I’ve debated with myself and others whether I should even address this topic, but I’ve decided that in the end it will be good for us to get everything out in the open and expose it to the light.
The story is this: a civil rights organization called the Southern Poverty Law Center has recently classified one of Memphis’ local radio programs as a “hate group.” The Center’s Intelligence Project also plans to add the radio show’s website to its annual hate watch list.
An article by the Commercial Appeal last week did not explain why the program had been labeled a hate group by the Center, leaving us with only a vague guess as to what might happen on the program, aside from the following sentence:
On Monday, Cesspool carried a live report from the American Renaissance Conference in Washington, described by the Washington Post as a hate gathering with suits and ties.
The CA also mentioned the hosts’ status as “honorary Memphis City Council members,” a designation provided by City Councilman E.C. Jones.
On Sunday, the CA followed up with a column by Wendi Thomas and a political cartoon by Bill Day (click image to enlarge):
I tuned in to hear it for the first time on Monday night. The program used its broadcast to defend itself against the charges, accuse the CA of bias and attempting to block the hosts’ right to free speech, gloat about the show’s newfound popularity and exposure resulting from the articles, and take calls that seemed to be exclusively from insiders and supporters (the hosts apologized for keeping the call-in phone line “off the hook”), while simultaneously complaining that the CA had refused to publish letters to the editor in defense of the program (one was published today).
During the one-hour program, the only mention of the word “hate” I heard was when one of the co-hosts said that he hates the word diversity.
Is it fair to label The Political Cesspool a hate group?
Not being a regular listener of the program, I can’t say for sure. But I have visited their website, and I have encountered the hosts at least once before — and what I take from all this is that the program may not be racist, but it is certainly racially and culturally insensitive. I gather the hosts wouldn’t deny that description, nor would they feel the need to apologize for such insensitivity, or what they might call “political correctness.”
On Monday’s program, the first call the hosts took came from gubernatorial candidate Carl “Two Feathers” Whitaker, who is of Native American ancestry. The Hosts, and friends of the show who are acquaintances of mine, ask how the program can be a called a white extremist group if it supports, and is supported by, minorities. I think that’s a fair question, but I’m still troubled by several things.
First, I find the show’s “statement of principles” quite ridiculous.
Their #2 principle is this: “We believe the United States is a European country and that Americans are part of the European people.”
What does that even mean, anyway?
The United States, last I checked, is not part of Europe. And are Americans of African descent European people? What about Americans of Asian descent? Middle-Eastern descent? Latin-American descent?
I was born in America; how does that make me European?
The eight principle of the show adds this: “We must have… racial integrity.”
What is that statement if not racist? Isn’t it racist, at least in the sense that the U.S. Census is racist, forcing us to categorize ourselves (and for Hipanics, twice!) in racial ghettos?
What does this “principle” mean for one who does not have “racial integrity,” whatever that is? And why all the focus on racial background, anyway?
In the end, the hosts of The Political Cesspool are more willing to overlook the Atlantic divide than the racial divide. Why else classify Americans as Europeans, but insist on “racial integrity” at the same time?
A second problem I have with the hosts is their involvement and participation in activities that call up old hatreds and embrace old divisions.
Last summer, I photographed a group of people demonstrating at one of the Confederate-named parks in Memphis, back when there was a push in the city to rename them. It turns out that at least two of the people in this small group are hosts of the program:
Regular host James Edwards is standing at far left, next to guest host Jess Bonds.
Why does Edwards fly the Confederate flag, instead of the Stars and Stripes, as can be found all throughout his website?
I realize that some people are proud of their heritage, and of their ancestors who fought for the Confederate rebels. I also sympathize with those who want to preserve history, and I understand those who say the Civil War was fought over states rights. I don’t wish to offend these people — they are my friends and my neighbors.
On the other hand, they ought to know that I am offended by Americans who wave a flag other than Old Glory, which to me represents freedom. They should know I am offended by the propagation of these symbols of oppression and divison. They should know I am also proud of my Northern ancestors, many of whom were abolitionists that fought in order to free the slaves. And finally, they should know that I don’t consider the name of public parks to be historical, and that I think Confederate figures should instead be remembered at historic battlefields and other historic locations thoughout the country.
