WINTER 2014 The Public Eye

The Adoption Crusaders Target Indian Country

Pete Seeger’s Multitudes

The Progressive Era: Both Sides Now

The Right to Occupy?

The Gospel of James Baldwin editor’s letter

THE PUBLIC EYE The Hammer of Justice QUARTERLY PUBLISHER Tarso Luís Ramos

ete Seeger’s life as an activist lasted eight decades, beginning in the 1930s EDITOR Theo Anderson when he joined the Young Communist League and started roaming the nation with Woody Guthrie. He made one of his last appearances at the COVER ART Matt Kaiser Farm Aid concert last September, apologizing that he didn’t have much of Pa voice left but leading the crowd in a sing-along of “This Land is Your Land,” just PRINTING Red Sun Press as he had countless times across the years. Seeger, who was born in Manhattan in 1919 and died there in January, told EDITORIAL BOARD Mother Earth News in a 1982 interview that “it’s impossible to have education with- Frederick Clarkson Alex DiBranco out controversy.” He was often a radically divisive figure, charting a course that Jean Hardisty put him in conflict with the U.S. mainstream. Kapya Kaoma He always believed in communism, which he once defined simply as “no rich Tarso Luís Ramos and no poor,” though he later expressed regret for his ties to the Communist Par- Rachel Tabachnick ty. He came from a deeply religious tradition, but the only divinity he worshiped was nature. He was deeply skeptical of the pitiless march of scientific progress and technological innovation. And he was, famously and from the outset, among The Public Eye is published by Political Research Associates the most eloquent and influential voices of the Civil Rights and anti-Vietnam War movements. Tarso Luís Ramos Seeger will be remembered primarily for his songs—for creating, or popular- Executive Director izing, social-justice anthems such as “We Shall Overcome” and “If I Had a Ham- Theresa Blackman Operations Coordinator mer”—but he never viewed the songs as ends in themselves, since he believed that social transformation isn’t “accomplished with words, but with actions.” He lived Eric Ethington Communications Director out that belief by devoting much of his energy over the last half-century to build- Kapya Kaoma ing the environmental movement in the United States. Religion and Sexuality Thinking globally and acting locally, he helped organize a group of residents Charles Ocitti in the Hudson River Valley to clean up the Hudson River. They built a sloop, rais- Finance Director ing money for it by holding concerts and bake sales in the small towns along the Kassia Palys water’s edge, and in 1969 they started sailing it up and down the river, conducting Development Associate educational programs onboard and organizing festivals along the shoreline. The Cole Parke LGBTQ Rights Researcher Hudson, an industrial waste dump in the 1960s, was transformed by the 1980s. After Seeger’s death, the Guardian described his role in the project as his “greatest Rebecca Suldan Program Coordinator legacy.” The environmental group that Seeger founded to organize and expand his Fellows Hudson River activism, Clearwater, carries on the work, and the sloop maintains T.F. Charlton a busy sailing schedule. Frederick Clarkson There is irony in the fact that, for all the hope, joy, and goodwill that infuse his Victor Mukasa songs, Seeger took a dim view of humanity’s prospects, and he had doubts about Spencer Sunshine what his efforts would add up to. In the 1982 Mother Earth News interview, he Rachel Tabachnick remarked, “There’s maybe less than a 50 percent chance that the human race is Interns Elizabeth Crowne • Will Freeman • Owen Jennings going to be around a few hundred years from now.” He described himself as an James Lavelle • Britt Moorman • Joya Mukherjee “optimist” nonetheless, because “I think there is a slim chance that the human Matthew Parkes • Jim Trinh

race will survive.” Board of Directors Rather than dwelling on despair, though, he used his hammer of justice to Dania Rajendra, Chair change what he could. “Since love is lord of heaven and earth,” as one of his lyrics Katherine Acey • Janet Jakobsen • Hamid Khan goes, “how can I keep from singing?” The philosophy that Seeger lived by wasn’t Maria Elena Letona • Scot Nakagawa entirely consistent, perhaps. But it built and sustained a beautiful life. Jean V. Hardisty, Ph.D. Founder And President Emerita

