American Extremists

The South will rise again, and again and again. There is no end in sight to the effort to redeem the Confederacy and promote white racism and supremacy. Our late and now endlessly lamented 40th president, Ronald Reagan, began his campaign for president in Philadelphia, Mississippi by calling for "states rights." He then gave a sheepish "Did I offend anyone?" when he was called on the carpet for using this blatantly racist language at the scene of the murders of civil rights workers Schwerner, Chaney and Goodman.

Despite this very obvious appeal to the worst instincts in Americans, the GOP faces a quandary when admiring white supremacists take them at their word and run for office as Republicans. The latest to cause embarrassment is Ron Wilson, national commander of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, who is running for a seat in the South Carolina State Senate. The Southern Poverty Law Center has given Wilson the dubious distinction of being named one of the top 40 white supremacists in need of constant monitoring.

If history is any indication, Wilson's candidacy will have an all too predictable response. Republican pundits will demand that the bum be thrown out of their ranks. Black Republicans will whine that their brethren's hearts and minds will never be won over if the commander of Sons of the Confederacy is a Republican elected official.

The GOP's southern ascendance coincided with both overt and covert appeals to white racism. Unfortunately the unspoken bargain that says racists must stay in the closet is sometimes broken. Louisiana's David Duke was the first such troublemaker for Republicans. The former Klansman must have been just a little confused by all the fuss. The Republicans make racist appeals and then grow anxious when the less subtle want to come along for the ride.

The poor Republicans cry and scream that they do not have a racist bone in their collective body and that it is slander to think otherwise. Poor Senator Trent Lott got the boot as Majority Leader when he went over the top in praising the nearly moribund Strom Thurmond (who had been literally propped up for yet another Republican love fest). We can feel Lott's pain. He hadn't said anything he hadn't said before and neither Democrats, nor the press, nor other Republicans had ever said a word against his racist diatribes. Lott may have gotten the last laugh, however. He is now free to say that prison abuse is a fine idea and remain in synch with his party.

Not only is Ron Wilson destined to become the GOP pariah, but he has managed to alienate the southern cultural heritage crowd to such an extent that some were forced to form a counter organization, Save the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Let's call them Confederate light. They want to remember southern heritage, but take great pains to disassociate themselves from the white power group. Recalling that great-great-grandpa's regiment took a hill at Gettysburg is acceptable, but membership in the KKK is not. The distinction is probably without a difference. We are talking about people who exalt the effort to preserve slavery. If some are racists with smiling faces the rest of us should not be impressed but the amusement factor is too good to resist.

Are white supremacists getting an undeserved bad rap? The facts are as follows. America wouldn't exist if it weren't for white racism. Black people wouldn't be here instead of in Africa if white racism had not been sanctioned and institutionalized from the very beginnings of this country's history. America would not have the world's highest rate of incarceration if there were no white racism. But alas, if an overly exuberant Confederate re-enactor has the nerve to give a salute a la Hitler and yell "white power" then he is cast out, forced to live with the Aryan Nation in Idaho alongside others who thought that the nation was serious about putting one group on top and all others at the bottom. It is little wonder they are so angry.