Finally, I’m forced to question the truthfulness of The Political Cesspool’s hosts. On Monday night, they specifically said they had not altered their website. But as it turns out they have at least edited their sponsors list. An archived Google cache is available here.
I can’t tell you what’s in the heart of those who produce The Political Cesspool, but I can tell you that we ignore the Buchanan wing of the Republican party at our own peril. It’s time for us to stand up, face the issues and put the old hatreds behind us.
It’s also time that we force the hate-watchers to take a look at the all the hate spewing out of liberal Air America radio — which, when I tuned in for the first time last year offered a comment about Condoleezza Rice being “very reptilian.” They should also take another look at the DNC, led by its chairman, Howard “I Hate Republicans” Dean.
6 comments so far
A reader adds: “After reading your post about the Political Cesspool radio show and your comment about support for that show by minorities, I have to say there is dispute about the supporter you mention as an American Indian:
LINK“
I just looked; and it appears they erased the entire sponsor list.
Those cached pages do, I think, disappear after a while if the searched page itself disappears; or they get overwritten in time.
This variety of nostalgia, regret, and protestation has been around since the end of “the War.” It is understandable but growing weaker.
I used to get mail solicitations from that SPLC with a picture of a lynched man in the envelope, a long time, to me, after even the modern civil rights killings. I imagine that Center has done some good since its inception; but if I recall, its founder has made a good living doing what some can call watchdogging and others can call branding people as haters. And if you’re a hammer, everything looks like a nail. I certainly wouldn’t take my marching orders from the SPLC; and the reaction of the newspaper smells of piling on as holier than thou on a historically salient issue for the region.
The SPLC is really a profit making, professional fund-raising enterprize, specializing in raising money from well-to-do white liberals. It is run by a Morris Dees, and he and his organization were throughly trashed in an article in Harper’s Magazine, Nov, 2000, by Ken Silverstein, called “How the Southern Poverty Law Center profits from intolerance” All independent charity watchdog organizations rate SPLC badly for devoting so much of it’s budget to overhead, and so little to actual civil rights work. Also, it doesn’t take much to get listed as racist by the SPLC, anyone who opposes Black Reparations gets on it. Just another hypocrite organization for rich white liberals who get their rocks off on touting their moral superiority to working class white people.
Since I’m one of the co-hosts of The Political Cesspool, I’d like to deal with your assertion that a call for racial integrity is racist.
I first challenge you to define what you mean by “racist”. There’s no need to make it lengthy or complicated. Just give a common-sense definition.
Now, I ask you: are Jews racists for insisting that Jews should marry only other Jews? Of course not; they simply want racial integrity. They want Jews to marry Jews and produce Jewish children. Are Negro women racists when they get upset at Negro men who “hook up” with and marry White women? Of course they aren’t; they simply want racial integrity. They want Negro men marrying Negro women and producing Negro children. I applaud Jews and Negroes who want to keep their respective races as pure as possible, because the races are God’s idea, and all the races are beautiful - including the White race - and they should stay that way. There is nothing racist whatsoever in this. Love of one’s kind is not hatred for other kinds. I can say honestly that there is not a single race that I hate. I want all the races to thrive and prosper. At the same time, I want my own race to thrive and prosper. That desire is considered fine and noble in all races but the White race, in which case it’s considered racist (whatever “racists” means). Why is that?
Finally, I’ll say the by calling us racists, you have contradicted yourself when you wrote that you “can’t tell you what’s in the heart of those who produce The Political Cesspool”. In order to call us racists, you would certainly have to know what’s in our hearts. If you want to know what’s in my heart, feel free to email me. Like every son od Adam, I’m a sinful man, with a heart that’s “desperately wicked and deceitful in all things,” as Scripture says, but I’ll be as honest as I can in letting you know what’s in my heart.
I haven’t called you a racist, Winston. To quote myself, “what I take from all this is that the program may not be racist, but it is certainly racially and culturally insensitive.”
To quote you, “What is that statement if not racist?”
Please don’t try to split hairs by saying something like, “I didn’t say you are a racist. I said that what’s in the statement of principles is racist.” The statement of principles is intended to explain ourselves. If you take the line about racial to be racist, then you assume we are racists. But, you still haven’t defined “racist”.