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agree. Let me know if y'all need t-shirts or banners.https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10157898740520713&set=g.918892618217309&type=1&theater
Please excuse the lateness of this response.For reference, here is the part of the bylaws that this discussion thread refers to:2.2 The Longmont Green Party’s expression of the 7th and 8th Key Values, as well as of the Third Pillar of the Green Party (Social Justice) causes it to declare that we are an anti-oppression party, actively dedicated to the work of challenging white supremacy, cissexism and heteropatriarchy. As such, expressions of sexism, racism, classism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, and other oppressive behaviors are not in keeping with the values of this party. 2.2.1. Further, the Longmont Green Party explicitly rejects the false ideas that are used to derail social justice movements, such as reverse racism and misandry. While prejudice may exist against white people, against men, against cisgender people, against heterosexual people (or any other privileged group), this prejudice is not oppression because there are no institutional power structures designed to disenfranchise these privileged groups.These expansions of the key values has led a few council members to disagree with these statements. We'd like to expand the thought and motive behind these declarations to hopefully bring some clarity.How standing against oppression is neither “divisive” nor “negative”The creation of these bylaws was a group effort. While we did adopt much of the language from the Denver Green Party, we discussed our anti-oppression stance at length when adopting our bylaws and we all agreed that supporting attempts to derail any progress towards social justice (such as the false oppression language used to advocate misandry, reverse racism, etc) would be counter intuitive to the Ten Key Values.The Green Party recognizes our nation’s real history, not its idealized historyWhite supremacy and racism are at the very root of this country’s history, laws, and government. From our nation’s birth to the present day, white supremacy has eroded and continues to erode at our strength in common unity. The Green Party must lead in the understanding of this history, and current reality. The invention of race distinctions and the so called white race were created to divide us so that an elite class could maintain control, and economic domination. Professor Jacqueline Battalora, Ph.D has given a presentation called “Birth of a White Nation” (link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riVAuC0dnP4) which explains the creation of the legal “class” of white people.)People of different races than white legally were not allowed to become citizens because of US law from the birth of this nation, Naturalization Act of 1790 (link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naturalization_Act_of_1790), all the way up until the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_and_Nationality_Act_of_1952).Furthermore, some of our members, being from the south, were taught an alternative narrative of the civil war. The so-called War of Northern Aggression. "Heritage not hate" was (is) a normalized, although not valid, idea. Please read the the actual letters of secession from the Union, and remember the falseness of this normalized idea:http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/primarysources/declarationofcauses.htmlhttps://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/06/what-this-cruel-war-was-over/396482/Bigotry, (re)Branding & Our ResistanceThere are those who would stir up animus against minorities by co-opting anti-oppression language, not simply using the same old tools and labeling that is seen throughout our nation's history. As we discussed above, the ideals of the Confederacy are not wholly denounced in the South, but are commonly romanticized with slogans such as “Heritage, not Hate” and claiming that flying the Confederate flag is a homage to their history. The re-branding of bigotry using new labels such as “white pride”, “stop white genocide”, “heritage, not hate”, etc. are an attempt to revive the ideas of white supremacy and to recruit people into movements such as Richard Spencer’s “Alternative Right”.“Stop white genocide” (link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zMzeKBEvaQ) is a sample false narrative of oppression. "White genocide", is not a reality, and not a valid declaration of oppression. It is simply the old rhetoric of “purity of the races”. This is an example of exactly what the Longmont Green Party refuses to be a platform for, and also openly rejects. The normalization of hate speech disguised as the free speech of the oppressed, is very much rampant today, and we know how to identify it and will not tolerate it.Conclusion: The Green Future of LongmontWhat our by-laws state is that we are an anti-oppression party. We are opposed to the oppression of all people. We also recognize the existence and intentional creation of socially divisive structures by a ruling elite in order to distract us from the work we need to do to make our world more just, equitable and green. We also recognize prejudice exists against privileged groups, but are only making a distinction between prejudice and oppression. Nowhere are we advocating prejudice against any group (that was quite a stretch for a member of the council to allude to). We are a party of equality in a nation that is unequal by design. To all who believe the said section of the bylaws advocate racism or prejudice, please consider this response.We look forward to working with all of you in the important work we have before us.Thank you,The Longmont Green Party