Theo Anderson 1310 Broadway, Suite 201 Editor-in-Chief Somerville, MA 02144-1837 Tel: 617.666.5300 [email protected] © Political Research Associates, 2014 All rights reserved. ISSN 0275-9322 ISSUE 78 www.politicalresearch.org commentary

BY ROBERT D. JOHNSTON

Why Conservatives Care about the Progressive Era—And We Should, Too

ight-wing pundit and TV personality Glenn Beck claims to hate many people, but he reserves special contempt for Woodrow Wilson, who served as U.S. president from 1913 to 1921. Wilson earns the top spot on Beck’s list of the “Top Ten Bastards of All Time,” beating Pol Pot, Adolf Hitler . . . and even Keith Olbermann. RBeck and his fellow conservatives have declared war not only on Wilson but also on the entire Progressive Era. Over the past decade, a right-wing cottage industry has emerged that is devoted to rhetorically resurrecting and pummeling early twentieth-century reformers. This obsession with the Progressive Era is new. Conservatives used to focus their hostility primarily on the New Deal and the cultural upheavals of the 1960s. Now their primary bête noire is the period of reform stretch- ing roughly from the mid-1890s to World War I. According to one conservative scholar, it was a “catastrophe” during which everything went “terribly wrong.” How have the Progressives earned such condemnation? Textbooks typically describe them as well-intentioned reformers who pursued (and often passed) reforms that seem uncontroversial by today’s standards: ending child labor, cleaning up the nation’s food and drug production, fighting for women’s suffrage, and establishing a system of national parks. Beck and the scholars sympathetic to his critique argue that, to carry out these reforms, Progressives explic- itly flouted the constitutional limits created by the Founding Fathers, laying the foundation for a dramatically expanded federal government. A writer for the National Review, Jonah Goldberg, summed up the Right’s assess- ment of Progressivism in the title of his 2008 book: Liberal Fascism. While conservatives obsess over the government’s powers, though, they rarely discuss the accumulation of power by elites and corporations. But if we want to single out a period when “the one percent” truly came into its own, it was the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Business titans like Andrew Carnegie and John Rockefeller brutally suppressed strikes and used their fortunes to buy influence in Congress. Indeed, Citizens United—the 2010 Supreme Court decision that essentially allows corporations to finance the “democratic” political process—overturned campaign contribution laws that had been enacted during the Progressive Era, in an attempt to check the power of corporations. As Teddy Roos- evelt—a Republican—declared, “There can be no effective control of corporations while their political activity remains.” Imagine a U.S. president, of either party, uttering that sentence today! We would be mistaken, though, to dismiss Beck and his ilk as completely wrong in their criticism of Pro- gressives. Jonah Goldberg, for example, rightly points out that Progressive reformers were so intent on trans- forming society that they often abandoned certain democratic values. Prohibition was one example. Even more troubling was their support for eugenics. Many Progressives supported the movement to “clean up the race” by involuntarily sterilizing poor people, people of color, and those with cognitive or physical disabilities. And President Wilson unleashed a savagely repressive national security state during World War I. It violently crimi- nalized almost any form of dissent, all in the name of fighting a “progressive” war on behalf of democracy. What are the lessons here? One is that, instead of simply shunning our fellow citizens who get their news— and history—from Fox, we should work to engage them in full and respectful conversation. They might, on occasion, have something to say that we can learn from. Another is that people who care about advancing social justice need to beat the Right at its own game. We can- not afford to neglect this history. Conservatives sure don’t. For all its blemishes, Progressivism remains one of the most promising moments of reform in our history, and telling its story—in full—can still inspire us to strive for a fairer, more democratic, and inclusive society.

Robert D. Johnston is associate professor of history at the University of Illinois at Chicago, the director of its Teaching of History program, and a co-editor of the Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. An extended version of this essay will appear in the journal’s July 2014 issue. Johnston’s book, The Radical Middle Class: Populist Democracy 1310 Broadway, Suite 201 and the Question of Capitalism in Progressive Era Portland, Oregon (Princeton, 2003), seeks to redeem the populist Somerville, MA 02144-1837 Tel: 617.666.5300 politics of middling folks in U.S. history. He is currently working on a history of U.S. vaccination controversies. [email protected] © Political Research Associates, 2014 All rights reserved. ISSN 0275-9322 ISSUE 78

