Letter to Congressman Steve Scalise from the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and the National Urban League

Letter to Congressman Steve Scalise from the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and the National Urban League signed by officers Wade Henderson and Marc Morial:

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
1629 K Street, NW, 10th Floor
Washington, DC 20006 
 
202-466-3311
www.civilrights.org
 
 
January 6, 2015

The Honorable Steve Scalise
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Mr. Scalise:

On behalf of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition of more than 200 national organizations working to protect and advance civil and human rights, and the National Urban League, a historic civil rights and urban advocacy organization founded in 1910 dedicated to economic empowerment in historically underserved urban communities, improving the lives of tens of millions of people nationwide through direct service programs implemented by its 95 Urban League affiliates in 36 states and the District of Columbia, we write to express our deep concern regarding your acknowledged 2002 speech before the European-American Unity and Rights Organization (EURO) (i), a white supremacist, anti-Semitic, and neo-Nazi organization classified by the Anti-Defamation League (ii) and the Southern Poverty Law Center (iii) as a hate group. Participation in the 2002 EURO conference by any member of Congress would be troubling. However, it is of particular concern to us that a member chosen to be part of the Majority's leadership team in the House of Representatives, whose responsibilities include protecting the interests of all Americans, would legitimize the existence of such a group.

We are writing to request the opportunity to meet with you to discuss ways to work together for the good of all of the Americans that you represent, regardless of race or religion, in order to help move forward after the serious and legitimate concerns that your participation in this event has raised.

As you undoubtedly know, our nation has a long and troubled history of racially polarized politics in which "wink and nod" gestures of affinity with racial segregationists and anti-Semites are used to divide Americans along racial lines and to appeal to our worst instincts. In that regard - and not withstanding your explanation - there is a question about whether your 2002 speech to EURO was a subtle "dog whistle" of affinity to David Duke's group of supporters. While we would prefer not to believe this, as you might imagine, we believe the questions surrounding the current controversy deserve further clarification.

We acknowledge and appreciate your condemnation of the views of the group and your statement that you "reject that kind of hateful bigotry."(iv) To be candid, however, it seems implausible to us that, as a state representative with national aspirations at the time, you would not have heard about the Louisiana-based EURO, which was already a well-known hate group led by America's most famous white supremacist, former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke. While you indicated that, had you known of the affiliation, you never would have accepted an invitation to speak to a David Duke-sponsored group, you have also stated that the invitation to speak came from Kenny Knight, a long-time associate of David Duke and one of your neighbors. (v) As you might imagine, it is difficult to fathom how you would accept an invitation from a Duke associate to speak to a group that you do not know, and yet, ask no questions about the engagement.

In addition, awareness of the group and its beliefs was well-known and widely condemned at the time. Newspapers reported that a minor league baseball team from Iowa had changed hotels after learning that the 2002 Euro conference would be held where the team planned to stay, (vi) and the management of the conference hotel distanced itself publically from EURO's ideology while honoring its contract for the event. EURO's activities in South Carolina and Virginia around that time were also reported in USA Today and the Washington Post. The organization and its conference were a much reported controversy. (vii)

Our concern over your participation in this event is that, in some instances, it might indicate a genuine affinity with some positions taken by EURO or Duke himself. Substance and symbolism, in that regard, are important. For example, in 1999 - three years before you spoke to EURO - Roll Call reported that you were said to embrace "many of the same conservative views of Duke," but were "far more viable." In fact Roll Call quoted you as saying that "Duke has proven he can't get elected, and that's the first and most important thing." (viii) Later that year, you voted against making Martin Luther King, Jr. Day a state holiday - one of just three state representatives to do so, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. And in 2004, two years after the EURO conference where you spoke, you were one of six to vote against the holiday.

You apparently took a similar position involving the naming of a U.S. Post Office for Louisiana civil rights icon, the Honorable Lionel Collins, a pioneering civil rights lawyer and the first African-American judge in Jefferson Parish, La. Judge Collins, who died in 1988, is greatly revered and remembered annually with a New Orleans dinner in his honor. As we understand it, HR 5933 (110th Congress) was co-sponsored by five members of the Louisiana House delegation. However, your refusal to co-sponsor the bill prevented the Chairman of the Subcommittee, Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.), from proceeding because of the Subcommittee's requirement for unanimity for such efforts.

