Regardless of where you stand on the issue, Kellargate and the recent anti-illegal immigration rally has brought some unfortunate attention to our valley.  The “proud racist” comment needs explanation and a key nuance of the rally – that the speakers and attendees were mostly from outside SCV – is lost.  Many assume that those who attended the protest shop with us, send their kids to our schools, go to the same libraries.  Kellar and the rest are all SCV.

In fact, this was a protest:

• facilitated by a group operating out of Sacramento
• pushed by an individual in Fillmore via a loose confederation of anti-illegal immigration sites
• advertised on Facebook by a gentleman from Simi Valley
• emceed and organized by an individual from the Antelope Valley who essentially advocated the assasination of politicians who disagree with their way of thinking
• keynoted by activists from places like Hesperia, west SFV, Ventura, Orange County, San Diego
• legitimized with a sort-of ThinkSCV stamp by our illustrious City Council Member (Thanks, Bob)

So who attended?

A cursory review of the aforementioned websites and message boards tells the tale of carpools arranged from points all over southern California, which may explain some of this:

Folks, meet the face of SCV — bused in from the nether regions.  Do some in our valley share these views?  Yes.  As evidenced by the honking at the rally and comments on these boards, there’s drive-by support for their cause.  Who isn’t opposed to illegal immigration?  Gitlin and his circle aside, we thankfully don’t have the juice to put together this sort of rally on our own steam.

Thou Doth Protest Too Much

Last week’s City Council meeting was spilling over with individuals who sought to vindicate Kellar (and by extension, their cause) by highlighting the many races that are involved with this movement.

One of the organizers runs a site “NoMoreInvasion.com“, which describes multiple efforts to congregate on a church that is *gasp* harboring an illegal alien (emphasis added):

We already have gone to Simi Valley many times to speak our mind to the lawbreaking church there.  The “United Church of Christ” harbors an illegal alien, Lillianna Sanctuarian (she wont give her real name like the slimeball she is), even though she is under a federal deportation order.
On December 23, 2007 Americans holding signs and flags in protest of this church were attacked.  People from a “clown house” (meaning that likely WAY too many people live in there, indicating potential illegal aliens) across the street attacked these fine patriots…”

Note: the “slimeball” parenthetical was subsequently removed from the site but still shows on Google’s search results.

Sidebar: when the Obama administration stupidly asked Americans to report “fishy” healthcare reform emails, this crowd furiously compared the action to “telling on your neighbor.” Now they’re standing outside a church harassing this poor woman.

So a multi-family residence with brown folk is a “clown house.”

Another one of the speakers, Raymond Herrera, a Hesperia resident, was quoted recently saying: “I am sick and tired of diversity and multiculturalists.”

One of the websites links to this horrible rally held at a Home Depot in Riverside, California last year involving a group of Nazi protesters as a cautionary tale.  The thread advises that illegal immigration protesters make sure the multi-racial message is loud and clear.

It’s a wink-wink, nudge-nudge “this isn’t about race” shouted by keynoters that despise diversity and refer to Latino homes as “clown houses.”

Toeing a Hard Line

There is a “no compromise” theme in this movement that is unified in talking points: “comprehensive reform” is a non-starter, send them all home, Goddamn the establishment, “we’re taking this into our own hands”-vigilantism that places these folks squarely in the fringe.

This is why they had to scrape the entire southland to piece a small rally together on one of our street corners.

Roger Gitlin’s position on illegal immigration, as articulated in The Signal article covering the rally, seems tame compared with the various individuals involved with the protest:

“Nobody is calling for mass deportation,” he said. “It would put the economy in a tailspin.”

Gitlin proposed securing America’s borders, and initiating an immigration census to determine people’s status and whether or not they have a criminal record.

“Let’s get rid of criminals and make sure they don’t come back,” he said.

For the law-abiding illegal immigrants who remain, he said, steps need to be put in place for them to pursue citizenship.

Gitlin used the example of a 30-something house painter he knows, who he said is a tax-paying illegal immigrant.

“(He’s) not the problem,” he said.

I thought Gitlin’s comments on this article were surprisingly moderate and probably represent the majority in SCV, if not our country.

Unfortunately, this movement is colored with elements that are hateful, discriminatory, spiteful, fear-mongering, irrational.  There’s no room for a debate, which explains the heat Gitlin received for the Signal article.

Think, SCV, Think

The same roadshow ended up at our City Council meeting, drawing out the crazies from both sides of this debate.  Mr. Frank ”bullet through the windshield” Jorge from the AV is already planning another rally in SCV.  Great.

I honestly don’t mind a peaceful protest, it’s healthy for any democracy.  But this fringe confederation of groups is preying on the apathy of our bedroom community as a platform for their fear-mongering.   Think about that before you honk your horn.