White Separatism in the Mississippi State Senate?
Last weekend, Sen. Lydia Chassaniol (R-Winona) was the keynote speaker at the annual convention of the Council of Conservative Citizens, an organization that has been classified as a white separatist hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center and described as having “a thinly-veiled white supremacist agenda” by The New York Times. On the CCC web site, you can buy a “white pride” T-shirt; their platform praises America’s “European” heritage and condemns “mixture of the races”; a previous incarnation of their web site described African Americans as “a retrograde species of humanity”; and so forth. The organization’s agenda is fairly transparent.
Sen. Chassaniol has refused to disavow the organization, praising it as a group of “lone voices crying in the wilderness” during her keynote and stating that its presence “gives [her] hope.” When she was later asked about her membership in the group, she replied that “a person’s membership in any organization is a private matter.”
Why should we care? Several reasons:
- Sen. Chassaniol chairs the Mississippi Senate Tourism Committee, and arguably wields more power than any other legislator to shape how Mississippi is perceived by non-residents.
- Sen. Chassaniol is one of the most visible Republicans in the state, even independently of her role on the tourism committee. She is a popular speaker at conservative events, and has her own blog on the Clarion-Ledger web site. Watching her sacrifice her credibility to support this unworthy organization is tragic.
- The last mainstream Republican politician to openly support the Council of Conservative Citizens was Governor Kirk Fordice in the 1990s. Former RNC Chair Jim Nicholson, Governor Haley Barbour, Senator Trent Lott (who condemned the group as “white supremacist and racist”), and former Jackson City Council President Ben Allen have all spoken out against the organization–Republican politicians, in other words, at every level of government. Sen. Chassaniol’s participation in the annual CofCC convention gives them the undeserved opportunity to reenter the mainstream of Republican politics in Mississippi.
Mississippians need Sen. Chassaniol to admit that she seriously misjudged the organization.
Action Items
- Leave a message for Sen. Lydia Chassaniol at (601) 359 3226 politely but firmly asking her to cancel her membership with the Council of Conservative Citizens and publicly apologize for speaking at their convention.
- Leave a message for Mississippi RNC Chair Brad White at (601) 948 5191 requesting that he reaffirm former RNC Chair Jim Nicholson’s rejection of the Council of Conservative Citizens, so that no statewide politicians get the wrong idea from Sen. Chassaniol’s participation in the event (given her high level of visibility in the Mississippi Republican Party). The party of James Meredith and Charles Evers does not need to be associated with segregationist ideology.
For Further Reading
- Surviving a Weekend with America’s Premier “Pro-White” Activist Group (AlterNet)
- History and Profile of the Council of Conservative Citizens (Anti-Defamation League)
- The Council of Conservative Citizens: Chronology of a Scandal (Anti-Defamation League)
- Guess Who’s Coming to Jackson (Jackson Free Press)
- Winona Senator Was “Surprise” CofCC Speaker (Jackson Free Press)
- Mississippi Pol Said to Be Governor’s Ally Speaks to Racist Group (Southern Poverty Law Center)
- Sharks in the Mainstream (Southern Poverty Law Center)
Why would you want her to “admit that she seriously misjudged the organization”? She obviously knows what they are about. Should she do what most politicians do and lie about her affection for this messed-up organization? She should be taken to task and asked about the specific racist claims in their platform and her feelings on those claims.
“Why would you want her to ‘admit that she seriously misjudged the organization’?”
To reduce their influence.
“She obviously knows what they are about.”
This is becoming increasingly clear with the release of the emails between Sen. Chassaniol and Heidi Beirich of the SPLC, which were crossposted on the JFP yesterday afternoon and appear below. Heidi was very clear about what the organization was about, and Sen. Chassaniol still refused to distance herself from it.
“Should she do what most politicians do and lie about her affection for this messed-up organization?”
Yes. The movement will have less power to recruit, and to influence the policy debate, if it is completely marginalized from visible mainstream politics. That is what has reduced its influence over the past decade–the way Trent Lott and others condemned it–and that is what will prevent it from reasserting mainstream influence now. The CCC is an aging organization; it will continue to wither on the vine if, and only if, it does not have mainstream support.
“She should be taken to task and asked about the specific racist claims in their platform and her feelings on those claims.”
I think this would be a good idea; please do contact her and ask her what her views are on these platform points. I have had very little luck in that department.
Here is the discussion between Sen. Chassaniol and Heidi Beirich of the SPLC. Posts are in reverse sequential order:
—— Forwarded Message
From: Lydia Chassaniol
Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:13:41 -0500
To: Heidi Beirich
Conversation: Council of Conservative Citizens
Subject: RE: Council of Conservative Citizens
I was invited to speak to the group by one of the local members. I spoke on
the topic of Mississippi’s Cultural Heritage.
As chair of the tourism committee in the Mississippi senate, I felt it was
appropriate to invite the members of a national organization to visit our
state’s tourist attractions. I am often asked to speak to a number of
groups. I do not consider myself racist, have never before been accused of
such, and believe that a person’s membership in any organization is a
private matter.
I spent a number of years as a professional educator and worked with the
children of the Mississippi Delta in the nation’s largest stay in school
network (Communities in Schools). During my tenure at that organization, I
frequently spoke to the Greenwood Voter’s League to give them an update on
the progress we were making in preventing students from dropping out of
school.
There are some who would consider the Greenwood Voter’s League to be a
racist organization because there are no members who are Caucasian. I do not
abide by labels such as this, and I hope you will forgive me for taking
exception to the insinuation that I am racist, because I choose to belong to
a conservative organization. Conservative is a term which also applies to
fiscal matters.
Please understand that I am open to the opinions of many people and hope
that your organization will have much success in its approach to social
justice.
From: Heidi Beirich
Sent: Monday, June 29, 2009 2:49 PM
To: Lydia Chassaniol
Subject: Re: Council of Conservative Citizens
Thanks for writing back. I’m writing in reference to your speech this past
weekend at the Council of Conservative Citizens meeting in Jackson. I was
wondering why you would speak to, and be a member of a group, that is widely
considered to be white supremacist?
I don’t call the CCC that just from our perspective at the SPLC; rather, the
Conservative Political Action Committee called the group racist in 1998 and
barred it from its annual meetings. Also, the Republican National Committee
“forcefully” condemned the CCC in 1999, urging Republicans not to join or
attend its functions.
Thanks for your comments,
Heidi
On 6/29/09 2:39 PM, “Lydia Chassaniol” wrote:
Thank you for contacting me. I am unable to leave the senate chamber to make
a call right now, but if you would like to ask me a question, please respond
to this e-mail.
From: Heidi Beirich
Sent: Monday, June 29, 2009 2:37 PM
To: Lydia Chassaniol
Subject: Council of Conservative Citizens
Dear Sen. Chassaniol,
My name is Heidi Beirich and I work for the Southern Poverty Law Center. I
am trying to get in touch with you to discuss your speech this past weekend
at the Council of Conservative Citizens. My number is below. I am writing
for our blog about this tomorrow.
Best,
Heidi Beirich
–
Heidi Beirich, Ph.D.
Director of Research and Special Projects
Southern Poverty Law Center
[...] isn’t much new to say about the controversy surrounding Sen. Lydia Chassaniol (R-Winona)’s connections to a white separatist g…, but I’ve received enough emails on the matter to warrant an [...]