• Jared Taylor of American Renaissance

According to The Charlotte Observer, the white nationalist group led by Jared Taylor hasn't given up on hosting his conference in Charlotte. He's the editor of American Renaissance, which labels itself as "A conservative monthly publication" that "promotes a variety of white racial positions."

But why Charlotte? What's so appealing about our city to a group that believes one race is more superior to another?

Can't tell you. Apparently the question wasn't asked at yesterday's press conference at the Government Center. Or, if it was, it wasn't included in the articles that were published about it.

So, let's look back to the group's conference trouble from last year ...

Here's a snip from a blog post, written by Taylor, entitled, "2010 AR Conference Held Against All Odds."

Despite unprecedented threats and intimidation, the 2010 American Renaissance conference took place in the Northern Virginia as originally planned. Four hotels successively broke their contracts to hold the event—the last one just two days before the conference was to begin—so we sent out notices to registrants telling them there was to be no conference.

However, our supporters refused to let us cancel! So many people told us they were coming anyway that we put together what turned out to be a very successful program. Now we are getting complaints from people who say they would have flown across the country if only they had known! There is a tremendous appetite for our people to meet, and hear straight talk about the crises our nation faces, and we were immensely heartened by the spirit of solidarity and commitment that galvanized this conference.

In the end ...

This experience has left us with twice the resolve we had before, and AR will study its options for future conferences. Conferences are central to the mission of American Renaissance, and we will hold them against all odds. The 2010 conference has also brought home to us the passionate commitment of our supporters, who refused to let us cancel this conference and who insisted that we host them for a wonderful weekend of honesty, inspiration, and camaraderie. We look forward to seeing you all next time.

Read the rest of the post here.

Charlotte, you may not want this group here but it appears it's going to take a lot more than a few phone calls and a canceled reservation to deter this group. And, again, I'll remind you that even though you may disagree with what they group is all about and what they have to say — I certainly do — they are afforded the right to believe and say what they want by the First Amendment of our country's Constitution.

Meanwhile, it looks as though other people are ramping up their plan to exercise their First Amendment rights. Check The Charlotte Post for more information on an upcoming rally.

Rhiannon "Rhi" Bowman is an independent journalist who contributes commentary on Creative Loafing's CLog blog four days a week in addition to writing for several other local media organizations. To learn more, click the links or follow Rhi on Twitter.