Handful of white nationalists protest outside Maryville church

Eight white nationalists showed up at a Maryville church Sunday evening to protest a talk by the author of a book about white supremacy.

The group stood on the sidewalk outside First United Methodist Church on Montvale Station Road. They held aloft a Confederate flag and a "White Pride Worldwide" flag, as well as banners reading "It's great to be White," and "'DIVERSITY' = WHITE GENOCIDE."

Inside, church members listened to a presentation by David Billings, the author of a book called "Deep Denial: The Persistence of White Supremacy in U.S. History and Life."

A listing on Amazon says the book focuses on "the deeply embedded notion of white supremacy and tells us why, despite the Civil Rights Movement and an African-American president, we remain, in the words of the author, a nation hard-wired by race."

Attendees of the talk, which occurred as part of a monthly series about social issues, were largely unaware of the protesters' presence outside, according to Catherine Nance, senior pastor at First United Methodist. The protesters showed up after the presentation began at 5 p.m., she said.

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Nance said when someone alerted her to the protesters' presence, she was "shocked."

"But then I realized maybe this is a threatening topic to talk about, that we are all equal and that we are all children of God," she said.

Nance said the protesters were "demonstrating peacefully," and that "no one felt threatened because of their presence." She said Maryville police were called and that officers monitored the situation.

The church's communications director, Clayton Hensley, noted that the "crowd inside was much, much larger than the protest outside."

A man named Johan, who described himself as a white nationalist and who wouldn't give his last name, said he showed up at the church to protest because he believes Billings' book wrongfully "promotes the notion that white people have an inherent privilege and an inherent racism." He said he had not read the book in full.

Johan said information about Billings' talk "went out through (white nationalist) channels," and that the protesters in attendance represented various groups.

Billings' presentation at First United Methodist came after he appeared at a bookstore and another church in Maryville.