Why the Yorktown Rally for Social Justice?

Why has the Center for Educational Rights, a nonprofit organization, decided to sponsor the Yorktown Rally for Social Justice? Why should you attend?

The notion for a rally started last fall when it became public the neo-Nazis were planning a hate rally in Valley Forge, a short hop from where my brother lives. Over breakfast, my brother's son wanted to know what they could do to counter the rally.

Say the folks over at Tolerance.org:

Do NOT attend a hate rally. Find another outlet for anger and frustration and people's desire to do something. Hold a unity rally or parade. Find a news hook, like a "hate-free zone."

Hate has a First Amendment right. Courts have routinely upheld the constitutional right of the Ku Klux Klan and other hate groups to hold rallies and say what they want. In 1998, for example, the American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan held 39 weekend rallies in 14 states. Communities can restrict group movements to avoid conflicts with other citizens, but hate rallies will continue. Your efforts should focus on channeling people away from rallies.

And that's what this effort is about: creating a family-friendly alternative to the hate of the Nazis and the KKK.

As Phil noted about the Valley Forge Rally for Social Justice,

Rally for Social Justice was designed as a peaceful, educational, non-confrontational, family-friendly event that celebrated diversity and promoted social tolerance within the local community, and throughout the nation as well. This evolved as a grass-roots community-based response in opposition to the announcement by the NSM (a neo-nazi organization) that they had selected Valley Forge National Historical Park as the location of their September 25th hate rally because they viewed "Valley Forge as the birthplace of White Patriotism."

And we plan the same for our efforts at Yorktown in late June. As Tolerance.org reminds us,

Every act of hatred should be met with an act of love and unity. Many communities facing a Klan rally have held alternative events at the same hour, some distance away. They have included a community picnic, a parade or unity fair with food, music, exhibits and entertainment.

These events emphasize strength in diversity and the positive aspects of the community. They also give people a safe outlet for the frustration and anger they want to vent. As a woman at a Spokane human rights rally and reggae dance put it, "Being passive is something I don't want to do. I need to make some kind of commitment to human rights."

The Rally for Social Justice is a positive alternative to the hate of the Brownshirts. Ours is a demonstration of peace, social justice, diversity, and tolerance. We hope you'll join us. Mark your calendar now.

Yorktown it is!

Well, the news it out: the Neo-Nazis are coming to Yorktown. The Virginian Pilot brings us the latest:

Nazi group seeks to hold rally at park in Yorktown
By JOHN HOPKINS, The Virginian-Pilot

The National Socialist Movement , known as America’s Nazi Party, has asked to use the Yorktown Battlefield for a rally in June during the height of the tourist season.

The group, which espouses hatred of blacks and Jews, is planning a rally for 200 to 300 supporters from across the country, according to its application. The National Park Service is considering the request, said Mike Litterst, spokesman for the Yorktown Battlefield site.

“It’s a national park, belonging to all Americans,’’ Litterst said. “So the parks are available for all demonstrations. And again, it comes under everyone’s First Amendment rights.’’

Local tourism officials said Thursday that they didn’t know about the group’s planned rally.

The Yorktown Battlefield issues 100 permits a year for use of the park. The National Socialist Movement may – like any other group – have a constitutional right to rally at the park, Litterst said.

Litterst said the group’s request is the first he has seen that invokes the First Amendment rights to free speech and peaceable assembly when asking to conduct an event in the park.

The National Socialist Movement seeks to bring about “strong, free nation states for all white people,’’ according to its membership application.

Tamar Kipper, assistant director for the Washington, D.C., regional office of the Anti-Defamation League, said the Minnesota-based movement, founded in 1974, seeks to deny citizenship to Jews, non-whites and homosexuals.

“Their views are held by a small minority of the population,’’ said Kipper, noting that the group seeks to attract new members with such rallies. “They wear the Nazi uniforms and are very open about it.”

Phone calls to the group’s Minnesota office were not answered on Thursday. According to the movement’s Web site, the group has various branches, including a women’s group, farmers association, stormtroops, workers’ union and skinheads. It also has a self-titled “viking youth’’ group for children ages 13 to 18.

Its plan in Virginia this summer is to conduct a rally from 2 to 4 p.m. on June 25 at Surrender Field. The 4,000-acre park is scheduled to be open that day to the public.

Surrender Field is where, on Oct. 19, 1781 , British Gen. Lord Cornwallis’ troops laid down their arms, surrendering to George Washington and ending the Revolutionary War.

Litterst said the National Park Service has already started planning to deal with security issues for the rally this summer. Federal officers would be present, he said.

“Certainly, it’s going to bring out high emotions from both sides, and we will be prepared to deal with that,’’ Litterst said.

The Williamsburg Area Convention and Visitors Bureau was unaware of the planned rally, said Priscilla Caldwell, a spokeswoman for the bureau, which represents Virginia’s Historic Triangle of Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown.

The AP posted a story also.

Neo-Nazi Group Plans Historic Site Rally
By SUE LINDSEY Associated Press Writer

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) -- Citing the First Amendment right to free speech and peaceable assembly, the National Park Service granted a neo-Nazi group's request to hold a rally at a national monument to democracy.

The National Socialist Movement plans to hold a rally June 25 at the Yorktown Battlefield, Park Service spokesman Mike Litterst said Friday.

"Because this is a First Amendment issue, it cannot be turned down," Litterst said.

However, the group probably will not have the rally on its chosen site _ Surrender Field, which is where the British army surrendered to Gen. George Washington to end the Revolutionary War.

Litterst said no group has ever been permitted to use that field, which is a popular tourist attraction.

The National Socialist Movement, which claims to be the nation's largest Nazi party, did not respond to requests for interviews Friday, but the Minneapolis-based group said on its application that it chose the Yorktown Battlefield because of a desire to honor Washington. They say Washington held anti-Semitic views _ a position disputed by many scholars.

The group's application said up to 300 people will demonstrate at the southeastern Virginia park, but only about 100 showed up when it held a similar rally last September at Valley Forge National Historical Park. They were heckled by twice as many counter-demonstrators.

Litterst said the Park Service would have a substantial police presence at the Yorktown rally.

Guess it's time to step up to the plate and create a Rally for Social Justice on the grass in Yorktown. Any takers?

Is Williamsburg next?

Rumor has it that the Nazis and the Klan have decided to gather in Williamsburg in late June or early July.

I've contacted the National Park Service, host to last summer's September gathering in Valley Forge, to see if I can get any information from them:

Please forward this electronic mail to the FOIA Officer for the Colonial National Historical Park.

Under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 5 USC 522, I request all records and information -- including electronic documents, letters, memos, applications, or other forms of records -- concerning a request by any groups, particularly groups which might be classified as "hate groups" such as the National Socialist Movement or the Ku Klux Klan, who have applied for an application to gather in any National Park Service property in the Colonial National Historic Park, or any other nearby National Park Service facility, in late June 2005 or early July 2005.

I believe the disclosure of this information is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the federal government and is not in my commercial interest. As such, a request a waiver of fees associated with this request. If a waiver is not granted, I ask to be notified of any fees assessed for this request.

My preferred method of communications is by electronic mail. You may also contact me by regular mail.

I appreciate your prompt attention to this matter.

If they are coming, once again, we'll not be content to sit idly by. As my brother said back in early September, we ought to "offer a forum for a peaceful and educational rally as an alternative to the hate rally."

Your thoughts?