Kansas City Star: La Raza Hispanic Activists More Desirable Than Patriot Minutemen?

Newsbusters.org ^ | 9/1/07 | Warner Todd Huston

[Mobile Vulgus]

Which would you find more desirable in your community: a group that advocates to abide by U.S. law, or one that advocates to break U.S. law? Well, leave it to an American newspaper to present a story as if a member of a group that advocates for America is a less desirable person in the community than a member of a group that promotes ideas against America. In a story on the La Raza Council's threat to move their annual convention out of Kansas City, Missouri, the Kansas City Star has labeled the patriot group The Minutemen a "militant group" yet nowhere is there harsh labels in their story for La Raza, the Hispanic illegal immigrant advocates. In fact, La Raza is treated like a completely respectable organization throughout the story with the Minutemen treated as if they should be something to be ashamed of.

In June, Kansas City mayor Mark Funkhouser appointed Minuteman Civil Defense member Frances Semler to the Kansas City park board and this has caused the illegal immigrant advocates to threaten to take their convention business elsewhere.

The nation’s largest Hispanic rights group is warning it may cancel its 2009 convention here because of a controversial Kansas City park board member.

As it turns out, this park board member is "controversial" because she wants Federal immigration laws enforced.

The story goes on to call the patriot organization, The Minutemen, a "militant group opposing illegal immigration" and warns that the city would lose up to $15 million in business (coupled with the NAACP pulling their convention, as well) should the La Raza folks pull their convention out of Kansas City. The story gives the La Raza group quite a bit of space to act wounded and regretful that they have to leave the city... unless they are successful in forcing a Missourian legally appointed to a city board to resign.

“It is very troubling that we would be in a position to reconsider but in fact we are,” Murguía said during a trip to Kansas City. “I don’t know there is a way short of her stepping down that we could salvage this. This is offensive on many levels. We want the mayor to understand it is something that sends a very wrong signal to the Hispanic community about what the city represents.”

There is, indeed, something troubling here. That a group based outside of Kansas City should imagine they have the right and power to tell a city who they can and cannot appoint to their city parks board. Now THAT is "troubling," don't you think?

It is also troubling that Mrs. Semler is presented throughout the story as the problem and La Raza is constantly presented as the good guys. What is also troubling is that the story presents the politicians in Kansas City as bending over backwards for this La Raza organization. Rick Hughs, head of the Kansas City Convention and Visitors Association, for instance is doing his best to accommodate this La Raza group.

... a meeting Thursday with Murguía went well and he is hopeful that La Raza’s concerns about Kansas City can be addressed. He said he has not heard from anyone with the NAACP about its concerns.

“We still have it (La Raza convention) very much in our pocket and we all want to work toward a good, amicable solution,” he said. “These are two critically important groups and we want to keep them on the ground with us.”

Sadly, not a one of the Kansas City politicians quoted seem outraged that this outside group is making threats to the city over the make-up of a city board and trying to force their outsider's opinions on the operation of the city.

Still, is this reasonable behavior from La Raza? Is it reasonable that one person on a city park board is enough of an "outrage" to their sensibilities to force them to pull their business from the city? One person who is in no position to create and nurture city policy is enough for these La Raza radicals to claim foul? Is this the sort of radical organization that Kansas City should want in their town in the first place, one that doesn't respect the local city fathers, our laws and communities?

Why does the Kansas City Star not plum that angle of the story?

The militant positions of many members of the La Raza organization are well known. The founder of La Raza, Jose Angel Gutierrez, for instance, once wrote that, “we have got to kill the gringo, and what I mean by that is if the worst comes to worst, we have got to kill him.” But, we don't even have to search out any of the extremist views of their most radical members to illustrate how upside down this incident in Kansas City is. All we have to do is go right to the La Raza home page to get a hint of their radical views and policies.

For instance, Janet Murguía, NCLR President and CEO has written in one press release:

“The congressional Republicans’ strategy to scapegoat our community failed overall, and will prove even costlier in the long run by creating a backlash among Latino voters,” she said, noting a shift of 11 percentage points in Latino support for Democrats compared to the midterm elections...”

Yet, no Republican has "scapegoated" anyone. Members of the GOP that are against illegal immigration are merely upset that our laws are blatantly being broken and our social support systems stretched to the breaking point by the very people that La Raza wants to continue to sponsor in contravention to our culture and our laws.

Janet Murguía also wrote that she wanted to send a “warning to those elected officials who believe that immigrant bashing is a strategy without consequence,” and added, “Not only has that strategy been rebuffed by the broader American electorate, but Latinos are taking notice of politicians willing to malign their community just to get elected.”

Yet, once again, no politician has "maligned" any immigrant. Her radical rhetoric is intended to stir hatred and fear not to further reasoned debate.

Worse, La Raza has a policy against the enforcement of Federal immigration laws that says in part, "State and local law enforcement agencies should not enforce federal immigration laws" because it would be "detrimental to the Latino community."

