Article View: misc.headlines
Article #412THE HOAXER PROJECT REPORT (Racist and Anti-Semitic Hoaxes and more!)
From: Ralph Winston
Date: Sun, 12 Apr 1992 02:54
Date: Sun, 12 Apr 1992 02:54
2842 lines
156970 bytes
156970 bytes
*** The following is about 2,800 lines long, and contains about 152
*** kilobytes of data. I recommend saving it for later reading,
*** printing, and/or sharing with others. I'm sure you will find it
*** to be most interesting reading!
_THE HOAXER PROJECT REPORT_
Racist and Anti-Semitic Graffiti, Harassment and Violence:
An Essay on Hoaxes and Fabricated Incidents
An Analysis by Laird Wilcox, December 1990
Laird Wilcox Editorial Research Service
P.O. Box 2047
Olathe, KS 66061
Phone/Fax: 1-913-829-0609
Foreword
Like many young Americans who came of age in the 1960's I was
active in the civil rights movement. I served as vice-chair of a
chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality, and I was a member and
active participant in the activities of the Civil Rights Council at the
University of Kansas in 1964 and 1965. I also served on the board of
the Lawrence, KS, chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and
I've continued to be a member of that organization, with increasing
reservations, to this day.
My commitment to civil rights was based upon the assumption that
all people should be free to become whatever they're capable of
becoming; that all citizens of the United States were equal before the
law; and that legal distinctions based on race were simply unfair. I
remain committed to those principles.
However, beginning as far back as 1968 it became obvious to me
that many people who had attached themselves to the civil rights
movement had another agenda altogether, and it had nothing to do with
freedom, equality before the law, or fairness. It was an ideological
agenda that embraced, among other things, the very essence of racism
itself. It was committed to a massive increase in the power of the
state and a corresponding decline in individual freedom, civil
liberties and political and economic rights for all races.
This was no conspiracy. It was simply unscrupulous individuals
latching on to a noble and idealistic social movement and turning it to
serve their own interests. Nothing, I have learned, is quite as
corruptible as idealistic sentiment. One can do things in the name of
helping "others" that would be unthinkable otherwise, and noble causes
quickly compromise themselves by letting the end justify the means.
"Reverse racism" was quick in forming, and in the sense of
releasing suppressed anger and resentment, it was understandable to a
certain extent. It became institutionalized and legitimized in the
form of "affirmative action" in 1968, however, and today we're on the
verge of a complete role reversal, where the victims and the
victimizers once again change places and victimization itself continues
unabated.
Literally millions of people, including many government employees
on every level, have a stake in the continuation, and not the
alleviation, of "discrimination" and "bigotry." On the campus, careers
are developed around "identifying" and managing problems of "prejudice"
towards every identifiable group except white males. An entire body of
law has developed around issues of gender and race, as well as other
designated victims and minorities. Advocacy organizations,
journalistic careers, and political reputations depend upon continuing
religious, racial and gender problems.
As specific problems move toward amelioration they are simply
redefined, and the definitions are broadened to take in more and more
personal and private behaviors. What constitutes "discrimination" now
embodies behaviors which, objectively, are without any discriminatory
intent, and a vast and pervasive double standard has become
institutionalized. Our deepest and most personal attitudes, opinions
and beliefs are becoming subject to scrutiny and censure by a predatory
and unscrupulous "though police."
One example of this is the incredible over-reaction to unfounded
claims of racist and anti-Semitic harassment and violence. Simple
human failings, such as unkind graffiti or bothersome telephone calls,
are treated with disproportionate gravity, and ethnic and religious
special interest groups are demanding, and receiving, preferential
treatment under the law --- which is itself a form of prejudice and
bigotry. This report deals with that phenomenon, and I hope you will
give serious thought to what you will learn, and to my request for
assistance in collecting information.
Laird Wilcox
December 1990
THE HOAXER PROJECT REPORT
RACIST AND ANTI-SEMITIC GRAFFITI, HARASSMENT AND VIOLENCE:
AN ESSAY ON HOAXES AND FABRICATED INCIDENTS
Copyright 1990, 1991 by Laird Wilcox
THE "RISING TIDE" OF RACISM, ANTI-SEMITISM
Are you disturbed by the "rising tide" of allegedly racist and
anti-Semitic incidents? Have you wondered how come of these incidents
seem to occur at the time when they're most effective for propaganda,
institutional blackmail, "consciousness raising," or to promote
repressive legislation and censorship? In fact, a significant
percentage of these incidents are hoaxes, and these hoaxes can promote
real "copy-cat" incidents which would not otherwise have occurred.
We use the word "hoax" to generally refer to a misleading or
deceptive event which has the _effect_ of attributing "blame" or
causality to persons other than those who are actually responsible. In
some cases, this may not be the express intention of the perpetrator.
"Fabrication" generally refers to a somewhat elaborate and involved
falsehood. The individuals discussed in this essay are not necessarily
bad people, only people who may have exercised bad judgement or made a
mistake. I think it best serves the interests of all Americans to
avoid excessively harsh judgements in considering this issue.
MOST INCIDENTS ISOLATED, INVOLVE JUVENILES
The great majority of bonafide racist and anti-Semitic incidents
are essentially "ad hoc" phenomena, usually involving juveniles
entirely unaffiliated with any "hate group", and do not represent any
plot, trend or conspiracy. Incidents involving significant physical
injury or property damage are rare, given the large population
involved. We often forget that we live in a country of a quarter
billion (250 million) people of wide ethnic and cultural diversity, and
a certain number of incidents of this type are bound to occur, as they
do in other multi-ethnic societies. In fact, when the United States is
compared with the rest of the world we tend to experience less of this
behavior than many other countries.
The majority of Americans see racial and ethnic hatred and
violence as simply unfair, and reasonably so. It's in the
interest of all Americans that we enjoy equal justice under the
law. The kind of unfairness engendered by organized bigotry,
whether directed at blacks, whites, Jews or any other group
subverts that process and must be opposed. No one should be
subjected to illegal activity, violence or unfair treatment on
account of race, religion or creed. Hoaxes fabricated to
manipulate institutions, acquire victim status, or intimidate
critics and opponents serve only to threaten civil liberties.
The issue of racist and anti-Semitic hoaxes is extremely
controversial. The organized special interest advocacy groups that
claim victimization, often with valid reason, view attention to hoaxes
as a threat to their credibility. This is not entirely unrealistic on
their part. The hoax controversy draws attention to two important
issues: 1) The actual degree of victimization, which may be less than
claimed, and 2) the utility or usefulness of hoaxes to serve their
agenda, even if discovered. Both of these issues will be addressed in
this essay. A consequence of this, however, is that to raise this
issue can bring a torrent of defamatory and degrading abuse down upon
one's head, including charges of racism and anti-Semitism!
ONE ANTI-SEMITIC INCIDENT PER 185,000 CITIZENS PER YEAR
The 1,350 or so anti-Semitic incidents recorded by the ANTI-
DEFAMATION LEAGUE last year amount to approximately _one incident per
185,000 Americans_! No disrespect is intended, and I'm sure these were
distressing to those who experienced them, but these figures do not
support the claim of a serious and significant trend toward anti-
Semitic violence. Most of these incidents are on the order of
graffiti, verbal altercations or telephone harassment by kids and many
remain unsolved. A single hoaxer with a can of spray paint or a pocket
full of quarters can inflate these statistics considerably.
In fact, the ADL itself may have been party to such
misrepresentation on the cover of the March 1985 issue of the _ADL
Bulletin_ where a photograph designated "Desecration of a Jewish home
in Kings Point, NY" was a fake. The swastika depicted does not follow
the contours of the paneled door and appears to stand out and away from
it. It was painted onto a photo or transparency and then
rephotographed. The issue of the _Bulletin_ featured a major article
entitled, "Anti-Semitic Vandalism: 2-Year Trend Reversed." The article
noted that California, with a population of 23,000,000 had experienced
99 incidents in 1984, or one incident per 230,000 citizens.
The ADL actually solicits its own statistics on anti-Semitic
incidents by circulating questionaires to its mailing list (a
population sensitized to the victimization to begin with). This
practice raises serious doubts about statistics compiled by an
interested to promote its own agenda. According to LEONARD LARSEN,
syndicated columnist for Scripps Howard News Service, the ADL's
statistics may be questioned on other grounds as well. LARSEN notes
that among the "anti-Semitic" incidents listed is a case where
individuals in Boston set out for public display "pro-Palestinian/
anti-Israel graffiti" in the subways. LARSON adds that the ADL
considered these and other incidents "anti-Semitic" because they
"recount brutal acts of repression against Palestinians by the Israeli
government." The ADL publication clearly implies that to voice
opposition to Israel's political and military policy and to support a
Palestinian viewpoint is "anti-Semitic." "An obvious intent here is to
use intimidation to silence criticism of Israel's political and
military conduct," he says.
Similar compilations of "racially-motivated" incidents compiled by
other interested parties, such as KLANWATCH, are also flawed, and
perhaps the most glaring flaw in these statistics is the practice of
counting unsolved incidents. Doubtless, numerous hoaxes are included
among them. Other crime statistics help to put these figures in
perspective. For example, 570 individuals -- mostly young minority
males -- have died in violent gang warfare in Los Angeles in 1989. In
addition, there were 3,819 reported assaults with deadly weapons, 93
rapes and 1,851 robberies (_New York Times_, 27 January 1990). The
perpetrators of this carnage, which probably surpasses the death toll
from racist and anti-Semitic "hate crimes" in the 20th century, have
also been mostly young minority males.
Writing about this problem in his nationally syndicated column in
January 1988, conservative columnist PATRICK J. BUCHANAN referred to
Prof. WILLIAM WILBANKS, professor of criminal justice at Florida
International University and author of _The Myth of a Racist Criminal
Justice System_. Here is what the professor found, buried in the
nation's crime statistics:
"There is interracial violence in America. In 1985, 629,000
interracial crimes were reported (where victims survived to
identify the criminal); but nine out of ten were committed by
blacks against whites. Where white criminals, 98 percent of the
time, prey on other whites -- to rape, rob and assault -- black
criminals chose fellow blacks as victims less than half the time.
Black criminals seem to prefer attacking white people. While only
2 percent of the victims chosen by white criminals are black, more
than 50 percent of the victims targeted by black criminals -- to
rape, rob and assault -- are white."
Buchanan's column, entitled _The Big Lie In America_, was in
response to a report issued by the CENTER FOR DEMOCRATIC RENEWAL, a
Georgia-based group that evolved out of the ANTI-KLAN NETWORK, a
network of far-left and Marxist-Leninist groups that came together in
1979 following a shoot-out in Greensboro, NC, where Ku Klux Klansmen
got the best of a group of leftists in a shoot-out and six communists
were killed.
A report on the CENTER FOR DEMOCRATIC RENEWAL, and its past and
present leaders, including LENNY ZESKIND, a former member of the
Marxist-Leninist SOJOURNER TRUTH ORGANIZATION, and LYN WELLS, well-
known as a past leader of the GEORGIA COMMUNIST LEAGUE and the
COMMUNIST PARTY, MARXIST-LENINIST, and its predecessor, the OCTOBER
LEAGUE, appeared in the 10 April 1989 issue of _Counter-Terrorism and
Security Intelligence_ newsletter, and also in the _Security
Intelligence Sourcebook_ (Silver Spring, MD: Interests, Ltd, 1990)
detailing the extremist background of the CDR.
The decision to even classify incidents as "racially-motivated" is
fraught with issues of subjectivity and bias. Although "racially-
motivated" seems to be a neutral term, it is not. In practice, it's a
code phrase for crime by white (and not black) racists. Only rarely
are assaults by blacks upon whites classified as racially motivated,
whereas it's one of the first things considered when assaults by whites
upon blacks occur. The least suspicion of "bias" must be accounted
for. It creates the anomaly of a white youth receiving a stiffer
sentence for mere graffiti on a black business than a black youth might
receive for the robbery of its owner!
"Racially-motivated" is a legal distinction that justifies
preferential status and discriminatory punishments. In some cases, the
law actually provides for civil penalties and damages, which actually
encourages hoaxes and fabrications. More importantly, we are in grave
danger of institutionalizing a _double standard_ where some citizens
are accorded special protections based entirely on their race while
others are penalized for theirs -- a problem the Civil Rights movement
originally sought to redress.
A dramatic example of that double standard was illustrated in the
"dart man" case in New York City. "Dart man" was a black man who went
around Manhattan shooting blowgun darts into women's behinds. Although
_all_ of "dart man's" two dozen plus victims were white (including two
light-skinned hispanics), the _New Daily News_ of 4 July 1990 reported
that "authorities do not think race is a factor." Police are quoted as
saying that they "have no reason to believe the attacks are racially
motivated." However, in New York City's diverse racial mix the odds of
picking two dozen white women at random are on the order of winning
Lotto America! Imagine for a moment what the conclusion would have been
if "dart man" was white and all of his victims would have been black.
Quite another story, isn't it?
Most Americans take a very uncritical and unquestioning attitude
toward this problem. For example, the entirely fabricated rape story
told by TAWANA BRAWLEY, her mother and REV. AL SHARPTON was accepted at
face value by politicians and the media. Finally, an intensive
investigation revealed the hoax that should have been suspected early
on. There are still people who believe that the story "must have
something to it." It became a question of the _identity_ of the victim
and alleged victimizers, and not one of facts or evidence. For many
people, that TAWANA BRAWLEY was black was all they needed to know.
Nothing else carried the significance of the fact of her minority
status.
In terms of cost-benefit analysis, the actual payoff for
victimhood can be very high and the risk of discovery of a hoax is very
small. This issue of "secondary gain" plays an important part in
racist and anti-Semitic hoaxes, and the search for an answer to this
troubling phenomenon is well served by the question, "Who benefits?"
Also, when a hoaxer gets caught, which isn't often, there are "fall
back" positions which can put a positive "spin" on the incident. The
hoaxer's status may be reframed so that "blaming the victim" can be
invoked, whereby the hoax is understandable. Or, he may become
"mentally ill," which also removes any responsibility for the hoax. In
the case of BARRY DOV SCHUSS psychiatric treatment was the major part
of his "punishment" for several felony arsons. The rest was probation
and a suspended sentence. In the case of SABRINA COLLINS, the county
prosecuter said she needed "counseling and treatment, not prosecution"
for her hoax. I did not uncover a case where a white, non-minority
defendant in a "hate crime" prosecution was treated so generously or
relieved of responsibility in such a manner.
TEMPTATION TO FABRICATE HOAXES IS STRONG
Because bonafide organized racist and anti-Semitic incidents are
relatively unusual today, and because they serve numerous valuable
functions for the victims when they occur, the temptation to fabricate
them is strong. The benefits of "victimization" are well established,
and "victims" are often treated as heroes who have been ennobled by
their experience. The social utility of victimization is considerable.
In terms of sheer effectiveness, nothing works quite as well as a
racist or anti-Semitic incident to intimidate an institution, draw
attention to a problem, or silence critics. As we shall see from the
examples in this report, alleged victimization can accomplish more in
minutes than months of agitation.
LAURIE RECHT became a celebrity for her victimhood, and actually
wound up with a scholarship and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
degree before her hoax was discovered. QUENTIN BANKS became a hero on
his college campus and all his friends at home took notice, too. The
news media helped make him a national figure before skillful police
interrogation discovered the web of lies and fabrications he had
created. BARRY SCHUSS wanted to keep awareness of anti-Semitism alive
and, until he was caught, accomplished it through a series of arsons in
Hartford's Jewish community. Many hoaxers have received substantial
assistance from sympathizers and well-wishers, as in the case of
PATRICIA ANDERSON and LEE WILLIAMS, who received offers of clothing,
gifts and money. The most important benefits of victimization are
psychological, however.
The sense of importance and meaning that victimization brings is
often overlooked as a motive in hoaxes of the kind illustrated here,
but I suspect it plays a very significant role. Some people are
important for what they do; others for what is done to them. Both
racism and anti-Semitism are especially well-adapted to this function
in that they focus on issues of identity. Whatever shortcomings or
character flaws one has are eclipsed by the wickedness of one's alleged
persecutors.
In a perceptive article on victimization appearing in _The New
York Times Magazine_ a few years ago, JOSEPH EPSTEIN discussed the
issue of motivation quite perceptively: "...victimhood has not only its
privileges but its pleasures. To begin with, it allows one to save
one's sympathy for that most sympathetic of characters -- oneself. Of
the various kinds and degrees of pity, easily the most vigilant is
self-pity. To stake out one's own territory as a victim, or member of
a victim group, also allows one to cut the moral ground out from under
others who make an appeal on the basis of their victimhood..." He
continues, "The pleasures of victimhood include imbuing one's life with
a sense of drama. The drama of daily life is greatly heightened if one
feels that society is organized against one. To feel oneself excluded
and set apart is no longer obviously or even necessarily a bad thing
..." EPSTEIN also notes, "People who count and call themselves victims
never blame themselves for their condition. They therefore have to
find enemies..." suggesting the role paranoia plays in victimization
fantasies.
So damaging to real anti-Semites and racists are desecrations and
graffiti that one bonafide anti-Semite, JOZEF MLOT-MROZ of Salem, MA,
was arrested for attempting to _paint over_ anti-Semitic graffiti on a
local synagogue. He claimed that the graffiti was intended to create
an false impression of anti-Semitic harassment in the community. MLOT-
MROZ was charged with malicious destruction of property over $250.00
and a civil rights violation, both felonies, according to newspaper
reports.
BONAFIDE INCIDENTS COUNTER-PRODUCTIVE TO REAL RACISTS, ANTI-SEMITES
There's a very important point that needs to be understood
here, and that is that bonafide racist and anti-Semitic harassment
is invariably counter-productive for real racists and anti-Semites.
The quickness and skill with which racist and anti-Semitic
incidents, including hoaxes, are used to galvanize anti-racist
support in a community is amazing. Very few real racists or anti-
Semites would use these tactics any longer. No benefit accrues
from them, and the costs are enormous. Not only does law
enforcement immediately start rounding up white racists for
questioning, but efforts to entrap them in other offenses step up.
"Who benefits?" Not white racist and anti-Semitic groups!
In 1990, the various Ku Klux Klan organizations have a combined
membership between 3,000 and 4,000 down from 45,000 in 1964 and 12,500
in 1981. Hard-core neo-Nazis number around 200 with perhaps 500 camp
followers scattered about. The much publicized "skin-heads", recently
estimated at 5,000 nationwide are almost certainly of no more than
that. Determining who is and who isn't a neo-nazi racist skinhead
involves a lot of pure guessing. A recent probable hoax in Denver
initially focused on the local skinhead population and an estimate of
200 was made, a great surprise to other local racist groups. Many
bikers adopt the skinhead appearance while having no serious affinity
for their views, and there are "anti-racist" skinhead groups around.
The actual number of bonafide racist, neo-nazi skinheads in Denver is
probably under 25. At the time a Kansas City KKK "group" made national
news in 1988 with its plans for a public TV show, it had only two
members.
Groups like the "Posse Comitatus" attained almost mythical
proportions in the early 1980's, with estimates as high as 40,000 given
by irresponsible writers. This is absolute fantasy, although Jim
Wickstrom, Posse "leader," claimed the incredible figure of a million
and a half! Having talked with police agencies, journalists, farmers
and local officials, and with Posse members themselves, I seriously
doubt if more than 1,000 genuine, involved Posse activists ever existed
at one time. The Posse was never tightly organized and the national
"group" was primarily a literature distributing operation. Local
groups were autonomous and virtually anyone could claim membership and
be believed.
In Kansas, for example, State police officials monitoring farm
auctions in the early 1980's made the incredible mistake of estimating
Posse presence in one case by noting that a "Posse" activist was
present and he had thirty or so people gathered around him reading the
literature he passed out. Hence, there was a Posse presence "in the
neighborhood of thirty" at the auction! A single individual
distributing Posse literature in service station and restaurant
restrooms caused near panic in one county.
This situation got so far out of hand that in 1985 three Kansans
filed a civil rights lawsuit against Kansas Attorney General ROBERT
STEPHAN for "creating" the Posse Comitatus to further his political
career. A suit brought on behalf of FREDA STEELE, JAMES STEELE and
HAROLD HOVANDER, all rural Kansas residents, charged that unnecessary
police powers were utilized during a repossession action against Mr.
STEELE, which included "air support and a small army of Kansas Bureau
of Investigation agents, Kansas Highway Patrol troopers, sheriff's
deputies and local police personnel, all heavily armed as for combat,
who descended on said farm like an invasion force."
Among the various problems in determining membership in groups is
the fact that group claims can't be believed. Invariably, they will
exaggerate their own strength. Also, the membership list and the
mailing list are usually two distinct entities. Ku Klux Klan
organizations have maintained large complimentary mailing lists in the
past, although that practice has faded for reasons of economy. I've
been on literally hundreds of such lists over the years. Some groups
don't have "members" as such, only people who receive their mailings,
others make no distinction between members and people who write and ask
for information. A few groups even send out blank membership cards
with their solicitation letters. The F.B.I. has estimated membership
by obtaining postal documents on second and third-class mailings and
these have invariably led to distorted figures.
An organization with the creative name of the "Farmer's Liberation
Army" in Halstead, KS, was finally determined to have one member, its
founder KEITH SHIVE. Anti-racist groups took the organization very
seriously and references to it appeared in the national press. ROBERT
DePUGH's Kansas City area-based paramilitary "Minutemen" organization
of the late 1960's suffered from similar distortions. Primarily a
peper operation with a handful of activists, DePUGH topped out at 400
"members," most of whom were essentially inactive and several of whom
were government agents. Media estimates ranged in the thousands.
During the McCarthy era, by the way, the membership of leftist groups
was similarly exaggerated.
If membership figures for organizations are hard to determine,
statistics on racist and anti-Semitic hoaxes are problematic as well.
While recent legislation calls for reporting "hate crimes," (including
unsolved cases) hoaxes and fabrications are not required to be reported
as such. When an incident is discovered to be a hoax it might be
dropped from the statistics, but maybe not. Many incidents are only
reported in the local media and die when they reach the wire services.
I've also been told that a fair number are simply "spiked" once their
nature is ascertained, out of "sensitivity" to minority concerns, or
not to "give ammunition" to racists. Absent some kind of clipping
service, a network of local "monitors"or the intelligence capability of
the American law enforcement community, one is at a considerable
disadvantage researching the subject. There could be a much bigger
story here than initially appears.
In Kansas City, for example, TERRANCE WEAVER defaced a wall near a
major art museum with racist and anti-Semitic graffiti last year. He
was observed, chased, and apprehended. The local newspaper reported
the incident as a "hate crime," along with the interesting fact that
the perpetrator had checked himself into a local mental hospital
immediately after his arrest. The incident quickly faded and no more
was heard of it. The _Kansas City Star_ has declined to pursue the
matter.
My own investigation developed that this young man was well-known
to local leftists, and that he had talked of a plot to entice all Ku
Klux Klansmen and neo-Nazis to a meeting and then blow up the building
and kill them. He was, in fact, not racist but _anti-racist_. Kansas
City police are sitting on the case and local anti-fascist activists
seem to be holding their breath. If you didn't live here and read the
local paper, you wouldn't know it happened, and if you hadn't
investigated it as I have you wouldn't know it's a probable hoax
incident. Are there more cases like this? I think so.
VALID OBJECTIONS TO "HATE CRIMES" REPORTING LAW
Many valid criticisms of the "hate crime reporting" concept exist
but by far the most legitimate is that it exaggerates a phenomenon
by calling selective attention to it. If statistics were kept of
crimes committed by Methodists, or left-handed Democrats, or by
service station employees, or of crimes _against_ these groups, it
would quickly seem that we have a serious crime problem in these
areas. To answer an objection to this argument from a Jewish
friend, I asked what the probable consequences of compiling
statistics on crimes by Jews in the United States might be, so as
to draw attention to them. He quickly conceded that it would
seriously distort the picture and lead to "dangerous false
conclusions" by "singling out a particular group" and would be
"unfair selective attention." Enough said.
So, how big a problem are hoaxes? Civil rights, Jewish and anti-
racist groups stress the view that hoaxes are unusual and represent the
isolated work of disturbed individuals. Racist groups, on the other
hand, essentially believe that an incident is probably a hoax until
proven otherwise. The truth, as might be expected, lies somewhere
between these two extreme positions.
The actual extent of racist and anti-Semitic hoaxes may be
unknown, but police who investigate these incidents privately report
that a surprisingly large percentage of incidents are fabricated. In
talking with college and university security officials I encountered
responses ranging from "a few, not too many," to "dmaned near half of
them!" In talking to police who investigate these incidents the figure
of 25% comes up again and again. This figure has a kind of
reasonableness about it, allowing that it probably doesn't hold true
for every environment.
Hoaxes are probably more likely to occur on college and university
campuses and several have been reported. They're probably less likely
to occur in the "battle zone" area that separates black and white
neighborhoods in urban areas because tensions are sometimes high there
and juvenile gangs common. In that environment racist graffiti is so
prevalent that it isn't necessary to fake it. The most probable place
for hoaxes to occur, of course, is any environment where obsessive
attention is paid to issues of victimization and where the payoff,
psychological or otherwise, is high.
With hoaxes, the nature of the offense makes discovery difficult.
Telephone harassment, for example, usually leaves no fornsic evidence,
unless the problem is severe enough for police to order a monitoring
device. This happened in several of the hoaxes mentioned in this
essay. A telephone message service by the OKLAHOMA WHITE MAN'S
ASSOCIATION was being sabotaged by endless incoming calls tying up the
line. The group complained to the police and the telephone company who
installed tracing equipment on the line. An investigation showed that
the local JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER where a computer was apparently
automatically dialing call after call, was the very source of the
problem. In spite of hard evidence to the contrary, JEWISH COMMUNITY
CENTER director DAVID BERNSTEIN said, "We have no computers here and
we're not jamming any phones." No criminal charges were filed. In
other cases, both BUZZ CODY and LAURIE RECHT were caught through the
use of telephone tracing equipment.
In the case of defacing property withr acist and anti-Semitic
graffiti investigation is made only slightly easier. Spray painted
graffiti, unlike handwriting or typewritten material, cannot be pinned
down. In the case of JAMES OPPENHEIM, however, the discovery of the
very spraycan in his desk led to his prosecution.
The eye-witness account is often an important factor in hoax
investigation. In many cases it was this which led authorities to
suspect a fabrication. The factor here was inconsistent testimony or
different stories by different witnesses, or physical evidence of
lying. Where the possibility of a hoax exists the witness (who is
often the victim) should be interrogated by a person skilled in that
area. Surprisingly, the cover story often isn't very well prepared and
can be "cracked" with reasonable effort. In the case of QUENTIN BANKS
it was a skilled interrogator who caught him in a number of
contradictions and broke the case.
One issue that needs to be addressed is whether or not there's an
organized campaign to commit racist and anti-Semitic hoaxes. For years
rumors have circulated that a particular organization was engaged in
this activity. Right-wingers are particularly fond of this notion in
that it tends to confirm their conspiracy theories. I found no hard
evidence of any kind of organized campaign, although there were a few
tantalizing clues that could use some further investigation. The best
evidence is that these incidents are most probably unconnected and the
product of individuals and not organizations.
There is some evidence of a coordinated effort to cover up
incidents that prove to be hoaxes, usually to avoid "giving racists
ammunition." Some hoaxes have involved "plots," in a manner of
speaking, and several of them have involved recognized "conspiracies,"
as in the TAWANA BRAWLEY case, but linkage with other hoaxes is very
unlikely, except in the limited psychological sense of the "copy-cat"
phenomenon. This "copy-cat" effect is important because it can account
for not only bonafide racial and anti-Semitic incidents, but for
additional hoaxes as well.
CONSPIRACY THEORY NOT REQUIRED TO EXPLAIN PATTERN OF HOAXES
I don't think a conspiracy is required to explain a pattern
of hoaxes of this type. The advantages to anti-racist activists
of racist incidents are obvious, so much so that it would
reasonably occur to potential hoaxers upon simple reflection,
with no communication between them. There's a tendency for a kind
of paranoid thinking to enter into considerations of this kind, as
though every wrongful event must have wicked people behind it, and
a "series" of such events must be the product of the coordination
and direction of a conspiracy. Extremists on both sides of this
issue tend to think in these terms with predictably unfortunate
results.
One police detective I spoke with said that the "pressure is
extremely intense whenever anything even remotely resembling a hate
crime comes up." Simple racist graffiti is almost at a par with
serious felonies in terms of importance. The U.S. Department of
Justice has made "hate crimes" a "number one priority." This elevation
to felony status of what would have been simple misdemeanors a few
years ago drains resources from important investigations. When hoaxes
are suspected, which is often, police have been required to continue
pursuing them as bonafide racial incidents until the evidence against
them is almost overwhelming. This was true in the BARRY SCHUSS case.
SCHUSS was an early suspect but enormous efforts were made to apprehend
someone else, including massive police stakeouts involving large use of
police manpower and resources. In the BUZZ CODY case early suggestions
by police that a hoax might be in evidence were treated as indicating
"insensitivity."
In a bonafide "hate crime," the motive is presumably hate. In a
hoax the motive is to create the appearance of hate. There is a
difference. Hate can be acted out without symbols and it can be done
anonymously with no symbols or graffiti. A real hater doesn't require
that he or his cause be identified, and it's usually counter-productive
when it happens. To create the _appearance_ of hate, and to attribute
it to a person or a cause requires identifying symbols and slogans. An
incident in which the symbols of hate -- swastikas, KKK initials,
racist and anti-Semitic slogans and so on -- are graphically present
suggests the desire for maximum psychological impact, to dramatically
illustrate the racism and anti-Semitism that is "behind" the event.
Occasionally, this is either overdone or carelessly conceived. In the
case of DAVID GOLDMAN and GERSHON TENNENBAUM, who jointly defaced some
250 Jewish graves in Israel, the anti-Semitic graffiti was in perfect
Hebrew, a rather incredible oversight on their part.
TRAITS THAT SUGGEST COMMISSION OF A HOAX
What, if anything, distinguishes hoaxes and fabrications from real
racist and anti-Semitic incidents? Are there "patterns" to be on the
watch for? What are the clues that a hoax might be afoot? Consider
these:
1. An incident that can't be corroborated with reasonable evidence or
disinterested witnesses, or is accompanied by an account which contains
inconsistencies, or where the alleged victim suddenly refuses to talk
to police.
2. An incident that occurs just when it's "needed" to promote
awareness or sensitivity to racism or anti-Semitism, to disarm critics
and make them reluctant to "talk back." The conveniently occurring
incident should be carefully investigated. Often the perpetrator will
confide in others or even brag about the event.
3. Repeat incidents, especially with "difficult," resentful and easily
offended individuals who frequently complain of disrespect, slights,
insults or harassment. Bear in mind, however, that these individuals
often create a "self-fulfilling prophecy" with their behavior and
actually antagonize others to the point where they will retaliate in
some manner, thus fulfilling the prophecy of the "victim."
4. An incident that is skillfully exploited by the alleged victim to
attain victim status, to manipulate institutions, to obtain concessions
from others, to obtain special consideration or privileges, or to
obtain money.
5. Incidents which occur in improbable circumstances, such as racist
graffiti in a mostly black dormitory or neighborhood, assaults that
allegedly occurred in normally crowded areas with no witnesses,
graffiti or vandalism in a room occupied by the victim, and so on.
6. In the case of graffiti, carefully drawn symbols or slurs suggest
that the author really wants to get a point across -- precisely what is
meant and the repulsive character of the persons behind it -- and this
suggests a hoax. Most real incidents represent impulsive striking out,
not careful planning.
7. Another trait that suggests a hoax surfaced in several of the cases
mentioned here. Where authorities suspect a hoax and this fact becomes
known, the likelihood is enhanced somewhat when local anti-racist and
radical anti-fascist groups defame and villify "doubters." In fact,
they may suspect it themselves.
EXAMPLES OF ACTUAL HOAXES
+ A black student at Northwest Missouri University in Maryville
reported a "racially motivated" assault and death threats to university
officials. According to DEAN HUBBARD, NMU President, the student
became "the center of much attention" following the incidents.
Newspaper accounts portrayed the campus as a hotbed of racism. On the
strength of the complaint by QUENTIN E. BANKS, 18, the university
summoned assistance from the F.B.I., a special unit of the Justice
Department, and a special investigator from the Missouri Highway
Patrol. During the course of an interrogation by Sgt. LARRY R. STOBBS
of the Highway Patrol, BANKS admitted that the complaints were a total
fabrication. He was subsequently suspended from school for two years.
-------
+ A New York City teenager, TAWANA BRAWLEY, claimed to have been
kidnapped for several days, raped by white men, smeared with dog feces,
placed in a plastic garbage bag and marked with racial slurs. The case
became a cause celebre' in New York City, with editorials, marches, and
media personalities deploring the incident and the "racist climate"
that obviously led to it. REV. AL SHARPTON became spokesman for the
BRAWLEY family and insisted that "justice be done" and the white men
responsible be prosecuted. The incident fueled support for "hate
crime" legislation around the nation.
TAWANA BRAWLEY basked in nationwide media attention and acquired
victim status on a scale rarely seen. Discrepencies in her story were
evident from the very beginning. A detailed police investigation
determined that she was seen by friends during the period and that she
spent much of the time in an apartment previously rented by her family.
Other elements of her story were gradually eliminated one by one and
police subsequently reported that the BRAWLEY case was a massive
fabrication and hoax.
-------
+ In St. Charles, MO, BRIDGET CLARK, a 14-year old black girl told
her parents that two white men had thrown acid on her and shouted
racial slurs as she was on her way home from school. The black
community was in an uproar. Shortly thereafter, however, a police
investigation revealed that the acid was actually the result of an
accident at a summer job.
-------
+ An attempted racist frame-up occurred at Ohio Dominican College in
Columbus, OH, when white student MICHAEL A. SMITH, 22, found himself
under arrest for sending threatening letters to 13 black students and
faculty members. The threats were worded in the same way as was a
section of a term paper on prejudice he had submitted to JANICE D.
HAMLET, a black teacher at the school. HAMLET had pointed out the
similarities in the documents which immediately implicated SMITH.
However, two Columbus police detectives who had taken a class from
HAMLET took an interest in the case. HAMLET had been outraged by
SMITH's use of the word "nigger" in his term paper and had tried to get
him expelled. Forensic examination of the envelopes the threatening
letters had been mailed in turned up HAMLET's fingerprints and an
examination of her typewriter determined that the letters had been
written on it. In fact, she had copied part of SMITH's essay and
mailed it to the 13 Blacks and then "discovered" that they were worded
in the same manner. Ethnic intimidation charges against SMITH were
dropped and HAMLET was charged with two felony counts of ethnic
intimidation and two misdemeanor accounts of aggravated menacing. At
last report she had returned to Kent State University to complete a
PhD. SMITH, in the meantime, has filed suit against the University and
it is expected that he will get a substantial settlement.
-------
+ Three men and a youth, all black, were arrested in connection with
three cross burnings in Prince George's County, MD. ROSS FAIRWELL, 18;
GERALD SIMONS, 20; and REGINALD STEWARD, 21; and the juvenile, were
charged with the offenses. Earlier that evening three of the men had
donned white sheets to pose as Ku Klux Klansmen and set fire to a cross
in front of a black home in Forrestville, MD. They were joined by the
occupant in other bogus "hate crime" incidents, one of which involved
throwing a brick through a window. The group is suspected in other
incidents in the area.
-------
+ In Lawrence, home of the University of Kansas, a small cross was
burned in one location and "KKK" was spray-painted in several buildings
in Lawrence neighborhoods. Police investigated and determined that the
culprit(s) were probably juveniles. The two-foot high cross was made
from pieces of wood taken from a discarded sofa in a dumpster, the wood
was tied together with fabric from the sofa, wedged against the ground
and building, and set afire. In another case, a cross was burned in
front of an all-white fraternity accompanied by a note containing anti-
white comments. Militant anti-racists have been active in the
community and university, and ANGELA DAVIS, member of the central
committee of the COMMUNIST PARTY USA and militant anti-racist activist
had recently spoken at K.U. Other suspected hoaxes have occurred, too.
What makes the Lawrence case interesting is that obvious hoaxes
are treated as bonafide incidents by the media, which gives hoaxers
encouragement. _Wichita Eagle_ writer DAVE HENDRICK wrote a lengthy
article entitled "Racial Tensions Taint Lawrence's Image" in which he
never mentioned that the cross-burnings and graffiti were probably
hoaxes. He did note that "Reports about the cross-burnings and
graffiti have been filed with Klanwatch, a division of the Southern
Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Ala." These "incidents" become part
of the statistics they issue periodically.
-------
+ In Atlanta, GA, a black freshman at Emory University claimed she
had been the victim of racist attacks in her school dorm. She had
discovered the phrases "Hang Nigger" and "Die, Nigger, Die" under a rug
in her closet, as well as on her tampons in a drawer. SABRINA COLLINS,
18, also claimed to have received two letters threatening to lynch her.
University officials and police investigators quickly determined that
she had faked the threats. The incident had triggered a march by 700
students and a sit-in in front of the administration demanding a
"crackdown on campus racism." DeKalb County Solicitor, RALPH BOWDEN,
said that he felt Miss COLLINS needed "counseling and treatment, not
prosecution." No charges have been filed in the case.
The COLLINS case is interesting in a number of respects. A 26
June 1990 column by Harvard Law Professor ALAN DERSHOWITZ noted that
OTIS SMITH of the Atlanta chapter of the NAACP had this to say about
COLLINS' hoax: "It doesn't matter to me whether she did it or not,
because of all the pressure these black students are under at these
predominantly white schools. If this will highlight it, if it will
bring it to the attention of the public, I have no problem with that."
Mr. SMITH admitted the utility of hoaxes in this statement. An article
in the _Atlanta Constitution_ did one better. It said, "What happened
to SABRINA COLLINS may never be known. She is a victim no matter which
version of the story is true!" According to DERSHOWITZ, "Miss COLLINS
first submitted her reports of racial harassment shortly after she was
formally accused of cheating on a chemistry test."
-------
+ An unnamed black teen-ager in Queens, NY, told authorities that a
white man had set him on fire. Police at first believed the account
and reported it as the third "racially-motivated" attack in Queens in a
week, contributing considerably to racial tensions in the city. But,
when detectives found inconsistencies in his story, the 15-year-old and
three of his friends admitted the fabrication. The boy had
accidentally burned himself by lighting gasoline in a fireplace.
-------
+ PEDRO HOUSE, JR., of Cranford, NJ, was caught in the very act of
painting a series of racist and anti-Semitic slurs on a bathroom wall
inside a building on Union County College's Cranford campus. HOUSE,
who is black, is a postal employee in South Orange, NJ, and a part-time
student at the college. Cranford Police Captain HARRY WILDE said that
offensive graffiti was found in the same bathroom on eight different
days within the past two months. Police also seized materials
allegedly used to mark the drawings and epithets, which included
swastikas and quotations about white power, Adolph Hitler, Jews and
blacks. House had been active in militant anti-racist movements.
-------
+ In Bensalem, PA, ALBERT A. DAWSON, a 28-year-old black man was
arrested and charged with "ethnic intimidation" for allegedly setting
crosses afire on lawns of four interracial couples, according to
police. FLOYD DARDEN, 33, who is black, and his wife Janet, who is
white, woke up with a burned cross in their yard. "The fact that he's
black brings a totally different dimension to the thing," DARDEN said.
-------
+ A Philadelphia police officer was charged with writing anti-black
slurs on a six-foot banner in a district police station. Police
patrolman ROSS BARNES, who is black, confessed to the act. RONALD
OLIVER, president of the 1000-member Guardian Civic League,
Philadelphia's minority police organization, said, "When I talked with
him before he confessed he suggested that perhaps a black might be
responsible for doing it. But when I asked him point blank if he did
it, he said "no." "The same treatment should be meted out to him as
would be a white officer guilty of the same behavior," OLIVER said.
-------
+ One of the most widely publicized cases of terroristic bombing in
U.S. history, occurring as it did on the very eve of a congressional
vote on "hate crimes reporting" legislation and blamed on right-wing
racists, may in fact be a hoax. Newspapers and editorials throughout
the nation spoke of the connection between a series of letter bombs
which have killed a U.S. District Judge and a lawyer who had handled
civil rights cases, and the "rising tide" of "hate crimes."
An early suspect in the case, WAYNE O'FARRELL of Enterprise, AL,
proved to be unproductive. Hundreds of federal agents descended upon
O'FARREL's home and salvage store in what turned out to be an
embarrassment for the government, for they failed to find any
conclusive evidence linking him with the bombings. Later, federal
agents arrested WALTER LEROY MOODY on several unrelated charges and he
is now the focus of the bombing investigation. MOODY had been
convicted for bomb possession in 1972. It is now thought that MOODY
may have mailed the bombs and included racist commentary in his letters
to create the impression that the bombings were "racially-motivated"
when, in fact, they were not, in order to throw investigators off his
trail. MOODY has been arrested and charged with seventy counts,
including mailing the bombs. No suggestion of racial enmity is
indicated in the indictment.
An interesting aspect of this case is that MOODY became a suspect
shortly after O'FARRELL did, although federal agents did not divulge
this fact to the media. While O'FARRELL had some racist connections,
MOODY did not. The focus on the allegedly racist motivation of suspect
O'FARRELL kept that association alive in the public mind, whereas
attention to MOODY would have exposed the hoax. There was apparently
no law-enforcement interest in the deception, for MOODY knew he was a
suspect as soon as he was placed under surveillance. The "hate crime"
angle was allowed to percolate through public consciousness for fully
eleven months, including the period when "hate crime reporting"
legislation was before congress, which subsequently passed.
-------
+ A Maryland House of Delegates candidate returned to his Ft.
Washington, MD, home to find two of his campaign signs burning in his
yard and racial epithets painted on his garage. DAVID VALDERRAMA, a
former Prince George's County Orphan's Court Judge of Filipino descent,
was running on a slate of candidates called the "Democratic Unity
Team," which included five blacks, the judge and one white person.
VALDERRAMA commented that the incident was the "work of a bigot or
political opponent." Investigators working on the case became
suspicious when VALDERRAMA began avoiding their questions and finally
declined to give a statement on the advice of his attorney. Later,
police officials announced that a campaign staffer was suspected.
-------
+ LAURIE A. RECHT, a legal secretary who had vigorously supported
court-ordered desegregation in Yonkers, NY, reported receiving death
threats over several months following a meeting where she had been
booed by angry white families opposed to the plan. RECHT, who is
Jewish, had become a media heroine for her courage and was awarded an
honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree by the College of New
Rochelle. To catch the perpetrators, the F.B.I. had installed a TV
camera outside her apartment and attached security equipment to her
telephone line. The equipment showed that no threatening calls had
been received, and the hidden camera recorded Ms. RECHT writing a
threat on the wall next to her apartment. Ms. RECHT has been indicted
on several federal charges as a result of her hoax.
-------
+ In San Francisco, talk-show host MORTON DOWNEY, JR, is "assaulted"
in an airport restroom. A swastika is marked on his face and patches
of hair are torn from his scalp, supposedly by neo-nazi "skinheads."
Later that day he appears on TV with a much larger swastika painted on
his face than was there when he first reported the incident, and
related his shocking account of bigotry and racism. Airport security
officers by the door reported no unusual traffic in or out of the
restroom, and individuals in the restroom denied that any such incident
took place. Although DOWNEY refused to back down, the incident is
reported as a fabrication and a hoax by the police. Later, Downey said
he was "drunk" and didn't even remember the incident.
-------
+ In Arvada, CO., a black family's home was burned and burglarized
exactly two weeks after it had been ransacked and the inside covered
with 29 swastikas in what police investigated aas a racist "hate
crime." LARRY WILLIAMS and his common-law wife, PATRICIA ANDERSON
were the only black people who live on the street. During the swastika
raid nothing was stolen or broken and the later fire produced mostly
smoke damage. WILLIAMS and ANDERSON were deluged with an outpouring of
public sympathy. People called to donate clothes and money, and a
contractor donated his services to repair the damage.
But within a few days ANDERSON and her brother-in-law, LEE
WILLIAMS were under arrest for arson and insurance fraud.
Investigators were suspicious from the outset when inconsistencies
developed in the cover story, and then they found evidence of arson.
Police Chief PAUL AHLSTROM said, "We have a very solid case against the
pair." LARRY WILLIAMS was not arrested or charged.
-------
+ In Portsmouth, VA, black community leaders began receiving
vitriolic racist "hate mail." The issue polarized the black community
and calls for action against the white "hate groups" were heard. The
incident took a dramatic turn when a police investigation found that
the fingerprints on the letters belonged to JAMES W. HOLLEY, III, the
city's first black mayor, who denied the charges and claimed that he
had been framed. Fortunately for HOLLEY, at the time of the incident
there were no "hate crime" statutes so he broke no laws. However,
voters held a recall election and 57.7 percent of the electorate voted
to retire the 60-year old dentist and long-time civil rights leader.
-------
+ An _Associated Press_ dispatch reported, "Vandals threw rocks
through windows of eight Jewish-owned shops....Mayor EDWARD KOCH said
the city would offer $10,000 reward..." The Jewish Community Relations
Council offered a $5,000 reward as well. The windows were broken in
the predominantly Orthodox Jewish areas of Boro Park and Flatbush in
Brooklyn NY. Around the nation newspapers reacted with shock and
outrage and compared the incident to Kristallnacht, when Nazis
terrorized Jews in pre-World War II Germany. Pressure from the Jewish
Community brought increased police patrols and calls for greater
vigilance against anti-Semitism. Within a month police had their man
in custody. He was GARY DWORKIN, a 38 year-old Jewish resident of Boro
Park. DWORKIN was charged with 14 counts, including felonies and
misdemeanors. He was ordered to undergo psychiatric examination.
-------
+ A series of fires in Harford, CT, frightened the Jewish community
and evoked media comparisons with the "Night of Broken Glass" when
Nazis terrorized Jews in pre-World War II Germany. The fires occurred
at Young Israel Synagogue, Emmanual Synagogue, the home of RABBI
SOLAMAN KRUPKA, and at the home of State Representative JOAN KEMLER,
who is Jewish.
Police involvement in the matter was intense, as nationwide media
attention focused on the incident which had become the impetus for
various legislative proposals to curb "bigotry and violence." Police
staked out entire square blocks of Hartford, hoping for a copy-cat
incident to occur in order to charge someone with arson. An early
suspect in the case, BARRY DOV SCHUSS, a 17-year old Jewish student,
finally confessed to all four arsons. Although the total penalties for
four counts of arson could have amounted to virtually life in prison
had a real anti-Semite been apprehended, SCHUSS was given a suspended
sentence, ordered to undergo psychiatric treatment, and placed on five
years probation. SCHUSS had been an avid reader of holocaust
literature and admitted that he had set the fires to enhance public
awareness of anti-Semitism.
-------
+ In New York City residents of Co-Op City, a massive housing co-
operative in the Bronx, found anti-Semitic graffiti and swastikas
daubed on 51 apartment doors and walls. The incident received wide
publicity and a $3,500 reward was offered for the perpetrators. Later,
two Jewish teenagers, whose names were withheld and who had actually
tried to collect the reward by turning in someone else, were determined
to have lied to police and were subsequently arrested. The two youths,
aged 14 and 15, have been charged as juveniles with conspiarcy,
criminal mischief and falsely reporting a police incident. They are
also suspected of other racist and anti-Semitic incidents dating back
over a several month period, all of which had been attributed to
"racists."
-------
+ In Rockville, MD, two young men were charged with arson for burning
a swastika on the lawn of a Jewish woman and her Catholic husband.
GARY STEIN, who is Jewish, and JOHN E. FINNEGAN, a friend, were charged
with pouring gasoline in a swastika pattern and setting it on fire.
According to police, STEIN claimed that "his buddy did it." STEIN's
father, DONALD STEIN, is the funeral director of the Hebrew Memorial
Home in Takoma Park, MD. Had STEIN and FINNEGAN not been apprehended,
the incident would have been recorded as a "hate crime" involving arson
and neo-nazis would have been suspected.
-------
+ A 23-year old Jewish medical student arrested in Basel, Switzerland
was described by police as the perpetrator of a campaign of virulent
anti-Semitic graffiti, harassment and death threats. Police disclosed
that PHILIP GOTCHEL, son of a prominent family, was solely responsible
for the acts, which were called unprecedented in Switzerland. Most of
the anti-Semitic acts were directed against fellow Jewish students,
their families and their non-Jewish friends.
-------
+ Rabbi ISRAEL SCHORR of Congregation Beth-El in Brooklyn has
informed the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that members of a Jewish "cult"
that is a "fragment of Hassidim" were responsible for desecrating his
synagogue in the Borough Park Section. He identified the culprits as
belonging to the Satmar Hassidic group and attributed the swastikas,
Stars of David and Hebrew and Yiddish epithets scrawled on the walls of
his synagogue to them. According to SCHORR, police arrested five
persons who pasted slogans on his synagogue and that they had been
released with summonses. Harassment from the Jewish extremists has
included telephone bomb scares, false fire alarms and an undertaker who
showed up one day to get his body. In his sermons, SCHORR had
inveighed against use of such terms as "Nazis," "Kristallnacht" and
"Holocaust" to describe alleged actions by Israeli authorities against
Orthodox Jews.
-------
+ Two unnamed Jewish teenagers spray-painted swastikas and anti-
Semitic remarks on the home and car of a Jewish family in Marlboro
Township, NJ. The two had been arrested for throwing firecrackers at
passing cars and a subsequent investigation linked them with the anti-
Semitic writing and a series of burglaries. Charges included seven
counts of criminal mischief, four counts of burglary and two counts of
theft. The two teens were not prosecuted for "hate crimes," however.
Marlboro Township Detective Sgt. ROBERT HOLMES said, "It's tough to
prove their actions are anti-Semitic if they're both Jewish."
-------
+ Three men allegedly entered Congregation Amanu-El B'Ne Jeshurun in
Milwaukee, and poured a caustic substance on BUZZ CODY, the sexton, who
had converted to Judaism twelve years ago. The incident came just a
few hours before thes tart of Hanukah, a major Jewish holiday. CODY
said that one of the men demanded that he unlock the sanctuary's Ark,
where four of the synagogue's eleven main Torahs are kept. He said the
men demanded, "Open it up. We want your Holy Koran!", and referred to
a group with the initials "P.D.L." CODY described the men as being
dark-complexioned and speaking with Middle East accents. The
synagogue's senior rabbi, FRANCIS BARRY SILBERG, said that CODY was
obviously "wiling to sacrifice himself for his faith and his duty and
the integrity of the synagogue." Earlier, Milwaukee had experienced a
plague of anti-Semitic graffiti with red paint.
Alert police detectives suspected a hoax from the beginning, which
prompted the _Milwaukee Journal_ to editorialize that, "...the police
uncertainly seemingly demeaned the episode's seriousness...", which
"could be interpreted...as reflecting police insensitivity." The
incident was followed by anonymous telephone calls in the area, one of
which said that, "...the defense league is at war with the Jewish
community," presumably referring to a Palestine Defense League
(P.D.L.), and also by an alleged vandalization of CODY's apartment,
which included spray-painting anti-Semitic symbols in red paint,
including the initials "P.D.L." Police could find no forced entry.
Rabbi SILBERG said, "The victim has been re-victimized." An
investigation has turned up no such organization as the "Palestine
Defense League" or "P.D.L."
Six months later CODY was charged with two counts of obstructing
an officer in connection with reports he had made to police about
receiving threatening telephone calls, which police had determined were
not true. A tracer installed by the phone company had shown that at
least two of the calls were placed from CODY's private line. A few
days later, possibly fearing discovery and disgrace, CODY tragically
committed suicide.
-------
+ Sixteen months after a fire ruled to be arson destroyed Woodside
Synagogue in Silver Spring, MD, no arrests had yet been made. At the
time of the fire community leaders rallied to the aid of the Orthodox
Jewish congregation and supported a wave of demands that urgent action
be taken to stem anti-Semitism and "hate crimes." LT. CARVEL HARDING,
a Montgomery County fire investigator, belives he knows the culprit's
identity, although he lacks "sufficient probable cause" to arrest the
subject. HARDING told _Washington Jewish Week_ that "We feel we know
the motive, but if we tell you, you'll know who the person is."
HARDING also said that the arson was not "an act against people of the
Jewish faith." Synagogue sources said one shul member who has since
left the area was brought in for questioning and is still a suspect."
-------
+ Students at the State University of New York in Binghampton were
shocked to find anti-Semitic slogans spray-painted inside the door of
the Jewish Student Union office. The slogans, "Kill Kikes" and
"Zionazi Racists" were sprayed the day after the 50th anniversary of
Kristallnacht, when Nazis terrorized Jews in 1938 Germany. Authorities
investigating the incident soon zeroed in on a suspect. He was JAMES
OPPENHEIM, former President of the Jewish Student Union.
The manner in which this case was handled is a fascinating study.
State Police investigator CHARLES GOULD, who was responsible for filing
the charges, said, "He's not a bad kid!" The _Binghampton Press & Sun-
Bulletin_ quoted investigators as saying, "OPPENHEIM was trying to
broaden recognition of anti-Semitism following a mediocre showing at a
memorial to the victims of the Nazi Kristallnacht program." Student
Association President CRAIG SPIEGEL read a statement that warned
against judging OPPENHEIM before due process takes its course, and
reminding students that "anti-Semitism, racism, sexism, homophobia and
other forms of oppression existed on our campus." RABBI ARNOLD FERTIG
described OPPENHEIM as an "emotional, highly-committed young man
devoted to Jewish causes on the campus." OPPENHEIM was indicted on a
fourth-degree criminal mischief and third-degree falsely reporting an
incident, both relatively trivial misdemeanors in the chance he should
actually be convicted. No felony "hate crime" charges were filed.
In addition to being portrayed as sincere, if misguided, OPPENHEIM
had another advantage. His father was an attorney and knew that the
evidence against his son could be challenged. Aside from non-specified
circumstantial evidence, the primary item was the very can of spray
paint with OPPENHEIM's fingerprints found hidden in his desk at the
Jewish Student Center. This would seem incriminating enough, but the
case was made that OPPENHEIM had just picked up the can and hid it so
it wouldn't get lost! The Judge accepted his account and OPPENHEIM was
acquitted. In all fairness, an acquittal should be respected as a
determination of not guilty, suspicions aside.
-------
+ In Haifa, Israel, two Jewish men, DAVID GOLDMAN, 41, and GERSHON
TENNENBAUM, 32, were arrested following the desecration of two Jewish
graveyards, an event which received worldwide attention. Slogans in
perfect Hebrew calling for the destruction of Judaism and for the
founding of a Palestinian state were found on more than 250 headstones.
One inscription read, "Arabs will kill the Jews." Israeli Religious
Affairs Minister ZEVOLON HAMMER, said that there may have been a
connection with this incident and the desecration of Jewish graves in
France which were widely blamed on right-wing hate groups. Goldman
said he had hoped Arabs would be blamed for the incident.
-------
+ Also in Israel eight Jewish settlers have been charged in the
firebombing of Israeli property and stoning Jewish settlers to stir up
anti-Arab sentiment. In one instance, Israeli radio said, settlers
hurled a firebomb at an Israeli-owned car near Ginot Shomron settlement
in the West Bank and in response, settlers from the Jewish enclave of
Ariel raided a nearby Arab village and vandalized property. Ariel had
earlier required Arab workers to wear tags identifying themselves as
"alien workers." There have been numerous instances of Israeli
extremists staging hoaxes to implicate Arabs in terrorism.
-------
+ In Berlin, West Germany, a group of "neo-nazi raiders" set fire to
the home of a Jewish restaurant owner and scrawled swastikas and anti-
Semitic slogans on the walls ("Juden Raus" - Jew Get Out). The attack
in Berlin's elegant Grunewald residential district revived fears of a
Nazi revival and was widely reported as evidence for such. Following
an investigation, however, the police determined that the incident was
an arson plot to collect insurance on the building and that the
business man, GUNTER ALLON, whose house was burned, was in on the plot.
One of the hired arsonists was badly burned when gasoline blew up in
his face.
-------
+ Swastika-painting vandals were suspected of setting fire to the
basement of a downtown restaurant whose Jewish owners were beside
themselves with outrage at the ugly graffiti. LEE WALDMAN, owner of
the Egg Shell Restaurant, also noted that business was down 40%,
according to the _Rocky Mountain News_. Denver police intelligence
officers suspected Skinhead involvement. Denver Mayor FREDERICO PENA
ordered an investigation into recent racist acts in the city and the
_News_ carried several alarmist articles on growing racism and anti-
Semitism. Denver city leaders responded with outrage, stepped up
police activity and calls for new anti-racist legislation. As the
investigation proceeded, however, it became more and more apparent that
Skinheads were not involved in the event.
Denver police have heavily infiltrated local gangs and Skinhead
groups. The _News_ noted that most incidents were "committed by
adolescents - perhaps bored and ignorant of the consequences of their
acts - and not organized hate groups...", a fact that is often
forgotten. A one-paragraph article finally noted that "Swastikas
spray-painted on the walls of the restaurant may have been an effort
to mislead." In a later article, _News_ reporter KEVIN FLYNN noted
that, "After all the grandstanding and headlines, the spray-painting
of swastikas in the Egg Shell arson is now believed to have been a
hoax, and not to have involved neo-Nazi skinheads at all.
Investigators believe the swastikas were meant to divert suspicion."
-------
+ Residents of Yorba Linda, CA, awoke one Sunday morning to find
hundreds of anti-semitic leaflets in a neighborhood surrounding an
ultra-orthodox synagogue and a Methodist church. The leaflets,
admonishing the reader to "Kill Every Jew," also stated that they were
"distributed by the Methodist fellowship." Rev. Kenneth Criswell,
pastor of the United Methodist church said the leaflets were "false and
fraudulently" attributed to the Methodist Church.
-------
+ Sometimes racist and anti-Semitic hoaxes involve parties we would
never suspect. During the Olympic games in Los Angeles in 1984 a
number of Asian and African Olympic committee offices found themselves
recipients of racist literature. The Zimbabwe committee, for example,
received flyers containing threatening language and illustrated with a
drawing of a whitehooded Klansman on a rearing horse and a monkey with
a rope around its neck. Other delegations received similar literature.
An investigation followed and the culprit was determined in short
order. U.S. Attorney General WILLIAM FRENCH SMITH confirmed that the
racially defamatory materials were not the work of the Ku Klux Klan but
rather the K.G.B.! The effort was part of a disinformation campaign to
mislead public opinion and create the impression of widespread racism.
K.G.B. involvement was also confirmed by F.B.I. director WILLIAM
WEBSTER. Informed sources close to the F.B.I. report that many other
incidents may also be K.G.B.-related.
-------
+ Another case involving the K.G.B. surfaced recently with defection
of East German intelligence agents. The West German newspaper _Die
Welt_ reported that West German security authorities determined that
the K.G.B. or other Soviet state security services were responsible for
numerous desecrations of synagogues in West Germany over the past forty
years. The article also noted that the K.G.B. worked in close
cooperation with neo-nazi groups. JOHN BARRON, in his book, _K.G.B. -
SECRET WORK OF SOVIET SECRET AGENTS_, discusses Communist complicity in
anti-Semitic hoaxes. He syas, "Under K.G.B. guidance the Czech S.T.B.
started mailing virulent anti-Semitic tracts to French, British and
American officials in Europe." They bore the imprimatur of a non-
existent Nazi group.
-------
+ In yet another case, an official of a West German neo-nazi party
was arrested on charges of having spied for communist East Germany.
Chief Federal Prosecutor KURT REBMANN said that the 34-year old man, an
official of the National Democratic Party, had regular contact with
East German intelligence officials.
-------
+ Another case having international implications occured when a fake
letter circulating in the U.S. and purporting to come from a bogus
United Nations group in New York City surfaced. The bogus
organization, the _United Nations Extraordinary Commission on Zionism
and Racism_, asked theatrical agents to help draw up a list of
entertainers who supported Israel so that they can be boycotted. The
letter was signed with an Arab-sounding name, and asked details of
"artists" who have worked in Israel, have helped to raise funds for
Israel, "openly espouse Zionist view-points," and so on. In order to
get off the list, the letter continued, one would have to demonstrate
his penance by a "substantial financial donation to the Palestine
Liberation Organization."
-------
+ Although blacks and Jews account for most of the hoaxes, members of
other ethnic groups have also been responsible. A recent story from
Seattle, WA, involving an Asian man also demonstrates how complicated
hoaxes can become.
The _Seattle Chinese Post_ of 24 November 1990, an ethnic weekly,
carried the headline: "UW Rally Against Racism, In Support Of Park,"
referring to DARRES PARK, who had claimed he was attacked by three
white men wielding baseball bats and tire irons. PARK was quoted as
saying, "Hate crimes -- that is, usually racially motivated crimes --
have been on the rise..." PARK claimed that three whites had held off
his two caucasian friends while a small crowd gathered to cheer the
attackers on, some of them yelling, "Brain the gook." He also said
that without his knowledge of martial arts his attackers would have
succeeded. Clearly, DARRES PARK had become a local hero in the fight
against bigotry and prejudice. Chanting "Hey ho, hey ho, racism has
got to go!" and waving banners, some 150 University of Washington
students marched on the University President's office demanding
justice. Accounts of the alleged attack appeared nationwide, including
in the _International Herald Examiner_.
On 13 December DARRES PARK and a confederate were charged with
three armed robberies of banks in Seattle and Battle Ground, WA.
Seattle police, who were jolted by PARK's assertion that they had
bungled an investigation into the alleged assault on PARK that had
occurred in October, said that PARK's story was now unraveling.
Charged in the bank robberies with PARK was JOSEPH FRITZ, a white, who
had "witnessed" the attack on PARK and supported his account in a
statement to police at the time.
Upon investigation it turned out that friends and classmates of
PARK's had doubted his racial attack story from the beginning. Seattle
police spokesperson TINY DRAIN said that the investigation of the
incident was "hindered by a number of discrepancies." For instance, a
witness who was supposed to have accompanied PARK when he filed the
police report now said no report was made. Police also learned that
PARK's wrist was not broken, as he had claimed, but only bruised. On
18 December Seattle Police reported that his account was a fabrication.
Amazingly, PARK's lawyer, ROBERT LEEN, said he might have robbed the
banks because of brain damage from the "racial assault."
-------
FALSE CHARGES OF RACISM & ANTI-SEMITISM
Related to racist and anti-Semitic hoaxes are false charges of
racism and anti-Semitism, the difference being that with false charges
past events are distorted and reframed to create the illusion of an
offense while with hoaxes actual events are constructed and then blamed
on innocent parties, either by direct accusation or by inference.
Generally speaking, there are no more damaging charges that can be
leveled against a person in today's climate. "Racist" and "anti-
Semite" have replaced such epithets as "pervert" or "subversive" in
terms of their power to inflict damage on the reputation and psyche of
the victim. Neither charge need be proven to be effective in defaming
and degrading an individual. They are believed simply because they
have been said. Representing what Robert Jay Lifton has called
"thought-stopping cliches" such charges invoke powerful images usually
far removed from the reality of the particular case, and the mind then
focuses on those images and not the facts. The issue shifts from
whether or not the charge is true to what is to be done about it.
Although the terms describe a kind of abuse, their imprecise and
promiscuous use has become a form of abuse itself. Here are some
examples where individuals have fought back and won.
-------
+ SIMON WIESENTHAL, famed Nazi hunter, is a man of stature and great
reputation, and when he accused Chicago resident FRANK WALUS, 61, a
retired factory worker, of collaborating with the Gestapo in World War
II everybody thought another Nazi war criminal had been apprehended.
WALUS subsequently stood in a U.S. denaturalization court to hear 12
professional "eyewitnesses" identify him as a notorious mass-murderer
who allegedly stomped a young, pregnant Jew to death. The ensuing
court battle cost WALUS $60,000, with both his name and possibly his
life at stake. In fact, he lost the first round, was stripped of his
citizenship and ordered deported.
There was just one problem. WIESENTHAL, Israeli Police, the U.S.
Justice Department and the news media were wrong. "SIMON WIESENTHAL
fabricated the whole story," WALUS said bitterly. "Nine of the twelve
witnesses who said they had been born in Poland and lived there, never
did," he said. Among the discrepancies in WIESENTHAL's case against
WALUS were the facts that WALUS would have been 17 years old when he
was a "Gestapo officer," he had been described as being 6 feet tall and
he's only 5'-4", and his is Polish, and the Nazi regime would never
have allowed him to even join the Gestapo. The U.S. Department of
Justice dropped the suit and paid WALUS $34,000 in legal costs.
WIESENTHAL paid WALUS nothing, and sued WALUS and the _Cleveland Plain
Dealer_ for having the timerity to complain about WIESENTHAL's tactics.
The suit said that the comments had caused WIESENTHAL to fall "into
discredit with those persons with whom he has had contact and has been
held in public contempt, hatred and ridicule." This, of course, is an
exact description of what WIESENTHAL's charges had caused for FRANK
WALUS.
-------
+ Canadian teacher LUBA FEDORKIW, while running for election to the
Canadian Parliament, discovered to her utter amazement that B'NAI
B'RITH CANADA, a major Jewish "anti-defamation" organization, had
circulated an internal memo which accused her of "Jew-baiting!" The
allegation was repeated in the Winnipeg _Sun_ and the resulting
defamation cost her the election. Mrs. FEDORKIW sued B'NAI B'RITH
CANADA for libel and she was finally awarded $175,000 in actual
damages and $225,000 in punitive damages against the organization. The
jury found that the charges of anti-Semitism were unfounded and
malicious. B'NAI B'RITH CANADA officials suggested that the verdict
itself was vaguely suggestive of anti-Semitism.
-------
+ A customer in DENIS RETY'S restaurant in Bay Harbor, FL, ARTHUR
GREEN, witnessed a complaint by another customer over a veal chop and
wrote RETY a letter concerning the incident. RETY telephoned GREEN in
response to the letter and a heated exchange over the telephone ensued.
GREEN, a leader in the Jewish community, wrote RETY a letter accusing
him of anti-Semitism and threatened to put him out of business. As it
happened, GREEN never sent his letter to RETY, but instead circulated
it throughout the Jewish community. In his letter, GREEN accused RETY
of calling him a "rotten, stinking Jew." As a result of GREEN's
defamation, DENIS RETY was forced into bankruptcy within a year.
RETY engaged an attorney, sued, and won a judgement of $5.5
million against ARTHUR GREEN. In the words of the court, DENIS RETY
was entitled to an unprecedented compensatory and punitive damage award
so as to fit the "vicious arrogance of the defendant's conduct." The
court also noted that the evidence indicated the "anti-Semitic"
statements attributed to Mr. RETY were "completely fabricated."
-------
+ An incident which demonstrates the cedulousness of both the news
media and politicians occurred when World War II veteran DAVID RUBITSKY
claimed that he had single-handedly wiped out up to 600 Japanese
soldiers in the battle for New Guinea on 1 December 1942, a
transparently fantastic allegation. He also claimed that he had been
denied a Congressional Medal Of Honor solely because of anti-Semitism.
For several years RUBITSKY dilligently pursued the issue, largely
through a sympathetic news media and the assistance of the ANTI-
DEFAMATION LEAGUE. Due to pressure generated on RUBITSKY's behalf by
the ADL, including a resolution signed by 92 members of congress, the
Army undertook a two-year review of his claim in 1987. In the
meantime, it was learned that RUBITSKY had signed a book contract with
WARREN KOZAK, a reporter for NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO.
On 8 December 1989 the Army concluded that RUBITSKY's claim was
unfounded, having obtained evidence from forensic specialists and taken
statements from RUBITSKY and 20 others who were at the scene. In
addition to its fantastic nature, RUBITSKY's claim had been racked with
controversy from the beginning. The Madison, WI, _Capitol Times_
published an article headlined, "WWII Soldier Started Anti-Semitism
Battle Early In Life." Stories dramatizing the anti-Semitism angle
appeared in publications ranging from _Time_ magazine to the _New York
Times_.
Even members of RUBITSKY's old World War II unit disputed his
claim and called it a hoax. GEORGE HESS, a member of RUBITSKY's
infantry regiment said, "It is the biggest fairy tale anybody has ever
told to the U.S. Army to get a medal." CLAIRE O. EHLE said the claim
was "one big hoax" and that RUBITSKY was "hiding behind a smokescreen
of anti-Semitism to cover up his flimsy, unsubstantiated fairy tale."
On 9 February 1990, two months after the Army report, _Jewish Week_
reported that the ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE had finally conceded the
Army's position. With that, the story disappeared. Undaunted,
RUBITSKY vowed to fight on.
The effectiveness of false charges of anti-Semitism or Nazi
sympathies is widely known, as is the fact that the accusation itself
has a way of outlasting even an entirely plausible denial. DOUG A.
YATES, a candidate for City Council in Costa Mesa, CA found that a
forged "campaign flyer" that claimed he was a member of a secret
underground Nazi party experienced this effect. YATES, who was
supported by Mesa Action, a Costa Mesa-based political action
committee that supports slow growth and has aroused the ire of
developers, found that someone had forged the signature of a Mesa
Action director JIM AYNES on stationery bearing a facsimile of their
letterhead in order to give the fabrication credibility. Mesa Action
has filed a complaint with the U.S. Postal Service.
-------
+ Often, a false charge of anti-Semitism or racism is made because of
values, opinions or beliefs expressed in a public forum. In the case
of THOMAS SPEERS of Waterbury, CT, however, his expression of free
speech landed him in court -- and at the behest of the very host of the
radio talk show he appeared on. SPEERS was arrested after radio talk
show host JAY CLARK, who is Jewish, filed a complaint with police.
Among the accusations made against SPEERS was that he was guilty of
"Jew baiting" because he frequently criticized Israel. CLARK also
testified that he frequently made personal attacks against SPEERS on
the air. SPEERS contended that he was not anti-Semitic and that he was
merely anti-Zionist and anti-Israel. In ordering the acquittal of
SPEERS Superior Court Judge ANTHONY V. DEMAYO, said, "What upsets me
most about the state's position is that the reason we are prosecuting
this defendant is that his views differ so vehemently from those of the
talk-show host."
-------
+ In the case of THOMAS RUPPERT, who was falsely convicted at the age
of 18 of setting a fire in 1965 that killed 12 people at the Yonkers
Jewish Community Center in 1965, the consequences were terrible, and
ultimately lethal, although he was eventually exonerated of the crime.
After serving five years of 24 life sentences and a sentence of 10 to
25 years for arson, Mr. RUPPERT was ordered released after the New York
State Court of Appeals ruled that he had been coerced into making a
confession. The fire, which was largely suspected of being motivated
by anti-Semitism, brought enormous pressure on police to produce a
suspect, and RUPPERT happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong
time, so to speak. He steadfastly maintained his innocence. Although
released from prison, his life was horribly damaged by the event and he
died in 1984 at the age of 34 of liver disease and other ailments.
-------
+ Former Illinois Congressman PAUL FINDLEY, a 22-year veteran in the
U.S. House of Representatives, was defeated in his last election bid
following an intense and inflammatory campaign against him by various
pro-Israel groups. They regarded FINDLEY as highly critical of
Israel's policies. Two of FINDLEY's fellow politicians were also
defeated for re-election on the same gounds: Senator CHARLES PERCY and
Senator ADLAI STEVENSON III. Incensed by the power of the forces
arrayed against him, FINDLEY wrote a definitive expose' of the Israeli
lobby entitled, _They Dare to Speak Out_. The book is in no way
hateful or even remotely anti-Semitic. It was on best-seller lists for
several weeks.
This, however, did not keep the ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE, through
its Nebraska regional director ROBERT WOLFSON, from conducting a
blatant defamation of the book and its author. A local activist,
WILLIAM A. CURRY of Atkinson, NB, mailed out several thousand copies
to Nebraska professionals, such as "secondary-school teachers,
university professors and attorneys." In a statement, WOLFSON said
that FINDLEY's book "is a work of Holocaust revisionism seeking to
spread the claim that the Nazi slaughter of Jews was a hoax."
FREDERICK CASSMAN, chairman of the Omaha ADL chapter, said "Although
purporting to criticize the 'Israel Lobby,' they are actually
distributing plainly anti-Semitic material." _They Dare to Speak Out_
makes absolutely no such claim. FINDLEY does not support, nor does he
even mention any form of "holocaust revisionism" in his book.
WOLFSON's claim was an absolute lie. Nevertheless, his comments, as an
official of a major Jewish "human rights" organization were widely
reported in the press.
Another kind of false racism and anti-Semitism charge arises from
deliberate sabotage and forgery. In the following case, even when
exposed for what it was, the forgery continued to be treated as if it
were the real thing.
-------
+ The _Dartmouth Review_, a politically conservative student weekly
newspaper has been a thorn in the side of high-ranking administrators,
some professors, and campus leftists for years. Its editors have been
harassed and villified for their stands and their more extreme critics
have gone so far as to accuse them of racism and anti-Semitism. These
critics had their fondest dreams fulfilled when a copy of the _Review_
appeared on the very eve of Yom Kippur with their usual credo, a
quotation from former U.S. President THEODORE ROOSEVELT, replaced with
a quotation from no less than ADOLPH HITLER himself. Interestingly,
like many conservative campus publications, the _Review_ has been
exceedingly strong in its support of Israel against the Palestinians,
but that brought them no protection from false anti-Semitism charges.
The substitution was immediately recognized as sabotage. _Review_
editors and staff quickly apologized, even taking out ads in the campus
newspaper, and began searching for the culprit. Amazingly, Dartmouth
University President JAMES FREEDMAN along with numerous leftist student
groups and off-campus journalists, persisted in treating the quotation
as if it actually represented the policies of the paper and was the
collective responsibility of everybody who wrote for it. KEVIN
PRICHETT, black and rather sensitive to racism, _Review_ Editor in
Chief was not amused. "Our knowledge is that it was an inside job" by
one or more staff members. Police are now investigating.
As a result of the furor, and as a result of complaints about the
_Review's_ editorial content from anti-racist groups, BARRY PALMER,
chairman of the New Hampshire's Human Rights Commission, undertook a
review of two year's back copies of the paper. Said Palmer, "I read
every single thing they wrote about teachers. I reviewed editorials
and editorial cartoons. And I didn't find any hint of bigotry or
prejudice." Anti-racist groups are now suggesting that PALMER is
racist.
-------
+ Hoaxes often take bizarre forms. GARY A. TUCKER gave law
enforcement officials quite a buzz when he gave a virtual death-bed
confession that he and a friend had taken part in a 1963 church bombing
in Birmingham, AL, that had killed four young black girls. According
to federal officials, TUCKER "really knew his dates and places and he
knew the players in the bombing." Later, DAVID BARBER, Jefferson
County, AL, District Attorney said that TUCKER was "a confessor to a
crime that he did not commit." BARBER and FRANK DONALDSON, U.S.
Attorney for Northern Alabama, said their only explanation for the hoax
was TUCKER's physical and mental condition. TUCKER was a cancer
patient at the Veteran's Administration Hospital in Tuscaloosa, AL at
the time of his confession. His relatives siad that he had been
diagnosed several years earlier as a "paranoid schizophrenic."
----
+ Not all hoaxes involve racist or anti-Semitic themes. A lesbian
minister who said she was the victim of two anti-gay attacks changed
her story when police confronted her with evidence that some of her
injuries were self-inflicted. LYNN GRIFFIS, assistant pastor of the
predominantly homosexual METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY CHURCH in San
Francisco, resigned two hours after being placed on administrative
leave.
Miss GRIFFIS said she was hit on the head with a shovel after
surprising an assailant who broke into her garage and scrawled anti-gay
graffiti on the wall. She later alleged that she had been abducted in
the Haight-Ashbury area by two so-called "skinheads," who threw her
into a car, beat her up and threatened to kill her before releasing
her. San Francisco Medical Examiner BOYD STEVENS determined the
injuries she allegedly suffered from the skinheads were self-inflicted.
San Francisco Police Chief FRANK JORDAN said damage to LYNN GRIFFIS'
clothing and a subsequent description of how the injuries occurred were
inconsistent with the evidence and her account. "There was no attack
as described," he said. Miss GRIFFIS has gone elsewhere to pursue her
career.
-------
+ The issue of AIDS surfaced in another hoax. In Charleston, WV,
residents of rural Campbells Creek were shocked to learn that the local
florist may have completely fabricated accounts of alleged beatings and
threats against him because he was rumored to have AIDS. BILL GREALIS,
41, had checked into the psychiatric ward of a local hospital. He said
he had been terrorized by people in the small mining community. Later,
state and county officials said that GREALIS may have fabricated the
stories. Prosecutor BILL FORBES disputed GREALIS's accusations and
said that he had wounded himself.
-------
+ The radical homosexual group, ACT UP, had their New York City
office torched by an arsonist. The fire caused $10,000 in damage and
destroyed an $80,000 copy machine. The arsonist burned several boxes
containing archives sitting in the center of the floor, ignoring all
the computers and files. New York City Fire Marshall DAN BROWN said,
"It doesn't make any sense." A message left on one ACT UP member's
answering machine said, "This is the White Aryan Resistance. Next time
it's going to be a bomb." Fire Marshalls focused on ACT UP members
because there was no forced entry and not even the building
superintendant had the three keys needed for access. Only six ACT UP
members had keys and the intruder had locked the door on the way out.
-------
+ Occasionally one member of a "victimized" class will perpetrate a
hoax or fabrication against a member of another "victimized" class.
This happened at George Washington University when a student, MARIAM
KASHANI, reported to the campus paper, appropriately named _The
Hatchet_, a rape incident which never occurred. The student told of an
incident in which two young black men "with particularly bad body odor"
had rapted a white female student at knifepoint, and _The Hatchet_
reported the incident without sufficiently confirming the authenticity
of the various sources.
Ms. KASHANI, an active feminist who had been involved in rape
crisis counseling at Tulane University, had also said that the rapists
had told the victim, "You were pretty good for a white girl." When
confronted about the incident, Ms. KASHANI used an excuse often invoked
in hoaxes. She said that she "had hoped the story, as reported, would
highlight the problems of safety for women." RONNIE THAXTON, campus
black activist, said, "I was outraged. I think it was just another
attempt by some white people to discredit young black males in this
country." Black activists took particular exception to the comment
about the body odor of the alleged perpetrators.
-------
Hoaxes are sometimes almost incidental to other crimes. Although
the motive was the covering up of a crime and the designation of a
black man as a culprit was incidental to the event, such a case
occurred in Boston on 23 October 1989 when CHARLES STUART called police
to report that his wife, CAROL, had been killed and he had been shot by
a black assailant in the Mission Hill district. The gruesome scene,
including a dramatic tape of rescure efforts by police and paramedics,
stirred a volatile mixture of fear and outrage. As a victim, STUART
became a media hero. In the meantime, WILLIE BENNETT was arrested
after STUART identified him as looking "most like" the murderer. The
case began to unravel when skillful police investigation surfaced
evidence that pointed to him as the killer out to collect on an
insurance policy of $600,000. With police closing in, STUART committed
suicide by jumping off a bridge into the Mystic River.
WHAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT HOAXES?
The hoaxes and fabrications detailed in this report are only the
tip of the iceberg. They represent only a very small fraction of a
probable several hundred incidents of this type that occur annually.
My prediction is that this behavior will remain a serious problem as
long as society places such inordinate premium on "victimhood" of
certain kinds. To use an economic metaphor, as long as hoaxes and
fabrications _pay off_ they will continue to be utilized. Yet one more
typical example of this occurred when a 15-year-old black Hillsboro,
Oregon, high school student was awarded tuition to a community college
after finding the drawing of a swastika _inside_ her locker! No
culprit was found but victimhood was established merely by the
circumstances.
The relative ease of fabricating hoaxes and the unlikelihood of
getting caught compounds the situation, as does the ease with which
excuses are made when hoaxers are occasionally caught. In the
meantime, Americans of all races, religions and creeds are victimized
by misrepresentations and exaggerations, including the "witch hunt"
mentality that occurs when these incidents -- bonafide or hoaxes --
occur.
Probably the only way hoaxes and fabrications can be discouraged
is through public awareness and regarding them as a serious offense in
their own right, an unlikely possibility under present circumstances.
Most often when discovered, hoaxers are treated as merely disturbed
people who need help, while bonafide culprits, who may just as easily
be in that category as well, are treated like major criminals and may
even face devastating felony charges.
When the public realizes that special interest groups are actually
benefitting by hoaxes and fabrications, and that other agenda issues
are being covertly advanced by its over-reaction to and unskeptical
attitude toward so-called "hate crimes," perhaps a more realistic
perspective will develop concerning the actual seriousness of this
problem -- one that neither exaggerates nor minimizes its significance
in the total picture. A beginning is to establish a clearinghouse for
this kind of information. As difficult as hoaxes are to find and
document, a coordinated effort is essential.
I would advise anyone researching this area to confirm the
incidents mentioned in this report. What you have read here is
admittedly one point of view and there are many others. The
information "source" to be highly suspicious of is the one that uses
bullying or implied threats, who is quick to call names and attack the
character of those with whom they disagree. Also, please read the
accompanying essays, _What is Political Extremism?_ and _The Practice
Of Ritual Defamation_ appended to this report.
KILLING THE MESSENGER
The response from many ethnic and religious special interest
groups on the hoax issue is simply to defame and degrade whoever
brings it up. However, "killing the messenger" does not eliminate
the message, although it certainly discourages public awareness
and discussion, which is what often may be intended. It's a
terrible paradox that those who speak out against the damaging
effect of false charges of racism and anti-Semitism may bear the
onus of being called racist and anti-Semitic themselves, but this
merely illustrates the horrible distortions and misconceptions
that surround this issue in our society.
WHERE TO REPORT HOAXES:
Community monitors are badly needed. Individuals who are regular
readers of local newspapers or who monitor various media on a steady
basis are ideal for this purpose. If you become aware of a hoax or a
suspicious case in your community or elsewhere, please communicate this
information, complete with documentation (newspaper clippings, police
reports, etc.) to:
LAIRD WILCOX
EDITORIAL RESEARCH SERVICE
P.O. Box 2047
Olathe, KS 66061
----------------
Phone/FAX: 1-913-829-0609
24 Hours Daily
Individuals contributing significant information will receive
future reports. You can help by purchasing additional copies of this
report at $6.00 each or four copies for $20.00. Prices for larger
quantities available upon request. For permission to reprint this
report please contact Mr. Wilcox at the address above.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
CONFIDENTIAL RACIST AND ANTI-SEMITIC HOAX REPORT FORM
Date hoax occurred:___________________. Brief description of hoax:____
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
What suggests that this is a hoax?:____________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Documentation or evidence (should accompany report):___________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Your name:_____________________________. Telephone:___________________
Address:_______________________________________________________________
City:_________________________________State:___________Zip:____________
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Documentation
(Photocopies of newspaper articles appear in the space below in _The
Hoaxer Project Report_, some with photos. Only the headline, source,
date of publication, and for some a brief description of each appears
below.)
"The Toronto Star," April 13, 1983: "A life ruined by Nazi hunt" (Case
of Frank Walus's wrongful prosecution by Simon Wiesenthal)
"New York Times," September 15, 1989: "Jewish Student Accused of Faking
Anti-Semitism" (James Oppenheim case)
Paper in Atlanta, GA, June 4, 1990: "Student concocts racial threats"
(Sabrina Collins case)
"Newark Star-Ledger," December 13, 1989: "Roselle man is accused of
racist graffiti" (Pedro House Jr. case)
"Madison (WI) Capital-Times," November 29, 1989: "WWII soldier started
anti-Semitism battle early in life" (David Rubitsky case)
"The Janesville (WI) Gazette," January 31, 1990: "Study rejects
Rubitsky's claim of anti-Semitism" (More on the David Rubitsky case)
"The Washington Times," August 27, 1990: "Cross burnings not hate-
crimes; 4 blacks arrested"
"Asbury Park Press," July 18, 1989: "Jewish teens are charged in spray-
painting -- Swastikas put on home, car"
"The Province," August 7, 1984: "KGB TRIED TO MOUNT GAMES PLOT"
"New York Times," November 30, 1988: "Yonkers Housing Advocate Held in
Fake Death Threats"
"Lawrence Correspondent," October 9, 1990: "Children, not Klan, blamed
for vandalism -- Initials painted, small cross burned in Lawrence."
"New York Times," July 9, 1990: "Book on Brawley Case Details Victim's
Invention of Rape Story" (Tawana Brawley case)
"Columbus (OH) Dispatch," December 20, 1988: "Hate-mail case sends
teacher to court today -- Ohiio Dominican staffer booked at jail,
released" (Janice D. Hamlet case)
"St. Joseph (MO) News-Press Gazette," December 7, 1988: "Student admits
he lied about racial threats" (Quinton L. Banks case)
"The Associated Press," December 28, 1986: "Report of youth's burning
false, police say"
"The Washington Times," September 7, 1990: "Police suspect ploy by
insider -- 'Bigot' may be campaign staffer"
"New York Times," December 14, 1983: "Fires at Connecticut Jewish Sites
Laid to a Synagogue Member, 17"
"Tulsa World," December 24, 1988: (The Jewish Community Center, caught
using a computer to jam the phone lines of a group they don't like,
denies even having a computer)
"Post-Dispatch," 1986: "Assault With Acid Story Called Hoax"
"Washington Times," August 7, 1989: "Lesbian pastor admits she lied
about attacks" (Lynn Griffis case)
"American Jewish World," March 18, 1983: "Anti-Semitic Acts In Basel
Traced To Jewish Student"
"The Dartmouth Review," October 5, 1990: "Apology at Dartmouth over
Hitler quote"
"Winnipeg Free Press," November 26, 1987: "B'nai B'rith guilty of
libel, jury finds -- $400,000 awarded in damages" (B'nai B'rith wrongly
smeared former political candidate Luba Fedorkiw as an anti-Semite)
"New York Daily News," November 28, 1988: "Swastika raid on a deseg
supporter" (Laurie Recht case)
"New York Daily News," December 1, 1988: "Deseg figure is arrested"
(Laurie Recht case)
'NEW YORK (AP),' November 24, 1985: "Jewish shops struck" (Gary Dworkin
case)
'NEW YORK (JTA),' December 20, 1985: "NY Jewish Vandal Nabbed" (Gary
Dworkin case)
'MIAMI (AP),' February 19, 1989: "$5.5 Million Awarded for Anti-Semitism
Claim" (Arthur Green case)
"The Kansas City Times," September 22, 1989: "Teen charged in wall
defacement -- He allegedly painted racist message near Nelson Gallery"
(Terrence G. Weaver case)
"Seattle Post-Intelligencer," December 13, 1990: "Alleged attack victim
arrested -- Asian man who says he was beaten by whites is charged in
robberies" (Darres Park case)
"Seattle Post-Intelligencer," December 18, 1990: "Hate-crime story
faked, says Seattle Police Dept." (Darres Park case)
'From the Lawrence Bureau,' November 8, 1990: "Cross is burned on
fraternity lawn"
"The Register," March 26, 1990: "Anti-Semitic fliers scattered in Yorba
Linda -- Leaflet says it was distributed by Methodists"
'HAIFA, Israel (AP),' May 27, 1990: "Israeli is Given 3 Years For
Desecrating Graves" (David Goldner case; spray-painted over 300 grave-
stones, hoped that Jews would blame Arabs and unite against them)
"The Associated Press," April 8, 1987: "Caller is acquitted of
harassing talk show" (Jay Clark/Thomas Speers case)
"Rocky Mountain News," December 16, 1990: "Racism ruled out in Arvada
arson -- Wife of homeowner, relative arrested"
"The Associated Press," October 10, 1985: "Neo-Nazi official held in
spy case" (Communist spy evidently posing as a Neo-Nazi)
Cherry Hill, New Jersey paper, May 1, 1987: "Cherry Hill vandals face
jail, fines" (Matthew Tannenbaum (a Jew) and two others arrested for
their "anti-Semitic" attack on the predominantly Jewish Woodcrest
Country Club)
"D.C. Observer," June 13, 1988: "ADL report diminished its reputation"
(ADL (the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith) fights to censor any and
all criticism of Israel, labeling it "anti-Semitic")
"The Kansas City Times," December 16, 1987: "Voters oust mayor linked
to racist mailings" (Portsmouth, Virginia's first black mayor removed
from office in a recall election for sending racist hate mail to
community leaders)
(?) August 6, 1987: "Woodside Rebuilds, Arsonist 'Known' But Still at
Large" (Woodside synagogue arson case; fire investigator Lt. Carvel
Harding said incident was not motivated by anti-Semitism, but would not
reveal the individual or the motive because case was "touchy"...)
"Washington Jewish Week," August 6, 1987: "Jewish Youth Charged in
Swastika Burning" (Gary L. Stein case)
"Associated Press," (?): "3 JDL leaders held in religious center blast"
"ADL Bulletin," (?): "Anti-Semitic Vandalism: 2-Year Trend Reversed In
1984" (Picture is faked; swastika overlaid on photo of door of "Jewish
home in Kings Point, NY")
"The Register," September 26, 1984: "Fraudulent flier claims Costa Mesa
candidate is member of Nazi group"
"The Associated Press," August 3, 1985: "Lawsuit says Stephan invented
radical sect to further his career" (Kansas Attorney General Robert T.
Stephan case; accused of "creating" the Posse Comitatus)
"The Times," September 9, 1989: "Mlot-Mroz faces charges" (Jozef Mlot-
Mroz arrested for trying to *paint over* anti-Semitic graffiti that he
believed Jewish leaders themselves were responsible for as a way of
bringing media attention to themselves)
'From a Correspondent, New York,' March 15, 1985: "Hoax letter in US
uses UN name"
(?), November 26, 1984: "Thomas Ruppert, 35; Cleared of Yonkers Fire"
What Is "Political Extremism"?
Laird Wilcox
If it's a despot you would dethrone, see first that his throne
erected within you is destroyed. -- Kahlil Gibran, 1923
Rober Scruton, in the _Dictionary of Political Thought_ defines
"extremism" as:
1. Taking a political idea to its limits, regardless of unfortunate
repercussions, impracticalities, arguments, and feelings to the
contrary, and with the intention not only to confront, but to eliminate
opposition.
2. Intolerance toward all views other than one's own.
3. Adoption of means to political ends which show disregard for the
life, liberty, and human rights of others.
This definition basically reflects my own experience, that
extremism is more an issue of style than of content. In the twenty-
five years that I have been investigating political groups of the left
and right, I have found that most people can hold radical or unorthodox
views and still entertain them in a more or less reasonable, rational,
and nondogmatic manner. On the other hand, I have met people whose
views were fairly close to the political mainstream but were presented
in a shrill, uncompromising, bullying, and distinctly authoritarian
manner. The latter demonstrated a starkly extremist mentality while
the former demonstrated only ideological unorthodoxy, which is hardly
to be feared in a relatively free society such as ours.
This view of extremism, which may seem novel to many people since
in today's climate the term is usually used as an epithet, is held by
many writers and authorities, especially those who approach the issue
from a relatively even-handed and nonideological point of view. Milton
Rokeach, whose book _The Open and Closed Mind_ is a classic in the
field of dogmatic thinking, prejudgement, and authoritarianism, has
this to say about it:
To study the organization of belief systems, we find it necessary
to concern ourselves with the structure rather than the content of
beliefs. The relative openness or closedness of a mind cuts
across specific content; that is, it is not uniquely restricted to
any particular ideology, or religion, or philosophy, or scientific
viewpoint. A person may adhere to communism, existentialism,
Freudianism, or the "new conservatism" in a relatively open or
relatively closed manner. Thus, a basic requirement is that the
concepts to be employed in the description of belief systems must
not be tied to a particular belief system; they must be
constructed to apply equally to all belief systems.
Rokeach goes on to say "authoritarianism and intolerance in belief
and interpersonal relations are surely not a monopoly of Fascists,
Anti-Semites, Ku Klux Klanners, or conservatives." I agree, and would
add that the same behaviors merely take different forms and utilize
different vocabulary on the "left" side of the political spectrum. The
essential characteristics remain quite similar. The choice of
adjectives used to describe the behavior in question often derives far
more from the biases and interests of the observer than from the
objective facts of the situation. Daniel Bell, the eminent sociologist
and author of _The Radical Right_, tends to support this view. He
says, "The way you hold beliefs is more important than what you hold.
If somebody's been a rigid Communist, he becomes a rigid anti-Communist
-- the rigidity being constant."
In my opinion, most strident opponents of right-wing or left-wing
"extremism" exhibit significant ideological bias, and many are actually
representatives of the opposing extreme. The fact that an extremist
hates and agitates against other extremists doesn't mitigate his or her
own character in this regard. In fact, opposing extremists often form
a vague bond or symbolic relationship with one another, each justifying
the others' existence.
In focusing on the style rather than the content of a belief
system, I don't mean to imply that content is entirely irrelevant.
People who tend to adopt the extremist style most often champion causes
and adopt ideologies that are essentially "fringe" positions. But mere
advocacy of "fringe" positions gives our society the variety and
vitality it needs to function as an open democracy, to discuss and
debate all aspects of an issue, and to deal with problems that
otherwise have been ignored. The extremist style is another issue
altogether, however, in that it hampers our understanding of important
issues, it muddies the waters of discourse with invective, defamation,
self-righteousness, fanaticism, and hatred, and it impairs our ability
to make intelligent, well-informed choices.
Another point is that the extremist style is not only found at the
fringes of the political or religious spectrum, but sometimes in the
"middle" as well. An individual who is uncompromisingly and
intolerantly "centrist" may be far more dogmatic and prejudiced than
someone who adopts more radical views but does so in an open and
tolerant manner. Consequently, a guarded middle-of-the-road position
doesn't necessarily provide a solution to extremism, and in some cases
can only serve as a mask to conceal it. In fact, it could be argued
that those beliefs that are accorded legitimacy by consensus, which is
to say that everyone unthinkingly accepts them, may even be more prone
to appear on the extremist agenda and more difficult to challenge or
effectively debate.
When the word "extremist" is used as an epithet it usually
represents points of view with which we disagree, advocated by someone
we dislike (but usually don't know) and whose interests are contrary to
our own. Political ideologues and special interests often attempt
definitions of "extremism" that specifically condemn the views of their
critics and opponents while leaving their own equally strident and
intolerant behavior untouched. In the debate over abortion, for
example, one side or the other will condemn opponents as "extremists"
while describing themselves as valiant defenders of human life or
champions of freedom. In fact, bona fide extremist elements exist on
both sides of this controversy, as do relatively calm, fairminded,
honest, even-handed, and rational advocates. It is not the position
they take, but HOW they take it that matters. It has been said that
"whoever defines the terms wins the argument." The use of loaded terms
and selective vocabulary that are biased toward certain forms of
authoritarianism, bigotry, and prejudice but not others, is another
example of the pervasive double standard one encounters in this area.
The traits of "extremists"
Robert F. Kennedy wrote:
What is objectionable, what is dangerous about extremists is not
that they are extreme, but that they are intolerant. The evil is
not what they say about their cause, but what they say about their
opponents.
In analyzing the rhetoric and propaganda of several hundred
militant "fringe" political and social groups across the political
spectrum, I have identified a number of specific traits or behaviors
that tend to represent the extremist "style." Other writers have
delineated various extremist traits and where their criteria have been
objective I have included them. I am especially indebted to professors
John George and Gordon Hall for their suggestions. Please let me
caution you with the admonition, that we are all fallible human beings
and anyone, without bad intentions, may resort to some of these
behaviors from time to time. With bona fide extremists, however, these
lapses are not occasional. Rather, they are a habitual and strongly
established part of their repertoire, so much so that in some cases
their entire belief system is expressed in these terms, including a
polemical style that is fairly easy to identify.
1. CHARACTER ASSASSINATION. Extremists often attack the character of
an opponent rather than deal with the facts or issues raised. They
will question motives, qualifications, past associations, alleged
values, personality, looks, mental health, and so on as a diversion
from the issues under consideration. Some of these matters are not
entirely irrelevant, but they should not serve to avoid the real
issues. Extremists object strenuously when this is done to them, of
course!
2. NAME CALLING AND LABELING. Extremists are quick to resort to
epithets (racist, subversive, pervert, hatemonger, nut, crackpot,
degenerate, un-American, anti-semite, red, commie, nazi, kook, fink,
liar, bigot, and so on) to label and condemn opponents in order to
divert attention from their arguments and to discourage others from
hearing them out. These epithets don't have to be proved to be
effective; the mere fact that they have been said is often enough.
3. IRRESPONSIBLE SWEEPING GENERALIZATIONS. Extremists tend to make
sweeping claims or judgments on little or no evidence, and they have a
tendency to confuse similarity with sameness. That is, they assume
that because two (or more) things, events or persons are alike in some
respects, they must be alike in most respects. The sloppy use of
analogy is a treacherous form of logic and has a high potential for
false conclusions.
4. INADEQUATE PROOF FOR ASSERTIONS. Extremists tend to be very fuzzy
about what constitutes proof, and they also tend to get caught up in
logical fallacies, such as POST HOC ERGO PROPTER HOC (assuming that a
prior event explains a subsequent occurrance simply because of their
before-and-after relationship). They tend to project wished-for
conclusions and to exaggerate the significance of information that
confirms their beliefs while derogating or ignoring information that
contradicts them. They tend to be motivated by feelings more than
facts, by what they want to exist rather than what actually does exist.
Extremists do a lot of wishful and fearful thinking.
5. ADVOCACY OF DOUBLE STANDARDS. Extremists generally tend to judge
themselves or their interest group in terms of their intentions, which
they tend to view generously, and others by their acts, which they tend
to view very critically. They would like you to accept their
assertions on faith, but they demand proof for yours. They tend to
engage in special pleading on behalf of themselves or their interests,
usually because of some alleged special status, past circumstances, or
present disadvantage.
6. TENDENCY TO VIEW THEIR OPPONENTS AND CRITICS AS ESSENTIALLY EVIL.
To the extremist, opponents hold opposing positions because they are
bad people, immoral, dishonest, unscrupulous, mean-spirited, hateful,
cruel, or whatever, not merely because they simply disagree, see the
matter differently, have competing interests, or are perhaps even
mistaken.
7. MANICHAEAN WORLDVIEW. Extremists have a tendency to see the world
in terms of absolutes of good and evil, for them or against them, with
no middle ground or intermediate positions. All issues are ultimately
moral issues of right and wrong, with the "right" position coinciding
with their interests. Their slogan is often "those who are not with me
are against me."
8. ADVOCACY OF SOME DEGREE OF CENSORSHIP OR REPRESSION OF THEIR
OPPONENTS AND/OR CRITICS. This may include a very active campaign to
keep opponents from media access and a public hearing, as in the case
of blacklisting, banning, or "quarantining" dissident spokespersons.
They may actually lobby for legislation against speaking, writing,
teaching, or instructing "subversive" or forbidden information or
opinions. They may even attempt to keep offending books out of stores
or off of library shelves, discourage advertising with threats of
reprisals, and keep spokespersons for "offensive" views off the
airwaves or certain columnists out of newspapers. In each example the
goal is some kind of information control. Extremists would prefer that
you listen only to them. They feel threatened when someone talks back
or challenges their views.
9. TEND TO IDENTIFY THEMSELVES IN TERMS OF WHO THEIR ENEMIES ARE:
WHOM THEY HATE AND WHO HATES THEM. Accordingly, extremists may become
emotionally bound to their opponents, who are often competing
extremists themselves. Because they tend to view their enemies as evil
and powerful, they tend, perhaps subconsciously, to emulate them,
adopting the same tactics to a certain degree. For example, anti-
Communist and anti-Nazi groups often behave surprisingly like their
opponents. Anti-Klan rallies often take on much of the character of
the stereotype of Klan rallies themselves, including the orgy of
emotion, bullying, screaming epithets, and even acts of violence. To
behave the opposite of someone is to actually surrender your will to
them, and "opposites" are often more like mirror images that, although
they have "left" and "right" reversed, look and behave amazingly alike.
10. TENDENCY TOWARD ARGUMENT BY INTIMIDATION. Extremists tend to
frame their arguments in such a way as to intimidate others into
accepting their premises and conclusions. To disagree with them is to
"ally oneself with the devil," or to give aid and comfort to the enemy.
They use a lot of moralizing and pontificating, and tend to be very
judgemental. This shrill, harsh rhetorical style allows them to keep
their opponents and critics on the defense, cuts off troublesome lines
of argument, and allows them to define the perimeters of debate.
11. USE OF SLOGANS, BUZZWORDS, AND THOUGHT-STOPPING CLICHES. For many
extremists shortcuts in thinking and in reasoning matters out seem to
be necessary in order to avoid or evade awareness of troublesome facts
and compelling counter-arguments. Extremists generally behave in ways
that reinforce their prejudices and alter their own consciousness in a
manner that bolsters their false confidence and sense of self-
rightousness.
12. ASSUMPTION OF MORAL OR OTHER SUPERIORITY OVER OTHERS. Most
obvious would be claims of general racial or ethnic superiority -- a
master race, for example. Less obvious are claims of ennoblement
because of alleged victimhood, a special relationship with God,
membership in a special "elite" or "class," and a kind of aloof
"highminded" snobbishness that accrues because of the weightiness of
their preoccupations, their altruism, and their willingness to
sacrifice themselves (and others) to their cause. After all, who can
bear to deal with common people when one is trying to save the world!
Extremists can show great indignation when one is "insensitive" enough
to challenge these claims.
13. DOOMSDAY THINKING. Extremists often predict dire or catastrophic
consequences from a situation or from failure to follow a specific
course, and they tend to exhibit a kind of "crisis-mindedness." It can
be a Communist takeover, a Nazi revival, nuclear war, earthquakes,
floods, or the wrath of God. Whatever it is, it's just around the
corner unless we follow their program and listen to the special insight
and wisdeom, to which only the truly enlightened have access. For
extremists, any setback or defeat is the "beginning of the end!"
14. BELIEF THAT IT'S OKAY TO DO BAD THINGS IN THE SERVICE OF A "GOOD"
CAUSE. Extremists may deliberately lie, distort, misquote, slander,
defame, or libel their opponents and/or critics, engage in censorship
or repression, or undertake violence in "special cases." This is done
with little or no remorse as long as it's in the service of defeating
the Communists or Fascists or whomever. Defeating an "enemy" becomes
an all-encompassing goal to which other values are subordinate. With
extremists, the end justifies the means.
15. EMPHASIS ON EMOTIONAL RESPONSES AND, CORRESPONDINGLY, LESS
IMPORTANCE ATTACHED TO REASONING AND LOGICAL ANALYSIS. Extremists have
an unspoken reverence for propaganda, which they may call "education"
or "consciousness-raising." Symbolism plays an exaggerated role in
their thinking, and they tend to think imprecisely and metaphorically.
Harold D. Lasswell, in his book _Psychopathology and Politics_, says,
"The essential mark of the agitator is the high value he places on the
emotional response of the public." Effective extremists tend to be
effective propagandists. Propaganda differs from education in that the
former teaches one what to think, and the latter teaches one how to
think.
[An illustration appears in the booklet which shows a shadowy figure
painting on a brick wall, "_NO_ FREE SPEECH FOR ANYONE WHO DISAGREES
WITH US," with two police officers looking down from over and behind
the wall. The caption below the illustration reads, "A diligent
student."]
16. HYPERSENSITIVITY AND VIGILANCE. Extremists perceive hostile
innuendo in even casual comments; imagine rejection and antagonism
concealed in honest disagreement and dissent; see "latent" subversion,
anti-semitism, perversion, racism, disloyalty, and so on in innocent
gestures and ambiguous behaviors. Although few extremists are
clinically paranoid, many of them adopt a paranoid style with its
attendant hostility and distrust.
17. USE OF SUPERNATURAL RATIONALE FOR BELIEFS AND ACTIONS. Some
extremists, particularly those involved in "cults" or extreme religious
movements, such as fundamentalist Christians, militant Zionist
extremists, and members of mystical and metaphysical organizations,
claim some kind of supernatural rationale for their beliefs and
actions, and that their movement or cause is ordained by God. In this
case, stark extremism may become reframed in a "religious" context,
which can have a legitimizing effect for some people. It's surprising
how many people are reluctant to challenge religiously motivated
extremism because it represents "religious belief" or because of the
sacred-cow status of some religions in our culture.
18. PROBLEMS TOLERATING AMBIGUITY AND UNCERTAINTY. Indeed, the
ideologies and belief systems to which extremists tend to attach
themselves often represent grasping for certainty in an uncertain
world, or an attempt to achieve absolute security in an environment
that is naturally unpredictable or perhaps populated by people with
interests opposed to their own. Extremists exhibit a kind of risk-
aversiveness that compels them to engage in controlling and
manipulative behavior, both on a personal level and in a political
context, to protect themselves from the unforseen and unknown. The
more laws or "rules" there are that regulate the behavior of others --
in particular their "enemies" -- the more secure extremists feel.
19. INCLINATION TOWARD "GROUPTHINK." Extremists, their organizations,
and their subcultures are prone to a kind of inward-looking group
cohesiveness that leads to what Irving Janis discussed in his excellent
book _Victims of Groupthink_. "Groupthink" involves a tendency to
conform to group norms and to preserve solidarity and concurrence at
the expense of distorting members' observations of facts, conflicting
evidence, and disquieting observations that would call into question
the shared assumptions and beliefs of the group. Right-wingers (or
left-wingers), for example, talk only with one another, read material
that reflects their own views, and can be almost phobic about the
"propaganda" of the "other side." The result is a deterioration of
reality-testing, rationality, and moral judgement. With groupthink,
shared illusions of righteousness, superior morality, persecution, and
so on remain intact, and those who challenge them are viewed with
skepticism and hostility.
20. TENDENCY TO PERSONALIZE HOSTILITY. Extremists often wish for the
personal bad fortune of their "enemies," and celebrate when it occurs.
When a critic or an adversary dies or has a serious illness, a bad
accident, or personal legal problems, extremists often rejoice and
chortle about how they "deserved" it. I recall seeing right-wing
extremists celebrate the assassination of Martin Luther King and
leftists agonizing because George Wallace survived an assassination
attempt. In each instance their hatred was not only directed against
ideas, but also against individual human beings.
21. EXTREMISTS OFTEN FEEL THAT THE SYSTEM IS NO GOOD UNLESS THEY WIN.
For example, if they lose an election, then it was "rigged." If public
opinion turns against them, it was because of "brainwashing." If their
followers become disillusioned, it's because of "sabotage." The test
of the rightness or wrongness of the system is how it impacts upon
them.
Thus, extremists tend to have these things in common:
1. They represent some attempt to distort reality for themselves and
others. Extremism tends to be "feeling-based" rather than
"evidence-based," although the selective use of evidence may
obscure that fact.
2. They try to discourage critical examination of their beliefs by a
variety of means, usually by false logic, rhetorical trickery, or
some kind of censorship, repression, or intimidation.
3. Extremism usually represents some attempt to act out private
personal grudges or to rationalize the pursuit of special interests
in the name of public welfare, morality, duty, or social
consciousness. Extremists often have motives they themselves do
not recognize.
Human beings are imperfect and fallible. Even an honest,
rational, and well-intentioned person may resort to some of these
traits from time to time. Everyone has strong feelings about some
issues and anyone can become excited and "blow up" once in awhile.
Most of us still retain our basic common sense, good will, and sense of
humor. My purpose is not to establish some impossible standard that
almost no one can meet, but simply to suggest a better direction. The
difference between bona fide extremists and others is that this general
kind of behavior is the extremists' normal and usual way of relating
their values and feelings, and they usually feel no guilt or sense that
anything is wrong when they behave this way. The extremist subculture
rewards and reinforces these behaviors, while the society of thoughtful
and fair-minded people discourages it.
One final note
The truth of a proposition cannot be inferred merely from the
manner in which arguments in its behalf are presented, from the fact
that its adherents may censor or harass their opponents, or because
they practice any other behavior or combination of behaviors suggested
in this article. Ultimately, the truth of any proposition or claim
must rest upon the evidence for it. Moreover, the intensity of a
conviction has nothing whatsoever to do with whether or not it is true.
To dismiss a proposition out of hand merely because it is advocated by
obvious extremists is to dismiss it ad hominem, that is, because of WHO
advocates it. In point of fact, extremists are sometimes correct.
They often deal with the "hot" issues, the controversial issues many
people choose to avoid. Before you write people off as extremists,
take a look at their evidence. It might be that they're actually on to
something important. *
THE PRACTICE OF RITUAL DEFAMATION
How Values, Opinions, and Beliefs are
Controlled in Democratic Societies
By Laird Wilcox
1990
-------------
Foreword
Defamation is the destruction or attempted destruction of the
reputation, status, character or standing of the community of a person
or group of persons by wrongful, unfair, or malicious speech or
publication. For the purposes of this essay, the central element is
defamation in retaliation for the real or imagined attitudes, opinions
or beliefs of the victim, with the intention of silencing them and
neutralizing his or her influence, and/or making an example of them so
as to discourage similar independence and "insensitivity" or non-
observance of taboos. It is different in nature and degree from simple
criticism or disagreement in that it is aggressive, organized and
skillfully applied, often by an organization or representative of a
special interest group, and in that it consists of several
characteristic elements.
"Ritual" defamation is not ritualistic because it follows any
prescribed religious or mystical doctrine nor is it embraced in any
particular scripture. Rather, it is ritualistic because it follows a
predictable, stereotyped pattern which embraces a number of typical
elements, as in a ritual.
The Elements of a Ritual Defamation are these:
1. In a ritual defamation the victim must have violated a
particular taboo in some way, usually by expressing or identifying with
a forbidden attitude, opinion or belief. It is not necessary that he
"do" anything about it or undertake any course of action, only that he
engage in some form of communication or expression.
2. The method of attack in a ritual defamation is to assail the
character of the victim, and never to offer more than a perfunctory
challenge to the particular attitudes, opinions or beliefs expressed or
implied. _Character assassination_ is its primary tool.
3. An important rule is to avoid engaging in honest debate over
the truthfulness or reasonableness of what has been expressed, only
condemn it. To debate opens the issue up for examination and
discussion on its merits, which is just what the ritual defamer is
trying to avoid. The primary goal is _Censorship_ and _repression_.
4. The victim is very often someone in the public eye, although
perhaps only in a modest way. It could be a school-teacher, a writer,
a businessman, a minor official, or merely an outspoken citizen.
Visibility enhances vulnerability to ritual defamation.
5. An attempt, often successful, is made to involve others in the
defamation. In the case of a public official, other public officials
will be urged to denounce the offender. In the case of a student,
other students will be called upon, and so on.
6. In order for a ritual defamation to be effective, the victim
must be _dehumanized_ to the extent that he becomes identical with the
offending attitude, opinion or belief, and in a manner which distorts
it to the point where it appears at its most extreme. For example, a
victim who is defamed as a "subversive" will be identified with the
worst images of subversion, such as espionage or treason. A victim
defamed as a "pervert" will be identified with the worst images of
perversion, including child molestation. A victim defamed as a
"racist" or "anti-Semitic" will be identified with the worst images of
racism or anti-Semitism, such as lynchings or gas chambers, and so on.
7. Also to be successful, a ritual defamation must bring pressure
and humiliation from every quarter, including family and friends, who
may begin to shun him. If the victim has school children, they may be
taunted and ridiculed as a consequence of adverse publicity. If he is
employed, he may be fired from his job.
8. Anyone who defends a victim runs the risk of being associated
with him and similarly defamed. Even if their own reputation is beyond
question, their judgement and involvement with the victim may become an
issue. Often, the victim of a ritual defamation becomes isolated and
abandoned.
9. Any explanation the victim may offer, including the claim of
being misunderstood, is considered irrelevant. To claim truth as a
defense is interpreted as unrepentance and only compounds the problem.
Ritual defamation is not necessarily an offense of being wrong or
incorrect, but rather "insensitivity" and failing to observe social
taboos.
10. Many victims succumb early on and go through a "confessional"
stage complete with apologies and remorse. They may even denounce
friends associated with the forbidden values, opinions and beliefs, or
claim that they were "duped," as was the case with many suspected
"subversives" during the McCarthy era. If the charges against them
involve "morals," they may claim stress or mental illness as a defense.
11. The viciousness of ritual defamation is inspired not merely
by revenge, although that is an important factor, but also to create an
example so others will know of the savaging they can expect for
stepping out of line. Ritual defamation is an important means of
_social control_.
12. An interesting aspect of ritual defamation is its
universality. It is not specific to any particular value, opinion or
belief or to any group or subculture. It may be used either for or
against any political, ethnic or religious minority and also by any
political, ethnic or religious minority.
13. Ritual Defamation often appears in paradoxical forms, as in
the case of organizations claiming to oppose defamation itself, even
using the term "anti-defamation" in their name. Psychologically, this
may represent a projective mechanism, in which the organization
attempts to camoflage its own propensities in the form of an official
myth, a kind of agreed-upon fiction that perfumes its actual
activities, which are often transparently evident from its
publications.
14. The power of ritual defamation lies entirely in its capacity
to intimidate. It embraces some elements of primitive supersitious
belief, as in a "curse" or "hex." It also plays on the subconscious
fear most people have of being rejected by the "tribe" and being cut
off from social and psychological support systems. Only the truly
courageous and independent person can withstand the full force of a
ritual defamation, and occasionally they may even survive such an
attempt relatively unscathed.
15. The weak points of ritual defamation lie in its tendency
toward overkill and in its rather transparent maliciousness.
Occasionally, a ritual defamation will fail because of inadequate
planning and failure to correctly estimate the vulnerability of the
victim. Ritual defamers often exhibit extensive projective mechanisms
and delusions of persecution themselves. Although it may appear to be
an offensive maneuver, it's actually quite defensive in nature. As
Eric Hoffer said: "You can discover what your enemy fears most by
observing the means he uses to frighten you." (_The True Believer_,
1951.)
16. Paradoxically, a ritual defamation often brings about the
very values, opinions and beliefs that it condemns, as in a self-
fulfilling prophecy. It enhances paranoia and hatred and generally
serves to divide and alienate. It hardens positions and polarizes a
situation as nothing else can. A person accused of supporting a
particular belief may find themselves propelled into that position.
Politically, for example, it's quite effective in creating rebels and
dissidents. It has been used in various forms by dictatorships and
totalitarian systems all throughout history. In democratic societies
it has become a favorite tool of special interest groups to villify and
neutralize their critics and opponents.
It's important to recognize and identify the pattern of a ritual
defamation and call attention to it whenever the opportunity presents
itself. Ritual defamation is accomplished entirely through the
manipulation of language and symbols, and when one understands that
then it becomes recognized for the hypocritical, slanderous assault on
human dignity that it really is.
Laird Wilcox
QUOTATIONS
"Politics, as a practice, whatever its professions, has always been the
systematic organization of hatreds." HENRY BROOKS ADAMS.
"A lively, disinterested, persistent liking for truth is
extraordinarily rare. Action and faith enslave thought, both of them
in order not to be troubled or inconvenienced by reflection, criticism
or doubt." HENRY FREDERICK AMIEL, _Amiel's Journal_, 1849-71.
"The trouble with lying and deceiving is that their efficiency depends
entirely upon a clear notion of truth that the liar and the deceiver
wants to hide." HANNAH ARENDT, _Crisis Of The Republic_, 1972.
"There is a tonic in the things that men do not love to hear. Free
speech is to a great people what the winds are to oceans...and where
free speech is stopped miasma is bred, and death comes fast." HENRY
WARD BEECHER.
"The first sign of corruption in a society that is still alive is that
the end justifies the means." GEORGES BERNANOS, _Last Essays_, 1949.
"Experience should teach us to be most on guard to protect liberty when
the government's purposes are beneficient....The greatest dangers to
our liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning
but without understanding." LOUIS BRANDEIS, U.S. Supreme Court
Justice.
"The dearest ambition of a slave is not liberty, but to have a slave of
his own." SIR RICHARD BURTON.
"Slogans are both exciting and comforting, but they are also powerful
opiates for the conscience." JAMES BRYANT CONANT, Baccalaureate
Address, Harvard University, 1934.
"It is a capital crime to theorize before one has data. Insensibly,
one begins to twist facts to suit theories instead of theories to suit
facts." SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE, _The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes_,
1891.
"When there is a choice about how to lie, liars usually prefer
concealing to falsifying. There are many advantages. For one thing,
concealing is easier than falsifying. Nothing has to be made up.
There is no chance of getting caught without having the whole story
worked out in advance." PAUL EKMAN, _Telling Lies_, 1985.
"Propaganda is persuading people to make up their minds while
witholding some of the facts from them." HAROLD EVANS.
"There is no zeal blinder than that which is inspired with the love of
justice against offenders." HENRY FIELDING, _Tom Jones_.
"There is perhaps no phenomenon which contains so much destructive
feeling as moral indignation, which permits envy or hate to be acted
out under the guise of virtue." ERICH FROMM, _Man For Himself_, 1947.
"I doubt if the oppressed ever fight for freedom. They fight for pride
and for power -- power to oppress others. The oppressed want above all
to imitate their oppressors; they want to retaliate." ERIC HOFFER,
_The Passionate State Of Mind_.
"There is no method of reasoning more common, and yet none more
blamable, than, in philosophical disputes, to endeavor the refutation
of a hypothesis, by a pretense of its dangerous consequence to religion
and morality." DAVID HUME, _An Inquiry Concerning Human
Understanding_, 1748.
"The propagandist's purpose is to make one set of people forget that
the other set are human." ALDOUS HUXLEY, _The Olive Tree_, 1937.
"...every crusade tends, by the very difficulty of its struggle and the
fervor of its hope, to develop overdrive -- a determination that may go
too far." ORRIN E. KLAPP, _The Collective Search For Identity_, 1969.
"The language of the totalist environment is characterized by the
thought-terminating cliche. The most far-reaching and complex of human
problems are compressed into brief, highly reductive, definitive-
sounding phrases, easily memorized and easily expressed." ROBERT J.
LIFTON, _Thought Reform And The Psychology Of Totalism_, 1961.
"For the majority of mankind are satisfied with appearances, as though
they were realities, and are often more influenced by the things that
seem than by those that are." NICOLO MACHIAVELLI, _Discources_,
1513-17.
"The historians first duties are sacrilege and the mocking of false
Gods. They are his indispensible instruments for establishing the
truth." JULES MICHELET, _Historie de France_, 1833-67.
"Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does
not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the
abyss will gaze back at you." FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE, 1878.
"What gives the new despotism its peculiar effectiveness is indeed its
liason with humanitarianism, but beyond this fact its capacity for
entering into the smallest details of human life." ROBERT NISBET,
_Twilight Of Authority_, 1981.
"A person growing up with Newspeak as his sole language would no more
know that equal had once the secondary meaning of 'politically equal,'
or that free had once meant 'intellectually free,'...." GEORGE ORWELL,
_Nineteen Eighty-Four_, 1948.
"You are never dedicated to something you have complete confidence in.
When people are fanatically dedicated to political or religious faiths,
or any other kind of dogmas or goals, it's always because these dogmas
or goals are in doubt." ROBERT M. PIRSIG, _Zen and the Art of
Motorcycle Maintenance_.
"Our experience is composed rather of illusions lost rather than wisdom
acquired." JOSEPH ROUX, _Meditations Of A Parish Priest_, 1886.
"Intelligence is quickness in seeing things as they are." GEORGE
SANTAYANA, _Little Essays_, 1920.
"To claim 'humanitarian motives,' when the true motive is envy and its
supposed appeasement, is a favorite rhetorical device of politicians
today..." HELMUT SCHOEK, _Envy: A Theory Of Social Behavior_, 1966.
"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism in those
who have not got it." GEORGE BERNARD SHAW, _Man & Superman_, 1903.
"Policies are judged by their consequences but crusades are judged by
how good they make their crusaders feel." THOMAS SOWELL, _Compassion
vs. Guilt_, 1987.
"If we value the pursuit of knowledge, we must be free to follow
wherever that search may lead us." ADLAI STEVENSON, Speech, University
of Wisconson, 1952.
"The basis of fascism is blind belief and a contempt for reason...
Fascism exploits the fear of reason which lives secretly in the
conscious and sub-conscious minds of many people. Reason means facing
up to life and facts." ERNEST TOLLER.
1990 Catalog LAIRD WILCOX 1990 Catalog
Editorial Research Service
PO Box 2047
Olathe, KS 66061
Phone/FAX: 1-913-829-0609
* GUIDE TO THE AMERICAN RIGHT -- Directory and Bibliography
New 1990 edition, completely revised and updated! A current and
comprehensive DIRECTORY of over 2,000 Anti-Communist, Conservative,
Patriotic, Tax Protest, Pro-Family, Libertarian, Ethnic (White)
Nationalist, Right-To-Life and other "right-wing" organizations,
publishers, book dealers, newsletters and journals in the United States
and Canada. Listings are coded to indicate special areas of interest
and serials are cross-indexed with sponsoring organizations. Includes
an extensive BIBLIOGRAPHY of over 560 books on the American "right-
wing" including biographies, histories and various reports and studies.
The GUIDE also contains a substantial selection of thought-provoking
quotations on philosophy, politics and belief systems.
Laird Wilcox, Editor/ISBN 0-933592-58-2/ISSN 8756-0216/$24.95 Postpaid!
* GUIDE TO THE AMERICAN LEFT -- Directory and Bibliography
New 1990 edition, completely revised and updated! A current and
comprehensive DIRECTORY of over 2,000 Socialist, Marxist,
Revolutionary, Disarmament, Anti-Nuclear, Ethnic (Minority)
Nationalist, Environmentalist, Gay, Feminist and other "left-wing"
organizations, publishers, book dealers, newsletters and journals in
the United States and Canada. Listings are coded to indicate special
areas of interest and serials are cross-indexed with sponsoring
organizations. Includes an extensive BIBLIOGRAPHY of over 880 books on
the American "left-wing," including biographies, histories and various
reports and studies. The GUIDE also contains a substantial selection
of thought-provoking quotations on politics, philosophy and belief
systems.
Laird Wilcox, Editor/ISBN 0-933592-59-0/ISSN 8756-0208/$24.95 Postpaid!
* GUIDE TO THE AMERICAN OCCULT -- Directory and Bibliography
New 1990 edition, completely revised and updated! A current and
comprehensive DIRECTORY of over 2,000 Mystical, Metaphysical,
Parapsychological, Psychic, ESP, Spiritualist, Faith Healing,
Astrological, Pagan, Witchcraft and new and unconventional religions
and "occult" organizations, publishers, book dealers, newsletters and
journals in the United States and Canada. Contains an extensive list
of over 200 "anti-cult" and skeptical organizations. Listings are
coded to indicate special areas of interest and serials are cross-
referenced with sponsoring organizations. Includes an extensive
BIBLIOGRAPHY of over 1,000 books on the American "occult," including
biographies, histories and various studies and reports. The GUIDE also
contains a substantial selection of thought-provoking quotations on
philosophy, religion & belief systems.
Laird Wilcox, Editor/ISBN 0-933592-60-4/ISSN 0888-0433/$24.95 Postpaid!
* TERRORISM, ASSASSINATION, ESPIONAGE & PROPAGANDA: A Master
Bibliography
New 1989 edition, completely revised and enlarged! An extensive and
carefully annotated bibliography of over 3,200 books on all aspects of
Assassination, Brainwashing, Codes & Ciphers, Conspiracy Theories,
Covert Operations, Disinformation, Espionage, Explosives and Bombs,
Insurgency, Guerilla Warfare, Intelligence, Internal Security, KGB,
FBI, CIA, Kidnapping, Mass Movements, Loyalty and Security Screening,
Persuasion, Political Police, Spy Devices, Propaganda, Psychological
Warfare, Resistance Movements, Sabotage, Subversion, Terrorism,
Undercover Investigation, Underground Activities and Weapons Training.
Most entries published since 1960. Includes directory of publishers
and book dealers, and a list of organizations and serials relating to
the general area of terrorism, assassination, espionage and propaganda.
One of the most complete bibliographies on these subjects available!
Laird Wilcox, Editor/ISBN 0-933592-55-8/$19.95 Postpaid!
* SELECTED QUOTATIONS FOR THE IDEOLOGICAL SKEPTIC: A Compendium of
Epigrams, Aphorisms, Observations and Commentary on Ideologues, True
Believers, Fanatics, Crusaders and Zealots
New 1989 edition, enlarged 50% over previous edition! Subtitled: "A
Compendium of Epigrams, Aphorisms, Observations and Commentary on
Ideologues, True Believers, Fanatics and Crusaders, Partisans and
Zealots!" A fascinating and entertaining compilation of wit and wisdom
of the centuries as it relates to causes and crusades. Included are
selections from Amiel, Austin, Aristotle, Aron, Atkinson, Bagehot,
Barzun, Berlin, Bierce, Brandies, Brandon, Broun, Camus, Chesterton,
Coleridge, Commager, Cort, Conrad, Darrow, Demosthenes, Dewey, Doyle,
Dostoevsky, Descartes, Djilas, Durant, Einstein, Emerson, Epictetis,
Forster, Fry, Fromm, Galbraith, Galsworthy, Gibran, Gide, Goethe,
Hayakawa, Hayek, Hazlitt, Heinlein, Hesse, Hoffer, Holmes, Hofstadter,
Hook, Huxley, Jefferson, Jourard, Kafka, Kierkegaard, Koestler,
Lasswell, Locke, LaBruyere, Lindner, Macauley, Machiavelli, Maugham,
Melville, Meiklejohn, Mencken, Merloo, Mill, Montaigne, Orwell,
Nietzsche, Pascal, Plato, Russell, Saint-Exupery, Santayana, Sarte,
Saperstein, Schopenhauer, Schumpeter, Shaw, Solzhenitsyn, Szasz,
Spencer, Spinoza, Tuchman, Tocqueville, Voltaire and Wilde! A
fascinating selection of quotations for any student of ideological
belief systems!
Laird Wilcox, Editor/ISBN 0-933592-54-X/$19.95 Postpaid!
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
The Wilcox Collection on Contemporary Political Movements
Laird Wilcox, compiler and editor of these publications, is founder of
the WILCOX COLLECTION ON CONTEMPORARY POLITICAL MOVEMENTS, housed in
Kenneth Spencer Research Library at the University of Kansas. The
collection, established in 1965 and maintained by the University,
occupies over 1,400 feet of shelving and contains over 5,500 books and
pamphlets, 4,000 serials, 800 audio tapes, and files on more than 8,000
organizations. From 1986 until 1989 the collection will be undergoing
a $345,000 cataloging project. The WILCOX COLLECTION has been
described as "...one of the largest collections of its kind in the
world" and is used regularly by researchers and scholars. For further
information write to the WILCOX COLLECTION, Kenneth Spencer Research
Library, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66061.
If you have questions concerning the publications in this catalog, or
if you would like to discuss Mr. Wilcox's availability for
consultations or lectures, call 1-913-829-0609. The directory sections
of these GUIDES are available on computer-generated peel-off labels.
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
Ordering Information
All prices are postpaid! Payment must accompany all orders. C.O.D.
orders require 25% deposit. Overseas add 25% for airmail. Make checks
and money orders payable to Laird Wilcox. Mail orders to: Laird
Wilcox, Editorial Research Service, P.O. Box 2047, Olathe, KS 66061
---end of booklet---
Ralph Winston
-.-
Banished CPU supports FREEDOM OF SPEECH. Currently no fees.
CALL: +1(503) 232-6566 (8N1, v.32/42/bis) or +1(503) 232-5783 (8N1)
UUCP: Path (..twiki!b-cpu) "ELIMINATED" BY ZIONIST THOUGHT POLICE!!!
Users of Banished CPU are solely responsible for their actions.
Technical Details
Message-ID:
<gate.N0B4iB1w164w@b-cpu.UUCP>Path:
arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!sparky!uunet!psgrain!percy!parsely!agora!b-cpu!newsShow Full Headers
Complete Article Headers
Path: arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!sparky!uunet!psgrain!percy!parsely!agora!b-cpu!news From: ralphw@b-cpu.UUCP (Ralph Winston) Newsgroups: misc.headlines,talk.politics.misc,talk.politics.mideast,soc.misc Subject: THE HOAXER PROJECT REPORT (Racist and Anti-Semitic Hoaxes and more!) Message-ID: <gate.N0B4iB1w164w@b-cpu.UUCP> Date: Sat, 11 Apr 92 18:54:34 PST Organization: Banished CPU, +1(503) 232-6566 Lines: 2842