White Nationalists Defend “Immigrant Reform” Organization
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A chapter of one of the most influential white nationalist organizations in the United States, the Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC), sought to defend the anti-immigrant Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) from charges of injecting racism into the national discussion on immigration. While conveniently ignoring its own national ties to FAIR, the Tennessee chapter of the Council of Conservative Citizens uses anti-Latino stereotypes in its blog in an attempt to challenge the credibility of the National Council of La Raza.
While publicly attempting to distance itself from racism the FAIR staffers and board members have worked openly with the white nationalist Council of Conservative Citizens. According to the Center for New Community, “FAIR staffers have spoken at CCC events and shared the stage with CCC leaders. At least one FAIR staffer is even reported to be a CCC member”. In its report on FAIR, the Center for New Community points to other specific examples of the CCC/FAIR relationship:
• Former FAIR Western Regional Coordinator Rick Oltman was described as a member of the Council of Conservative Citizens in the Winter 1997/1998 edition of the Citizens Informer.
• In 1997, Rick Oltman actually shared the podium with Virginia Abernethy at the Council of Conservative Citizens conference. Oltman and Abernethy sat on a panel entitled, “Immigration – Are We Being Overrun?”
• At a January 17, 1998 anti-immigration rally in Cullman, Alabama, Oltman shared the podium with Council of Conservative Citizens leaders and with William Burchfield a onetime Alabama state leader of Thom Robb’s Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.
• According to the Citizens Informer, FAIR Field Coordinator Dave Ray was a scheduled guest speaker at a March 11, 1997 Central Alabama CCC meeting.
• FAIR’s weekly television show, “Borderline,” has featured white nationalist leaders, including the late Sam Francis, a leader in the Council of Conservative Citizens and prior to his death, Associate Editor of The Occidental Quarterly. The show also featured Jared Taylor of the CCC, who also heads the New Century Foundation, the publisher of the racist journal, American Renaissance;
• FAIR staffer, Jim Staudenraus, shared the stage with Jared Taylor of the CCC and American Renaissance at a September 7, 2002 anti-immigration conference.
• CCC members have participated in several of FAIR’s Immigration Reform Awareness Week lobbying events.
Controversial FAIR founder and current board member John Tanton has his own relationship with the Council of Conservative Citizens. In 1990, Tanton congratulated CCC member Jared Taylor on his upcoming newsletter, stating “You are saying a lot of things that need to be said, but I anticipate it will be very tough sledding.” In 1991, CCC member Wayne Lutton received a personal invitation from Tanton to attend an event connected to a FAIR board meeting telling Lutton, “I’ve been a reader of your materials for some time, and hope that we can meet some day. Is there any chance that you could come up and join us?”
As the spotlight continues to focus on the Federation for American Immigration Reform, its relationship to political extremists — including white supremacists — is becoming ever more apparent.
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