2008 Woodie Awards
Where is the civility?
Chris Simcox crosses the line
Marcy Newman
Guest Opinion
Issue date: 12/6/07 Section: Opinion
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Although the Boise State administration took the time to craft such an admirable document one might wonder how it is that Chris Simcox, Founder and President of Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, was invited to speak on campus. His vigilante organization is founded upon violent principles that target Latinos crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. According to human rights organizations such as the Southern Poverty Law Center, since October 1994 there have been 10,000 people who have died crossing in order to work low-wage jobs in the U.S. or to reunite with family members. That figure reached record levels in April 2005 when Simcox founded his militia. Mexican deaths on the border are due to vigilante shootings as well as deaths related to people being forced to cross under more extreme conditions in order to avoid militias like the Minuteman. A lack of water, food, and extreme weather have contributed to these deaths as well as fear of vigilante groups detaining, harassing, and shooting them.
The Orwellian name of Simcox's vigilante group likens them to the Minutemen, the Massachusetts militia fighting for independence (albeit independence dependent upon the genocide of the indigenous population in the Americas), perhaps hoping that the association will make them seem patriotic. Likewise their "civil defense" title obscures the fact that they are offensively attacking innocent people crossing the border. In fact, the Minuteman organization, like all such post-9/11 organizations, inverts and distorts reality to serve their own political agenda. Indeed, the Minuteman militia would best be likened to the Ku Klux Klan, an organization that was founded upon the intimidation, harassment, and lynching of African Americans. Indeed, the Southern Poverty Law Center, whose work yielded success in Idaho in 1999 when they shut down Richard Butler's Aryan Nation compound in northern Idaho. That same organization has been dedicated to documenting and fighting legal battles of those affected by the violence along the U.S.-Mexico border.
By bringing Simcox and his ilk to campus we tread upon the safety of non-dominant students on campus. Simcox's hateful rhetoric is not only intimidating, it also has a violent past and present to back it up. Would BSU deem it in line with its commitment to civility by inviting the Ku Klux Klan to campus? Or does the "Statement of Shared Values" only apply to the majority white student body? It is perfectly appropriate to discuss issues related to the U.S.-Mexico border on campus, but it should be done in an academic context with non-white scholars or artists who are capable of engaging with the facts and who use research rather than weapons to make their points. There is no room for hate-speech on a university campus, especially one that claims to value civil discourse and respect.
Marcy Newman is an assistant professor in the English Department at Boise State
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 20
Lisa
posted 12/06/07 @ 4:15 AM MST
This woman is a fascist. She's calling for suppression of speech she doesn't agree with. Typical PC liberal.
Mohammed
posted 12/06/07 @ 4:18 AM MST
Hey dumbass, ever hear of the First Amendment? Guess what, the Constitution overules whatever bullshit censorship you claim BSU can impose...
Thomas
posted 12/06/07 @ 4:28 AM MST
Sources for this information, or is this coming from first hand experience crossing the border?
White Anglo Saxon Protestant Heterosexual Lower Middle Class Male
posted 12/06/07 @ 8:37 AM MST
Newman's definition of civility = anything that agrees with her perception of how the world should be.
This article was typical Newman; 100% ideologue brimming with PC hyperbole. (Continued…)
CS
posted 12/06/07 @ 10:15 AM MST
I've noticed that while many people are "bashing" Simcox and the Minuteman project, nobody seems to be able to dedicate anything. This article, for example, mentions the death of many immigrants crossing the borders illegally. (Continued…)
Ken Dreger
posted 12/06/07 @ 12:30 PM MST
Dr. Kustra-
It has been brought to our attention by an article on the Boise states independent student newspaper web site written by Dr. Marcy Newman: http://media. (Continued…)
James C Harrington
posted 12/06/07 @ 4:05 PM MST
My goodness,how on earth did this woman ever become a professor.If im the dean at Boise State,i would give her twenty four hours to clean out her desk. (Continued…)
Karen L. Harper
posted 12/06/07 @ 8:49 PM MST
Being a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, it behooves me to ask why Marcy Newman(ast.professor?) didn't study up on the Minutemen before sticking her foot in her mouth? I'm computer illiterate and I have. (Continued…)
Joe Wilcox
posted 12/07/07 @ 1:04 AM MST
Marcy Newman is an interesting person. I don't know her at all aside from this article and what I have read in her blog. Likely, she isn't even reading these posts. (Continued…)
AmericanFirst
Tony Dolz
posted 12/07/07 @ 2:24 AM MST
Marcy Newman, you don't sound like a rational person.
Could you do us a great service and document just one of your outlandish claims.
"Mexican deaths on the border are due to vigilante (Minutemen) shootings" OK, Ms Newman can you document the "shootings"?
Certainly you footnote your papers?
You could have saved a lot of ink. (Continued…)
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