WINTER 2014 Political Research Associates • 1 BY KATHRYN JOYCE The Adoption Crunch, the Christian Right, and the Challenge to Indian Sovereignty While the demand for adoptable babies is increasing in the United States—driven in large part by evangelical Christians—the number of babies available for adoption is declining. Adoption agencies are now targeting tribal nations as a potential new source of babies to adopt, and forming alliances that threaten to undermine the sovereignty of Native American nations.

n September 23, 2013, been systematically removed from their a child-custody battle families in decades past. The Capobian- that was nearly five years cos’ supporters condemned Brown as a in the making came to deadbeat dad who had given up his rights its conclusion in Okla- long ago and was hiding behind an obso- homa when an Army vet- lete law. Oeran from the Cherokee Nation, Dusten These battle lines, which had helped Brown, handed over his daughter, Ve- turn the case into headline news for ronica, to Matt and Melanie Capobianco, much of the past year, reflected deeper a White couple from South Carolina who tensions that involved a growing conser- had raised her for the first two years of vative Christian adoption movement and her life.1 a global pattern of falling adoption num- Brown gained custody of four-year- bers. The Baby Veronica case also pro- old Veronica in December 2011, after a vided a glimpse into a broad, high-stakes South Carolina court ruled that the adop- battle that pits the explosive growth in tion process had violated federal Indian the demand for adoptable babies in the law. Brown’s attorneys also argued that United States against legal protections Christina Maldonado—Brown’s ex-fiancé for Indian parents. Some advocates for and Veronica’s biological mother, who is Indians fear that the assault on those pro- Latina—had deliberately concealed plans tections—established relatively recently to let the Capobiancos adopt her.2 As the in response to a long history of White custody decision was reversed following “civilizing” projects—is also evolving into 23,000 in 2004 to under 9,000 in 2012.4 a 2013 Supreme Court ruling,3 and Ve- a broader attack on the fundamental sov- And the number is still falling.5 ronica was tucked into the Capobiancos’ ereignty of Native American nations. Domestic infant adoptions began drop- car to return to South Carolina, the scene ping exponentially after the legalization was broadcast across national and social GOING OVER THE ADOPTION CLIFF of abortion and increased acceptance of single motherhood in the 1970s.6 Inter- media to two polarized camps. In a phenomenon that has been described national adoptions have followed suit Brown’s supporters condemned the as the “adoption cliff,” international more recently, in the wake of scandals Capobiancos as baby-snatchers stealing adoptions to the United States have fallen that have shed light on systemic prob- an Indian child from her loving father, as by nearly two-thirds over the last decade, lems with adoption procedures in several tens of thousands of Native children had dropping from an all-time high of nearly countries. In Guatemala,7 for example,

2 • The Public Eye WINTER 2014 Protestors outside the South Carolina Supreme Court in 2012. Photo courtesy of the Post and Courier. strong Western demand for adoptable tion agencies—including some of the ficking and the New Gospel of Adoption,11 infants led to an influx of foreign cash, largest—have been bankrupted or forced a Christian adoption movement took and unethical actors procured a supply— to close.10 hold among evangelicals over the past sometimes using coercion, payments, The falling number of children avail- decade. Led by religious leaders like the or outright kidnapping.8 Other coun- able for adoption has not coincided with megachurch pastor Rick Warren,12 and tries, such as Russia, have closed their a drop in the number of prospective U.S. by denominations like the Southern Bap- adoption programs recently as a form of adoptive parents. In fact, that number tist Convention,13 evangelicals have been political retaliation (and with professed seems only to have grown, due in part encouraged to see adoption as a way to outrage over real concerns about adop- to the phenomenal rise of the Christian live out their faith and their pro-life prin- tees’ post-adoption welfare in the United adoption movement. As I discussed at ciples. Although the U.S. government States).9 As a result, a number of adop- length in The Child Catchers: Rescue, Traf- does not track adoption by religious af-

