GOP: Man Must Cut Tie to White Group

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Chairman Doyle Webb said in an e-mail to The Associated Press that John Casteel should sever his ties with the Council of Conservative Citizens, which grew out of organizations that battled school integration in the 1950s and 1960s. {snip}

Casteel’s e-mail was listed as the contact for both the Republican Party in Jackson County and for the Arkansas branch of the St. Louis-based group. After The Associated Press contacted the Council of Conservative Citizens to ask about Casteel on Monday, the group took Casteel’s e-mail address off its website.

Clippings kept by the Southern Poverty Law Center, a Montgomery, Ala.-based organization that tracks hate groups, include a council newsletter showing Casteel at a Conservative Citizens board meeting in 2007. {snip}

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On its website, the organization rails against immigration from non-Western countries.

“We also oppose all efforts to mix the races of mankind, to promote non-white races over the European-American people through so-called ‘affirmative action’ and similar measures, to destroy or denigrate the European-American heritage, including the heritage of the Southern people, and to force the integration of the races,” the site says.

Webb said it appeared the Council of Conservative Citizens has values contrary to the Republican Party and said Casteel must make a choice.

“Under Republican Party rules, I do not have the authority to remove a county chairman,” Webb said. “I personally would not be a member of such an organization, and would ask Chairman Casteel to immediately resign his membership from the Council of Conservative Citizens, because it appears its purposes are counter to the principles and beliefs of the Republican Party.

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