Yet Another Cheesy Position on Race Matters By Thomas H. Naylor

When I first started this blog it was because I had discovered what the Vermont media had missed completely about Second Vermont Republic and "Vermont Commons".   Mainly, that the two were strongly associated with racists groups and people, and that they hadn't a bit of concern over such associations.   My own feelings about Vermont seceding were (and continue to be) ambivalent.   The idea of Vermont actually seceding is now best described as badly damaged goods.

Thomas Naylor's past involvement with the white supremacist group known as the League of the South, as well as his being there at the founding of the racist Southern Party, pretty much tells you where he was coming from then, despite his protestations of having been a Lamar Society member in good standing (unconfirmable) and that by virtue of that sort of propinquity he must then be a FOB (Friend of Julian Bond).   Interestingly, Naylor maintains his devotion to contradiction in his rant about the Southern Poverty Law Center, a frequent source for this blog, where Bond now sits on the Board of Directors.   [1] major hat-tip to odum for this one

Naylor's organization and writings continue to receive kudos and note from various extremists like the neo-Nazi group Vanguard News Network. [2] [3] [4]

According to the FAQ section at VTCommons "the Second Vermont Republic takes no official position on such controversial issues as abortion, gay marriage, school prayer, and legalizing marijuana."   Now I know that "forced integration" isn't exactly a burning issue here in Vermont, yet for some reason Naylor chose to go on about it in that rambling way of his, not very long ago at his website. [5]   In his piece, albeit in a weirdly round-about way, Naylor makes clear that he's okay with the idea of secession leading to separatist exclusionary states.   His throwaway remark that bad ideas like segregation and white supremacy are merely ideas that can be summed up as "different strokes for different folks" betrays the casual evil in his thought process.

The forced integration issue he raises is a touchstone for white supremacist and racist groups around the country like the Council of Conservative Citizens (formerly the White Citizens Council), as articulated by the racist writer, the late Samuel Francis [6] , David Duke [7], the Ku Klux Klan [8], as well as a frequent chat topic in white nationalist/racist forums. [9]

An earlier, detailed analysis of Naylor's writings on "forced integration" can be found here.

That said, Thomas Naylor, described by supporters as a "founding father" of the Vermont "republic in gestation" is less like a Ben Franklin than he is like a Ben "Pitchfork Ben" Tillman.   In his piece on "forced integration" Naylor seems to confirm the closeness of his positions to that of his segregationist father. [10]

While researching for this post I came across this,

"Next to fried food, the South has suffered most from oratory." - Walter Hines Page

Thomas Naylor and his segregationist/moth-like attraction to the light of the "forced integration" issue would seem to confirm that by his essay on the topic.

Whither VTCommons? (Update)

Second Vermont Republic's sister organization and publication, "Vermont Commons" has over the past weekend finally edited out the erroneous information on the website that said, four months after being dumped from it's distribution deal by Seven Days, it was being distrubuted quarterly in the Burlington Vermont weekly.   Nice catch, Rob!   Was that because you read about it here on Friday?   Or was that merely a result of your vaunted strengths as Vermont's "media educator and reformer?"

Sorry Rob, but after seeing you being quoted as some kind of "expert" last week in both Seven Days and on the FreePress website, I couldn't resist pointing out such an obvious editing error, if not a blatant, "mistakenly" left in bit of puffery that suggested a much wider distribution of what is clearly now nothing more than a very thin e-newsletter.

I'm also curious about that reference to you as a reformer.   Since you appear to be reading this blog, perhaps you'd care to post in comments what "reforms" you've brought about or have been a part of in Vermont or elsewhere, 'cause, hell, if it all comes from producing a thin newsletter or linking to other writer's work, then you might as well call me an expert, eh?

Whither Vermont Commons?

The whole Second Vermont Republic-SVR thing seems to have wound down to a dull thud.   Thomas Naylor appears to be the only person now writing on his website and some of what he's writing is getting downright weird.   I'll have more on that in the near future but for now I'm wondering, where can you find a copy of this Summer's edition of the quarterly "Vermont Commons?"

City Market in Burlington doesn't have one.   Same at the Warren Village Store.   I checked at the VTCommons website [1] but they're still saying that it's available in Seven Days, and we all known that ain't true. [2]

The usual catalog of articles in the current issue of the VTCommons journal is also missing from their website.   Instead there's this that they're calling the "Free Vermont E-Newsletter."   It's pretty thin and seems to be mostly earlier website posts being churned out as "new" material.

Question is, has VT Commons, like SVR, pretty much gone belly up and is it now nothing more than a fairly pathetic example of secessionist revanchism with all the political punch of e-navel gazing?

Hmmm...