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Mon, Jan 5, 9:13pm
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AN EXAMINATION OF SARAH PALIN'S RECORD ON RACE & CIVIL RIGHTS CALLED FOR BY THE NATIONAL BLACK COALITION FOR MEDIA JUSTICE
by Documents Nov 2 2008 - 10:42am Politics
Palin's Record On Race Includes Claims Of An Extensive History Of Offending And Excluding Blacks And Native Americans EVANSTON, IL – "Sarah Palin's record on race and civil rights has not yet been properly vetted", according to Karen J. Bond, Executive Director of the National Black Coalition for Media Justice. Bond says, "To allow a national candidate from a major political party to escape examination on the issue of race sets a dangerous precedent for future elections." Palin has claimed that it was unfair, "gotcha" journalism for her to be asked about her opinion on things like foreign affairs or Supreme Court decisions because her "executive experience" as a mayor and governor did not include these national and international issues. However, people of color make up about one quarter of Alaska's population so Palin should have an extensive track record in managing issues of race. Many feel it is important that her record on race be scrutinized, especially since competency in the area of civil rights is key to good governance at the federal level. Asked about their relationship with Palin, some Black Alaskans echo Montean Jackson: "What relationship?" he asked. "She has very little, if any Black representation on her cabinet or on any of the committees that she makes appointments for," said Jackson, an educator, community activist, and Fairbanks native. "The NAACP, along with other groups, was disappointed there were no members from the Black community among her appointments." It has been reported that Gov. Palin has appointed two people of color to her administration since she learned John McCain was considering her as his running mate. PALIN IGNORES BLACK STATE HOLIDAY, BUT WELCOMES & PRAISES RADICAL ANTI-AMERICAN POLITICAL PARTY Many Alaskan Blacks fault Palin for not hiring African-Americans, dismissing Blacks from government posts, spurning repeated requests to meet with Black leaders to discuss issues of concern, and refusing to attend Alaska's major African-American celebration. "Juneteenth" is a state holiday in Alaska recognizing the freeing of slaves during the Civil War. Palin did not attend the 2008 official state celebration of this holiday, nor did she send the traditional message of greetings and congratulations. However, she did send a message of greetings and congratulations to the March 2008 Alaskan Independence Party Convention. The Alaskan Independence Party is an ultra-conservative, anti-American group that advocates for Alaska's succession from the United States and has had ties to the Iranian government. The party's founder was a shadowy figure named Joe Vogler, who said, "The fires of hell are frozen glaciers compared to my hatred for the American government. …I won't be buried under their damn flag. … When the Federal bureaucrats come after me, I suggest they wear red coats. They make better targets." Vogler was killed by an explosion while attempting to buy plastic explosives on the black market. Sarah Palin's husband was an Alaskan Independence Party member for seven years and her daughter's fiancé listed the Alaskan Independence Party on his MySpace page. The McCain campaign has confirmed that Sarah Palin visited the party's 2000 convention, and that she addressed its 2006 and 2008 conventions. In her March 2008 videotaped address to the Alaskan Independence Party (available on YouTube), Palin encourages this radically anti-American organization, saying, " Keep up the good work. And God bless you." In light of the McCain campaign's focus on Obama's past associations, there have been many calls for Sarah Palin to denounce the Alaskan Independence Party and for further investigation into her ongoing association with a group that may represent a threat to national security. Max Talbot writing for Salon.com speculates, "Imagine the uproar if Michelle Obama was revealed to have joined a black nationalist party whose founder preached armed secession from the United States and who enlisted the government of Iran in his cause? The Obama campaign would probably not have survived such an explosive revelation. Particularly if Barack Obama himself was videotaped giving the anti-American secessionists his wholehearted support just months ago. Where's the outrage, Sarah Palin has been asking this week, in her attacks on Obama's fuzzy ties to Ayers? The question is more appropriate when applied to her own disturbing associations." PALIN OFFENDS MEMBERS OF BLACK COMMUNITY IN ALASKA Linn Washington, Jr., columnist for The Philadelphia Tribune, writes "With Palin's campaign trail criticisms assailing Obama's former pastor Jeremiah Wright Jr. being anti-white and anti-American, concerns again arise about a line in her Republican National Committee acceptance speech. The source of that line is the late writer Westbrook Pegler, a man known for his anti-Semitism, criticism of the 60s Civil Rights Movement and work with notorious segregationist groups. Although a President Bush speech writer penned Palin's RNC speech, she never distanced herself from Pegler once the source of that quote became widely known. Yet, Palin incorrectly claims Obama has never distanced himself from 60s-era radical Bill Ayers…" PALIN FAILS TO ADDRESS CONCERNS OF NATIVE ALASKAN COMMUNITY Civil rights attorney David A. Love cites "Palin's inability to deal with cultural diversity within the borders of her own state." He points out that, "Alaska is rife with racial inequality. Infant