By American Renaissance | Created at 2024-12-05 17:40:50 | Updated at 2024-12-22 21:08:25
2 weeks ago
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Here, at Montgomery Bell State Park, 40 miles west of downtown Nashville, about a dozen anti-fascists voiced familiar refrains as they were directed to a designated protest spot.
“No Nazis. No KKK. No fascist USA.”
They were here to denounce the return of the white-supremacist American Renaissance Conference, an annual event that has been held here at the park’s lodge and conference center since 2012. Organizers said the conference usually draws 200-300 people.
But, instead of white robes and masks, conference attendees come dressed in suits and ties.
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Jared Taylor met us at the main entrance, insisting that NewsChannel 5 could come inside only if we agreed not to take video of any of the participants’ faces.
“It’s very important,” said Taylor, the 73-year-old conference organizer who speaks with a difficult-to-place patrician accent. “These people can lose their jobs. Their girlfriends could jilt them. I mean, that’s the kind of society we live in.”
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Out in the parking lot, NewsChannel 5 had spotted cars and trucks from Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia. One truck carried decals that resembled a Border Patrol vehicle, although the labeling used a derogatory term for women.
Sitting down on the balcony where the protesters had earlier spotted conference attendees, I asked Taylor how he would describe the people who had shelled out $200 each to attend.
“These are smart, observant, thoughtful Americans who see that our country is going in the wrong direction and has been going in the wrong direction for decades,” Taylor said.
I noted, “Your critics say you use being smart, being intellectual, as a cover for racism.”
“What is racism, for heaven’s sake?” he shot back.
“Do you not know what racism is?”
“Well, nobody can really define it in any sensible, consistent way.”
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“What’s the difference between what’s happening here and a KKK rally?” I asked.
Taylor, a Yale graduate, claimed ignorance.
“I’ve never been to a KKK rally. I couldn’t tell you.”
“Isn’t the message the same, though?”
“I have no idea. I’ve never been to one.”
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I also had questions for Jared Taylor about his ties to neo-Nazis.
“I don’t even know a neo-Nazi,” he claimed.
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Like other people at the American Renaissance Conference, Jared Taylor argues for a separation of the races — where White Americans are not reminded of slavery, segregation or the fact that racism still exists.
“If leftists were consistent,” he continued, “they would be perfectly happy to say, ‘yes, you White people, you torment all of these nonwhites’ — of course, we do not.”
I interrupted, “But White people did!”
“Well, hold on. Why can’t you let me finish? Please.”
Again, I noted, “You keep wanting to gloss over the history.”
“I’m not denying the history at all. What have I glossed over? Of course, there’s been slavery, Jim Crow, segregation, lynching. I’m not denying any of that. Don’t put words in my mouth.”
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