[PEN-L:4502] Double standard

["Charles Brown" <CharlesB@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

A Tale Of Two Resolutions
Earl Ofari Hutchinson

Five years ago Congress blasted a speech by Nation of Islam national
spokesperson Khalid Muhammad as ôfalse, anti-Semitic, racist, divisive,
repugnant and a disservice to all Americans.ö The censorship resolution
was in direct response to the speech Muhammad gave at Kean College four
months earlier. The resolution rocketed through both the House and Senate
in 20 days with virtually no dissent. Five years later the House refuses
to bring to a floor vote and the Senate refuses to introduce an almost
identical resolution that condemns the equally racist, anti-Semitic,
divisive, and repugnant Council of Conservative Citizens. Georgia House
Republican Bob Barr and Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott have good
reasons to be stone silent on the resolution. They gave speeches to
national and local CCC conferences. They have written for, and been
frequently praised, in its newspaper the Citizens Informer and on its
internet web site. Only after mass public and media outrage about their
CCC involvement did they make the weakest of weak disclaimers of the
group. While both should be condemned for their past ties to the group, it
is understandable why they keep silent. But why do more than 400 Democrats
and Republicans in the House and Senate balk at the resolution? There are
three reasons why they do.

The first is that the hands of some Congress members are dirty with the
CCC imprint. A slew of Republicans and Democrats have spoken to or
participated in CCC conferences, meetings, and activities and received
funds and political endorsements from the group.

CCC officials have given some Congress members the second reason to say
nothing against them. They claim that they are a group that does not
advocate violence, whereas Muhammad was an individual who did advocate
violence. They also argue that censorship will chill the right of members
in an organization to express their views. Their reasons are phony,
self-serving, and plainly wrong.

òThe CCC has 15,000 members and thousands more sympathizers nationally. It
has money, clout, and media savvy. It has dozens of supporters in
Congress, and among state and local officials. Its members and supporters
are well aware that the CCC routinely bashes minorities, Jews, gays,
abortion, women rights, and immigrants. The groupÆs obsessive, unvarnished
white supremacist verbal assaults make it far more dangerous and
destructive than one individual could ever be.

òIts bellicose views complete with an emblazoned Confederate flag are
boldly stately in a manifesto, ôOur Warö by Frank Conner on its website.
It practically implores its members to carry out ôrevolutionary deeds,ö
ôpreserve our heritage,ö ôwage war against our enemiesö ôdefend our
symbols,ö and make ôour ideological moves very swiftlyö on those groups
and individuals named on its ôenemies list.ö This comes borderline close
to inviting physical attacks on those ôenemies.ö

It is not a violation of free speech issue to condemn the group.
MuhammadÆs rant crossed way over the line between free speech and a
hate-filled call to violence, and deserved public rebuke. Yet the CCCÆs
hysterical attacks on minorities, its blame of the media, blacks and
liberals for whipping up the hysteria over the Texas auto lynching of
James Byrd, and the sharp escalation in hate murders and assaults against
minorities and gays nationally is dangerous proof that itÆs more urgent
then ever to immediately and forcefully denounce the CCC.

But the biggest reason why many Congressional Republicans refuse to
denounce the CCC is that many of them are Southern, conservative, and
agree with much if not all of the groupÆs philosophy. They are just as
determined as CCC members to roll back civil rights, further gut social
programs, wage their cultural war for a nativist, know-nothing America,
and try to seize the White House in 2000. If cavorting with
segregationists and race baiters such as the CCC furthers that goal then
they are more than happy to keep their hands off of them. This is all the
more reason why Congress should be reminded that if it can condemn
Muhammad for preaching hate and violence, then it must condemn the CCC for
doing the same.

Tell your congressperson that!

Earl Ofari Hutchinson is a Los Angeles based writer and the author of The
Crisis in Black and Black. email: ehutchi344@xxxxxxx