mortality for Native children is double that of Whites. Native students are 12 percent of the children in public schools, but 25 percent of the dropouts. Native Alaskan men are 10 percent of the population, but 40 percent of the prisoners. Chronically unemployed and victims of discrimination, the indigenous population is underrepresented in employment in the legal, child welfare and criminal justice fields. Before Palin took office, the U.S. Civil Rights Commission called for a host of reforms to deal with these racial disparities, but Gov. Palin, maverick and reformer that she is, hasn't budged on implementing any of the recommendations." Instead of hiring Native Alaskans and Blacks, Palin has shown a pattern of hiring friends without apparent qualifications for the high salaried government posts she has given them. One frequently cited Palin appointment is her elevation of a high school classmate to the $95,000 a year post heading the State Division of Agriculture, a decision Palin defended based on this real estate agent's childhood love of cows. MULTIPLE VOICES IN ALASKA'S COMMUNITY OF COLOR ASK TO BE HEARD The "National Black Coalition For Media Justice" (NBCMJ) is building a national campaign around the issue of media justice and media access for people of color. It has established a framework for people of color to work together on a national basis to identify and address media justice concerns. Executive Director Karen Bond feels it is mandatory that any candidate running for national office be questioned by the media on their racial views and on their record of dealing with issues pertaining to civil rights. The coalition's members have expressed the need for a more thorough investigation of both Sarah Palin's and John McCain's record on race. ============================================== WOMEN'S RIGHTS ADVOCATES OPPOSE PALIN … Democrats, much of the media, and a big segment of the public have pounded Palin for her non-existent experience and public pronouncements on foreign policy and national security matters. But she has been absolutely expansive on these issues in comparison to her past and present mute silence about diversity and civil rights." … PALIN HAS NO RECORD ON DIVERSITY OR CIVIL RIGHTS Sarah Palin admittedly hasn't had much of a track record when it comes to acknowledging let alone promoting diversity during her short tenure as Alaska governor. … There is no record that Palin has made any other public statements on diversity and minority issues since [2006]. … Palin's commitment to diversity is no small point in Alaska. According to the 2000 Census figures Blacks make up officially about four percent of the state population. But those who self-identify at least in part as African-American bump up the percentage much higher. This is not an insignificant number especially when American Indians, Aleuts, Eskimos, and Asians are taken together. Minorities then make up about one quarter of Alaska's population. This makes the state one of the most ethnically diverse in the nation. Diversity must be more than a word that an Alaska governor pays campaign lip service to and then ignores. …Palin's campaign and gubernatorial spokespersons say the knock that she is hostile to Blacks and minorities is unfair. That may well be true. But to those Alaska Black leaders who challenged Palin on her administration's minority hiring practices, to them the knock is much deserved. HOW SARAH PALIN HAS EXCLUDED AFRICAN-AMERICANS On April 29, 2008, 14 leaders of Alaska's Black community met with Gov. Sarah Palin to voice discontent with her minority hiring record. …Gwen Alexander, the president of the African-American Historical Society of Alaska, told me that Palin stated defiantly that she had no intention to hire any minority staffers. … PALIN HATES NATIVE ALASKANS, BLACK FOLKS TOO …What receives far less attention, however, is Palin's inability to deal with cultural diversity within the borders of her own state. With a quarter of its population as people of color, including one-fifth Native- Americans and around 10 percent African-and-Asian-Americans combined — Alaska is far more diverse than one would conclude at first glance. Yet there is ample evidence that the governor has little else than utter disrespect for Alaskans of a darker hue. As for Alaska Natives, who have experienced years of being treated as less than human, crowded out and pushed aside to make way for White settlers, Palin has continued the policy of degrading and suppressing the state's first inhabitants. Don't be sidetracked by the fact that Palin's husband is of Yup'ik Eskimo ancestry. There have been the affronts to the Native community, …Subsistence fishing and hunting are very important to the traditional way of life for Native peoples, and Gov. Palin has done everything in her power to oppose tribal subsistence rights, to the benefit of commercial and sporting interests. And she has continued a lawsuit which would eliminate all federal fishing protections for Native Alaskan people. In addition, she opposes tribal sovereignty, and has refused to acknowledge native languages and give them the respect they deserve. A federal court ordered Palin to provide voter materials in indigenous languages. ALASKA'S BLACKS AND PALIN: A STRAINED RELATIONSHIP While many across America consider GOP VP candidate Sarah Palin some kind of phenomenon, many Blacks in Alaska see the Governor of their state as a person closing down the open-door inclusive posture of her predecessors. … "Where past governors have attended [this celebration] Gov Palin has refused to attend or even send a staff member. They could have sent a gardener as their representative but they didn't," said Bishop