Over the weekend, the Michigan Council of Conservative Citizens, a racist group affiliated with the national Council of Conservative Citizens organization, held its first anti-immigration protest of 2007 in Lansing. Earlier this spring, the Michigan Council of Conservative Citizens had announced on their website that they would “again focus on illegal immigration,” an apparent reference to a May 2006 protest the group held in Grand Rapids.
A report published on the national Council of Conservative Citizens website shows three demonstrators with the Council holding signs reading, “Illegals are Criminals,” “Amnesty? No Way Jose,” and “Burglars Aren’t Guests.” Chairman John Raterink evaluated the protest as successful, stating “judging by the honking horns and thumbs up, those supporting our message outnumbered those who had opposed us by at least 50:1.” Like the Grand Rapids rally, it is unclear how much the most recent protest will help spread their message, with the group apparently having to resort to “unannounced street demonstrations” in order to avoid being targeted by anti-racist protestors. The protest appeared to have attracted no media attention.
While the signs advanced the flawed notions that immigrants are dangerous criminals out to harm residents of the United States, they concealed the organization’s underlying racism. According to the Council of Conservative Citizens’ “Statement of Principles,” the Council believes that “the American people and government should remain European in their composition and character” and supports restricting immigration from non-European and non-Western peoples.” Additionally, the group opposes “all efforts to mix the races of mankind, to promote non-white races over the European-American people through so-called “affirmative action” and similar measures, to destroy or denigrate the European-American heritage, including the heritage of the Southern people, and to force the integration of the races.”
Related posts:
- Local group confronts Anti-immigration rally, exposes them as racists
- SPLC Classifies Immigration “Reform” Group as a “Hate Group”
- Racist Groups Organize Support of Anti-Affirmative Action Michigan Civil Rights Initiative (MCRI)
- Grand Rapids Anti-Immigration Organizer Involved with Minutemen
- Student Group Hosting Racist Speaker at MSU
where did the demonstration take place?
It was held in Lansing. The article has been updated to reflect that. Sorry for the confusion.
More organizations should be protesting illegal immigration. Illegal immigration is illegal…
why not encourage more immigration from Europe? why are we letting in third world people to turn our beautiful country into a third world nation?
I can’t say for sure that the above comment is from him, but just so folks know, there is a “Peter Lifton” that is affiliated with the Michigan Council of Conservative Citizens. That “Peter Lifton” advocates more of the same racism we see in the comment above. On a prominent racist message board, “Peter Lifton” has made the following statements:
Responding to a post titled “Ever thought a non-white physically attractive” Lifton said: “I’ve met blacks, latinos, Asians and mixes that I’ve wanted to have sex with for sure. It’s an instinct and nothing more. I may be a WN but I’m a man. I CERTAINLY would not want to have a non-white wife…ekk.”
On the topic of “Malaysian Prime Minister: Jews Rule the World,” Lifton said: “Jews control MOST of the power centers in the world including much of Christian ‘leadership’. They control most white people with their propaganda. But do you hate white people as well? Of course not. You can’t hate everything the jews control or you’d end up hating most of what is good in the world. Here are some other things that the jews control: our food supply, education, media, government, banking, military, opinions, Palestine…the list goes on.”
Responding to the topic “So my sister tells me she wants to date a negro,” Lifton said: “Hit her where it REALLY hurts a woman. Call her and tell her that her this boyfriend can generate only UNACCEPTED MONGREL children. Nothing turns a woman off more than connecting imperfections of her future children with her current mate. Then after she yells at you, hang up and text message MONGREL after a few days. That will really stick in her mind. She will hate you for it, but come on…she’s your SISTER and you must LOVE her. Then when she dumps him or vice versa, she will see the wisdom.”
These statements are part of a litany of racist statements that Lifton has made on the board. Like the Council of Conservative Citizens as a whole, the racism is only thinly disguised but at its core is every bit as racist as the Ku Klux Klan or neo-Nazi groups.
What a crock. I interviewed the people in this photo for a school project. They are NOT against immigration, they are against ILLEGAL immigration. If you are here legally, they are fine with that!
Mr. Raterink’s wife is part Cherokee, and has genealogy records to prove it! So calling him a racist is ridiculous. True, he fought against affirmative action..but simply on the basis that affirmative action gives undeserved preference! It wasn’t due to “race”, he would have done the same if the preference was based on shoe size! Don’t believe me? Read his interview in the New York Times!
@Molly:
John Raterink is part of the national organization the Council of Conservative Citizens, which has been endorsed by people such as Lester Maddox, the governor who won his election with the help and open intimidation of the Ku Klux Klan. The group sells White Pride t-shirts on its website.
The Michigan chapter has hosted events with speakers such as Jean Phillipe Rushton, the author of the offensive work, “Race, Evolution, and Behavior,” who made statements such as this one: “Blacks in the Caribbean, Britain, Canada and sub-Saharan Africa as well as in the United States have low IQ scores relative to whites.”
Raterink himself has openly stated that he subscribes to the publication put out by the National Alliance, one of the major neo-nazi organizations in the US. His name as apparently also been found on its membership roster. This group only allows Whites as members and has called Hitler “the greatest man of our era.”
Calling someone with those credentials a racist is by no means a stretch.
I think Kate hit the nail on the head regarding Raterink’s racism.
However, I do want to add that if he was simply “against preferences,” he would have been active in the more “mainstream” groups promoting Proposal 2, not a directly racist group (for the sake of argument, this of course ignores allegations that those groups were racist and/or had ties to racist groups).
Moreover, Raterink has attended national CofCC conferences, where they don’t really do much to hide their racism.