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On Tuesday, voters in the small city of Enid, Oklahoma, will decide whether or not a white supremacist will remain on the city council. Yes, that would be a weird sentence to read if you’re of the belief that we’re currently living in a post-racial America where systemic racism is a thing of the past (or never existed to let certain delusional Republicans tell it). After all, in a totally not racist country like the U.S.A., how could it come to be that a proven neo-Nazi became an elected official?
As we previously reported, City Commissioner Judd Blevins managed to get himself elected last year just before it became widely known that he was one of the hundreds of tiki torch-wielding white supremacists who participated in 2017’s deadly Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, and that he was at one point a leader of Identity Evropa, one of the largest white nationalist and neo-Nazi groups of the alt-right. Blevins is a veteran who ran on conservative Christian values, and surprisingly (to people who aren’t paying attention) it turns out that conservative Christian values have a tendency to align with the values of racist white supremacists. (You don’t say…)
Anyway, once it became widely known and undeniable that Enid had elected a bonafide neo-Nazi (who reportedly still has plenty of support in the city, by the way) into office, concerned citizens began the process of getting him recalled.
From KOSU:
A self-described “movement of concerned citizens” called Enid Social Justice Committee has led the push to recall Blevins. They gathered enough signatures to bring it to a vote on April 2.
James Neal is the vice-chair of the Enid Social Justice Committee; he’s also an Orthodox-Catholic priest. Neal told the public radio program Focus: Black Oklahoma that he sees the recall as a fight against the same sentiments that fueled slavery and segregation and Nazism.
“It’s never really changed,” Neal said. “It’s just been rebranded, and at this point they’ve rebranded it in the name of Jesus, which is, if you’re a Christian, in my opinion, the ultimate blasphemy.”
If voters recall Blevins, his seat will be filled by Cheryl Patterson. Although Enid City Commissioners are non-partisan, both candidates say they’re Republicans.
Meanwhile, during a recent candidate forum, Judd Blevins evaded direct questions about his involvement with Identity Evropa, whose members “praised Nazis, denigrated racial minorities and professed the superiority of white people,” according to NBC News. He did, however, stand on white nationalist business when it came to his ideological leanings.
“I’ve done something congressmen won’t do,” he said. “I’ve done something senators won’t do. I’ve stood my ground. I’ve not sold out my voters for the sake of expedience.”
It’s unclear what Blevins actually means by “stood my ground,” considering that right-wing extremism is pretty much the mainstream of the GOP these days, but it sounds like he hasn’t wavered from his Klan-ish ways.
To be fair, the Republican who will replace him if he is successfully recalled assured his detractors that she stands with them during the forum.
“I fear that his recent past puts our Air Force base at risk and jeopardizes our ability to recruit businesses to Enid,” Patterson said. “There is no place for hate in Enid.”
But, again, if “there is no place for hate in Enid,” then how did a white nationalist neo-Nazi end up on the city council in the first place?
SEE ALSO:
Oklahoma Residents Scramble To Recall White Nationalist Leader Elected To Enid City Council
North Dakota Republican Party Leader Resigns After Telling Black People To Leave And Move To Wakanda
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