Richard Barrett | |
|---|---|
 Self-avowed white supremacist Richard Barrett at the Sept. 20th, 2007 Jena Six Rally in Jena, Louisiana. | |
| Born | 1943 New York City, NY |
| Died | April 22, 2010 |
| Alma mater | Rutgers University Memphis State University Law School |
| Home Base | Jackson, MS |
| Groupaffiliations | Nationalist Movement |
| Related Items | Taking on the Nationalist Movement |
| Image From | Wikimedia Commons - Michael David Murphy photographer (CC BY 3.0) |
Richard Barrett is not looked upon favorably by other white supremacists and publicly, the feeling is mutual. He was however, what spurred a number of New Jersey activists to deal with the specter of white supremacy. On July 4, 2000. Barrett staged a rally in Morristown, NJ. and was countered by what was called the One People's Rally. From that rally came the beginnings of what you see here today.
Barrett is a native of East Orange who said his family escaped from the "influx of immigrants" in the City. He graduated from Rutgers University but in 1966 returned his diploma to protest Professor Eugene Genovese for his opposition to the Vietnam War. In 1987, while attempting to preserve the all-white status of Forsyth County, Georgia, he formed what would later become the Nationalist Movement. This organization has provided paramilitary training to Neo-Nazis, and has made its presence known in a number of issues defending the far right position. Barrett has been seen on talk shows like Donahue and the Morton Downey, Jr. Show (he took a swipe at Downey on that program).
Barrett has staged a number of rallies and demonstrations, often by himself in support of white racialist positions, such as in defense of Byron de la Beckwith, convicted murderer of Medgar Evers, and the officers involved in the Rodney King beating in Los Angeles. He has also brought a rally once before to New Jersey in 1994 to defend racist radio talk show host Bob Grant, repudiated by Governor Whitman for his diatribes on the air. His routine is to cloud his rallies in ways that, while still offensive, are not so far right that they cannot be palatable. His Simi Valley march for the Rodney King cops was depicted as defending Americans against "illegal alien criminals". The Morristown march, which is a march to praise State Police Chief Carl Williams and racial profiling is promoted as a "Independence From Affirmative Action Day" (his rationale says Williams being fired made him a victim of affirmative action).
Barrett likes to phrase his agenda as akin to the American Revolution, and will often make analogies to that and his fight (hence, the rally at "Washington's Headquarters"). Of course, this is yet another example of how Barrett can be lost on the facts. Indeed Barrett is known for not getting his facts straight in some of the most visible areas. In the recent issue of Morristown, he refers to "Negro Council President Timothy Jackson" although Jackson is not only white, but a direct descendent of Stonewall Jackson!
Barrett did have two events, one in July of 2000 and again in 2001. He chose to forgo Morristown a third year, but he did announce intentions to march in York, PA in January 2003. On that day, two members of ARA duped him enough to stand with him, thereby embarrassing him and his little group. That was the most significant thing of his entire rally, as even many of the anti-racist activists considered him too irrelevant to even come out to oppose him. He announced a rally in York that year on the Fourth of July, but cancelled it.