BORDER
Minuteman group comes under fire
JOHN STARK
THE BELLINGHAM HERALD
As the Minuteman organization's president watched from a pew, local human rights advocates testified before the state Human Rights Commission about the ills they attributed to the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps during a Thursday forum at First Congregational Church.The commission came to Bellingham to hear testimony about conditions facing immigrant communities here, spurred by complaints about a contingent of the Minuteman group patrolling the Whatcom County border in what group members say is meant mostly as a protest of lax border controls.
Larry Estrada, associate professor at Western Washington University, delivered perhaps the most heated denunciation of the Minuteman group and its founder and president, Chris Simcox. He accused them of targeting Hispanics for discrimination.
"Latinos have been many times persecuted," Estrada said. "We have been under the gun by vigilantes, and that's not going to happen any more... We say to the Minutemen, 'Not in our city, not in our county, not in our neighborhood.'"
Most of the approximately 200 in attendance responded with whoops and a burst of applause. ...(more)
Actually Larry Estrada's comments got a standing ovation.
There was also testimony about Whatcom County's history of militia/vigilante/racist troubles. It seems every ten years we have an outbreak of Right-wing Extremists.
The folks who showed up for the hearing were a diverse bunch. There wasn't any anger or hatred being expressed; the atmosphere was 100% positive. It was absolutely clear that this wasn't about suppressing anybodies right to free speech or about throwing open the borders. The people who came to the hearing were clearly saying no to scapegoating immigrants, fear-mongering, intimidation and racism.
The Human Rights Commissioner gave Chris Simcox, National leader of the Minutemen, a chance to respond. But of course he couldn't refute testimony that the Minutemen's activities create a climate of fear and distrust that attracts openly racist groups. So he didn't talk about the testimony at all, instead he tried to shift the subject to legalities. After all that had been said, his comments were off topic and just plain lame.
- - TVW video-taped the hearing and it will air on Wednesday May 3 at approximately 3:15 a.m. and
3:15 p.m - -
1 comment:
Democracy is an interesting phenomenon to behold in action, especially if you consider the various roles in social drama, or moral theater if you will. Authentic community organizers like Rosalinda Guillen seem low key for attempting to use forums for public education. Self-aggrandizing elites like Estrada--who as a member of the County Ethics Commission in the 1990s colaborated in whitewashing Marlene Dawson's anti-Indian campaign--use public gatherings for personal reasons.
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