2005 YORKTOWN RALLY FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE

The Center for Education Rights (CER) held the Yorktown Rally for Social Justice at Yorktown Battlefield at Colonial National Historical Park in Yorktown, Virginia, on Saturday, Juine 25, 2005.

According to Phil Stinson, president of the Center for Education Rights ("CER"), "CER organized and hosted the Yorktown Rally for Social Justice as a forum for a peaceful, non-confrontational, and family-friendly educational rally to be an alternative and in opposition to the hate rally of the National Socialist Movement (NSM), KKK, Aryan Nation, and Skinheads that was held on the same afternoon at the Colonial National Historical Park in Yorktown, Virginia."

The Anti-Defamation League says that the NSM is the second largest neo-Nazi group in the country, trailing only the National Alliance. While some neo-Nazi organizations prefer blazers to brown shirts, this Minneapolis-based hate group is a throwback to the 1960's-era American Nazi Party, from which it descended; members wear Nazi uniforms and openly display swastikas to a degree unusual even among white supremacists. This explicit Nazi imagery apparently has not hurt its stature or standing on the racist right; in recent years it has grown considerably in membership and influence, with dozens of chapters across the country. Part of the reason for the group's growth has been its appeal to racist skinheads and other young white supremacists, who join in NSM activities ranging from literature distribution to armed paramilitary training.

Thanks to the Virginia State Police for helping to make the Yorktown Rally for Social Justice a success by providing event security.

SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER AWARDS GRANT TO CER FOR VALLEY FORGE RALLY FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE

The 2004 Valley Forge Rally for Social Justice was funded, in part, by a grant to CER from the Southern Poverty Law Center pursuant to their Ten Ways to Fight Hate Community Grant Program.

2004 RALLY FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE IN VALLEY FORGE NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK WAS A HUGE SUCCESS!

CER (a non-profit educational advocacy organization) organized and hosted a community-based, peaceful, non-confrontational, family-friendly event, the Valley Forge Rally for Social Justice, in Valley Forge National Historical Park that was held on Saturday, September 25, 2004. The Valley Forge Rally for Social Justice took place simultaneously with -- and as a counter-demonstration to -- the hate rally of the NSM that took place on the same afternoon in a separate location within the park.

CER thanks the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, the US Department of Justice, the National Park Service and the Pennsylvania State Police for working with us to ensure a safe, peaceful, and educational environment in Valley Forge National Historical Park for everyone who attended the 2004 Valley Forge Rally for Social Justice.