THE NEWS
Winter 2005
Just a quick note to welcome you all back into “the loop”. While the Quad City Anti-Hate Coalition (QCAHC) has been working hard all year, we have communicated primarily with the board members, rather than addressing the larger membership group. To bring you up to date, we would like to include you in our quarterly newsletter, THE NEWS, highlighting some of the efforts and actions of the coalition. If your email address has changed, or if do not wish to receive THE NEWS, please feel free to let us know. If you would like to add a friend to our email membership list please forward their names and email addresses to the contact below. Enjoy!
Lisa Zaynab Killinger, DC; QCAHC Secretary Lisa.Killinger@Palmer.edu
“The Quad City Anti-Hate Coalition works to foster a community that affirms the values of justice and compassion, and rejects hate.”
Board composition:
Karen Metcalf Co-Chair
J. Henry Karp Co-Chair
Lisa Z. Killinger Secretary
Marie Darby Treasurer
Parker Lewis Board Member
Joyce Wiley Board Member
Sameena Ahmed Board Member
Ron Quay Board Member
Bill Zessar Board Member
Jacque McCoy Board Member
Committees:
Education Committee
Community Action Committee
Public Outreach/Commun. Awareness
Would you like to serve on a committee? We would welcome your participation. Email Karen Metcalf: karencadfael@aol.com
If you have materials you would like to have considered for the next issue of THE NEWS, please forward them to the address below.
Newsletter Contact: Lisa.Killinger@Palmer.edu
-The QCAHC has been assessing and enhancing its committee structure and board. -We have formally incorporated under Iowa law, with the help of Bill Zessar.
-We regularly respond to newspaper articles, broadcasts, or community actions that have demonstrated intolerance or disrespect to various groups.
-We spoke out at the Bettendorf City Council meetings, encouraging the inclusion of sexual orientation in the language used by their Civil Rights Commission.
-We are working with progressive groups in our community to ask the Pleasant Valley school district to reverse its decision to ban the book “The Misfits” in its classrooms (a valuable resource on issues of tolerance and bullying).
-We have many educational activities underway, and offer support and resources to QC area victims of hate crimes.
Here is an example of our response to hate radio: Seen recently in the QC Times: “Last month the Quad Cities Anti Hate Coalition reviewed a transcript from Don Imus’ radio show broadcast by MSNBC. During his program, his guest referred to Palestinians as “filthy animals” and made several derogatory and inflammatory comments about Muslims and people from the Middle East.
Several hundred Muslim families, (mostly physicians and professionals) and many Palestinians (both Christian and Muslim), live and work peacefully here in the Quad Cities among their neighbors of all faiths. The comments made in Don Imus’ broadcast should be offensive to us all. Sadly, in today’s political climate, many Muslims and Middle Easterners (not one in the same) dare not speak out for fear of attacks on their homes and families, or worse yet, fear of being “detained” (incarcerated) with no particular charges against them. It is sad that anyone in America could be left so vulnerable to verbal abuse and violations of civil rights, and yet feel it is unsafe to respond.
As members of the Quad Cities Anti Hate Coalition, we found Don Imus’ broadcast to be intolerant, bigoted, and ignorant. Our organization, dedicated to fostering a community environment of tolerance, encourages everyone to be vigilant for bigotry and hatred in our community and nationally, and to speak out against it whenever it occurs. We will not support programming that is so blatantly bigoted against any group, and hope that any American respectful of the diversity of their nation’s community will do the same.
Reverend Martin Niemoller (who spent 7 years in a Nazi concentration camp) said it best:
In Germany, the Nazis first came for the Communists, And I didn't speak up because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak up, because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I didn't speak up, because I wasn't a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics, and I was a Protestant, so I didn't speak up.
Then they came for ME…
By that time there was no one to speak up for anyone.
To make sure this doesn't happen again, the injustice To anyone, anywhere, must be the concern of everyone, everywhere.
Respectfully submitted,
The Quad Cities Anti Hate Coalition
New meeting format: At our monthly board meetings, committees will meet and work, followed by a brief business meeting. Give us feedback on “THE NEWS”, and keep in touch with the Anti Hate Coalition.