A second take on John's debating point. This is the question I would ask:
Do you believe Americans have the right to be free from white supremacy?
Like John, this is a question I wish would be answered. A simple yes or no would suffice. Given that the current Initiative would continue the practice of white supremacy by making the Civil Rights Act unenforceable (perhaps with the exception of police stops), this question is a very important one to consider.
For the full scoop, join Cafe Utne and then you can see this.
I was saying stuff like this:
obviously one can set up a commission which licenses groups to conduct
paramilitary training, just as there are licenses for businesses to
sell liquor. but this is beside the point.
in the case of rico for racism, i argue simply that hate groups are
criminal organizations and therefore not due protection afforded
ordinary citizens. there is no question in my mind that racist
organizations which have a history of violent members present a threat
to democracy. the matter of finesse has everything to do with
determining which of the racist organizations fit a strict definition.
from that point on, you treat them as one would do terrorist cells,
the mafia, and other criminal enterprises.
as i have pointed out, americans have a right to be free from the
influence of organizations whose philosophy is fundamentally in
opposition with the principles of the republic. is there any question
that castro cannot come to this country and set up shop?
distributing neo-nazi literature is absolutely and positively a crime
in germany, and the german government continuously annoys the u.s.
about the fact that we export neo-nazis to them. if you were a german
isp, you would be out of business for hosting a klan website. does
this appear ironic to you?
soliciting for sex is a crime because paying for sex is a crime, even
though sex isn't a crime. but it has been decided that prostitution is
a criminal enterprise, therefore acts which support the enterprise are
also criminal. you can complain about free speech all you like but the
following conversation is illegal. "wanna screw?" "sure 50 bucks"
"ok".
To come will be some excerpts from conversations I've had regarding the criminalization of racism. In short, I've found that whitefolks think that Americans have a right to believe in racist ideologies and that some racist conduct is acceptable beneath the radar of the law.
Posted by: Cobb at October 4, 2003 10:36 AM