Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2000 08:58:11 -0700
From: weavert@PRIMENET.COM ("T. Weaver")
Subject: NAACP is racist...?
To: AZRKBA@asu.edu
To say that white supremacy groups are "separate but related" to the
patriot movement is saying that the Black Panthers are a separate, but
related, group of the NAACP.
Also, another line "while the roots of militias theories are racist, the
two movements should not be confused". I guess the NAACP's theories are
racist, too.
No wonder there are people in this country who would agree we need to
reinterpret the 1st Amendment and take some freedom away from the press....
Tim
- - - -- -
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/oklahoma_000417.html
Remember Them?
Five Years After Oklahoma City, Militia Movement Smaller, Introspective
By Geraldine Sealey
April 17 The bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah federal building wasnt
carried out by an organized militia group, but that didnt keep such
anti-government brigades from intense scrutiny after the 1995 Oklahoma City
tragedy.
In the months after the bombing, because of their influence on mastermind
Timothy McVeigh and his conspirator Terry Nichols, militias the obscure
armed branch of the anti-government Patriot movement became the subject
of, and even participants in, a nationwide debate.
But we dont hear much about militias anymore.
Instead of galvanizing anti-government sentiment, the Oklahoma tragedy
created a crisis within the movement, scholars and observers say. Militias
may train for an armed battle against what they see as a tyrannical
government, but many members seem to have been scared off by the nations
worst act of domestic terrorism, which killed 168 people, including 19
children.
Although there are no precise statistics, one estimate suggests that
militia membership has been cut by half since the April 1995 bombing, when
it was about 30,000-strong.
And though some say its figures are inflated, the Montgomery, Ala.-based
Southern Poverty Law Center estimates that after a 1996 high of 858,
Patriot groups declined to 435 in 1998 171 of those were militias.
The militia movement was a white hot social movement, but every social
movement has a limited life, says Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law
Center. Im not saying militias are gone, but they are a bit of a relic of
the 90s.
Introspection After Bombing
Arthur Jipson, a Miami University of Ohio professor who studies far-right
groups, says the bombing set off a period of introspection in both the
Patriot movement and the separate but related white supremacy movement.
They are asking: What is the best means for us to reach our ends or goals,
as violent confronters, or slow, gradual recruitment over time? Jipson
says. These debates often happen in extreme movements, particularly after
violent, cataclysmic moments.
Some say hard-core racist groups may be winning the debate among Patriots
and militia members. What weve seen since Oklahoma City is the sloughing
away of softer line militia type grops, and a hardening of the groups that
remain, says Botok of the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Although the number of hate groups was down by about 15 percent last year
to 457 groups, Botok says the groups are consolidating, swelling the ranks
of the larger organizations.
Along with frustrations over worker displacement and globalization, he
says, the Internet can take some credit for widening the reach of hate
groups. Klansmen that had difficulty reaching 100 people with a poorly
produced pamphlet now can reach millions, he said.
Going Mainstream?
But Chip Berlet of Political Research Associates, a nonprofit center that
researches right-wing groups, cautions that while the roots of militias
theories are racist, the two movements should not be confused. If there are
more racists in militia groups these days, it is likely because the far
right is recruiting more, he says.
This is a struggle between two sectors, the Patriot movement and the far
right, he said. You have to see a dynamic that isnt simple.
There is evidence that some militia members are making an effort to become
more mainstream, not less, says Jipson. Some are even running for local
office rather than just working against the political machinery. I dont
necessarily think that means we should all sleep better at night, but the
movement has undergone reflection and has changed, he said.
Perhaps the greatest symbol of that change is a new relationship with the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, historically reviled by militia groups for
its role in the 1992 killing of white supremacist Randy Weavers wife and
son after a standoff in Ruby Ridge, Idaho, and the 1993 siege of the Branch
Davidian compound in Waco, Texas.
Mandated by Attorney General Janet Reno, agents in the bureaus 56 field
offices have held sporadic conferences in recent months with militia
leaders in an attempt to build trust and defuse possible violent
confrontations. Discussions last fall focused on easing concerns about a
Y2K apocalypse.
So far, the meetings have helped to quell the vie by some militias that
the government is a big bogey man, says Doug Garrison, a special agent in
the FBIs Indianapolis field office. For example, he said, the FBI was able
to spread the word among militia members that a railroad car repair
facility near Indianapolis is not actually intended to be a holding
facility for prisoners after a Zionist occupation.
But some argue that it will take more than a few sit-downs to mend the rift
between militia groups and te federal government. Jipson says the FBI
should learn from local and state governments that are testing
community-policing strategies, for example. The FBI has to understand
there has been real overstepping of boundaries, he said. I dont think a
single meeting where we share cookies is going to do it.