LOS Joins 'Southern Heritage' Activists In University of Mississippi March
OXFORD, Miss. 鈥撯�撀營n response to the University of Mississippi鈥檚 recent decision to distance itself from its contentious confederate past, members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) and the Mid-South Flaggers joined the racist (LOS) to rally under the guise of protecting 鈥渟outhern heritage.鈥�
Billed as a protest, members of all three groups waved Confederate flags alongside the LOS Southern Nationalist flag and signs proclaiming that 鈥淎nti-racism is the brainchild of racism鈥� as they marched last weekend through the center of Oxford, Miss.
The event was organized to protest the University of Mississippi鈥檚 recent decision to rename Confederate Drive 鈥撯�� a street that cuts through the center of campus 鈥撯�� and install plaques at racially divisive sites to better contextualize them. The changes came after three students hung a noose and a pre-2003 Georgia state flag around the neck of a statue of James Meredith, the first black student to enroll at the University of Mississippi.
But, at an event billed as a rally in defense of Confederate heritage, one has to wonder if the event's true intent was merely another moment to hide hate behind heritage.
While the SCV has long existed as a heritage group, the LOS is anything but, claiming to work toward a second secession and the formation of an ethno-state dominated by 鈥淓uropean Americans.鈥� In recent years, the LOS has even openly embraced more racist themes in its rhetoric. This year, LOS leaders included a section of Robert Whitaker鈥檚 racist in the keynote address of their 聽national conference: 鈥淎frica for Africans, Asia for Asians, and White Countries for everyone!鈥�
Around 40 members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) and the Mid-South Flaggers, a group that claims to 鈥淐elebrate our Southern heritage, honor Confederate veterans, and apologize to no one for remembering their noble deeds,鈥� were joined by about a dozen LOS members, including Brad Griffin and his wife Renee Baum Griffin, the daughter of , co-founder of the .
Griffin, a prominent LOS organizer, noted on his Occidental Dissent blog the community鈥檚 displeasure at the event. 鈥淚鈥檝e participated in eight League demonstrations ... and have never seen such a negative reaction from the public,鈥� he said.
One of the young, energetic voices of the neo-Confederate movement, Griffin didn't stop there. He claimed to be so dismayed by the public distaste for the protest that he had only a dire warning for white Americans in response.
鈥淧eople ask, 鈥榃hat would it be like if the demographics in South Carolina or Mississippi flipped, and a strong black majority came into power? What would happen to whites?鈥欌�� he told a Hatewatch reporter covering the protest. Then, he answered his own question. 鈥淸P]ersecution. I think it鈥檚 going to be terrible.鈥�
