On Saturday, 27 June 2015, the Arkansas League of the South held a rally in Harrison, Arkansas, in response to the vitriolic and deliberate cultural genocide waged on the Southern people, especially in regards to the removal of Southern symbols such as the Confederate Flag from the public sphere. Although the event was planned only three days in advance, due to the necessity of fast action in response to the sudden attack, the event was a huge success. Once news of the rally hit the public of Harrison and the surrounding area, there was a flood of support and word of mouth exposure. Within 24 hours, a rally of 6-10 people exploded into a rally of over 40 people. Many people joined us after driving by and seeing the rally, and countless more stopped to talk and receive our literature, the Free Magnolia.
The public response was overwhelmingly positive, more so than in any League event I have witnessed to this point. Most cars honked and waved with encouragement and positive responses. The only negative responses were a handful of obscene gestures from passers-by, and opposition from the “property manager” of the mall in which the demonstrators parked. Even the police, who were summoned by the “property manager,” were wholeheartedly supportive of our cause.
The most important result of the rally was the incredible amount of positive exposure for the League of the South in Harrison and the surrounding area. The League went from an obscure group with a billboard in town to something of a local hero, providing an event around which the locals could gather and express their frustration and anger at the attack on Southern culture and symbols. Although the extreme grassroots nature of the rally caused many to attend who had absolutely no previous knowledge of the League, everyone who attended received a Free Magnolia with great appreciation and expressed a genuine interest in the League. Most of the attendees (and many passers-by) asked about the Southern Nationalist flag and its meaning. This presented a perfect opportunity for me to share the present and future-oriented nature of the League and to link it to current events, such as the recent pro-Sodomite ruling of the United States Supreme Court. In addition to this, the proximity of the rally to our #SECEDE billboard gave large exposure to our explicitly nationalistic goals in the League. After the recent events in the United States, even some of the most ardent “American patriots” who stopped by the event agreed that there was no future for the South as long as it remained united to the federal government.
In addition to local exposure, a short report of the event was televised multiple times on a prominent regional news channel. Predictably, the station took a short clip of the interview and softened our message of Southern Nationalism to one of “Southern Pride.” This interview taught me some important lessons for interaction with the media that will improve future interviews. However, the news clip still seemed to be very popular among the locals and generated more support and exposure for the League than existed previously. At the very least, an unprecedented number of North Arkansans (and many vacationers on their way to/from Branson, MO) heard of the League of the South and were exposed to our message.
Overall the rally was a huge success. Almost everyone who attended the first rally plans on attending the second rally on 4 July 2015, along with many more locals who were unavailable to attend due to the short notice. With improved interaction with the media, along with more of our own media such as recordings and video of interviews, the next rally should be even more successful and serve to advance the cause of a free and independent South. We are gaining ground in the League of the South, and the future looks more than hopeful.
God Save the South!
R. G. Miller, Chairman, Arkansas League of the South