| Conference
to Promote Racism |
By Erin E. Fogg 
Observer Staff Writer |
| Nearly 300 racists are expected to attend an international
conference next weekend at the Hyatt Dulles Hotel in Herndon
to discuss what one organizer called the "global crisis" of
the "costs of diversity" and the "threat of displacement through
immigration." |
| American Renaissance, a monthly journal on race issues,
is hosting its seventh biennial conference, providing a forum
for several international speakers who have been prosecuted
in their countries for promoting racism. |
| Jared Taylor, an Oakton resident who edits the journal out
of his home, said this conference is one of the dwindling
opportunities in the world to discuss racial issues "on an
academic level." He said speakers and attendees, which he
called "race realists," are seen as engaging in "thought crime." |
| "By now this conference is quite well known in some circles
and people are quite eager to speak at it," he said. "They
know they will get a high-quality, well-informed audience
and will be able to freely discuss subjects that are taboo
elsewhere." |
| Taylor said he chose to hold the conference in Herndon for
convenience because American Renaissance is based in Oakton
and the location is easy for travelers to reach. He held the
same conference here in 2004, and previously held it in Atlanta
and at a location in Kentucky. |
| Taylor said several speakers have been suppressed by their
academic institutions or are fighting lawsuits for saying
what they believe. Nick Griffin, chairman of the British National
Party, faces a seven-year prison term if convicted of "incitement
of racial hatred." |
| Andrew Fraser was suspended from teaching public law at
Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, for his public
opposition of non-white immigration. Guillaume Faye, a French
author, has been prosecuted under hate speech laws. |
| "For most Americans it is astonishing that printing certain
opinions could put you in jail," Taylor said. "We hope we
never reach that point in the United States. We have the First
Amendment and I'm glad we do, but not all countries have that
protection." |
| Taylor's speech at the conference is titled "The White Man's
Disease: The Fantasy of Egalitarianism." A Yale graduate who
splits time between publication duties and international business
consulting, Taylor said he will discuss what a person needs
to believe in order to be a liberal about race. |
| "You must believe that people of different races have absolutely
equal abilities," he said. "People may say that but the evidence
is overwhelming that Australian aborigines are not identical
intellectually to the Japanese." |
| Taylor said another example of intellectual disparity is
seen in American schools. He said the reason for the low number
of blacks in gifted and talented programs resides not with
a failure of the school system but with inherent racial differences. |
| Taylor said the conference will address what he called "hypocrisies"
from people who promote diversity. He said schools may force
participation in diversity fairs or special events, but given
a choice, Taylor said, students choose to sit with people
of their race at lunch time. |
| "When white people are asked to celebrate diversity they
are being asked to celebrate their dwindling influence," he
said. "We're supposed to believe that diversity is our strength,
but diversity is clearly a weakness." |
| Taylor has written two books and numerous articles espousing
his philosophy. |
| Additional speakers at the conference next weekend include
Derek Turner, editor of the British magazine "Right Now,"
Dan Roodt, a leader of the Pro-Afrikaans Action Group, J.
Phillipe Rushton, a professor at University of Western Ontario,
and longtime racial activist Sam G. Dickson. |
| Taylor said the conference provides an escape for many American
Renaissance followers. "It is exhilarating and liberating
to be in a room filled with 300 people who not only know the
score but are prepared to talk about it," he said. |