So, which group is more "militant", Kansas City Star? A group like the Minutemen who want to observe and enforce the law of the land, or one that wants to threaten political parties, threaten city mayors, and advocate to break Federal laws?

So, why is Frances Semler treated like the bad guy and La Raza courted like they are all that is good in the world?

Missourians should ask this question of the Kansas City Star and their own politicians before those politicians bow to the will of La Raza.

Read more at Newsbusters.org.

[Mobile Vulgus]

Hate America Group= goood

Love America group= Baaaad

Gotcha, Kansas City Star!

[Ben Ficklin]

Reply number 2 makes it difficult to contradict the KC Star’s assertion that the Minute Men are a militant group.

[rockrr]

The beauty of the Internet, news sites such as Newsbusters, and especially FreeRepublic, is that they allow the dissemination of news that otherwise would be localized, or even stifled altogether.

The downside is that although I am now alerted to yet another assault on our American way of life by foreign invaders, because of geographical disparity I am unable to do much except encourage the local residents to stand and fight. This ends up looking like Keyboard Kommando-ism, and I don't mean it as such.

I fervently hope that the citizens of Kansas City speak out in defense of Mrs. Semler, and tell the illegals that they can come have their convention just as soon as they get legal!

[CRBDeuce]

Today Frances Selmer, KC Park Board;
Tomorrow John Bolton, US Attorney General

things is lookn’ up.

[CRBDeuce]

Ben,

are you accusing wasted years of being a Minuteman?

[Nickname]

Gee, I wonder what the KC Star’s reaction would be if another national convention threatened to pull out because a member of the KC park board were a member of La Raza.

I think we know the answer to that!

[gusopol3]

Free Republic does not advocate violence, rebellion, secession, or an overthrow of the government.

what if some nut does exactly what you rhetorically advocate? I'm not interested in having this site investigated for that.

[Turbo Pig]

People are acting somewhat taken aback by the KC Star’s stance on the issue. Those of us in the KC area are not surprised at all. In fact, what would have been a surprise is if the Star had NOT taken The Race’s position.

We don’t call it the KC Red Star for nothing. You would be hard pressed to find a bigger group of liberally biased news people in a small city paper, anywhere.

Foot note, I suggest all Conservatives, and people that love America, start calling “La Raza” by it’s English translation; The Race. Hiding it’s racist agenda behind a hip sounding Mexican name is part of this anti-American group’s play book.

[CheyennePress]

La Raza: The Klan with a Tan.

Or so it’s said. ;)

[lonewacko_dot_com]

It’s kind of hard for others to take this seriously when, like so many others, it assumes that all things named “La Raza” are the same: there are plenty of groups with that in their name.

Here’s more on the NCLR:

http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=153

Note that they weren’t founded by Jose Angel Gutierrez as he says; here’s more on him (”La Raza Unida” party is probably the confusion the author has):

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_%C3%81ngel_Guti%C3%A9rrez
libraries.uta.edu/tejanovoices/gutierrez.asp

Making stupid mistakes like this actually helps NCLR.

[VR-21]

The American hating left, has been very patient and incremental in acquiring the stranglehold it presently has on many of our political and cultural institutions (the press, academia etc.). If that marxist cow gets inaugruated our military and law enforcement will be next. I have nightmare visions of our Joint Chiefs looking like the Village People, and great fear of police enforcing leftist doctrine rather than protecting public safety.

[Ben Ficklin]

You will have to ask him.

He says that now is the time for the minutemen to get their guns out and start shooting at the mexican trucks.

[steve86]

Nah, maybe pellet guns on tires while parked at a truck stop.

[Altura Ct.]

Missourians should ask this question of the Kansas City Star and their own politicians before those politicians bow to the will of La Raza.

Bow to the will of the race...

[o_zarkman44]

The Red Star is looking to boost circulation from the new influx of hspanics coming with the NAFTA Highway, Mexican Port authority in Kansas City.
Soon they will be printing exclusively in Spanish since most American citizens quit reading their anti American drivel.

[gusopol3]

any time I’ve ever seen a Minuteman on TV, he has said they are non-violent. So you can be dispositive in stating that wastedyears is not advocating a Minuteman position . Otherwise you are “trucking” in some sort of guilt by association yourself.

[Lurking in Kansas]

We don’t call it the KC Red Star for nothing. You would be hard pressed to find a bigger group of liberally biased news people in a small city paper, anywhere.

Ditto.

This is exactly why I stopped my subscription years ago. Every now and then I get a call from them trying to get me to sign back up and they get an ear-full from me. LOL.

[gura]

How most Kansas City residents feel about this:

http://blogs.kansascity.com/crime_scene/2007/08/la-raza-and-may.html"

"Good. Screw 'em.

La Raza = The Race

What would happen if white people started calling themselves The Race?"

[MarkL]

This is exactly why I stopped my subscription years ago. Every now and then I get a call from them trying to get me to sign back up and they get an ear-full from me. LOL.

The last time I got a call from the Red Star Subcription service, I told them that if I wanted to get leftist propaganda, I can get it directly from Castro's Cuba at a cheaper rate.

Mark