WINTER 2014 Political Research Associates • 3 ADOPTION CRUSADERS

filiation, it is likely that tens of thousands tion counseling.17 In Ohio, it’s by sharply campaign on its behalf represented the of Christian prospective adoptive parents reducing the time period during which efforts of a broad coalition of interest have responded to the call to adopt. biological fathers like Dusten Brown can groups that continues to work on this The movement hit a predictable bot- register their paternity in order to contest issue. The law was drafted by represen- tleneck as long lines of would-be adop- an adoption.18 tatives from adoption-lobby groups and tive parents met the reality of a declin- In September 2013, adoption advo- adoption agencies,27 publicized by Chris- ing international adoption market. cates introduced an adoption bill in the tian and secular adoption groups, and Among some adoption advocates, this U.S. Senate, Children in Families First spearheaded by a bipartisan group of leg- bottleneck—and the frustration it caused (CHIFF).19 Critics believe it is an attempt islators.28 among potential adoptive parents—has to revive the failing adoption industry When CHIFF appeared last fall, crit- been described as ics noted the lack of the mobilizing force voices from adoptees needed to compel The Baby Veronica struggle introduced a relatively or meaningful con- reforms that make new element to the story of rising demand and tributions from birth adoption easier.14 families.29 They ar- Craig Juntunen, decreasing supply: how do adoptions from Indian gued that the adop- founder of the adop- Country factor into the equation? tion industry was tion-advocacy group once again rallying Both Ends Burn- behind legislation ing, told me that the that would save their “chokepoint” of frustrated prospective with an injection of hundreds of millions faltering business model.30 As of mid- adoptive parents butting up against an of federal dollars.20 January, the bill had more than 50 co- adoption market in decline could become Adoption-reform critics note that sponsors in Congress and had attracted a strategic advantage for the adoption CHIFF follows on the heels of other, simi- wide ranging bipartisan support, from lobby, sparking popular outrage that lar attempts in recent years to address Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) to Rep. could help pass adoption-friendly legisla- the falling adoption supply through U.S. Michele Bachmann (R-MN).31 Religious tion. His organization hopes to simplify legislation. A previous bill, the Families organizations supporting it include Rick adoption regulations and increase the for Orphans Act,21 was introduced in Warren’s Saddleback Church. international adoption rate to the United 2009 and received much publicity after The dramatic struggle over Baby Ve- States fivefold. the 2010 Haiti earthquake highlighted ronica introduced a relatively new ele- “So we’ve created this culture of adop- the challenges of international adoption. ment to this story of rising demand and tion, and now more and more people Adoption agencies received tens of thou- decreasing supply: how do adoptions want to participate in adoption and are sands of inquiries about adopting Haitian from Indian Country factor into the equa- left frustrated because they’re denied the children in the wake of the earthquake, tion? opportunity to pursue what they want and a media fixation on U.S. adoptive to pursue,” Juntunen explained. “Well, parents threatened to overwhelm cover- BABY VERONICA 22 that’s where social change happens ... age of the disaster itself. The case was complicated. In late 2008, This culture of adoption, and this idea The Families for Orphans Act would Dusten Brown and Christina Maldonado that more and more families are going to have created a special office dedicated to got engaged, and shortly thereafter, be raising their hands, that’s going to be overseeing international adoptions—an Maldonado became pregnant. Brown 15 the catalyst for change.” office that its cosponsors suggest could pressed Maldonado to marry quickly, While evangelical Christians aren’t the have facilitated tens of thousands of ad- but she soon broke off the relationship by only would-be adoptive parents hoping to ditional adoptions from Haiti. It also text message. Brown responded that he adopt a child—nor the only constituency would have provided development aid to wouldn’t support the child if they didn’t that can be willfully blind to adoption’s countries that agree to U.S. standards of marry. In an exchange that would inform ethical complexities—they are increas- providing permanent care for children, much of the legal wrangling to come, ingly the face of the organized pro-adop- including through their openness to in- Maldonado later texted Brown to ask if 23 tion movement. And the initiatives made ternational adoption. he would rather pay child support or re- to address falling adoption numbers tend Adoption-reform groups, including linquish parental rights to her. Brown 24 to reflect primarily their perspectives. Parents for Ethical Adoption Reform replied that he would relinquish parental 25 Domestically, adoption-advocacy and Ethica, worried that the bill would rights.32 groups and sympathetic politicians use financial aid to help determine other Brown’s threats to withdraw support have called for state-level reforms that countries’ child-welfare policies, cast unless Maldonado agreed to marry are would make the adoption process “bet- children who have living parents as or- inexcusable, but the situation wasn’t lim- ter, cheaper and faster” for adoptive par- phans available for adoption, and favor ited to just mother versus father. A third 16 ents. In Texas, they propose to do so by international adoption to U.S. parents party was involved: the adoption system 26 demanding that women seeking abor- over local solutions. itself. Though Brown didn’t know it, tions undergo hours of mandatory adop- Though the bill ultimately failed, the

4 • The Public Eye WINTER 2014 Maldonado’s text messages were likely a ship with Nightlight—forcefully argued THE SUPREME COURT, THE ICWA, deliberate part of laying the framework to Brown’s family that the Capobiancos AND THE LOST BIRDS for an adoption, which is regulated at were better suited as parents because Munday would go on to start a (now the state level. In states that are eager they could afford private school tuition, defunct) website as well as a Facebook to make adoption as easy as possible for while, she allegedly argued, Native group and “Save Veronica” petition drive. potential adoptive parents, there is often American culture offered only the advan- All were part of a campaign that took little regulation of how biological fathers tages of “free lunches and free medical larger aim at ICWA for what it described are notified of an impending adoption care and that they did have their little get- as its ability to break up happy homes on and—many such fathers say—little op- togethers and their little dances.”40 the grounds of old, race-based laws. The portunity for them to protect their right Maldonado initially sought to omit Save Veronica campaign collected tens of to parent their children. In some states, Brown’s identity from adoption paper- thousands of signatures demanding that a text message like Maldonado’s is often work, fearing his status as a Cherokee Congress revise the statute,47 and an in- considered sufficient warning that the tribal member would impede the adop- creasing number of adoption advocates child will be adopted. tion.41 Adoptions of Indian children are picked up the case. Andrea Poe, a colum- In Utah, which is notorious33 for its in- governed by the Indian Child Welfare Act nist at the right-wing Washington Times, tentionally difficult procedure to register (ICWA), a federal law that gives tribes a argued that “Native American children paternity—and for its record of agencies say in Indian children’s custody. Enacted who need permanent homes and families bringing expectant mothers to deliver in 1978, ICWA is intended to help keep are at the highest risk if South Carolina’s children under the state’s laxer laws34—a Native children within their families by interpretation of the Indian Child Wel- 1995 statute holds that “by virtue of the regulating child-custody procedures for fare Act stands.”48 fact that he has engaged in a sexual rela- children who are eligible to be registered The case ultimately went to the U.S. tionship with a woman,” an unmarried members of recognized tribes.42 Supreme Court as Adoptive Parents v. man is considered “on notice” that an Maldonado’s lawyer (hired for her by Baby Girl, where a lead attorney fighting adoption may occur and that the burden the Capobiancos) ended up obscuring Brown’s custody claim argued that Ve- of protecting his parental rights is entire- Brown’s identity and sending pre-adop- ronica’s own right to equal protection had ly on him, relieving agencies of the need tion forms to the Cherokee tribe, as ICWA been violated by ICWA because the stat- to seek consent.35 South Carolina’s laws, mandates, but misspelled Brown’s name ute itself was unconstitutional.49 In their where birthfathers do not need to legally and misrepresented his age, so that the ruling, the justices didn’t go so far as to sign off on adoptions, seems to follow Nation didn’t recognize him as a mem- agree, but they declared that ICWA didn’t close behind.36 ber.43 On a state form that later allowed apply to Veronica’s adoption, returning Unbeknownst to Brown, Maldonado Veronica to leave Oklahoma with the the case to the lower courts.50 Within a had begun consulting with a private Capobiancos, she was identified as -His month, a South Carolina court finalized adoption attorney in South Carolina, panic—her mother’s ethnic heritage— the Capobiancos’ adoption of Veronica Raymond Godwin, about relinquishing rather than Native American.44 and demanded that she be returned.51 her child for adoption, and she chose the Four months after Veronica was born— Brown’s and the Cherokee Nation’s Capobiancos as the adoptive parents. and less than a week before Brown de- lawyers tried, without success, to secure Godwin is closely associated with a pri- ployed for Iraq—Maldonado’s lawyer a hearing in tribal courts or negotiate vate adoption agency, Nightlight Chris- requested that he sign some paperwork. visitation with the Capobiancos. In late tian Adoptions, where his wife, Laura Brown claims that he thought he was September 2013, having exhausted all Beauvais-Godwin, is head of South Caro- signing over full custody to Maldonado options, Brown’s lawyer relinquished lina’s state office. The agency helped with while he was in Iraq. But what he actually Veronica to the Capobiancos in front of a the adoption, compiling a “birthfam- signed were adoption relinquishment pa- national audience. ily” report on Brown and Maldonado.37 pers. When Brown realized his mistake In early November, the Capobiancos Like the Christian adoption movement, and tried to take back the papers, the filed a lawsuit against Brown and the Nightlight’s own literature was infused server threatened him with arrest.45 Cherokee Nation for more than one mil- with religious language, describing “in- After Brown returned from Iraq, he lion dollars in legal expenses for their tercountry adoption as a beautiful act successfully regained custody of Veronica formerly pro-bono team.52 To Indian ad- that glorifies God, unites families, and in December 2011, when the South Caro- vocates, it was more than insult added enhances cultures.”38 lina Supreme Court ruled that the adop- to injury. It read as a warning to other In an investigation, the (Charleston, tion process hadn’t followed ICWA guide- tribes that might contest adoptions of SC) Post and Courier found that past cli- lines. But when the Capobiancos came to tribal children. “In our minds,” said ents of Nightlight have complained that deliver Veronica, they didn’t come alone. Terry Cross, director of the National In- the agency uses heavy-handed and coer- With the help of Jessica Munday, a friend dian Child Welfare Association (NICWA), cive tactics to convince expectant moth- of the family who worked for a PR firm, “this is an attempt to have a chilling effect ers to relinquish babies for adoption.39 their lawyer had turned the case into a against any Indian parents or Indian tribe And a guardian ad litem later assigned to cause.46 who would keep their child.”53 Baby Veronica—a woman who reportedly Extreme as that assessment might had an ongoing professional relation-