James Thomas, a spokesman for Juneteenth, a state holiday in Alaska since 2001. … With Palin's failing relations with Blacks in Alaska, some might cynically see this as part of her pick by McCain who's received an F on the NAACP Congressional Report Card during 11 of the past 13 reporting periods. (During McCain's two runs for president the NAACP provided no grade for McCain.) …McCain's scores on supporting issues important to the NAACP ranks lower than conservative Senators Trent Lott of Mississippi and Orin Hatch of Utah. Palin's rocky relations with Blacks mirrors [her] relations with Alaska's Native Peoples according to the September 12, 2008 Counterpunch article by Lloyd Miller. A DISMAL RECORD: PALIN AND ALASKAN NATIVES AND TRIBES Perhaps no issue is of greater importance to Alaska Native peoples as the right to hunt and fish according to ancient customary and traditional practices, and to carry on the subsistence way of life for future generations. Governor Sarah Palin has consistently opposed those rights. … Palin's law suit seeks to diminish subsistence fishing rights in order to expand sport and commercial fishing. … In pressing this case, Palin decided against using the Attorney General (which usually handles State litigation) and instead continued contracting with Senator Ted Stevens' brother-in-law's law firm (Birch, Horton, Bittner & Cherot). …In May 2007, the federal court rejected the State's main challenge, …Palin has also sought to invalidate critical determinations the Federal Subsistence Board has made regarding customary and traditional uses of game, specifically to take hunting opportunities away from Native subsistence villagers and thereby enhance sport hunting. …the federal district court has rejected Palin's challenge, …Both the state courts and the federal courts have struck down Palin's policy of refusing to recognize the sovereign authority of Alaska Tribes to address issues involving Alaska Native children. …Nonetheless, Palin's policy of refusing to recognize Alaska tribal sovereignty remains unchanged. …Palin has attacked Alaska Native Languages. …As a result, Palin was just ordered by a special three-judge panel of federal judges to provide various forms of voter assistance to Yup'ik voters residing in southwest Alaska. (…trained poll workers who are bilingual in English and Yup'ik; sample ballots in written Yup'ik; a written Yup'ik glossary of election terms;) …In sum, measured against some the rights that are most fundamental to Alaska Native Tribes - the subsistence way of life, tribal sovereignty and voting rights - Palin's record is a failure. TODD PALIN NO POSTER BOY FOR YUP´IK ESKIMOS OR OTHER NATIVE ALASKANS There was the ever so fleeting moment during her speech at the Republican National Convention when Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin paid tribute to hubby Todd. She lightly mentioned that he's of Yup´ik Eskimo background. Todd Palin beamed with pride …But the cheering convention participants and millions of viewers won't see the same smiles on scores of other of Palings Yup´ik Eskimos and many other Native Alaskans. …They make up nearly 20 percent of Alaska's population. A devastating report by the Alaska Advisory Committee to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission in 2002, " Racism's Frontier: The Untold Story of Discrimination and Division in Alaska" painted a picture of decades long economic misery, discrimination, neglect and alienation for Native Alaskans in Palings state. …VP candidate Palin boasted that she squeezed the oil and gas industry for billions that have enriched the state's businesses, residents, and boosted employment in some communities. That prosperity hasn't touched many Native Alaskans. …Native Alaskans are more likely to be sicker and have less access to quality, affordable health care than whites. Their infant mortality is more than double that of whites. Their tuberculosis rate is more than twenty times higher than whites. Civil rights commission studies attributed the appalling health statistics to overcrowded and insufficiently ventilated housing, impure water supplies, inadequate waste disposal systems, and general malnutrition. …Native Alaskans are slightly more than 12 percent of the state's public school students. They make up more than one quarter of school drop-outs, and are at rock bottom in their achievement scores in reading and math. Native Alaskans make up a paltry five percent of the teachers and administrators. Many of the students are taught exclusively by white teachers in grossly under-funded rural public schools. Many of the teachers have little understanding of or sensitivity to Aleut, Yup'ik, and Indian culture and language. …Native Alaskan males make up less than ten percent of the state's population, but are nearly forty percent of those behind bars. …[Native Alaskans] are far more likely to be incarcerated than whites, they are also far more likely than whites to suffer rape, domestic violence and homicide. Native Alaskans bitterly complain of laxity by the police and the courts in finding and punishing those who victimize Native Alaskans. Many homicides of Native Alaskans have remained unsolved. …Despite the well documented widespread discrimination and disparities against Native Alaskans there is no public record that Governor Palin has gone to bat for increased funding for the Commission. In reporting on the plight of Native Alaskans, the U.S. Civil Rights Commission called for massive increases in spending on job and skills training and programs to boost employment, improve education and public services. The commission called for sweeping reforms in the criminal justice and health care systems. The