HERE WE GO AGAIN! 2011 AMERICAN RENAISSANCE CONFERENCE KICKED OUT OF ONE HOTEL, BLOCKED FROM OTHERS!

This time, it wasn’t us who mounted the campaign against AmRen. Sure, we were the ones who alerted the Southern Anti-Racism Network, who took the lead in opposing the 2011 American Renaissance Conference, which was slated to take place Feb. 4-6 in Charlotte, NC. And yes, we have been meeting and planning for our opposition since November (we were actually in one of those meetings when news of the Tuscon shooting broke – which Fox News tried to connect to AmRen). And yes, our plans are still going forward at this time, even though AmRen’s plans seem to be meeting the same fate as in DC last year – squashed. Nothing is etched in stone, however. Jared Taylor & Co. have not officially announced a cancellation (probably trying to see if a TGI Fridays would hook them up with a back room or something), so we are still waiting to see what comes of this. But while we sounded the initial alarm, this was all due to  the efforts of the community saying no to Taylor and his New Century Foundation. It is now being reported by local press that the hotel that Taylor tried to keep under wraps had been discovered, the hotel bounced them out, and other hotels won’t accomidate him! And before you say it, everyone who opposes AmRen has freedom of speech and association too. People had a right to alert area hotels that this was going to take place and they might not want to have this going on. Hotels have the right to close their doors to unwelcome elements. And we have the right to say that it doesn’t matter where AmRen goes. We will always be there to sound the alarm. And to that end we need to say to any venue that might get suckered by this crowd. Be mindful of when and where they might show, whether they register as “American Renaissance”, “New Century Foundation”, “race-realists”, “racialists”, “Jared Taylor & His Merry Band of Fascist Fools”, whatever. No matter what the name, they are always going to be “Racist Scum”.

Charlotte Observer

When a white nationalist magazine announced a conference in Charlotte, anarchists and other groups vowed to protest or disrupt the gathering.

But behind the scenes the conference apparently met an unexpected obstacle: Charlotte City Council member Patrick Cannon.

On Wednesday, American Renaissance magazine said plans for its annual conference are now in limbo because the hotel where it was scheduled to take place canceled the reservation.

An e-mail Cannon sent to a constituent early this week suggested he was lobbying local hotels to refuse to book American Renaissance.

Cannon wrote that he had contacted hotels and that “they seem to be cooperating.”

“An attempt was made for accommodations at another hotel but based on what I ask to take place they were denied again,” the e-mail said.

Jared Taylor, American Renaissance editor, said Cannon’s e-mail violated the First Amendment.

“It’s unconscionable (that) public officials would try to interfere in private contractual affairs,” Taylor said. “We have never run into this before.”

In a brief interview Wednesday, Cannon said he sent the e-mail to “update a constituent on where things stood.”

“By no means would I be in the business of trying to violate someone’s rights,” Cannon said.

The news came on the same day that the Jewish Defense Organization posted a statement on its website, saying City Council member Warren Turner sent an e-mail to Charlotte hotels about the conference.

Turner denied contacting hotels to stop the conference.

American Renaissance is published by the nonprofit New Century Foundation. The group advocates what it calls “race realism.” The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks such organizations, says Klansmen, neo-Nazis and other white supremacists gather at Renaissance conferences.

Organizers scheduled a conference Feb. 4-6 at the Sheraton Charlotte Airport Hotel near Charlotte/Douglas International Airport. The group booked 100 rooms at the eight-story hotel, where rooms cost as much as $225 a night.

But the hotel released a statement Wednesday saying officials canceled the reservation for the safety of guests. Organizers did not reveal the nature of the conference when they booked the hotel, the statement said.

Taylor, the magazine editor, disputed the hotel’s account. “We leveled completely with the hotel,” he said. “They said they understood.”

American Renaissance has tried to reserve rooms at other hotels but has been rebuffed, Taylor said.

Taylor said Cannon’s e-mail reflected intolerance and was “profoundly hypocritical.”

Richard Toenjes, associate director of UNC Charlotte’s Center for Professional and Applied Ethics, said Cannon’s e-mail could be construed as a violation of free speech.

“If the person used his or her name which would be recognized as the name of a council member, I’d say the member was functioning as a public official and hence out of line interfering with protected free speech,” Toenjes said.

But Scott Huffmon, a professor of political science at Winthrop University, said merely warning hotels about the upcoming conference is within the rights of elected officials.

“Alerting the hotels and saying this isn’t good for our image is using the bully pulpit, but not necessarily unethical,” Huffmon said. “If he tried to use the position to cajole, coerce or bully that would be different.”