League refutes SPLC's claims

To the editor:

A letter from the Southern Poverty Law Center said the League of the South is a white supremacist hate group and noted the criminal activity of one Florida member, Michael Tubbs. The League of the South is in no way affiliated with white supremacists or any hate groups.

I spoke to league president Dr. Michael Hill who informed me that Tubbs' actions took place prior to joining the League of the South. He pleaded guilty to the crime and spent time in prison, emerging as a reformed man who later joined the league and promised to abide by its mission statement: "We seek to advance the cultural, social, economic and political well-being and independence of the Southern people by all honorable means."

The SPLC letter quoted Hill as saying "slavery was God ordained." Hill said this quote was taken from a paper he had written which discussed the historical differences between Southern theologians and abolitionists of the time.

The only motive the league has in its proposal to the Jackson Board of Aldermen is to honor one of Jackson's finest citizens -- and to pay for this project with money from our own pockets.

I hate no one. I am a proud Southerner who was born and raised in Southeast Missouri. The only thing on my record is a citation given to me by the Missouri State Highway Patrol for not wearing my seat belt this past fall.

CLINT E. LACY, Vice Chairman, Missouri League of the South, Marble Hill, Mo.