Tom Parker, a Republican candidate for the Alabama Supreme Court, was shown posing with members of the Council of Conservative Citizens and the League of the South. Both organizations are classified as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Leonard Wilson, a board member of the Council of Conservative Citizens, a white supremacist hate group, and Mike Whorton, the Alabama state leader of the League of the South, a “neo-secessionist” hate group, appear with Parker as Parker proudly holds the confederate battle flag.
The Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Report tells of Parker visiting Pat and Butch Godwin’s home in Selma, joining them as a speaker in a birthday celebration in honor of Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest. Along with being a wealthy slave trader, Forrest was the first grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.
Parker admitted to the Birmingham News that he was present at the Godwin’s home in July for the party, and said that Forrest had later tried to deactivate the Klan “because he was ‘shocked’ by it.”
The Godwin’s have reportedly attempted to block acknowledgement of the 1965 Selma to Montgomery March on Capitol Grounds, but they have attempted, through their organization called “Friends of Forrest, Inc.,” to place a statue of Forrest on public property. So far, all attempts have been unsuccessful.
Prior to the Forrest birthday party, The Intelligence Report tells of Parker appearing in Elba, AL, at the funeral of Alberta Stewart Martin. Martin was believed to have been the last living widow of a Confederate soldier. Parker passed out confederate battle flags to the attendees.
Parker was quoted in the Birmingham News as saying, “If there is any more appropriate place for the display of the Confederate battle flag than at the funeral for the last Confederate widow, I would like for someone to explain it to me. Political correctness should not cause people to dishonor our history.”
Parker calls the Southern Poverty Law Center “the most liberal, politically correct law firm in the country.”
Parker was former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore’s adviser, and happens to be the only one of the three candidates Moore endorsed in the primaries to win – and that win was by a narrow margin.
While Parker aligns himself with the Christian right, I still cannot figure out what is so “Christian” about hatred and bigotry. That is why I support Robert H. Smith for Alabama Supreme Court, Place 1.
more info:
Intelligence Report: Honoring the Confederacy
Birmingham News article on Parker
Robert H. Smith for AL Supreme Court
Alabama Democratic Party
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