Copyright (c) 1997 - Ingrid A. Rimland
Subject:
Formal Complaint against "National Voices for an Inclusive 21st Century" and Barbara Bergen, Director of the Anti-Defamation League.
Dear Madam Chair:
1. The European/American Issues Forum, a Bay Area civil rights group of volunteers, respectfully requests that Barbara Bergen of the San Francisco Anti-Defamation League and the "National Voices for an Inclusive 21st Century" be investigated for excluding our organization from participating in the "National Voices for an Inclusive 21st Century" organization.
2. The exclusion is based on inappropriate, immoral and possibly illegal racial and ethnic discrimination against European-Americans, who seek to oppose hate speech and hate crimes.
3. The "National Voices for an Inclusive 21st Century" announced its formation in a S.F. Chronicle article on April 15, 1997. The listed members are the Bay Area Urban League, National Conference, Anti-Defamation League, and Centro de San Francisco. Ms. Barbara Bergen of the Anti-Defamation League appears to hold the leadership position as Chair of the Coalition.
4. During our application process, Ms. Barbara Bergen was quoted in news stories, making defamatory statements as follows: ". . . frankly, protecting Europeans against hate crimes is not the burning issue of the day," and "I don't see how the people who have set the agenda for this country are being discriminated against or attacked." We eventually received notification via mail of our exclusion from the newly formed inclusive organization from ADL.
5. Clearly, her statements are contrary to the S.F. Police Department's 1996 report on "Hate Crimes" that clearly and dramatically shows that there were more European-American (white) victims of race--based hate crimes than any other ethnic or racial group in San Francisco.
6. And, even more troubling is that Director Bergen and the coalition members seem unfamiliar with the worst conspired race-based hate crime of the century (Zebra case) wherein innocent European-Americans (whites) were the intended target. During 1973-74, twenty three (23) San Francisco European-Americans were randomly attacked on the streets, and fifteen (15) were murdered. The total murdered throughout California during that period was estimated at seventy one (71). Therefore, we are perplexed by her statement that: "I don't see how people who have set the agenda for this country are being discriminated against or attacked."
7. Mr. Norman Harris, the Anti-Defamation League's Chairman of the Board and the Board of Directors of the other three organizations were notified by mail requesting an appearance before their boards to discuss the exclusion of our organization. They have ignored our requests. In the same letter, Mr. Harris was notified of Ms. Bergen's outrageous, racist and defamatory statements.
8. Chairman Harris chose to answer our letter to him with a Letter to the Editor of the S.F. Chronicle (8/22/97). Mr. Harris did not reject Bergen's hurtful divisive and defamatory public comments. His letter implicitly condones discrimination and defamation against European-Americans as well as exclusion of organized European-Americans from participation with the "National Voices for an Inclusive 21st Century" in the fight against bigotry, racism and hatred.
9. The deafening silence of the three other members of the "National Voices for an Inclusive 21st Century" certainly implicates them also in condoning racial and ethnic animus against European-American citizens.
10. Their organizations currently participate in government activities with the City and County of San Francisco in the area of civil rights. It is inappropriate, immoral and possibly illegal for the City to remain in so close a relationship with organizations that publicly express racial and ethnic animus toward another ethnic group, especially in the face of the President's calling for open dialogue between the races.
11. It is equally sad, frightening and deeply troubling that these organizations purporting to be in the forefront of fighting racism, bigotry and hatred in our community have so cavalierly excluded a major group of fellow citizens on the illogical basis of immoral, racial and ethnic animus.
12. Therefore, the European/American Issues Forum, a Bay Area civil rights group of volunteers, respectfully requests that this legitimate and formal complaint be fully and properly investigated and brought before the full commission for consideration and action.
Thank you for your kind attention in this matter.
Sincerely,
Louis Calabro
(Acting Chair)
How are they going to do this - investigate themselves? Play musical chairs?
Reminds me of a Doug Collins Original: "It ain't easy, bein' me."
If the European/American Issues Forum people stick to their clean-cut, simple
strategy, I predict that we will see some interesting results.
This small group of activists seems to have given us at least a partial
clue as to how to fight this odious industry called "Hate Crimes Investigations"
via the tried-and-true method of "fighting fire with fire."
I will report on further developments as soon as they become available.
Ingrid
Thought for the Day:
"The left thinks it is sophisticated to renounce all standards, but that's simply another trick. They have their own creepy standards: when out of power, those of the gutter, when in power, those of the iron fist."
(A ZGram reader)