Protect Arizona Now (PAN), a group backing a harsh anti-immigration referendum that would jail government employees who fail to report suspected illegal aliens applying for social welfare benefits, has appointed a well-known white supremacist to head its national advisory board. The Center for New Community, an antiracist group based in Chicago, reported that PAN director Kathy McKee in July brought in Virginia Abernethy, a retired professor who is tied closely to the Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC; see Communing with the Council) hate group. Although Abernethy denied being a supremacist, telling the Arizona Daily Star that she was merely a white "separatist" who preferred to be "with my own kind," she was immediately denounced by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). FAIR, which helped pay to gather signatures for the referendum but later broke angrily with McKee, described Abernethy's views as "repugnant." [more]
Pictured: Virginia Abernathy, the chairwoman of the national advisory board for the Anti- Immigration Initiative. She has stated that she believes in the separation of the races. Abernathy considers herself a "separatist," not a supremacist. "I'm in favor of separatism -- and that's different than supremacy," She has also been active in the Council of Conservative Citizens, a white supremacist group. [more]
Using Immigration as Pretext for Hate - Arizona Racism and Prop 200 [more ]