League of the South Slammed by Former Board Member
Ray McBerry, the longtime head of the Georgia chapter of the racist and secessionist (LOS), turned in his resignation this past Friday after being asked to quit the group鈥檚 board. In a long letter where he described loyally serving the league for 15 years, McBerry, sounding hurt, wrote that he had 鈥渨illingly given thousands of hours鈥� and 鈥渢housands of [his] own dollars鈥� to the cause. Then he offered a few stinging criticisms of the group whose praises he once sang.
The spat apparently broke out after McBerry, a , set up his own far right outfit, (TAS), this past year to educate the public, as McBerry had it, on the importance of state鈥檚 rights. That mission is remarkably similar to the LOS鈥檚, where state鈥檚 rights are a main emphasis, and TAS events regularly featured LOS speakers and distributed speeches by LOS leaders. Also, McBerry runs , which features programs by prominent , including many who serve in LOS leadership positions.
McBerry called the decision to ask him to quit the board, which he said was made without consulting him, 鈥渋ndicative of the kind of paranoia that will forever prevent the success of the League.鈥� (His letter suggested that he had been booted off gthe board because LOS leaders saw TAS as directly competing with the LOS.) McBerry also accused the LOS鈥檚 president, , of being power- and money-hungry 鈥� ironic charges, given that the LOS incessantly attacks the so-called 鈥淣orthern 鈥� for exactly the same kind of 鈥渕aterialism,鈥� to use Hill鈥檚 word.
鈥淲hat it comes down to is that Dr. Hill, as the League鈥檚 national president, was afraid that a few dollars would go to some other place than to the League鈥檚 national office,鈥� is how McBerry put it in his Oct. 1 resignation letter. McBerry also criticized Hill for deciding that 鈥渁nyone who achieves success and popularity鈥� is a threat and for placing 鈥渁 higher priority on maintaining the small principality the League has built鈥� than reaching the Southern masses.
鈥淭he truth is that I was bringing members to the League; I had not 鈥榯aken鈥� any members from the League,鈥� McBerry wrote. 鈥淚 have often wondered why so many former League members, especially those in leadership positions, left the League,鈥� McBerry said in closing. 鈥淚 now understand why many of them have made that decision and why it appeared that the League had burned bridges with so many quality people over the last few years.鈥�
E-mails requesting comment from Hill on McBerry were not answered.
During his two attempts to secure the GOP鈥檚 Georgia gubernatorial nomination, McBerry certainly did toe the LOS鈥� line, refusing to salute the American flag while tirelessly defending state鈥檚 rights. He was also attacked in the press for his position with the LOS, which has been listed as a for the past decade by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Among its many sins, the LOS thinks the South should be ruled by 鈥淎nglo-Celts鈥� (meaning white people), opposes racial intermarriage, and defends slavery as 鈥淕od-ordained.鈥�
McBerry has had other disappointments this year. During the GOP primary, it was reported by that he had his teaching certificate suspended in 2004 after findings by the Georgia Professional Standards Commission that he had conducted an inappropriate relationship with a student and deliberately misrepresented his actions to school investigators. He later resigned his teaching position. It was also that he had an affair with a former campaign manager. Since his primary loss, McBerry has concentrated his efforts on TAS and DixieBroadcasting, which currently advertises a show by longtime LOS activist Walter 鈥淒onnie鈥� Kennedy.
It鈥檚 been a bad few weeks for the neo-Confederates. Besides this rift, in early September, the LOS鈥檚 longtime board member Jack Kershaw at age 96. Kershaw was a hardcore segregationist who represented James Earl Ray following his conviction for the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Kershaw served from the beginning on the LOS鈥檚 board and the group had a foundation named after his wife, Mary Noel. Never shy about his racism, in 1998 Kershaw said: 鈥淪omebody needs to say a good word for slavery. Where in the world are the Negroes better off today than in America?鈥�
And just this past week, Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell put an end to that state鈥檚 tradition of calling April 鈥淐onfederate History Month.鈥� 鈥淥ne hundred and fifty years is long enough for Virginia to fight the Civil War,鈥� the governor told an academic conference, where he apologized again for omitting any mention of slavery from his proclamation earlier this year of Confederate History Month. McDonnell had quickly reissued the proclamation last April with a new reference to the 鈥渁bomination鈥� of slavery.
The text of McDonnell鈥檚 original resolution was largely written by another neo-Confederate group, the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV), which has been embroiled for years in a vicious for control between members demanding the group explicitly denounce racism and expel racists and those who disagree. LOS members have been in those battles.
The SCV is clearly not happy with the governor. Bragdon Bowling, a former leader of the SCV鈥檚 Virginia chapter and long its spokesman, accused the governor of selling out the state鈥檚 confederate descendants. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 cowardly of him,鈥� Bowling told . 鈥淗e didn鈥檛 have the intestinal fortitude to stand up to his political enemies or the media.鈥�
