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12 de Octubre, 2006
Minuteman Runs Away From Girl Armed With Truth
Categorized under Frontera , Medios , Protesta | Tags:
JIM GILCHRIST, founder of the racist "Minuteman Project," who is supposed to be able to guard a border but who turns and runs from students carrying banners and chants (runs under cover of armed protection), now runs from a debate with Karina Garcia, Political Chair of the Chicano Caucus at Columbia University. Just a few minutes into the radio show, hosted by Democracy Now!, he hides behind "legal advice," threatens Karina (and her "cohorts") one last time, and then cuts the line.
I'll let you listen for yourself, and I bet hearing Karina kick it, con corazón, without premeditated soundbites, without "legal advice," but armed only with her passion and her knowledge of the situation, you'll want to get up and shout.
[I]t's a known fact, this group recruits people from the National Alliance, one of the biggest neo-Nazi organizations in this country. This is an undisputed fact. Now, the fact that this organization is trying to clean up its image now and the fact that Jim Gilchrist has taken off his Klan hood and put on a suit doesn't mean that he isn't what he is and that his organization isn't what they are.
—Karina Garcia, Political Chair of, the Chicano Caucus at Columbia University. Democracy Now!
Karina's good. She spits out fact, she spits out common sense, and through it all, she is radiating heart and power that makes the whiny, nasal, tin-throated Gilchrist sound like a little potato bug crawling over a compost heap. I think simply the juxtaposition of the energy and words and stance of the two speakers says worlds about their causes and underlying motivations.
AMY GOODMAN: Jim Gilchrist, who was the speaker at the event, joins us now from Irvine, California. He is the founder of the Minuteman Project and the co-author of Minutemen: The Battle to Secure America's Borders. Here in studio in New York, I’m joined by Karina Garcia. She is the political chair of the Chicano Caucus at Columbia University. Her group organized the protest outside the Minuteman event. We asked a representative from Columbia University to join us as well, but they declined our invitation.
Let's start with Jim Gilchrist. Can you talk about why you came to Columbia and what your message was?
JIM GILCHRIST: Yes, thanks for having me on your program. We came to Columbia from the invitation of the Republican club, student club at Columbia University, to speak about the book that Dr. Corsi and I wrote — Dr. Corsi also was scheduled to speak right after I was — and also about our views on the illegal immigration crisis that the United States is facing. We were there simply to disseminate information, not engage in what we’ve been accused of, as some kind of xenophobic racism. It’s simply a lecture presented by three of us: Marvin Stewart, an African American member of my board of directors, Dr. Jerome Corsi, and myself.
AMY GOODMAN: And when you got to the university and you were giving your address, what is your view of what happened?
JIM GILCHRIST: There was a concerted effort to forever shut down the First Amendment by those who disagreed with what we were going to talk about. This is not something new. It’s something that’s been attempted in the past by other either student groups or anarchist groups, the International Socialist Organization, whose goal is to stamp out free speech if they do not agree with it, so this was not something new.
I didn't expect a storming of the stage, although it didn’t surprise me, because I had mentioned earlier to security that they should have uniformed badge-carrying officers in front of the stage to deter something like that from happening. It’s a shame what happened. It will go down in history forever as a day of infamy in Columbia University's annals.
AMY GOODMAN: Karina Garcia, your perspective on what happened? And where were you?KARINA GARCIA: Thank you for having me. It’s ridiculous for them to have turned it around and say that it's an issue of free speech. What we actually saw was two groups exercising their right to freedom of speech. One group was promoting hatred and violence, and the other group was loudly opposing it. We never asked for the university or for anybody, for that matter, to ban this man from speaking. He was able to reserve a hall in our auditorium. He had the security of the New York City Police Department. He had the security of Columbia University Public Safety. Nobody attacked Mr. Gilchrist.
As a matter of fact, if you look at what his comment was the very next day on FOX News, he laughed about the situation and said that he was ready to give the very first Minuteman knuckle sandwich, which just goes to show how this man wasn't attacked at all. As a matter of fact, we were the ones that were attacked, when we went up to unfurl a banner that said "Say No To Racism!" And it was our right and our duty and our obligation to stand up on the stage and say, "This man is a murderer. This man is a racist. And we do not support him."
AMY GOODMAN: And what then happened, when people went up on the stage?
KARINA GARCIA: When we went up on the stage, we were attacked by the Minutemen, as is evident in the Univision coverage.
AMY GOODMAN: And your response to the president of your university, Lee Bollinger's statement on Friday?
KARINA GARCIA: I think that he was feeling a lot of pressure from the rightwing media, FOX News, Bill O'Reilly going on TV when the university is in the middle of a capital campaign and telling donors to stop giving money to the university, them turning this into a free speech issue, which it was not. I think that he was feeling a lot of pressure to react and react quickly without actually seeing the evidence, and I think that if you look at his statement now, I think it's a lot different once the Univision coverage was shown. And then it showed who really were the people who were attacked and who were the aggressors in the situation.
