| Frequently
Asked Questions About the League of the South |
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Q:
Why
was the League of the South formed?
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A:
To organize the Southern people so that they
might protect themselves from the depredations of a
hostile and tyrannical central government that refuses
to be restrained by the Constitution.
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Q:
What
is the aim of the League of the South?
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A:
The League of the South seeks to advance the
cultural, social, economic, and political independence
and well being of the Southern people by all honorable
means.
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Q:
Is
the League of the South a Christian organization?
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A:
While we do not require any sort of religious
affiliation, we do recognize the legacy of Western
Christianity and the sovereignty of God in the
universe. Most
members are Christians, and we base our movement on
Christian principles.
Trinitarian Christianity cannot be separated or
removed from Southern society or culture without both
ceasing to be Southern.
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Q:
How
is the League of the South different from previous
Southern populist movements?
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A:
The League of the South hopes to avoid the
pitfalls of similar movements by aiming both to have a
large popular following as well as a leadership that
includes serious intellectuals in a variety of
disciplines.
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Q:
How
will the League of the South pursue cultural and
social independence and well being?
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A:
In several ways:
By
cultural secession or “abjuration of the realm,”
which means withholding our support from all
institutions and objects of popular culture that are
antithetical to our beliefs and heritage;
By
encouraging the formation of communities of
like-minded Southerners that work and play together;
By
buying and reading Southern literature, poetry, and
history; and
By
sponsoring competitions among Southern artists and
writers in order to foster the continuance of our
excellent traditions; and
Withdrawing
our children from public education as soon as
practicable and fostering home-schooling and private
education.
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Q:
How
will the League of the South pursue economic and
political independence?
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A:
This is a complex aim that cannot begin to be
accomplished without first establishing a mass base;
therefore, recruitment is the primary work of the
League of the South until such time as our mass base
is established. Economically,
we encourage Southern self-sufficiency and the
purchase of Southern goods and services.
We must keep our capital at home.
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Q:
Will
the League of the South work within the existing
political system?
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A:
Yes, as far as that will take us.
However, the League of the South does not
suffer under the illusion that the leadership of
either of the present political parties is likely to
work toward our aims; therefore, we look forward to
fielding a League of the South slate of candidates for
local and state offices and drawing on our mass base
to get them elected.
We will ignore Washington Beltway politics and
concentrate our energies on the states and localities.
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Q:
Isn’t
secession illegal, unconstitutional, and discredited?
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A:
By no means.
Most of those who wrote and ratified the
Constitution recognized secession as a legitimate,
legal, and constitutional measure of protection
against the possibility that the federal government
might in the future consolidate and centralize power,
violate the terms of the Constitution, and usurp the
rights and liberties of the people of the sovereign
states. Secession
is a natural right of a truly free people and the
cornerstone of confederalism.
What has been tried, failed, and discredited is
centralism – by a unitary government that reneged on
its original compact with the states, usurped their
sovereignty, and opted instead to hold the “Union”
together by brute force.
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Q:
Does
the League of the South favor political secession as a
legitimate option for Southern (and other) states?
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A:
Yes, but we realize that secession is not a
practicable alternative at present.
However, it will be when enough Southerners
come to realize the futility of reforming the present
corrupt system.
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Q:
Does
the League of the South advocate political violence,
law breaking, or civil disobedience as a means of
accomplishing our objectives?
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A:
Absolutely not.
Such tactics would not only be
counterproductive, but they would violate God’s law.
We do affirm our rights under the Second
Amendment and the morality of self-protection,
however.
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Q:
What
is the League of the South’s position regarding
blacks in the South?
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A:
The League of the South disavows a spirit of
malice and extends an offer of goodwill and
cooperation to Southern blacks in areas where we can
work together as Christians to make life better for
all people in the South.
We recognize, however, that the historic
interests of Southern blacks and whites are often
different, and sometimes even antagonistic.
The League of the South believes that each
group should be free to pursue its own interests
without the help or hindrance of government.
We also believe in free association within
local self-governing communities; governments should
force neither segregation nor integration.
No one should appeal to government in order to
force his preferences on others.
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Q:
Why
does the League of the South seek to protect the
Anglo-Celtic core population and culture of the
historic South?
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A:
The Anglo-Celtic peoples settled the South and
gave it its dominant culture and civilization.
We believe that the advancement of Anglo-Celtic
culture and civilization is vital in order to preserve
our region, as we know it.
Should this core be destroyed or displaced,
then the South would lose its link to the European
heritage from which it has drawn its inspiration.
The South would be made over in an alien image
unfamiliar to us and likely inhospitable to our
children and grandchildren.
Southerners have a God-given right to
self-determination, to survive as a distinct people,
and to perpetuate our unique ethnic and cultural
heritage. We,
as Anglo-Celtic Southerners, have a duty to protect
that which our ancestors bequeathed to us.
If we will not promote our own interests, then
no one will do it for us.
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Q:
Whence
the name: "The
League of the South?"
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A:
Our name comes from two different sources:
The
Northern League, a very successful populist movement
in northern Italy, to which the League of the South
has personal ties, and
The
League of United Southerners, organized by Edmund
Ruffin and William Lowndes Yancey in 1858 to shape
Southern public opinion.
For
the first three years of our existence, our
organization was called the “Southern League.”
However, the name had to be changed in 1997
to “League of the South” under threat of lawsuit
after it was discovered that the name “Southern
League” had been trademarked and copyrighted by a
baseball sports league based out of Atlanta, which
had held the rights to the name for several decades.
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Q:
How
is the League of the South organized?
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A:
It began in June 1994 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
We are organized hierarchically.
The Board of Directors governs the national
organization; state chairmen and boards of directors
govern their respective states; and district chairmen
govern local districts in each state.
From a single office in 1994, we now have state
chapters in every Southern state, including the
“border states” of Maryland, Kentucky, West
Virginia and Missouri.
State chapters exist in non-Southern states as
well, such as California, New York and others.
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Q:
How
does the League of the South spend my dues?
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A:
Dues cover the administrative costs of the
national office, travel and lodging expenses for
meetings held all across the South, printing and
mailing costs of the bi-monthly newsletter, the Southern
Patriot, the leasing of web server space for the
“DixieNet” WWW Home Page, and other expenses
incurred as a result of recruitment efforts.
In 1998, The League of the South Institute
(LSI) for the Study of Southern History and Culture
was established.
This institute can accept tax-deductible
donations. The
LSI funds cultural and educational projects, including
the publication of The League of the South Papers
Series, and conducts annual LSI Summer
Institutes (week-long summer school held in
several locations across the South), as well as
Southern “Hedge Schools” across the South.
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