澳彩开奖

League of the South founder Michael Hill pictured with Brad Griffin (left) and former South Carolina chairman Michael Cushman (right). (Source: Facebook.)

The idea, dovetailing the resurgence of white nationalism rebranded as the 鈥淎lt-Right,鈥� is a clear attempt to parlay that movement鈥檚 success in the last two years into a web-savvy revival of an increasingly aging neo-Confederate movement.

鈥淪outhern Nationalism has become a bit unglued,鈥� Griffin, who writes under the pseudonym 鈥淗unter Wallace,鈥� wrote on his website. 鈥淏asically, the Alt-South would be a space for everyone in Dixie who isn鈥檛 some kind of leftist or mainstream conservative (i.e. nationalist, populists, reactionaries) to come together.鈥�

Of course, Griffin鈥檚 efforts to rebrand the neo-Confederate movement are more complex than that. As Hatewatch has previously documented, a rift between Michael Hill, who leads the League of the South (LOS), and his younger, more tech-savvy base has grown in recent years.

In a blog published yesterday titled 鈥淭he Alternative South,鈥� Griffin discusses a number of concerns stemming from his involvement with the League: the group鈥檚 push towards public demonstrations in the latter years of the Obama administration, Hill鈥檚 increasingly divisive militancy, and his own vision for a new reactionary movement geared towards advancing the neo-Confederate cause under President Trump.

While writing fondly in the piece of his time in the League, Griffin also rebuked Hill for not having 鈥渁dapted to the Trump era.鈥�

鈥淭he crisis began around late 2014 when a year and a half of public rallies by the League of the South had begun to take its toll,鈥� Griffin wrote. 鈥淒uring the first half of 2015, the pace of our public rallies began to slow down. 鈥� That was the case until the Dylann Roof mass shooting in Charleston. 鈥� The Southern Heritage movement and the League were briefly reenergized. We held more rallies than ever before, but eventually the news cycle rolled on.鈥�

What role Griffin will play in this 鈥淎lt-South鈥� isn鈥檛 discussed, and it seems unlikely Griffin will be developing his Southern Alt-Right in the real world. He lacks real-world organizing skills and admittedly disdains outdoor activity. While footage of his address at this weekend鈥檚 forum is not available, his 鈥淏lood and Soil鈥� speech at a 2015 Florida LOS conference shows he struggles with public speaking. Griffin, too, acknowledges that the work needed to build the Alt-South will happen online.

鈥淧erhaps the most important thing we need to be doing is mastering and building up our presence on social media platforms: Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Periscope,鈥� Griffin wrote. 鈥淭he Rebel Yell podcast is a great example of the content we ought to be producing. Ideally, we would have the means to distribute our content (blogs, podcasts, e-books) to large receptive audiences.鈥�

Using social media effectively remains one of the League鈥檚 key failings. While Hill has made abortive attempts to promote memes and use social media strategies to spread the League鈥檚 message, Alt-Right extremists have excelled, gaming Twitter鈥檚 weak hate speech policing standards and mastering the language that makes a meme go viral.

Griffin has recognized that success and seeks to siphon unruly, younger LOS members from the League and into his big-tent alternative with Michael Cushman, who fled the League in the 2015, and other TRS Confederates.

After all, Griffin鈥檚 choice for the new Occidental Dissent banner features a split rendition of the Confederate Battle Flag and Cushman鈥檚 blacked-out adaptation, which the LOS has also championed.

Griffin鈥檚 choice to make that switch two days after the Atlanta forum is remarkable in that his banner closely resembles the Atlanta Forum logo, which consists of an escutcheon featuring the CBF and 鈥淐ushman Flag鈥� as its quartered coat of arms. Rising above is the , a prominent symbol in neo-Nazi imagery. The logo was first unveiled in November 2016, when the TRS Confederates, riding high on Donald Trump鈥檚 electoral victory, announced the forum.

While the neo-Confederate and neo-Nazi movements have documented crossover (Cushman was also a member of the National Alliance), the inclusion of the black sun with the vaunted icon of the Confederacy and its bastard spawn is a clear appeal to young neo-Pagans and Internet Nazis, a group consistently demonized by the predominantly Christian LOS members and leadership.

Griffin鈥檚 participation in the Atlanta Forum, his blossoming relationships with Alt-Right figures like the TRS Confederates and Richard Spencer, and his remarks in 鈥淭he Alternative South鈥� indicate the emergence of a new neo-Confederate faction well outside Michael鈥檚 Hill鈥檚 aged concept of Southern Nationalism.

鈥淭his was really the first event of its kind in Dixie,鈥� Cushman wrote in a lauding post on Griffin鈥檚 blog. 鈥淚t聽showed the experience of Altright [sic] and Southern nationalist leaders in the region as well as the great potential support which mostly lies untapped.鈥