The
Montgomery Advertiser: has exposed a Republican nominee for Civil Appeals Court (a position voted on by everyone in the state) for her ties to the Ku Klux Klan.
Terri Willingham Thomas, a district judge in Cullman County, won the Republican nomination for the open Civil Appeals Court Place 2.
Today, the frontpage of the Montgomery Advertiser exposed her deep family ties with the Ku Klux Klan and other right-wing, extremist hate groups.
I know many of you assume that Alabama is the unabashedly racist, backwards state portrayed in television and film. But it's not. Alabama certainly has been on the wrong side of history, but Alabama has also led efforts to rectify those injustices.
Even at the height the segregationist fever, public association with the Ku Klux Klan was enough to end a political career. That's why it's so appalling that a Republican nominee for statewide office has close, familial connections with local leadership in the KKK.
Here's the evidence from the
Montgomery Advertiser:
A former Klan leader and government records indicate Thomas' parents participated in the KKK in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Her mother, Violet Willingham, was arrested in August 1979 for transporting guns with an expired permit at a Klan march in Montgomery, according to the arrest report.
Her brother, Cullman lawyer Dan Willingham, represented two members of the KKK in a 1980 civil lawsuit filed against the Klan.
Asked if he was a member of the Klan or attended meetings, Willingham said: "I'm not going to talk to you about that at all.
"Why would it be relevant to Terri what any of her family would or would not have done?" he said.
He donated $100 to his sister's campaign.
Terry Tucker, one of the Klansmen sued in the civil suit, said Thomas' mother and father were active in the Cullman County chapter of the Klan in the early 1980s, when he directed the group.
Joe and Violet Willingham, who donated $500 to their daughter's campaign, did not return phone calls from the Montgomery Advertiser seeking comment.
Tucker said Joe Willingham, Thomas' father, was proud of his association with the Klan and never denied the affiliation to anyone. He also said Joe Willingham was "one of the nicest people you'd ever want to meet." Tucker said he served two months in a federal prison in the late 1980s after being convicted of conspiracy to commit civil rights violations.
In 1993, Joe Willingham won a national appreciation award from the Council of Conservative Citizens, the organization's newspaper reported.
The Montgomery-based SPLC considers the group a supremacist organization. The CCC is believed to be a reincarnation of the White Citizens Councils that sprang up in the South in the 1950s and 1960s to oppose school desegregation, according to the SPLC Web site.
The 15,000-member Council has tried without success to mask its white supremacist ideology to better promote a right-wing political agenda, according to a statement on splcenter.org.
The SPLC has criticized George Wallace Jr. for speaking to the group, and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour created a stir when he was photographed with some of its members.
A national board member of the Council of Concerned Citizens, Leonard Wilson, donated $100 to Thomas' campaign this year. He described himself as a friend of Thomas' parents but said his organization is not a hate group.
"The Southern Poverty Law Center is the biggest hate group in the country," said Wilson, who has served as the commander of Alabama Sons of Confederate Veterans. "They ought to worry about what we think about them instead of what they think about us."
Thomas, a conservative Republican, said she has never heard of the Council of Conservative Citizens and didn't know Wilson was a member of the group.
It's obvious that Thomas' parents have been active in the Klan and are most likely still involved. And her brother obviously has links to the Klan as well and by refusing to answer questions comes very close to incriminating himself as a Kluxer.
Thomas' pleas of ignorance are difficult to believe given that her mother was arrested on a guns charge at a Klan rally. And if she has no idea that her parents and brother are involved in the Klan why is it necessary to distance herself from them ("I'm not my brothers, I'm not my sisters, and I'm not my parents and I'm not my cousins. I'm not my grandparents. I am me, and I am fair. I am not prejudiced at all.")?
Alabama Democratic Party Chair Joe Turnham is not letting her off the hook.
Democratic Party Chairman Joe Turnham has asked Thomas whether her parent's past ties will affect her ability to rule on the bench.
"Who your mama and daddy are and where you came from and how your values are formed are certainly part of the political discussion in Alabama for all candidates," Turnham said. "If she's not strong in repudiating groups or actions or affiliations... it would cause me great concern. If she owes nothing else, she owes the people of Alabama an explanation that this is not who she is and not what she represents."
Jim McFerrin, Thomas' Democratic opponent, is also speaking out.
McFerrin, Thomas' opponent, described Thomas' family history as "a huge issue" that should be investigated.
"People want to know how far the apple falls from the tree, and I think that's fair enough," he said. "The public has a right to know about backgrounds of candidates, even if you're running for dog catcher, but especially if you're running for judge."
McFerrin, a well respected Birmingham attorney, hits the nail on the head. Politicians in the executive and legislative branches are expected to bring their values to their job and take controversial positions. But a judge needs to be able to view each individual who appears before him or her equally. Any racial, ethnic, or religious bias is enough to disqualify a judge from serving on the bench.
Even if you believe Thomas' denials about not knowing about her family's extensive participation in the Klan, it's public record that she has been supported by the leadership of right-wing hate groups.
Yet, Alabama's Republican leadership has stood by silent. It should be surprising, but it's not. The Republican Party has benefited from implicit racism for decades, but now even though one of their statewide nominees has been exposed as, at the very least, connected to hate groups, no Republican has yet spoken out against Thomas.
Here is the website for Jim McFerrin (http://mcferrin2006.com). He's obviously the better candidate, but will need grassroots support and $$ to keep this important seat out of the hands of Thomas.