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The Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the National Conference of La Raza announced this week that they were boycotting Kansas City for future conferences and events. Both groups cancelled future national conventions scheduled for Kansas City.

The controversy stems from the city of Kansas City hosting a meeting of the white supremacist, anti-immigration group, the Minutemen. That alone was not enough to bring on the boycott, free speech rights continue to exist for most Americans, even under this administration. Rather, what brought calls for a boycott, were when Kansas City's Park Commissioner Frances Semler announced she had joined the Minutemen and broadcast her intentions to attend their meeting. This action, by a public figure, in part responsible for booking Kansas City'y conferences, conventions and the like, was what brought the hue and cry, the calls for a boycott.

The Minutemen's response, attack the city's mayor, Mark Funkhouser, who told Ms. Semler as a public official she could not attend such a meeting in an official capacity. Minuteman Civil Defense Corps president, Chris Simcox, "Mayor Funkhouser is clearly running a sanctuary city (for illegal immigrants) in Kansas City, and rather than demonstrate some leadership by enforcing the laws, he has chosen to play racial politics."

Labels: Politics