| Responsibility
of Freedom |
| Two weeks ago, driveways in selected areas of Reston and
Herndon were peppered with literature from a group called
the National Alliance advocating white-race supremacy. The
fliers were filled with biased, racist and hateful messages
and unsubstantiated statistics. |
| Many people who picked up and read the rolled-up literature
were shocked by it. I also received one of the multi-page
fliers at my home. I have seen literature like this before,
but it is still shocking to find it in your own driveway.
|
| I read part of the first page, which was enough for me to
recognize the propaganda as racist, defamatory and filled
with white supremacy buzz words. The information contained
within the flier has been around and distributed for a long
time in one form or another. |
| It is sent to unsuspecting recipients for its shock value.
They were successful in doing that. |
| We received two e-mail messages at The Observer this weekend
from what appeared to be people at least sympathetic to the
National Alliance. They asked why we had not printed what
the literature reported so that people could make up their
own minds. |
| One e-mail, with the "subject line" reading "Where's the
Beef?" said, in part: "I was troubled that the material was
dismissed as containing uncited statistics. How can I, as
an objective reader, form a meaningful judgment of the material?
I am left to wonder why this information was unreported." |
| The reason the exact racist comments were not reported in
The Observer is that we did not wish to give any more credence
to the material than was necessary. It is kin to editing out
a vulgar or racist comment in a letter to the editor. We are
not in the habit of reporting untruths. |
| Another e-mail read: "What always amuses me about such things
is the way some residents are reported to have reacted. Horror,'
disgust,' anger,' it was awful.' Geez, give me a break.
You'd think the Martians were invading...do you really think
that this is a rational response to a piece of paper with
words on it? If you don't agree with it, you can always just
throw it away. Why work yourself into a dither over such things." |
| Of course, he is correct in saying that if you do not want
to read the material, throw it away. However, police, both
in Fairfax County and in Herndon, strongly recommend that
you report the material to them. We must be vigilant in the
fight against racism. |
| It is important to remember that with freedom of speech
comes responsibility. That responsibility includes understanding
that there is great power in the written word, and that when
that responsibility is misused it tarnishes the Constitution
that guarantees that right, and the right of people to enjoy
their privacy. |
| |
| A Republican by |
| Any Other Name |
| In another controversy, Loudoun County Supervisor Eugene
Delgaudio, in an e-mail sent over the Labor Day weekend, wrote,
"I object to some of the tactics used by (Herndon Mayor) Tom
Rust to turn out Democrats and to use his governmental influence
to silence Loudoun County Republican activists Dimitri Kesari
and John Grigsby who held signs that said Republicans Only
Please' at a Herndon polling place (the Community Center)." |
| Mr. Delgaudio threatens voters by saying that the "Whitener
race is overäfor now." He is referring to Steven D. Whitener,
who lost to Herndon Mayor Thomas D. Rust in the recent Republican
primary. Republicans say they will file a lawsuit over the
sign incident, but not until Sept. 7 at the earliest. |
| Mr. Delgaudio accuses Mayor Rust of "silencing life-long
Republicans holding signs that say Republicans Only Please'
at a public polling place for a Republican primary. This matter
is for the courts to correct. I hope they do. I certainly
cannot take Mr. Rust's side in this amazing injustice." |
| What Mr. Delgaudio and Mr. Whitener continue to fail to
understand is that in Virginia there are no party primary
elections, only general elections, primary elections and special
elections. Any "qualified" voter can vote in any of those
elections. |
| To be qualified, a voter must live in the proper district,
be of age and be registered. I did a word search on the entire
Virginia Code, and found no reference to "Republican" or "Democrat."
In other words, the Commonwealth does not recognize the distinction
between parties. |
| No where does the Code say Republican primary or Democratic
primary. |
| It is every voter's responsibility to vote whenever it is
legal to do so. In Virginia, that means in every general,
special or primary election, no matter what party, if any,
they belong to. |
| Mr. Grigsby's sign, which said "Republicans Only Please,"
was confusing to voters who were not Republican. It was also
not in the spirit of the Virginia Code, which guarantees every
qualified voter the right to vote. |
| The controversy over the sign at the Herndon Community Center
was not meant to quash free speech, but only to set the record
straight, as guaranteed by Virginia law. If Loudoun County
Republicans don't like the open primary system, the place
to change it is in Richmond, not at the polling place. |
| And that's Our Town this week. |
