The following article originally appeared on the website of People for the American Way.

On August 24, Project 21, an African American initiative of the right-wing National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR), held a press conference along with other far-right African Americans and Hispanics, to convey the appearance of broad “minority support” for John Roberts' confirmation to the Supreme Court.

The National Center for Public Policy Research is a "conservative think tank" founded in 1982 in order to "provide the conservative movement with a versatile and energetic organization capable of responding quickly and decisively to fast-breaking issues." The NCPPR works on a variety of issues, from "environmental policy" to "global warming" to "civil rights." The organization is headed by President Amy Ridenour, Vice-President David Ridenour, and Executive Director David Almasi.

Project 21, the NCPPR's effort to create a “new leadership for Black America,” seems little more than African American spokespeople with extremist views that are at odds with what the majority of African Americans care about and believe. Yet it incredibly claims to be “a leading voice in the African-American community since 1992.”

The “new leadership for Black America” that Project 21 says it is “creating” has, in recent years, attempted to manufacture the appearance of African American support for right-wing appellate court nominee Janice Rogers Brown in the face of almost overwhelming opposition by credible voices in the mainstream civil rights community. “Project 21” also supported the nomination of Priscilla Owen (mistakenly and repeatedly referred to her in their own press release as “Patricia” Owen), as well as voiced its support for the Bush administration's efforts to privatize Social Security, applauded the replacement of Mary Frances Berry on the Civil Rights Commission, dismissed a highly regarded NAACP/ PFAW report documenting efforts to intimidate minority voters at the polls, has repeatedly attacked the NAACP – and even opposed Earth Day!

Recently, when the Senate overwhelmingly passed a resolution apologizing for its historic failure to pass anti-lynching legislation, Project 21, apparently thinking no apology was necessary, issued this statement: “The lynchings of the past, while a sad place in history to recount, is exactly that – history. The best way to avenge this shameful history and make it relevant to us today is not to wallow in the apologies and regrets offered by senators who couldn't be in any way responsible for what occurred, but to supply our own closure by forgiving those who trespassed against us and moving on.”

Before John Roberts had been announced as the nominee, Project 21 explained what it was looking for in a Supreme Court nominee. A nominee who embraced and was committed to:

•  "A strict interpretation of the Constitution,"

•  "Recognition of the importance of letting the state governments decide matters that exclusively involve state business,"

• "Upholding the Judeo-Christian heritage on which our nation and the Constitution were based,"

• "Individual rights and private property rights,"

• "Standing for the law over politics and not legislating from the courtroom," and

• "Having the conviction not to waver when pressured by outside influences."

In it's release from the August 24 press conference, the event's headliner, Mychal Massie of Project 21, proclaimed that "John Roberts is the type of jurist who represents the beliefs of great Americans such as James Madison and Martin Luther King, Jr.” Massie went on to claim that "Liberal haters … are conspiring to attack Judge Roberts on the most personal of levels” and accused these “liberal haters” of “[demeaning] and [attempting] to corrupt the judicial nomination process with lies, misinformation and histrionics."

Massie spreads his often hate-filled and bigoted messages via columns and a talk-radio program hosted by Right Wing media outlets such as WorldNetDaily and Righttalk.com.

If there is anyone who knows about “demeaning” a debate with “lies, misinformation and histrionics,” it is Massie.

Just weeks ago, Massie praised John Roberts by defaming a sitting senator, deceased president and their entire family by saying that Roberts is “unlike” members of the Kennedy family in that “He is not an avowed racist, bootlegger, gangster and anti-Semite like the Kennedy patriarch, nor does he possess the moral turpitude of John and Teddy.” He then went on to claim that Democrats “embrace, support and encourage every form of debauchery the majority of Americans find unacceptable.”

Massie has a history of shamelessly playing the race card so heartily embraced as a tactic by the right-wing whenever Democrats have opposed the Bush administration's extremist nominees and agenda.

When Democrats opposed the confirmation of Janice Rogers Brown based on her writings and her record on the California Supreme Court, rather than dealing with the merits of the opposition Massie wrote that it was “telling” because “exactly as in the 1890s – liberal anti-black Democrats still publicly humiliate upstanding black citizens.”

When Democrats raised concerns regarding the nomination of Condoleezza Rice to become Secretary of State, Massie again avoided any substantive criticism and claimed it was “in perfect keeping with the beatings, dogs and fire hoses of Mississippi and Alabama. They are fully representative of Bull Connor and Orval Faubus.”

