On July 31, a small number of racists representing a cross section of the white supremacist movement (Neo-Nazi, Creativity, and Klan elements) held a rally in Midland, Michigan.
Among those speaking were racists who have a long history of organizing in Michigan. These included Pastor James Wickstrom of the Christian Identity church and Randy Gray of the Ku Klux Klan. The two last appeared together at a white supremacist rally held in Kalamazoo back in 2007 (ironically organized by an FBI informant). Joining them was Jeff Schoep of the National Socialist Movement (NSM). The NSM relocated its headquarters to Michigan a few years ago.
The rally was organized by a group called “Citizens Against Out of Control Government.” It largely eschewed traditional stereotypes of white supremacy—such as Klan robes and Nazi uniforms—and embraced a more mainstream approach (even the event announcement said for the racists to wear “professional attire”). Indeed, this is representative of a shift in some elements of the white supremacist movement who are seeking to mainstream their movement by capitalizing on opposition to President Barrack Obama’s election.
However, as would be expected, it didn’t take long for the usual racist statements to make an appearance. Randy Gray said:
“Multiculturalism and diversity is a disease. I see no diversity or multiculturalism when I look at pictures of our founding fathers. They were all white men.”
Luckily, it looks like this particular group of white supremacists won’t have much luck. Attendance at the rally was small and it was easily overshadowed by anti-racist protestors. Moreover, one of the lead organizers—Randy Gray—is a controversial figure in the white supremacist movement and has had a recent string of embarrassing defeats. He was kicked out of the Ron Paul campaign after it was revealed that he is a racist and was later removed from an elected position in the Republican Party. He was last spotted by himself in a Klan robe protesting Obama’s election. He was also recently convicted of a “misdemeanor of disturbance in public places” after appearing at a January 29, 2009 Midland County Republican Party meeting.