By themselves, your votes on the symbolic initiatives of the King Holiday and the Collins USPS facility were disappointing. Combined with the current controversy, however, they raise serious and legitimate questions about whether, in your new role as a member of the House leadership, you can be fair to all of the interests you will be charged to represent. The Boston Herald has similarly suggested that, without fully addressing this controversy, your position in leadership raises concerns. (ix)

We are requesting, by way of this letter, the opportunity to meet with you to discuss these concerns and related issues regarding the leadership agenda for the 114th Congress. Most specifically, we wish to discuss your position regarding efforts to repair the Voting Rights Act, the most important civil rights act since the passage of the 15th Amendment to the Constitution, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and which was gutted by the U.S. Supreme Court's 5-4 decision in Shelby County v. Holder (2013). We also wish to discuss your views on legal efforts to overturn President Obama's executive action on immigration reform and congressional efforts to invest in our public transportation systems, rebuilding roads, bridges and public facilities as a mechanism for job creation.

As you have stated "Those who know me best know I have always been passionate about helping, serving, and fighting for every family that I represent." (x) We look forward to working with you on ways that we might work together to do that.

Thank you in advance for considering our views and our request. We welcome the opportunity to meet with you to discuss the questions we've raised and these important issues for our nation. If you have any questions, please contact either of us or Lisa Bornstein, Legal Director for The Leadership Conference, (Bornstein@civilrights.org) at 202-466-3311.

Sincerely,

Note: Copy of the original letter is available by contacting the National Urban League or The Leadership Conference on Human Rights.
 
i EURO archived website. "White Civil Rights: The Website for Europeans and Americans Wherever They May Live." https://web.archive.org/web/20120204211507/http:/www.whitecivilrights.co...

ii Anti-Defamation League archived webpage. "Extremism in America: David Duke: Affiliations."
http://archive.adl.org/learn/ext_us/david_duke/affiliations.html?LEARN_C...
 
iii Southern Poverty Law Center. "Extremist Files: EURO." http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-files/groups/euro

iv Costa, Robert. "Scalise Releases New Statement of 'Regret' for 2002 Speech; Boehner Backs Him." Washington Post. December 30, 2014. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/12/30/scalise-...

v Costa, Robert. "Former KKK Leader Says His Political Advisor was 'Friendly' with Rep. Scalise." Washington Post. December 30, 2014. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/12/30/former-k...

vi Thompson, Catherine. "Iowa Baseball Team Avoided Hotel Where Scalise Spoke To White Nationalists." December 30, 2014. http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/baseball-team-avoided-david-duke-g...

vii Costa, Robert and O'Keefe, Ed. "House Majority Whip Scalise confirms he spoke to white supremacists in 2002." December 29, 2014.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/house-majority-whip-scalise-confi...
 
viii Lesniewski, Nels. "What Scalise and Vitter Told Roll Call About David Duke in 1999." December 29, 2014. http://blogs.rollcall.com/218/scalise-vitter-talked-to-roll-call-about-d...
 
ix Boston Herald, Editorial, "A Time to Stand Aside." Jan 4, 2015. http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/opinion/editorials/2015/01/edit...
 
x Costa, Robert. "Scalise Releases New Statement of 'Regret' for 2002 Speech; Boehner Backs Him." Washington Post. December 30, 2014. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/12/30/scalise-...

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
 
Officers
 
Chair
Judith L. Lichtman, National Partnership for Women & Families
 
Vice Chairs
Jacqueline Pata, National Congress of American Indians
Thomas A. Saenz, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, 
Hilary Shelton, NAACP
 
Treasurer
Lee A. Saunders. American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees
 
Board of Directors
Barbara Arnwine, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
Cornell William Brooks, NAACP
Lily Eskelsen García, National Education Association
Marcia D. Greenberger, National Women's Law Center
Chad Griffin, Human Rights Campaign
Linda D. Hallman, AAUW
Mary Kay Henry, Service Employees International Union
Sherrilyn Ifill, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.
Jo Ann Jenkins, AARP
Michael B. Keegan, People for the American Way
Elisabeth MacNamara, League of Women Voters of the United States
Marc Morial, National Urban League
Mee Moua, Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC
Janet Murguía, National Council of La Raza 
Debra Ness, National Partnership for Women & Families
Mary Rose Oakar, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
Terry O'Neill, National Organization for Women
Priscilla Ouchida, Japanese American Citizens League
Mark Perriello, American Association of People with Disabilities
Anthony Romero, American Civil Liberties Union
David Saperstein, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism
Shanna Smith, National Fair Housing Alliance
Richard L. Trumka, AFL-CIO
Randi Weingarten, American Federation of Teachers
Dennis Williams, International Union, UAW 
 
Policy and Enforcement
Committee Chair
Michael Lieberman, Anti-Defamation League
 
President & CEO
Wade J. Henderson
 
Executive Vice President & COO
Karen McGill Lawson