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October 15, 2004/Tishri 30 5765, Vol. 57, No. 7
Separate and unequalEditorialThere are many good reasons to vote no on Proposition 200, some of which are enumerated in the editorial pages of Jewish News. If you're on the fence, you might want to note the resume of Virginia Abernethy, chairwoman of the national advisory board for Protect Arizona Now, the political group behind Prop 200.In an interview with the East Valley Tribune, Abernethy, who has enough advanced degrees from reputable institutions to know better, clarified her position. She's not a supremacist. She's only a little old separatist. "I'm in favor of separatism," Abernethy told the Tribune, "and that's different than supremacy. Groups tend to self-segregate. I know that I'm not a supremacist. I know that ethnic groups are more comfortable with their own kind." This sounds suspiciously like "separate but equal," which, as we know from American history, tends to translate into separate and not even remotely equal. The Center for New Community, an anti-bigotry group based in Chicago, has criticized Abernethy for her leadership roles in other extremist efforts, such as the Occidental Quarterly, a publication that declares that immigration into the United States should be limited to "selected people of European ancestry." PAN's appointment of Abernethy, the center says, should make us all question the group's real motives. In her defense of Abernethy, PAN founder and chairwoman Kathy McKee jumped on the Center for New Community, questioning its legitimacy and comparing it to The Southern Poverty Law Center, which she branded "a hate group." The SPLC, of course, devotes itself to promoting tolerance and counteracting hate. McKee, like Abernethy, has an agenda so far to the right as to be off the page. In related news, even farther off the page, the ADL last month confirmed that a self-admitted neo-Nazi is leading a push to recruit armed volunteers for a new "Arizona Guard" militia to patrol the Arizona/Mexico border from a compound near Douglas. ADL Regional Director Bill Straus said the news validates the ADL's warnings that "extreme anti-immigrant groups ... have historically attracted white supremacist and other extremist support." Even some of PAN's legislative supporters, such as state Rep. Russell Pearce, (R-Mesa), are distancing themselves from PAN now that Abernethy is in the picture. Pearce told the Tribune through an assistant that he no longer works with Protect Arizona Now. But he still supports the initiative. Let's hope the rest of us know better. |
