Talk:White Citizens' Council

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'Just wanted to say this is a well-written NPOV article about controversial topic. Good job. jengod 21:46, May 18, 2004 (UTC)

''' == I agree this is a well written article. ==' Alsayid: you need to discuss proposed edits before vandalizing this article. You are developing a wiki reputation for vandalizing articles to fit some racist agenda.

Don't call good faith edits "vandalism". Doing so reflects poorly on you. If you have an issue specific then let's talk about it. -Will Beback 05:00, 16 August 2006 (UTC)
Thank you, Will. Yes, I make edits in good faith, and try to help to the best of my ability with regard to improving an an article's neutrality and verifiability. My issue with part of the article is that it seems to be speculation that relies on language like "many have suggested." I also searched for the specific description "the Klan with a smiling face," and only links back to Wikipedia or Wikipedia mirrors came up. I also believe, as this group was clearly segregationist, we should use that term as more accurate than supremacist. I hope you'll agree that this is reasonable. --Alsayid 16:27, 16 August 2006 (UTC):Will, I'll talk about it. I'm just extremely skeptical of Alsayid b/c he never talks before editing out major contributions to articles, suggesting all edits he disagrees with as "vandalism," etc. But, I'll attempt to be the better person on this issue.
So, Alsayid, based on your comments above, I assume the one passage you have trouble with is the latter half of the fourth paragraph:
"Blacks who were seen as being too supportive of desegregation, voting rights, or other perceived threats to white supremacy found themselves and their family members unemployed in many instances; whites who supported civil rights for blacks were not immune from finding this happening to them as well. Many have suggested that in fact there was a considerable overlap in membership between the WCC and the Klan, with many of the same members participating overtly in one, and covertly in the other, although there were certainly many WCC members who wanted nothing to do with the Klan. It has been called by some, 'the Klan with a smiling face.'"
I agree that the article could user stronger language. But, because of your POV problems on the CCC and Haley Barbour articles, I really don't think your issue is with, to use your words, "improving an article's neutrality." Anyhow, to suit your need for less speculative language, and direct sourcing on the KKK/CCC connection, I've taken the liberty of replacing your frowned upon half paragraph with the following:
Blacks who were seen as being too supportive of desegregation, voting rights, or other perceived threats to white supremacy found themselves and their family members unemployed in many instances; whites who supported civil rights for blacks were not immune from finding this happening to them as well. Members of the Citizens' Council were sometimes Klansmen, and the more influential the Citizens' Council member, the more influence he had with the Klan. In fact, the WCC was even referred to during the civil rights era as "an uptown Klan," "a white collar Klan," "a button-down Klan," and "a country club Klan." The rationale for these nicknames was that it appeared that sheets and hoods had been discarded and replaced by suits and ties. Much like the Klan, WCC members held documented white supremacist views and involved themselves in racist activities, however, they also occupied political positions, which enabled them to legally legitimize discriminatory practices aimed at non-whites. (Neil McMillan, "The Citizens' Council: Organized Resistance to the Second Reconstruction 1954-1964" (1971 book)); Schwerner, Chaney, and Goodman: The Struggle for Justice--Cortez3100

[edit] Another good source

The Encyclopedia of Southern Culture has a lot of info about this movement; it places its peak powers a little earlier than the Wikipedia article does, in the late 1950s; my questioning of this would be that very little school desegregation had acutally occurred in the Deep South in the late 50s, Brown v. Board notwithstanding. Rlquall 01:38, 13 September 2006 (UTC)'