"But 'states rights' is racist!"

Derek Sheriff has written a wonderful essay on Lew Rockwell titled "The Untold History of Nullification: Resisting Slavery". I highly recommend you read the whole thing.

Public School civics courses, when they mention Nullification at all, invariably tie it to the shameful conduct of the so-called "States' Rights" movement in the '50's and '60's, in which segregationists wanted to use Nullification to turn back civil rights legislation. That happened, and there's no point in denying it. I suspect a number of those segregationists also wore blue jeans, which does not in itself make jeans racist in nature.

Sheriff details the actions of Wisconsin abolitionists, who used Nullification effectively to fight fugitive slave laws prior to the War Between the States. It also mentions Nullification's origins in the Federalist Papers and the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions during the time of the Alien and Sedition Acts. It's a wonderful read.

I don't know what the future holds for the 10th Amendment movement. But I will note here that the efforts of the movement's opponents to tie State Nullification to racism, ignoring or denying its long and honorable history in this country, is very telling against them.

Seriously, RTWT.