page_title: The Political Cesspool
section_title: City Park demonstration
hierarchical_section_title: The Political Cesspool / Controversy and criticism / City Park demonstration
caption_attribution_description: Confederate Fort that used to the defend the Mississippi from the evil Union forces.&#160;:)
context_page_description: The Political Cesspool is a weekly far-right talk radio show founded by Tennessean political activist James Edwards and syndicated by the organizations Liberty News Radio Network and Accent Radio Network in the United States. First broadcast in October 2004 twice a week from radio station WMQM, per Edwards it has been simulcast on Stormfront Radio, a service of the white nationalist Stormfront website and as of 2011 is broadcast on Saturday nights on WLRM, a blues and southern soul radio station in Millington, Tennessee. Its sponsors include the white separatist Council of Conservative Citizens and the Institute for Historical Review, a Holocaust denial group.
  According to its statement of principles, the show stands for the "Dispossessed Majority" and represents "a philosophy that is pro-White." It has attracted criticism—including from The Nation, The New Republic, the Stephen Roth Institute, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and the Anti-Defamation League—for its promotion of anti-semitic, white nationalist and white supremacist views.
context_section_description: In 2005, the staff of The Political Cesspool organized a rally at the Tennessee area known as Confederate Park, which, along with two other Confederacy-themed parks in downtown Memphis, has been the subject of a longtime controversy for honoring Confederate soldiers and ideals. The park had been criticized earlier by a black Shelby County official, which attracted the notice of New York-based activist Al Sharpton, who was invited by the Reverend LaSimba Gray to hold a demonstration in Memphis. Sharpton planned a march called the Rally for Dignity from downtown Memphis to another park honoring Confederate Lieutenant General Nathan Bedford Forrest who was involved early in the organization of the Ku Klux Klan. Sharpton canceled the march after Edwards and The Political Cesspool staff obtained a permit to demonstrate in Confederate Park, located along Sharpton's planned march route.
  Sharpton settled for a protest at Forrest Park. At the demonstration, he argued that "We need to show the rest of the world that the day for honoring people like this is over", and said in an interview that his objections were not related to race but to Forrest's Civil War-era (1861–1865) actions against the United States. Estimates of attendance at the rallies vary; according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, James Edwards attracted about 200 white counter-demonstrators to the Confederate Park vigil, while Sharpton's protest at Forrest Park attracted a few dozen black demonstrators, whom Edwards referred to as "rabble". The Memphis Flyer estimated that Sharpton attracted about 250 supporters. In the aftermath of the city park controversy, show affiliates Edwards, Farley, Bonds, and Rolen received the "Dixie Defender Award" from the Sons of Confederate Veterans.
  Later that year, Memphis city councilman E. C. Jones awarded Edwards and Farley with a certificate "in appreciation of outstanding contributions to the community". Edwards and Farley also received an honorary city council membership from Jones, who had previously appeared on The Political Cesspool. According to The Commercial Appeal, Jones had not listened to the show before the incident, and was unaware of its ideology. After a reporter informed him of the program's agenda, Jones initially refused to apologize. However, after another reporter confronted him with more details about the show's ideology, he changed his view, saying that he probably would not appear again. Carol Chumney, another member of the Memphis City Council, was also invited to appear on The Political Cesspool, but ultimately declined the invitation after listening to an episode of the show; Chumney said, "what I heard was about advocating for prostitution ... So I told them I had other commitments."
caption: Confederate Park in downtown Memphis, the site of a demonstration organized in 2005 by James Edwards and the staff of The Political Cesspool.
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