TWO HATE EVENTS TAKEN ON IN TENNESSEE

With the National Socialist Movement marching in Chattanooga, and the American Renaissance conference in Dickson, this weekend was a busy one for anyone opposing hate in the Volunteer State. We will have video shortly.

One People’s Project

TENNESSEE – The state became ground zero for hatemongers this weekend when for the third year in a row the American Renaissance (AmRen) Conference was held in a state park’s conference hall just outside Nashville, while two hours away in Chattanooga, the National Socialist Movement held theirs as well as a rally.

The Montgomery Bell Park Inn in Dickson, TN has become somewhat a permanent home for the AmRen Conference after other locations have barred the event sponsored by American Renaissance editor Jared Taylor from taking place. But as this is a publicly-owned venue, they could not be turned away. That has been a headache for park officials, who say they field “a number of calls” about the AmRen conference every year. “Our primary goal is to just make sure that patrons understand we value them and that we’re working with them,” Kelly Brockman, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation spokesperson noted, “but they’ve chosen the park as the place for their conference and we don’t turn anyone away.”

Even with this, the conference did not go on entirely as planned, as two scheduled speakers, both from Europe, were barred from entering the country. Meanwhile, it’s attendees came from all over the country, with name tags noting some came from as far as Montana and Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

A small protest was held outside the Inn with few AmRen attendees coming out to engage as they did last year, due to rules put down barring them from doing so. Speakers at the rally included representatives of the Muslim community Students for a Democratic Society and the Talahassee, FL chapter of the Dream Defenders, an organization run by youth of color to address inequality across the country.

In Chattanooga, despite pleas by even Rev. Jesse Jackson to ignore the NSM rally, hundreds came out to oppose the much smaller number of NSM members and supporters who came out to stand on the Hamilton County Courthouse steps to observe the organization’s 40^th anniversary. No arrests were reported, but there was a mild skirmish when four bikers wearing colors of the Soul Suvivor Brotherhood claiming to be supporters of the Nazis who came to the rally late walked into the crowd of counter-demonstrators. Police were able to pull them out of the crowd before the confrontation escalated.

There was an unfortunate consequence stemming from the rally. April is Jazz Appreciation Month, and a planned jazz parade was canceled in light of the rally taking place the same day.

The Tennessee Anti-Racist Network promoted opposition to both events. It is not yet known if AmRen of the NSM will return to the state in the near future.