"We were born on the same soil, live on the same land, and why should we not be brothers and sisters?"

-- Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest addressing the black community of Memphis at the city Fairgrounds, July 5, 1875

From the beginning there have been a few individuals in the League of the South who wish to make race the principal issue and also those who want to deny its importance altogether.  Neither of these, I believe, are tenable positions.

On the one hand, those who have criticized the League for our refusal to make race the "be all and end all" of our efforts are largely atheistic, scientific racialists who believe in evolution.  But as the late M. E. Bradford noted, Southerners are not in the business of measuring skulls.  On the other, there are some who wish to ignore the race issue completely in hopes that it will solve itself.  But as Southerners, we know, rightly or wrongly, that race is a factor in nearly every issue in Dixie.  Thus, we cannot run from a reasoned discussion of it and all its implications.

Recently, I heard someone (not a League member, by the way) propose that after independence we must negotiate with responsible black leaders to see who gets what piece of real estate.  I don’t know about this fellow, but Alabama is my home and I plan on staying here, God willing.  Such silly ideas merit no serious discussion.  Blacks make up about a quarter of the South's population, a demographic fact that cannot be ignored.  Therefore the relationship between Southern whites and Southern blacks must be approached in a realistic manner, and "tribal homelands" are anything but realistic.

Each time the League leadership addresses itself to the issue of race, the policy we advance must be free of hatred and malice. This has been our position from the start.  Though many blacks may be taught to hate us in their homes and institutions, our response to them must be grounded in Christian charity.  Now, some will surely see this as a sign of weakness, but if you do it's because you simply don’t understand the tenets of the Christian faith.  No less a man than Rev. Robert Lewis Dabney noted over a century ago that Southern whites recognized an obligation to treat Christian blacks (slave and free) as brothers in Christ, and to recognize their common humanity (original sin, all created in God's image, etc.).  Moreover, all (except those convicted of felonious offenses) should have their lives, liberties, and property protected by the civil magistrate.

This does not mean, however, that we must subscribe to the flawed Jacobin notion of egalitarianism, nor does it mean that white Southerners should give control over their civilization and its institutions to another race, whether it be native blacks or Hispanic immigrants.  Nowhere, outside of liberal dogma, is any nation called upon to commit cultural and ethnic suicide.   Furthermore, our surrender would ultimately be regretted by all parties as the remaining liberties were squandered by those who had no desire to preserve the Eurocentric, (and therefore "racist"), institution of the rule of law.

Let us in the League, then, confidently defend our ethnic, cultural, and religious heritage.  After all, we have as much right to do this as anyone.  Let us also not fall prey to the notion that any other group besides ourselves could (or would) defend and preserve the biblically-based rule of law that has undergirded our Southern society since its formation.  Undoubtedly, the liberal and neo-conservative pundits will attempt to smear us as "racists" because we stand up for ourselves and our posterity.  This is, regrettably, unavoidable because we are confronted by fundamentally dishonorable and dishonest people who substitute the ad hominem attack for rational debate.  Therefore, we are obliged to develop thick hides to fend off the attacks that will inevitably come.

But at the same time, we will loudly proclaim that we will have no truck with those who wish to interject malice and hatred into the racial issue, and that includes both sides, black and white.  Being proud and thankful of who we are does not mean that we must denigrate others.  But let us always speak the truth about race (as well as all other things) no matter how uncomfortable it may be or how politically incorrect it is.

For instance, League member and syndicated columnist Charley Reese noted in a recent column that black-on-white crime has reached epidemic proportions (e.g. 100 white rapes against blacks in 1994 as compared to over 20,000 black rapes against whites).  Reese writes: "This huge disparity between white-on-black and black-on-white crime is the elephant at the tea party that both the press and the federal government pretend they can't see. They are vile hypocrites."   Well said, Charley.

Such hypocrisy is guaranteed to fuel white resentment, but we must not allow ourselves to be pulled into the vortex of hatred and violence to "settle the score."  Rather, we should speak the unvarnished truth and continue to work positively for the interests of our own people.  And of course this means protecting ourselves when necessary, individually and collectively.

Today's white Christian Southerners are the blood descendants of the men and women who settled this country and gave us the blessings of freedom and prosperity.  To give away this inheritance in the name of   "equality" or "fairness" would be unconscionable.  As the progeny of Lee, Jackson, Forrest, and Davis, let us summon the courage to defend what the God of the ages has given us.  No one else will do it for us.

Dr Michael Hill
LS President