Promoters of 'white pride' sue Festus library
[FONT class=byLine]Chris Campbell
Of the Suburban Journals[/FONT]
[FONT class=byLine]News Democrat Journal[/FONT]
[FONT class=byLine]Wednesday, Mar. 22 2006[/FONT]
A controversial advocacy group that has been accused of promoting hate is suing
the Festus Municipal Library for blocking access to its Web site.
Gordon Baum, 65, of St. Louis, spokesman for the Council of Conservative
Citizens, said his group is seeking injunctive relief in federal court after
the Festus Municipal Library did not respond to a request to have the group's
Web site made available to the public.
Baum believes his organization has been unfairly tarred as a hate group.
"We don't agree with hate speech," he said. "But we've had a long-standing feud
with groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center. There aren't enough Klan and
Nazi goobers out there so they have to find groups like us."
Baum characterized his group as "an advocate for the no-longer silent
conservative majority."
"We commit the 'horrible sin' of taking the white side of things," he said. "We
don't advocate the violent overthrow of the government."
According to Baum, software designed to block Web sites of so-called "hate
groups" is distributed by civil rights organizations, such as the
Anti-Defamation League, and offered free to libraries.
"These librarians have their little fiefdoms, but if they block this site, I'm
sure they censor books as well,"he said . "Smaller libraries tend to have this
arrogant attitude. They think they have a duty to restrict what the public can
read."
According to Baum, his organization first became aware some area libraries were
blocking access to the group's Web site about six months ago. The group then
asked volunteers to attempt to access the site at most metro area libraries.
Baum said all libraries that restricted access to the site received a letter
asking that the site no longer be blocked. Baum said most libraries complied.
"About one third of the libraries immediately unblocked us," he said. "Some
didn't even know what they had blocked."
Those that didn't--Festus, Maplewood, Valley Park and University City--were
named in the suit.
"Who died and left these librarians as our censors?" Baum asked. "We have a
right to political discussion. We could see it if it were child porn, but
that's a horse of a different color."
While Baum chafes at words such as racist or hate-monger, he is an unapologetic
advocate of "taking the white side of things."
"On some issues, we take the point of view of the whites, to be honest," he
said.
But, Baum added, the group is not racist and has non-white members.
On the group's Web site, visitors can buy t-shirts with the slogan "White
Pride," emblazoned on front, or read articles with headlines such as: "UCLA
Study: Sight of Blacks Triggers Alarm in Brain," complete with a photo of slain
rapper Tupac Shakur spitting at the camera.
Baum said his group's views on affirmative action and immigration, two topics
dealt with on the group's Web site, fit within the mainstream.
"Whites are not the majority, we're the minority," Baum said. "There are more
Han Chinese in China than there are whites. We're dying out as a people. So why
should we, the true minority, be discriminated against when it comes to jobs?"
Baum is in favor of building a security fence along the Mexican border, staffed
by U.S. military personnel.
"Other countries use their best troops for border protection," he said.
Karen Aroesty, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League of
Missouri/Illinois, said that while her organization offers filtering software
on its Web site, the group is not aware of any libraries using the program.
"We have no formal knowledge of any libraries using the filter," she said.
Aroesty characterized the Council of Conservative Citizens as a latter-day
version of segregation-era, anti-integration groups like the White Citizens
Council.
"They can trace their roots back to this," Aroesty said. "They were put
together with the same mailing lists. They play on fear and resentment and use
issues like immigration to inflame xenophobic attitudes. The ideology behind
the (group) is white supremacy and white separatism."
The Council of Conservative Citizens, which first came to prominence when it
helped elect a slate of five anti-busing candidates to the St. Louis Board of
Education in the 1980s, has both local and national chapters.
Baum said the group has about 500 members in the metro area and 20,000
nationwide.
Phone calls to the Festus Library seeking comment for this story were not
returned.