WINTER 2014 Political Research Associates • 5 ADOPTION CRUSADERS

emerged: of Na- 393 tribes, 18 state attorneys general, tive American 18 child-advocacy organizations, and a Beginning in the late 1800s, Native children women pres- group of religious organizations (includ- were removed from their families en masse sured into relin- ing Quakers, Catholic orders, and main- to boarding schools. In the words of the first quishing babies line Protestants) all filed amicus briefs for adoption just with the Supreme Court arguing that school’s founder, Richard Pratt, their mission after birth while ICWA was a vital protection of Indian was to “Kill the Indian . . . and save the man.” still under the families.58 Native American advocacy effects of anes- groups reported that the case elicited a thesia, and of more passionate response from tribal women waking members than any they’d seen in recent up to find that years. their babies were gone and, some- ANTI-ICWA AND ANTI-SOVEREIGNTY times, that they But the case also mobilized another coali- had themselves tion of groups that seeks to overturn not 56 been sterilized. only ICWA but also—some worry—the The abuses very foundations of Native American sov- aren’t all his- ereignty. torical. Cross re- In July, shortly after the Supreme Court called a case from issued its verdict, Christina Maldonado four years ago, signed onto a lawsuit against the U.S. Students at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, founded by in which a Na- government and the Cherokee Nation, Richard Pratt, circa 1900. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. tive mother from on the grounds that ICWA amounts to an Minnesota was illegal racial preference.59 The law, the flown to Utah to suit argued, was sweeping up children sound, it is rooted in a long, painful re- deliver her child who had only a slight connection to their cord of abuses inflicted by Whites on Na- and then given adoption papers to sign Indian heritage, whose mothers were not tive Americans, who remember all too while recovering from the anesthesia of Indian, and whose choices should there- well the history the Indian Child Welfare a C-section delivery. When she asked af- fore not be bound by ICWA’s provisions. Act was designed to address. Beginning ter her baby, the mother was then threat- Ten other anonymous (and one named), in the late 1800s, Native children were ened with losing custody of her existing unmarried biological mothers of Indian removed en masse from their families to children. Her tribe didn’t know about the children were listed as co-plaintiffs— boarding schools as part of a “civilizing” baby, or the adoption, until she returned women who had placed children for project that meant to assimilate them to Minnesota and had to be hospitalized. adoption with non-Indian parents and into White U.S. culture by separating Under the Indian Child Welfare Act, said they now feared that the adoptions them from any aspects of tribal culture. tribes can petition to have custody cases wouldn’t be finalized.60 Legal experts In the words of the first school’s founder, heard in tribal courts and can intervene believed that Maldonado’s lawsuit will Richard Pratt, their mission was to “Kill in foster care or adoptive placements out- likely be dismissed as frivolous, but she the Indian . . . and save the man.”54 side the child’s tribe. The law holds that was far from the only voice challenging In the 1950s and 1960s, boarding caseworkers—including those working ICWA. schools gave way to the Indian Adoption on adoptions—must notify tribes of cus- One of the most vociferous voices is Project, which removed children from tody proceedings regarding Indian chil- Elizabeth “Lisa” Morris. In 2004, Morris, Native homes and placed them in foster dren, work to involve the tribe and the a White woman, and her husband Ro- care or adoptive homes. By the 1970s, an child’s family, and make “active efforts” land, a member of Minnesota’s Chippewa astonishing one-quarter to one-third of to prevent an Indian child being removed Tribe, started an ambiguously named 57 all Indian children in the United States from his or her parent or guardian. group, the Christian Alliance for Indian had been taken away from their families, “Everything in the ICWA was meant Child Welfare (CAICW).61 Converts to and 85-90 percent of them were placed to counterbalance something that was evangelical Christianity, the couple de- in non-Indian families. The generation happening at the time,” said Cross. “And cided that Roland’s (and his family’s) alco- came to be known as the “Lost Birds.”55 things that are still happening.” holism was a result of cultural defects in “There were literally American Indian ICWA is considered among the most Indian Country: a “lack [of] responsibility communities where there were no chil- important pieces of Indian law in U.S. and accountability” that causes Indians dren,” said Terry Cross. As the broader history, affirming Native American- sov “to blame all of life’s ills on others.”62 Native American community realized ereignty. It’s unsurprising, then, that the Under the pseudonym “Beth Ward,” what was happening and began to col- threat the Baby Veronica case posed to Elizabeth wrote Dying in Indian Country, a lect testimony for Congress, other stories ICWA mobilized Indians and non-Indian book about her husband’s life. The book supporters in vocal defense of the law:

6 • The Public Eye WINTER 2014 depicts life on reservations as a slow ca- topple much of federal Indian policy. resources, whether wildlife or oil and tastrophe of suicide, violence, drunken- “If you’re anti-sovereignty then you gas, accorded to them by treaty. In April ness, and child abuse, which she attri- might see that the ICWA is one of the 2013, CERF/CERA met in western Wash- butes not to the historical damage done very few places in federal legislation that ington State, where a hotly contested to Indian families, but rather to contin- actually delineates and protects tribal plan to export U.S. coal to China has run ued federal aid that undermines men’s sovereignty,” Cross said. “If you get that into opposition from Lummi Nation Indi- rightful role to provide for their families. overturned, you could overturn perhaps ans, who have treaty rights to ancestral “Our current reservation system re- 100 years of Indian law, and open up the fishing waters in the same location as the wards dependence on federal govern- gaming industry and get the tribes out of proposed coal terminal. ment rather than on an individual’s competition.” According to reporter Charles Tanner strength and God,” the CAICW’s website Cross and other observers were par- Jr., who attended the meeting, speak- argued, echoing the old Reaganite “wel- ticularly concerned by the role played in ers advised “a recurring strategic theme: fare queen” canard that people—mostly Baby Girl of one attorney, Paul Clement, anti-Indian activists should mine federal people of color—who receive public as- who represented the guardian ad litem laws and court cases for anti-tribal lan- sistance are abusing the system and rak- assigned to Veronica, and who made the guage that can be used to seek termina- ing in a handsome living without work- case to overturn ICWA. Clement, former- tion in the courts and ‘educate’ local and ing.63 (If these tropes about poor people ly George W. Bush’s appointed Solicitor state officials.”72 Among the cases that sound familiar, they should. These days, General, has become a well-known face speakers suggested might work was the Morris’s organization shares its events on of conservative causes at the Supreme forthcoming verdict in Adoptive Couple v. Tea Party social media networks.)64 Court, having argued there in support of Baby Girl. The couple moved to Montana, and, af- the Defense of Marriage Act and against Cross worries that a variety of anti-sov- ter getting involved in a contested adop- the Affordable Care Act. His other clients ereignty groups—each relatively minor tion case of an Indian child, and profess- include a non-Indian gaming company by itself—has come together to form an ing concerns about Lisa’s custodial rights that has fought Indian casinos in Massa- unexpectedly powerful coalition: “a pret- to her and Roland’s grandchildren, began chusetts on the grounds that they benefit ty lethal brew going after ICWA.” fighting against ICWA, which Lisa casts from a race-based violation of non-Indi- John Dossett agreed. “They are small as a “sickening” and “racist” system that ans’ rights.69 groups, but they managed to mount a returns Native children to abusive par- That’s one issue among a number that very large media and legal-fundraising ents. Much of CAICW’s website is dedicat- have animated a small wave of anti-sover- campaign surrounding the Baby Veroni- ed