TOM TANCREDO RETURNS TO UNC ON MONDAY

Youth for Western Civilization, the White Nationalist student group co-founded by Kevin DeAnna, a guy that once opined that Kwanzaa is a holiday “designed to lead black Americans from traditional Christian holidays like Christmas and replace [Christianity] with paganism;” has not died yet at the University of North Carolina, and to that end they are bringing ex-Congressman Tom Tancredo back to campus a year after he was chased from there by an outraged campus community. Students for a Democratic Society is calling for that outrage to manifest itself again, and if there is any cries about someone violating Tom Tancredo’s rights consider the fact that he is more than likely going to use this appearance to defend the bill that was recently passed in Arizona that efectively strikes down the 4th ammendment rights of anyone in that state, more than likely the Hispanics. That bill, not to mention Tancredo’s activism that has done a sharp uptick on the racist meter since he left office, is more than enough to say that someone has better start paying more attention to the rights people like Tancredo and the YWC want to take from us, and apparently SDS wants to take on the job. We wish them well.

Chapel Hill Students for a Democratic Society

On Monday, April 26th notable former U.S. Representative Tom Tancredo will return to UNC-CH. Since last year’s failed attempt to speak on the campus, Tancredo has become an important figure in the so-called Tea Party Movement. Among the movement’s leadership, remarks including racist and sexist appeals are common, as are efforts to demonize hard-working immigrants. At the Tea Party National Conference in February, Tancredo put his bigotry on vivid display, proclaiming:

“Because we don’t have a civics literacy test to vote, people who couldn’t even spell “vote”, or say it in English, put a committed socialist ideologue in the White House named Barack Hussein Obama.”

Literacy tests have a sordid and overtly racist history in America, and this is just one example of Tancredo’s point of view. His view that the culture of “western civilization” should be taught in our classrooms, at the expense of learning about other cultures, is not consistent with democratic norms or notions of free inquiry. He argues not for intellectual discussion, but rather openly advocates for hatred and oppression. With arguments disturbingly similar to those of the Ku Klux Klan or the Nazis, his speeches seek to divide people against one another in order to advance his political agenda.

Tancredo is not only in the position to have his hate speech heard by millions of people, but he also has the connections and money to put his words into action. Tancredo has helped campaign for founders of the Minutemen, the vigilante group whose racist efforts include shooting immigrants at the Mexican-USA border. Tom Tancredo also has direct connections with the John Locke Foundation, a right wing think tank that has been crucial in the re-segregation of Wake County Public Schools. Tancredo is also the honorary chair of the Youth for Western Civilization, the white supremacist student group responsible for bringing Tancredo to UNC’s Campus.

Last year, as a response to Tancredo’s visit to the campus, over 200 people — including multiple student and community organizations — used a diversity of tactics to protest his views. Some organizations attempted to challenge Tancredo through debate; others, including Students for a Democratic Society, marched from the Pit to Bingham Hall in an effort to protest outside the event; and still others wanted to shut down the event entirely. It is extremely unfortunate that a lack of coordination among the organizers led to the Carolina Hispanic Association and others’ dissent being silenced. While SDS had no intentions of shutting down Tancredo, we are not surprised that it happened. We felt that the consequent arrests of students and community members were unjust violations of their right to free speech. It is also worthy of noting that all charges were later dropped against the arrested protestors.

Although Chancellor Holden Thorp profusely apologized to Tancredo, he never issued a similar apology to the people arrested while exercising their first amendment rights.

During their resulting coverage of the protest, the Daily Tar Heel and other mainstream media sources consistently failed to take into account the skewed balance of power in which the events took place. Simply put, many speakers of hate like Tancredo have enormous power structures on their side. These include police officers, the corporate media, and many sources of financial support. Furthermore, those like Tancredo do not speak in a vacuum; they support and mobilize racist and unjust actions against groups they oppose.

On April 26th, Students for a Democratic Society and Feminist Students United will protest Tancredo again, in order to show continued opposition to his bigoted movement. We plan to attend the event, hold a silent protest, and then have a music concert with local bands and spoken word artists in a public location. We will be highlighting the connections between Tancredo, Americans for Prosperity, the re-segregation of the Wake County Public School System, and the growth of the Tea Party movement.

Other groups may choose to have other events to challenge Tancredo and the University. We support a variety of responses to such a hostile climate on campus, and we hope that people interested in taking a stand will join in wherever they see fit.

We refuse to be silent or participate in meaningless dialogues while right-wing leaders sweep through our country and attempt to steal our human rights.

Dare to struggle, dare to win!
UNC Students for a Democratic Society