Pacifica Forum addresses MLK lecture, promises another
On Friday, the Pacifica Forum met to continue it’s discussion, “Pacifica Forum: Attacks on and in.” The meeting addressed media coverage of the forum, as well its recent controversial lecture on Martin Luther King, Jr. Unfortunately, the forum never got around to answering my question as to why it had allowed itself to be overrun by complete assholes, but there was plenty of other fodder for discussion.
After an introduction by PF founder Orval Etter, Michael Williams, a member of the Community Alliance of Lane County’s Anti-Hate Task Force, addressed the forum with the following written statement:
One reason for the persistent criticism of the Pacifica Forum is that the forum has provided an approving and affirming environment for the expression of bigotry and hatred aimed first at Jews and now at African-Americans.
[…]
These diseased expressions of bigotry and hatred find a safe harbor in Pacifica Forum. Instead of correction and healing, this sickness is given encouragement and support; hatred is legitimized. This is what the community sees when it looks this way, this is what journalists hear when they accept the invitation to come and listen. This is why Pacifica Forum has developed such an unsavory reputation.
I invite you to consider whether racism and anti-Semitism are qualities you want to encourage, are attributes you want associated with your forum and your name. Because this is not the doing of a plotting media – you are doing this to yourselves by your silence, by your approval, by your applause.
Members objected to William’s statement on the grounds that the forum does not endorse any of its speakers nor are they representative of the group as a whole. Several also claimed that Williams’ portrayal of “approval” and “applause” by the group was inaccurate. Etter took a moment to clarify the forum’s organization:
“The forum, being structured as anarchistically as it is, does not endorse what anybody in the forum says,” said Etter. “We do not have a structure that enables the forum to endorse what some particular person says. Now, this may be a hard concept to understand, but it is one of the fundamental aspects of the forum. ”
This is a valid argument, and it’s true that some members of the forum do criticize the kooky speakers. However, one could also argue that the forum endorses such speakers by giving them a platform in the first place. This was the crux of the criticism against Columbia University bringing Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak. Also, it appears some PF members only disagree with each other on semantics; for example, one member, in an attempt to portray the ideological diversity of the group, said she did not approve of PF regular Valdas Anelauskas’ recent letter to the Daily Emerald, suggesting it would have been better if he had used the phrase “organized Jewry” instead of “Jews.” (I agree, of course, but only on the grounds that “organized Jewry” has that great, 19th century, anti-Semitic pizazz).
Jimmy Marr was then given time to discuss his Martin Luther King lecture. It turns out that the speech was actually researched and written by Anelauskas. Marr said Anelauskas asked him to read it because Anelauskas is not a native English speaker. (All the awful things you need to know about Anelauskas are conveniently written by him on his two, retro-90’s websites. Also, he’s buddy-buddy with Ward Churchill, according to an abhorrent opinion piece published in the Eugene Weekly).
Marr explained that he had to heavily edit the speech for time constraints, including much of the supposed supporting evidence. He went on to discuss what he said was the most interesting facet of the MLK speech – the bankrolling of the civil rights movement by the KGB:
What I really find interesting is the underlying assumption that must be there in the KGB. They obviously think that diversity in the racial constitution of this country weakens the social fabric and will eventually make this country more vulnerable. That’s amazing! I mean, I don’t really like the KGB or anything I know about them, but I don’t really think they’re that stupid. It’s a very contradictory idea to the way we think in America; we think that diversity is our strength. I’m willing to listen to those arguments, but I’m also fascinated to become aware that some other groups of people who seem to be intelligent are willing to use their financial resources to create diversity in a country specifically with the purpose of weakening it.
I want to know what that line of reasoning is, and I want to think about those things. I don’t want to be called a bigot for doing it. I don’t really care, but I don’t think that I’m a bigot. I want to know: Are we easier to rule if we are divided racially against ourselves? Why has organized Jewry spent so much time and money altering the genetic composition of the demography of the United States of America?
Marr later went on to wonder if it was just “organized Jewry” pushing for diversity or if it was “this New World Order.” He pondered aloud why “they” were so interested in creating a “mongrelized nation of interchangeable parts.”
“Are we being turned into a nation of zombies that are going to be exploited by strong, centralized, even world-wide government?” Marr asked.
My inner-monologue kept shouting “Drink!” at me during this entire speech. Marr also said, in what may be the understatement of the year, “I do sometimes say things that are inflammatory.”
At the end of the meeting, Etter announced that the Pacifica Forum would hold another discussion about Martin Luther King, Jr. on or around the anniversary of his assassination. He said he could not accept the “glib accusation that there was nothing good in him” and demanded that future forum material, specifically dealing with MLK, be better documented and sourced.
“Consider that Martin Luther King can not only be assassinated by a high-power rifle but also by careless thought,” Etter said.