JIM GILCHRIST: Outright propaganda.
AMY GOODMAN: Jim Gilchrist, your response.
JIM GILCHRIST: Yes, I’m going to end this interview until — for the outcome of — based on legal advice. What this lady is doing is putting a complete spin to her advantage. I don't — I have never murdered anybody. I have never engaged in violence. I have never encouraged any violence or racism, nor has anyone in the Minuteman Project. This was a concerted, premeditated effort by people like Ms. Garcia to stifle the First Amendment.
KARINA GARCIA: What about your ties to the National Alliance?
JIM GILCHRIST: Now, I'm going to end this now, and you can deal with the law firm that's going to probably name you and your cohorts –
KARINA GARCIA: Cohorts.
JIM GILCHRIST: –as defendants. I’m going to have to end this now, based on advice from legal counsel. I'm sorry.
KARINA GARCIA: Go ahead and run away.
AMY GOODMAN: Jim Gilchrist, I'm puzzled, are you sitting there with a lawyer?
JIM GILCHRIST: That's it. [line cut]
AMY GOODMAN: We have just been cut off from our contact with Jim Gilchrist, who is in a studio in Irvine, California, says he had legal counsel to stop talking. Jim Gilchrist, the founder of the Minuteman Project and author of the book, Minutemen. Karina Garcia, your response.
KARINA GARCIA: He’s a coward. He is very tough when he has a shotgun and he's in the middle of a desert intimidating defenseless immigrant families, but when it comes to being challenged by peaceful protesters and by people who understand this man and his organization for what they are, he runs away, and I think that was evident right now.
—Interview from Democracy Now!
Listen to audio
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Comentarios (18)
turtlebella dijo:
Thanks for posting this. Heard she kicked his ass up and down and back again but I hadn't gotten a chance to listen yet. !Que viva la lucha!
10.12.06 - 12:29 pm
Palabras por turtlebella spat forth on el 2 de Enero, 2007 at 06:12 PM
nezua limón xolagrafik-jonez dijo:
el gusto es mio!
he turned tail and ran as soon as she called him a 'murderer,' and questioned his affiliation with the National Alliance (white supremacist's hate group). Ducking statements like these by ditching the interview doesn't play so great over a radio show. Not that he was lookin' so great before.
Another choice moment in Karina's talk: He is a coward. He is very tough when he has a shotgun and he's in the middle of a desert intimidating defenseless immigrant families...
10.12.06 - 1:30 pmn
Palabras por nezua limón xolagrafik-jonez spat forth on el 2 de Enero, 2007 at 06:13 PM
XP dijo:
The sad thing, on the Daily Show, Jon made her look bad. I wish he had looked into the matter more.
I can say one thing, she not only has heart, she has brains and looks.
To be in college again.
10.12.06 - 1:35 pm
Palabras por XP spat forth on el 2 de Enero, 2007 at 06:14 PM
nezua limón xolagrafik-jonez dijo:
i know...i saw that clip on TDS. i too was disappointed with his mealy, not very funny egalitarianish slant. as if gilchrist needs jon stewart to help him polish his klannish veneer. you think jon (a proud jew) would feel a little bile rise up in his gullet over the likes of gilchrist, go figger.
i too find it a letdown that stewart wasn't aware that it was the minuteklan that started actually being physically violent. but then, people are especially terrified of saying anything positive about unruly outbursts, especially ones that involve those who don't utilize the Queen's English to a proper standard, ahem. i see it as part of the same backlash that rose up against the massive pro-immigration marches. jon's still part of the dominant culture.
...i can only chuckle at your wistful remembrance of College Days. i hear ya.
10.12.06 - 1:44 pm
Palabras por nezua limón xolagrafik-jonez spat forth on el 2 de Enero, 2007 at 06:14 PM
Arcturus dijo:
I only heard her on the radio yesterday, but dayuum, it's a pity he turned tail - she would have hogtied him in verbal knots.
10.12.06 - 4:06 pm
Palabras por Arcturus spat forth on el 2 de Enero, 2007 at 06:15 PM
otto dijo:
Gilchrist sounds like a bit of a drama queen here.
Some months ago I saw him on one of the major TV news networks (CNN?) saying that the Minutemen do not carry guns, only cell phones or walkie-talkies and binoculars, which I knew to be bunk from other print and visual media coverage. About a week later, I saw a front-page photo of a Minuteman (USA Today, I believe) supposedly looking across the border with a pair of binoculars. On his hip was a holstered pistol. I’ve also heard a few law enforcement officials from the Southwest voicing their tacit approval on TV news outlets of armed vigilante groups like the Minutemen.
