felt between “a rock and a hard place” because she disagreed with his message but also worried about a free speech lawsuit if she shut him down.
Looking into Thomas’ background, it is hard to see how his remarks were surprising. This is not his first national media rodeo. In 2010, he was in the news for making disparaging remarks regarding Hispanics via twitter.  There were ripples throughout the tea party world; for instance, James Traficant and others pulled out of a Springboro tea party event due to Thomas’ involvement.
 
 
 

Two headlines from my email inbox:
Ex-Gay Movement, Alive, Strong, & Moving Forward!
Organizers Cancel ‘Ex-Gay Pride Month’ Citing Vague ‘Security Threats’
The first comes from the Illinois Family Institute and Linda Jernigan who puts on a brave front and offers her book for sale. The second comes from The Advocate and describes the cancellation of ex-gay pride month (or now “ex-gay half-month”).
From one point of view, things look rosy; from another, things are comically bad.
Just a word on the cancellation of the “ex-gay pride month:” For the cancellation to have any credibility, the organizers need to reveal the nature of the security concerns. I have a hard time believing Voice for the Voiceless would be voiceless about real concerns.
 

The recent cancellation of a Constitution course in the Springboro School District has placed new focus on the group behind the course, the Institute on the Constitution and another group, the League of the South.
The IOTC course brought complaints from parents about the religious nature of the course and the membership of IOTC founder, Michael Peroutka, in the League of the South. You can read more about the League here.
Last Thursday, a leader of the Springboro Tea Party and Council of Conservative Citizens, showed up at the Springboro School District and defended the course and the League of the South. He finished his talk by displaying a Confederate flag.
Another person linking the two organizations is IOTC founder Peroutka. Last month, Peroutka was appointed to be a board member of the League of the South during the annual conference. At the end of a speech, Peroutka pledges the resources of the IOTC to the aims of the League of the South. Here is the link which allows you to begin watching at the point where Peroutka makes his pledge. On the video (at 39:10) he says:

I am so pleased, and I thank you Dr. Hill and you Sara, and you Alex, and Mike Crane, and all the others on the board, and I am uh, I want to do my best, with God’s help, to be worthy of what you’re, what you do and what you are asking me to do. I’m gonna try my best. I pledge the resources of the Institute on the Constitution and the resources of the Peroutka family to that effort. God bless you.

For more on what the League of the South is about, see their FAQs. One the main objectives is the secession of the Southern states to form a white Christian nation.
Also, here is League president Michael Hill on what the League is about:

Just so there’s no chance that you’ll confuse The League with the GOP or any other “conservative” group, here’s what we stand for: The survival, well being, and independence of the Southern people. And by “the Southern people,” we mean White Southerners who are not afraid to stand for the people of their race and region.

According to the League’s Grey Book, the League yearns for a return to America before the Civil War amendments to the Constitution and to the Confederate South.

The Grey Book is based on the following presuppositions: 1) that we who oppose on moral grounds the practises and polices of the US government have a duty to reform or remove ourselves from it; 2) that the government of the US is beyond reform, so that the only option available is removing ourselves; 3) that two or more Southern States will at some time in the future form a confederal union; and 4) that their representatives will ratify a Constitution more or less like the US Constitution of 1788 and the Confederate States Constitution of 1861.

 

Note to the Supreme Court: We still got issues.
Trayvon Martin. A guy comes to an Ohio school board meeting brandishing a Confederate flag. An aide to Rand Paul was a leader in the Southern secessionist group, The League of the South.
Yes, some things have changed but clearly some things have not changed enough.
One thing may be improving. According to League of the South President Michael Hill, the flap surrounding Rand Paul’s staffer shows that “there’s no place in the GOP for Southerners who wish to remain . . . Southerners.” How does Hill define a Southerner?

Just so there’s no chance that you’ll confuse The League with the GOP or any other “conservative” group, here’s what we stand for: The survival, well being, and independence of the Southern people. And by “the Southern people,” we mean White Southerners who are not afraid to stand for the people of their race and region.

The League of the South calls for Southern secession to create a haven for white Christians — at least for Christians who think there is a need for a white Christian haven. If Hill is right that the GOP is not a place for such views, then that would be good news for the GOP and for the nation.
Given Rand Paul’s ‘aw shucks’ response, it isn’t clear that he agrees with Hill or that Hill is right about the GOP.
While I find Hill’s ideology repulsive, I am glad he drew a line between what he believes and what he thinks the GOP stands for.
Now if only the GOP would draw the same line.