In Memory of Michael Westerman

(The following remarks were delivered by Jared Taylor at the memorial service for Michael Westerman, on March 4, 1995, in Fairview, Kentucky.)

We are gathered together today in the memory of Michael Westerman. It is entirely good and proper that we do so, for he was killed for no other reason than the fact that he was flying the flag we love and for which our forefathers fought and died. The outpouring of patriotism and concern represented by this gathering today is something for which every Southerner should feel proud.

However, there is an aspect of Michael Westerman’s death that must not be overlooked: It was not Yankees who killed him. It is not Yankees who want to take down our flag. It is not Yankees who act as though the pride we rightly take in our Confederate heritage a sign of moral inferiority. Yankees, scalawags, and guilt-ridden liberals can always be persuaded to go along with every anti-Southern idea, but they are not, today, the source of those ideas.

Let us put the death of Michael Westerman into a larger context. Every year in this country 1600 to 1800 white people are murdered by blacks. Only about one third as many blacks are murdered by whites, despite the fact that there are six times as many whites as black. This means any given black person is about 17 times more likely to kill a white person than the other way around.

Now, how many public memorials and tributes — like this one — are held for those 1600 to 1800 white people murdered every year by blacks? Very few; in fact this gathering in support of Michael Westerman may be the first one in decades. And in that sense, though I mean no disrespect to Michael Westerman, he was lucky to have been killed while he was flying the battle flag.

What about those who are not flying the flag? What about Missy McLaughlin of Charleston, who was abducted, gang-raped, tortured and murdered because, as her killers put it, “of 400 years of oppression”? Are we to remain silent about her because she was not flying the flag? What about Danny Gilmore of Cleveland, who got lost in a black neighborhood and ended up being deliberately crushed to death under the wheels of his own car while black onlookers cheered? Are we to remain silent because he was not flying the battle flag?

What about Mark Belmore of Boston, who was stabbed to death by three blacks who had decided to kill the first white man they found. Are we to remain silent because he was not flying the battle flag? What about the seven whites killed by members of the black Yahweh cult in Miami because it was by killing white people that you became a full member of the cult. Their killers brought back a finger or an ear as proof of a job well done. Are we to remain silent because they were not flying the battle flag?

What about the nine whites who were killed by black mobs during the Los Angeles riots of 1992 — lynched, really, just because they were white. Are we to remain silent because they were not flying the battle flag?

No, ladies and gentlemen, we will not remain silent. All these people, including Michael Westerman, are victims of something our government and media dare not talk about — racial violence committed by blacks against whites. We all hear about black-on-black crime — how awful it is, and why it must be prevented. We never hear much about about black-on-white crime. Is that because it’s not as bad? Not worth preventing?

How many of you have ever read in the newspaper about the extent of black violence against whites? When did the newspaper ever tell you that, according to national crime victimization study made very year by the Department of Justice, when whites commit violent crimes, they choose blacks as their victims about two percent of the time but when blacks commit violent crimes they choose whites as their victim about half the time. This means there is as much black-on-white violent crime as there is black-on-black crime. But that, of course, is not considered a national problem.

So, by all means, let us mourn the death of our compatriot, Michael Westerman, and let us pay tribute to his love for the flag that we love. But let us not forget that he did not die for the flag alone. Let us be frank: he died because he was white.

But to return to this flag, which so many of you are proudly carrying today. All around the world it is recognized as the symbol of heroic resistance to tyranny, as the flag of those who fight for heritage and freedom. Only in America — only in the land of its birth — is there a movement to denigrate and suppress it.

And as Michael Hill has explained to you, this flag is today as much a symbol of the fight against oppression as it ever was. Today, the government in Washington requires legal discrimination against whites. Our Confederate ancestors never faced that. Today, an American must work four to five months out of the year just to pay taxes. Our Confederate ancestors never faced that. Today, the government in Washington is conducting an immigration policy that will reduce whites to a minority by the year 2040. Our Confederate ancestors never faced that. Today, the government in Washington is perfectly prepared to act as if the 2nd amendment — the right to bear arms — did not exist, to rub it right out of the Constitution, just as it has the tenth amend guaranteeing the rights of the states. Our Confederate ancestors never faced that.

We face a vastly more powerful, intrusive, tyrannical federal government than our Confederate ancestors ever did. So on this beautiful Confederate Flag Day of 1995, as we mourn the passing of our compatriot Michael Westerman, let us also reflect with admiration upon our ancestors who could say with complete candor and complete composure: “Give me liberty or give me death.”