2008 Woodie Awards
Racists are (apparently) people who protect their homes
Christopher Skeet
Issue date: 11/6/06 Section: Opinions
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We've all heard of the Minuteman Project, the citizen vigilance operation designated with patrolling our borders and preventing illegal immigration. Much controversy has surrounded the group, along with accusations of racism, fascism, and the usual wagon train of paint-by-numbers insults designed to silence through intimidation rather than provoke reasoned debate. So who are the Minutemen, and why do they volunteer?
Ben Leiendeker volunteers because his pasture is constantly being destroyed by illegal immigrants crossing through his property. Rogelio Cabrera volunteers because he's tired of illegal immigrants pestering him in town simply because he's Latino. Roy Wood volunteers because he's angry at the unfairness of the system. His Brazilian girlfriend had to fight her way through mounds of government red tape at a U.S. Consulate to obtain a tourist visa. It would have been much quicker, Wood argues, for her to hop a fence.
To be sure, the Minuteman Project undoubtedly attracts racists. The Minutemen compile background checks to deny membership to those who try to use the organization to pursue their personal vendettas. Fortunately, white power groups openly boast attempts to penetrate the Minuteman organization. They're dumb enough to announce their intentions, and are therefore easily weeded out.
But if you're convinced that all Minutemen are nothing more than squeal-like-a-pig rednecks who have traded their moonshine for binoculars, consider the following. Minutemen membership is 75 percent white, 25 percent non-white, from which a total 55 percent of whom are women. The Minuteman Project supports legal immigration, regardless of race, ethnicity or skin color. Minorities sit on its board of directors. Carl "Two Feathers" Whitaker is a board member of the East Tennessee Native American Indian Council and is also Director of the Tennessee Volunteer Minutemen. Ted Hayes, one of Los Angeles' most famous activists for the homeless, has allied his organization with the Minutemen, calling illegal immigration the "biggest threat to blacks in America since slavery."
Ben Leiendeker volunteers because his pasture is constantly being destroyed by illegal immigrants crossing through his property. Rogelio Cabrera volunteers because he's tired of illegal immigrants pestering him in town simply because he's Latino. Roy Wood volunteers because he's angry at the unfairness of the system. His Brazilian girlfriend had to fight her way through mounds of government red tape at a U.S. Consulate to obtain a tourist visa. It would have been much quicker, Wood argues, for her to hop a fence.
To be sure, the Minuteman Project undoubtedly attracts racists. The Minutemen compile background checks to deny membership to those who try to use the organization to pursue their personal vendettas. Fortunately, white power groups openly boast attempts to penetrate the Minuteman organization. They're dumb enough to announce their intentions, and are therefore easily weeded out.
But if you're convinced that all Minutemen are nothing more than squeal-like-a-pig rednecks who have traded their moonshine for binoculars, consider the following. Minutemen membership is 75 percent white, 25 percent non-white, from which a total 55 percent of whom are women. The Minuteman Project supports legal immigration, regardless of race, ethnicity or skin color. Minorities sit on its board of directors. Carl "Two Feathers" Whitaker is a board member of the East Tennessee Native American Indian Council and is also Director of the Tennessee Volunteer Minutemen. Ted Hayes, one of Los Angeles' most famous activists for the homeless, has allied his organization with the Minutemen, calling illegal immigration the "biggest threat to blacks in America since slavery."
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