Alabama State Representative Celebrated KKK Leader at Party Hosted by Hate Group Members
Will Dismukes, a representative in Alabama鈥檚 state house, posted Sunday on Facebook about his participation in an event that day honoring KKK founder Nathan Bedford Forrest. The event was hosted at the home of Pat Godwin, a longtime member of neo-Confederate hate group the League of the South.
Dismukes wrote, 鈥淗ad a great time at Fort Dixie speaking and giving the invocation for Nathan Bedford Forrest annual birthday celebration. Always a great time and some sure enough good eating!!鈥� The post included a photo of Dismukes speaking on a porch at 鈥淔ort Dixie鈥� with a framed photograph of Forrest and a Confederate battle flag adorning the wall directly behind the speaker鈥檚 podium. Nearby, late civil rights hero John Lewis was being honored at the Edmund Pettus bridge.
鈥淔ort Dixie鈥� is the , a woman with deep ties to the neo-Confederate cause and organized hate. Hatewatch first wrote about Godwin in 2005, regarding her spat with then-Gov. Bob Riley. In 2002, Godwin addressed the League鈥檚 鈥渘ational conference,鈥� two years after the 澳彩开奖 first designated the neo-Confederate organization a hate group.
Godwin has made rewriting the historical narrative around Selma鈥檚 role in the Civil War and the Civil Rights movement her life鈥檚 work. In the process she has left behind a trail of racist articles, letters听and blog posts.
An archived 2010 article from the website of the now-defunct neo-Confederate mailer听The First Freedom penned by Godwin purports to tell the truth about 鈥渨hat really happened at Selma in 1965.鈥�
The post refers to the iconic Selma March as the 鈥渕other of all orgies,鈥� and claims that the ultimate goal of the march was 鈥渁iding and abetting the ultimate goal of the One World Order,鈥� namely 鈥渢o brown AmeriKa [sic]听and annihilate our Anglo-Celtic-European culture!鈥�
The close of Godwin鈥檚 First Freedom post refers readers to 鈥淭he Truth 鈥� Uncensored,鈥� 听and publications repackaged and sold by Godwin鈥檚 鈥�.,鈥� including a copy of the Ku Klux Klan publication Night Riders: The Truth Surrounding Viola Liuzzo鈥檚 Killing. The material portrays the slain civil rights activist as a communist and drug addict, a narrative manufactured out of whole cloth to defame Liuzzo.
The ahistorical narrative pushed by Godwin regarding sexual promiscuity during the march from Selma to Montgomery dates back to a widely debunked 听on the floor of the U.S House听of Representatives by Alabama Rep. William Dickinson in 1965. Dickinson鈥檚 claims, while long-since disproven, have lodged in the collective memory of the white nationalist movement and have inspired such contemporary white nationalists as Brad Griffin听aka 鈥淗unter Wallace鈥� and 听aka 鈥淧aul Kersey鈥� to concoct their own revisionist histories regarding Selma.
In 2015, as the city of Selma opened its doors to the world for the 50th anniversary of the Selma-to-Montgomery marches, Godwin saw an opportunity to leverage international media attention.
A blog post on the League鈥檚 website lauds the actions of 鈥淥ur friend and fellow League of the South member, Patricia Godwin 鈥� and her Friends of Forrest organization,鈥� after the group erected a roadside billboard featuring Nathan Bedford Forrest in advance of the anniversary.
The League post, which noted Godwin鈥檚 self-styled moniker 鈥渢he Wizardress,鈥� closes by stating:
Well, we in The League of the South salute Miss Patricia and General Forrest. It is nice to have a bit of civilization on what us rednecks sometimes refer to as Little Harare on the Alabammy! Keep the skeer on 鈥檈m indeed!
Godwin previously identified herself in her email signature听as 鈥渢he Wizardress,鈥� a winking reference to Forrest鈥檚 wartime nickname 鈥渢he Wizard of the Saddle.鈥� Godwin also frequently referred to Selma as 鈥淶imbabwe on the Alabammy,鈥� a racist reference to the city鈥檚 majority black population and stereotypical depictions of southern Black dialect.
Godwin鈥檚 name and 鈥淔ort Dixie鈥� address are listed in a leaked League of the South membership roster obtained by Hatewatch.
As a member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC), Godwin has fought bitterly to preserve public tributes to the Confederacy, including a 听adorning a seven-foot tall statue. Godwin and the local UDC 听after the original was stolen.
Dismukes is not the first politician Godwin has sought for her annual Forrest celebration. In 2004, Hatewatch published Godwin鈥檚 ties to Alabama Chief Justice Tom Parker, who also spoke at the 鈥淔ort Dixie鈥� Forrest event in 2004.
Dismukes has previously spoken on his involvement with the Sons of Confederate Veterans鈥� Prattville Dragoons Camp. In July, League of the South member Ryan King was arrested听on domestic violence charges. King, who was open about his affiliation with the League, was also a member of the Dragoons when he marched with the League during the deadly 鈥淯nite the Right鈥� rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017.
Photo illustration by 澳彩开奖