What I’d really like to ask, Nezua Limón Xolagrafik-Jonez, is if I can introduce something a little off topic here dealing with a recent research trip I took to the new detention facility for Other Than Mexican illegal immigrants in Raymondville, TX?
-Jonathan Berhow (so you’ll know, I found your site from BAGNewsNotes)
10.13.06 - 11:07 pm
Palabras por otto spat forth on el 2 de Enero, 2007 at 06:16 PM
otto dijo:
Oh, and thanks for the transcript.
10.13.06 - 11:08 pm
Palabras por otto spat forth on el 2 de Enero, 2007 at 06:17 PM
XP dijo:
otto - what did find out in Raymondville?
10.14.06 - 5:33 am X
Palabras por XP spat forth on el 2 de Enero, 2007 at 06:17 PM
nezua limón xolagrafik-jonez dijo:
Otto, if you want to bust it out in the comments, please be my guest. If you have any thoughts you wanted to share privately, there is a "contact nezua" button on the sidebar. You are welcome for the transcript...the entirety of it can be read at the democracynow link. Good to see you here.
10.14.06 - 11:19 am
Palabras por nezua limón xolagrafik-jonez spat forth on el 2 de Enero, 2007 at 06:18 PM
Karina Garcia dijo:
Thank you. I finally had the nerve to google my name and found this.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you.
Sincerely,
Karina
11.22.06 - 10:29 pm
Palabras por Karina Garcia spat forth on el 2 de Enero, 2007 at 06:18 PM
nezua limón xolagrafik-jonez dijo:
Hey Karina, thank you, hermana! You make me proud out there. And it's good to see you here. Keep the faith. We got your back!
cariño, Nezua
11.22.06 - 10:55 pm
Palabras por nezua limón xolagrafik-jonez spat forth on el 2 de Enero, 2007 at 06:19 PM
Vigilance dijo:
I want to know how is it right for a huge group of students to get up on the stage with an invited speaker, share the stage with him and holler and protest, pulling taut a huge banner they made in protest to that speaker? How is that tolerated? How is Karina Garcia in the right for doing that? It was extremely arrogant and ignorant to do such a thing. They were not invited to the event, and so how do they get away with chasing the man away from an event he was invited to? The way those students stormed that stage in such a number, I don't blame the guy that kicked one in the head!!
Palabras por Vigilance spat forth on el 18 de Junio, 2007 at 02:22 PM
nezua limón xolagrafik-jonez dijo:
when the invited speaker is Hate, it is the heart's job to recoil.
thanks for playing.
Palabras por nezua limón xolagrafik-jonez spat forth on el 18 de Junio, 2007 at 07:19 PM
C dijo:
I apologize for writing this in English but I will assume that you will promptly seek a translator. karina is the coward. She jumps on the stage (and in the interview claims it was her right to do so) with a bunch of her bottomfeeders and then is confused as to why this man is storming off. She is the one that seems tough when hiding behind a camera. karina, you are not that interesting and far less intelligent. My advice, keep your looks because your others senses have faded.
Palabras por C spat forth on el 4 de Diciembre, 2007 at 06:43 PM
nezua limón xolagrafik-jonez
dijo:
ooh, reducing a woman to the value of her appearance when she dares assert power. how very original of you! i'm so impressed!!!
Palabras por nezua limón xolagrafik-jonez
spat forth on el 4 de Diciembre, 2007 at 07:34 PM
Tomas el Anglo dijo:
Nezua --
Thanks so much for sharing this. I'm sending the link to mi esposa right away.
Ms. Garcia --
You rock. I mean, you just effing ROCK. Keep on shining the light on cockroaches like Gilchrist; sooner or later people will figure out his connections with hate groups and will then put two and two together.
Vigilance --
I think our host explained things quite clearly to you. But speaking for myself, I think it is quite telling that you're indignant over the "arrogant and ignorant" unfurling of a banner but also that you're simultaneously accepting and understanding of a kick to the head. It's pretty easy to see exactly where your prejudices are,
C --
Given that Ms. Garcia clearly identifies herself in person, on TV and here on this board, I don't think *you* have any standing to call her or anyone else a "coward," ya lil' anonymous gatito. :p
Palabras por Tomas el Anglo spat forth on el 5 de Diciembre, 2007 at 05:56 AM
nezua limón xolagrafik-jonez
dijo:
el gusto es mio, bro. thanks for spreading the word, brave souls like karina garcia need our reinforcement.
Palabras por nezua limón xolagrafik-jonez
spat forth on el 5 de Diciembre, 2007 at 06:04 AM
Phil dijo:
Dude got punked. Amazing that Bill O'Reilly referred to the Colubia students as Nazis when everyone knows that the Minutemen have Neo-Nazi ties. Thank God for Youtube so the truth comes out instead of the garbage on Fox. All respect to Karina.
Palabras por Phil spat forth on el 13 de Enero, 2008 at 10:21 PM