When Sen. Harry Reid criticized the opinions of Justice Clarence Thomas, Massie responded: “Reid's comments should surprise no one – repulse, sicken and anger, yes, but surprise, no. He is simply being true to his inbred familial heritage” and then revealed his own bigoted beliefs and religious intolerance by savaging Reid's Mormon faith before concluding that Reid “is as absent of courage as he is filled with racial bigotry.”

On the chance he is ever asked his “thoughts” about Senator Reid's supposed comments about Clarence Thomas, Massie says his reply will be: “Sen. Reid is a pernicious little person, with a pretentious moral compass, who embodies all of that which is negatively attributed to the adherents of his faith. . ."

On the need for civil rights protections, Massie says: “The battle for civil rights as presently understood has been won … Blacks/minorities can immiserate [sic] and whites can wallow in guilt, but the fact remains – there is nothing in our country today preventing anyone from doing, being or attempting anything they choose, save the lack of preparedness, lack of education and lack of vision.” Cleary Massie is not a “civil rights” activist in any meaningful sense of the concept any more than Project 21 is a “civil rights” organization. Massie seems to think he can just decree that “civil rights” now means something different than it has for nearly the last half century.

Last year, Massie outrageously compared liberals to terrorists saying, “It occurs to me that radical, bloodthirsty Muslims and elitist, socialistic liberals are opposite sides of the same coin, with the same agenda.” His anger at “liberals” is only matched by the breadth of his religious bigotry – such as in this case, directed at Muslims: “Radical, bloodthirsty Muslims come from nothing, have nothing, produce nothing, stand for nothing (save murder and brutality) and go to nothing (70 virgins notwithstanding).”

During the press conference, Massie attacked an African American Ministers in Action press release challenging Massie's assertion that John Roberts "represents the beliefs of great Americans such as... Martin Luther King, Jr.” Massie denied that he had ever done so, calling the allegations “scurrilous.” However, the quote came directly out of Project 21's own press release for the event:

Massie was joined at this press conference by Niger Innis of the Congress of Racial Equality, Robert Woodson of the National Council for Neighborhood Enterprise, and Jennifer Braceras, who identified herself in her introduction as a member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights – it wasn't until much later in the press conference she mentioned belatedly that she was not there representing the Commission. At least one news story identified her as a commissioner giving the impression that she was indeed there in an official capacity. Braceras was formerly a Senior Fellow with the anti-feminist Independent Women's Forum and is also a member of the Committee for Justice and the Federalist Society, as well as a frequent contributor to the ultra-conservative National Review.

Niger Innis, who also appeared at the press conference, serves as the national spokesman for the Congress of Racial Equality, an organization originally founded to advance civil rights. When Roy Innis, Niger's father, took control of CORE in 1968, it lurched hard to the right. In recent years, CORE has defended Trent Lott during his racially-inflected fall from grace and even honored Karl Rove at its “Martin Luther King Day” dinner claiming that Rove's “mission is to fully integrate our people in every aspect.”

Innis has been a featured speaker at the American Conservative Union's annual Conservative Political Action Conference [CPAC] on several occasions, billed as the “largest gathering of conservative political activists in the country! [emphasis original]” Innis is also a board member of the Alliance for Marriage, an organization formed to promote an amendment to the U.S. Constitution seeking to define marriage solely as between “a man and a woman” – an amendment that, if passed, would be the only one in the Constitution intended to discriminate against and actually deny the rights of a group of Americans.

Robert Woodson is the founder and president of the National Center for Neighborhood Enterprise [NCNE] and a one-time Resident Fellow at the right-wing American Enterprise Institute. In the mid-90's, the NCNE reportedly received $225,000 from the Bradley Foundation, the same organization that has financially supported Charles Murray, author of The Bell Curve, where he asserts that intelligence is predicated on race. Murray also authored Losing Ground, which argues that many social programs for the poor should be abolished. Along with Innis, Woodson is also a board member of the Alliance for Marriage.

The unreal world these spokespeople inhabit might explain the unbelievable contradiction between the group's press conference and press release and its assertions that Project 21 "takes no position" on the confirmation of any specific judges, including the Supreme Court nomination of John Roberts! Clearly, that was the whole point of their press conference. [watch video of Roberts support repeatedly expressed at press conference.]

Only a Rip Van Winkle, asleep for the past 50 years, would mistake Massie and his colleagues for civil rights leaders. [Watch video of Woodson asserting that if Dr. King were alive, he would be standing there with them.]