A letter to Project 21 re: Mychal Massie and Bull Connor

The following letter was e-mailed to David Almasi, staff director of Project 21, on Sept. 30:

Dear Mr. Almasi:

On Sept. 23, Project 21 issued a press release in which spokesman Mychal Massie denounced Rep. Charles Rangel for saying that "George Bush is our Bull Connor." Massie said: "Charles Rangel's comments are morally vacant and beneath the pale ... Rangel's comments may play well with those who embrace ignorance, but it will not resonate with Americans who eschew racial demagoguery. We demand that the CBC [Congressional Black Caucus] and Senator [Hillary Rodham] Clinton join with this overwhelming majority of their fellow citizens in banishing hate speech such as this to the trash heap of history."

But in a Dec. 14, 2004, column for WorldNetDaily, Massie made a similar comparison to Connor, saying of Sen. Harry Reid: "His Uncle Bull Connors [sic] and his Uncle Orval Faubus must be proud of him. ... He is simply being true to his inbred familial heritage [as a Mormon]." Additionally, in a Feb. 8, 2005, WorldNetDaily column, Massie wrote of Democratic critics of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice: "They are fully representative of Bull Connor and Orval Faubus."

It is highly unusual -- if not highly hypocritical -- for an organization such as Project 21 to denounce someone for using a racially inflammatory remark through a spokesman who has a history of using the very same remark.

If Rep. Rangel must apologize for his "hate speech" and "racial demagoguery," and if Massie genuinely wants such "morally vacant" attacks to be banished to "the trash heap of history," then Massie must apologize for his own "hate speech" and stop engaging in the same exact behavior he denounces. If he does not, then it seems to me that you should reconsider whether someone who espouses racially inflammatory language -- words that his fellow Project 21 participants have denounced -- is a proper and effective spokesman for Project 21.

Sincerely,

Terry Krepel
Editor, ConWebWatch

cc: Mychal Massie

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