Justin Elliott: Rick Perry's Confederate past

Justin Elliott is a Salon reporter. Reach him by email at jelliott@salon.com

Rick Perry made national headlines in 2009 when, during a speech to a Tea Party group, he floated the possibility that Texas could secede from the union. But the governor's substantive ties to the neo-Confederate movement may be deeper than previously known.

A 1998 voting guide published by a leading neo-Confederate group and obtained by Salon not only endorses Perry for lieutenant governor but also describes him as "a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans." Perry's office did not respond to a request for comment about the governor's possible membership in the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

This is the document, published by the League of the South on its website DixieNet.org; it was unearthed by Edward Sebesta, a Texas-based independent researcher and co-editor of "Neo-Confederacy: A Critical Introduction." (Click the image for larger size.)

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