Black Leaders Chide Scalise for Alleged Association with White Supremacists by Hazel Trice Edney

Jan. 12, 2015

Black Leaders Chide Scalise for Alleged Association with White Supremacists
Questioning Whether 2002 Speech was a ‘wink and nod’ to racism, Henderson and Morial request meeting with Rep.

By Hazel Trice Edney

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Wade Henderson, LCCHR president/CEO 

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Marc Morial, NUL president/CEO 

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Leaders of two Black civil rights organizations have chided and requested a meeting with House Republican Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), recently accused of having spoken before a White supremacist group.

With Republican now controlling both Houses of Congress, the four-page letter from Wade Henderson, president/CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights (LCCHR) and Marc Morial, president/CEO of the National Urban League (NUL), indicates a growing concern about a worsening of an already conservative agenda.

“We write to express our deep concern regarding your acknowledged 2002 speech before the European-American Unity and Rights Organization (EURO), a white supremacist, anti-Semitic, and neo-Nazi organization classified by the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group,” the letter states. “Participation in the 2002 EURO conference by any member of Congress would be troubling. However, it is of particular concern to us that a member chosen to be part of the Majority’s leadership team in the House of Representatives, whose responsibilities include protecting the interests of all Americans, would legitimize the existence of such a group.”

Scalise has said in widespread reports that he “reject that kind of hateful bigotry” and had no idea the group was associated with White supremacy. At the time, he said he was disparate and was willing to speak to anyone that would hear him. Shortstaffed, he said the group, also associated with former Ku Klux Klan Grand Dragon David Duke, had not been thoroughly vetted.

But, the Henderson-Morial letter issues a subtle rebuke, clearly expressing disbelief that Scalise is being totally forthcoming about his knowledge of the organization’s connection to Duke, a Republican who served one term as a Louisiana state representative. Duke also ran twice for president, once for the Louisiana State Senate, the U. S. Senate, the U. S. House and governor of Louisiana – all unsuccessfully.

“It seems implausible to us that, as a state representative with national aspirations at the time, you would not have heard about the Louisiana-based EURO, which was already a well-known hate group led by America’s most famous white supremacist, former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke. While you indicated that, had you known of the affiliation, you never would have accepted an invitation to speak to a David Duke-sponsored group, you have also stated that the invitation to speak came from Kenny Knight, a long-time associate of David Duke and one of your neighbors. As you might imagine, it is difficult to fathom how you would accept an invitation from a Duke associate to speak to a group that you do not know, and yet, ask no questions about the engagement.”

Both the LCCHR and the NUL represent a vast number of organizational associates that deal directly with national race-related issues. Thererfore, they apparently need reassurance. LCCHR is a coalition of more than 200 national organizations and the NUL, founded in 1910, has 95 affiliates that advocate for economic empowerment of tens of millions of underserved people in 36 states. Pointing to these constituencies as their backup, the men are pushing for a Capitol Hill meeting to start the new Congress with has much influence as they can muster.

They say they wish to discuss key issues with Scalise, including his position on efforts to repair the Voting Rights Act, which 50th anniversary will be celebrated this year even after its “pre-clearance clause” was gutted by the U.S. Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision in Shelby County v. Holder in 2013. They also listed as discussion items, his views on legal efforts to overturn President Obama’s executive action on immigration reform and congressional efforts for job creation by investments in public transportation systems, reconstruction of roads, bridges and public facilities.

“We are writing to request the opportunity to meet with you to discuss ways to work together for the good of all of the Americans that you represent, regardless of race or religion, in order to help move forward after the serious and legitimate concerns that your participation in this event has raised,” the letter states. “As you undoubtedly know, our nation has a long and troubled history of racially polarized politics in which ‘wink and nod’ gestures of affinity with racial segregationists and anti-Semites are used to divide Americans along racial lines and to appeal to our worst instincts. In that regard – and not withstanding your explanation – there is a question about whether your 2002 speech to EURO was a subtle ‘dog whistle’ of affinity to David Duke’s group of supporters.”

They note, “While we would prefer not to believe this, as you might imagine, we believe the questions surrounding the current controversy deserve further clarification.”

Among the reasons for their suspicions that the Congressman's story doesn’t add up, the letter ticks off some of his media quotes and past votes as evidence of views that may be more conservative than he now expresses. The letter states:

  • In 1999 – three years before you spoke to EURO – Roll Call reported that you were said to embrace “many of the same conservative views of Duke,” but were “far more viable.” In fact Roll Call quoted you as saying that “Duke has proven he can’t get elected, and that’s the first and most important thing.”
  • Later that year, you voted against making Martin Luther King, Jr. Day a state holiday – one of just three state representatives to do so, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. And in 2004, two years after the EURO conference where you spoke, you were one of six to vote against the holiday.
  • “You apparently took a similar position involving the naming of a U.S. Post Office for Louisiana civil rights icon, the Honorable Lionel Collins, a pioneering civil rights lawyer and the first African-American judge in Jefferson Parish, La. Judge Collins, who died in 1988.” The letter said despite the fact that Collins was “greatly revered and remembered annually with a New Orleans dinner in his honor” the passage of the bill, co-sponsored by five members of the Louisiana House delegation was blocked because of Scalise’s refusal to support it.

The letter concludes, “By themselves, your votes on the symbolic initiatives of the King Holiday and the Collins USPS facility were disappointing. Combined with the current controversy, however, they raise serious and legitimate questions about whether, in your new role as a member of the House leadership, you can be fair to all of the interests you will be charged to represent…We are requesting, by way of this letter, the opportunity to meet with you to discuss these concerns and related issues regarding the leadership agenda for the 114th Congress.”

Attempts to reach Scalise's office to ask whether he would meet with Henderson and Morial were unsuccessful. A recording picking up his Capitol Hill office phone repeatedly said his voice mail was full.