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Conservative Site InspectionBy
Abraham H. Foxman (National Director, Anti-Defamation League) Gordon L. Baum, the CEO of the Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC), is dismayed that his organization has been labeled racist and antisemitic [Free for All, Jan. 2]. It is clear that Baum likes to present the CCC as a mainstream conservative group, but even he would have to concede that an organization's membership, official organ and Web site must, by their very nature, be representative of the group and its views. A quick glance at these three components of the CCC illustrates what the group really believes. Numerous members of the CCC, including some leaders, are known for their racist and antisemitic views. For example, A.J. Barker, state chairman of the North Carolina CCC, founded the racist, antisemitic America First Party along with the rabid antisemite Edward Fields. Mark Cotterill (also known as Mark Cerr), who until recently was the head of the National Capital Chapter of the CCC, was a leader in the National Front, a far-right nationalist party in Great Britain. Numerous articles in the Citizens Informer, the official organ of the CCC, proclaim whites to be victims of an "undeclared war" against them by the "elite" media and minorities. The group's Web site is linked to the neo-fascist National Front in France, as well as a number of racist and antiemitic groups, and contains various essays, particularly those by H. Millard, that espouse racism. Millard writes, "When whites are attacked and murdered by non-whites, whites usually don't see these attacks as being what they often truly are -- attacks against all whites." While Baum claims such viewpoints are those of individuals and not the organization, the CCC's Web site refers to Millard as the group's "ace columnist" and proclaims, "He's hot, he's happening, he's here." Baum can't have it both ways. He cannot claim that the CCC is "neither racist nor antisemitic" while he allows racists and antisemites to represent his organization. |