recommendations were made four years before Palin took office. Other than a brief mention of diversity in her gubernatorial campaign speech in 2006, there is no evidence that Palin has said or done anything about the commission's recommendations. If she had it would have put a beam on the faces of thousands of Yup´ik Eskimos who aren't named Todd Palin. PALIN'S RACIST REMARK …Eleanor Andrews, board chair of the Anchorage Urban League, said she is unaware of any programs or outreach to Alaska's Black community by Palin. "It's not a disengagement. It's just no connection. She does not have relations with African Americans," said Andrews, a businesswoman and 44-year resident of Alaska. While Gov Palin has twice refused to either attend or even formally recognize an official state holiday in Alaska important to African-Americans, she delivered a video-taped address this year for the convention of the Alaskan Independence Party, a group pushing secession of Alaska from the United States. Palin's husband, Todd, belonged to this Party for seven years. "People say that when [Palin] took over as governor Blacks lost jobs in state government," said attorney Rex Butler. "It seems that the posture of her administration with Blacks is: Don't need them – Don't worry about them." …"I'm African-American and I am a big rebuttal to those charges," said Palin Press Secretary Bill McAllister, a former broadcast journalist. …McAllister joined Palin's staff in August 2008 … ..."I feel that Palin is a very narrow viewed and culturally unsophisticated person who clearly has not seen the world or its diverse peoples," Royal said. "The racism I believe she possesses is not necessarily from a misguided hatred but from a boastful ignorance that clearly celebrates the need not to know or the desire to know." MCCAIN CAMP: PALIN'S ALASKA INDEPENDENCE PARTY TIES "…The strange saga that began during Palin's early political career, when she cultivated close political ties with an anti-government extremist organization that helped her advance her ambitions, now has turned increasingly strange as the McCain handlers seek to suppress factual reporting of her past." MEET SARAH PALIN'S RADICAL RIGHT-WING PALS [AIP (Alaskan Independence Party)] extremists Mark Chryson and Steve Stoll helped launch Palin's political career in Alaska, and in return had influence over policy. "Her door was open," says Chryson, "and still is." ……Palin backed Chryson as he successfully advanced a host of anti-tax, pro-gun initiatives, including one that altered the state Constitution's language to better facilitate the formation of anti-government militias. She joined in their vendetta against several local officials they disliked, and listened to their advice about hiring. She attempted to name Stoll, a John Birch Society activist …" to an empty Wasilla City Council seat. …… Chryson further streamlined the AIP's platform by softening its secessionist language. …Yet Chryson maintains that his party remains committed to full independence. ……[Palin's] 1996 campaign for mayor was the most negative Wasilla residents had ever witnessed. … "I watched that campaign unfold, bringing a level of slime our community hadn't seen until then," recalled Phil Munger, a local music teacher… When Councilman Carney proposed [an]… ordinance [that] …would have prohibited residents from carrying guns into schools, bars, hospitals, government offices and playgrounds… [the] proposal died that night, thanks to Palin and her extremist allies. … Palin endorsed Chryson's unsuccessful initiative to move the state Legislature from Juneau to Wasilla. She also lent her support to Chryson's crusade to alter the Alaska Constitution's language on gun rights so cities and counties could not impose their own restrictions. …At a national convention of secessionist groups in 2007, AIP vice chairman Dexter Clark announced that his party would seek to "infiltrate" the Democratic and Republican parties with candidates sympathetic to its hard-right, secessionist agenda. … Clark pointed to Palin's political career as the model of a successful infiltration. "There's a lot of talk of her moving up," Clark said of Palin. "She was a member [of the AIP] when she was mayor of a small town, that was a nonpartisan job. But to get along and to go along she switched to the Republican Party … She is pretty well sympathetic because of her membership." THE PALINS' UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES Imagine if the Obamas had hooked up with a violently anti-American group in league with the government of Iran. "My government is my worst enemy. I'm going to fight them with any means at hand." This was former revolutionary terrorist Bill Ayers back in his old Weather Underground days, right? Imagine what Sarah Palin is going to do with this incendiary quote as she tears into Barack Obama this week. Only one problem. The quote is from Joe Vogler, the raging anti-American who founded the Alaska Independence Party. Inconveniently for Palin, that's the very same secessionist party that her husband, Todd, belonged to for seven years and that she sent a shout-out to as Alaska governor earlier this year. ("Keep up the good work," Palin told AIP members. "And God bless you.") Alaska Independence Party chairwoman Lynette Clark told me recently that Sarah Palin is her kind of gal. "She's Alaskan to the bone ... she sounds just like Joe Vogler." … SARAH PALIN AND THE ALASKA INDEPENDENCE PARTY: ============================================== ============================================= ***************************************************************************** Bookmark/Search this post with:           |
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