to tracking instances of physical and eignty groups like CERA, which have be- ca case,” he said. He suggested, though, sexual abuse in Indian Country to drive come more active since the early 2000s.70 that the real power behind the coalition home her argument that Indian children Originally composed of White residents might be adoption attorney associa- are often unsafe in Indian homes. who lived on or near reservations and tions, whose members depend on private The Morrises began lobbying in Min- who reacted against increased Native adoption fees (averaging $30-50,000 per nesota and in Washington, D.C., against rights after the 1960s, these groups of- adoption) to stay in business.73 “the reservation system” and against ten use the language of civil rights and “Most often, when you look at the anti- broader federal laws that acknowledge fairness to make an ahistorical call for tribe folks, you find out that there is a -fi the sovereignty of Indian nations and “equal rights for Whites.” They present nancial angle to whatever they’re arguing their jurisdiction over some legal mat- White citizens affected by Indian law as about,” Dossett said. “Most of that has ters. Both Morrises became involved in oppressed minorities. been over land and natural uses—efforts an anti-sovereignty group called the Citi- “You’ve heard of the Deep South,” to take the land that the tribes are sitting zens Equal Rights Foundation (CERF, af- said John Dossett, general counsel for on, with its timber forests, oil and gas. In filiated with the national group Citizens the National Congress of American Indi- this case it’s not land and natural resourc- Equal Rights Alliance, or CERA): Eliza- ans (NCAI). “Well, there’s an expression es. It’s children.” beth served on CERA’s board for some pe- called the ‘Deep North.’ In towns across 65 riod before 2002 and Roland served on Washington, Idaho, and Montana, and THE ADOPTION SCRAMBLE the board of both groups before his death in the border towns [near reservations], To Dossett, the surprising popularity of 66 in 2004. Today, CAICW’s “honorary” discrimination isn’t aimed at African the anti-ICWA campaign, which gar- board members include past CERF/CERA Americans or Hispanics, but at American nered support far beyond the limited 67 staffers, and Elizabeth Morris has ap- Indians.” Dossett suggested that the anti- appeal that anti-sovereignty issues usu- peared at press conferences with CERF/ sovereignty arguments reflect the logic ally command, was due to the fact that CERA and has written for their publica- of antigay groups that protest so-called the anti-ICWA groups had tapped into 68 71 tion. “special rights” for LGBTQ people. something “unique to adoption,” that To Indian advocates like Terry Cross The anti-sovereignty movement has is, people concerned about the declining of the National Indian Child Welfare As- expanded since its inception to include number of adoptable babies. In this atmo- sociation, the crossover activism against groups with an interest in the casino in- sphere of panic—fostered by an industry ICWA and sovereignty implies the cur- dustry as well as individuals and corpo- threatened with extinction and would-be rent fight against ICWA could be used to rations fighting tribal control of natural

WINTER 2014 Political Research Associates • 7 ADOPTION CRUSADERS

parents who are unable to adopt children and Courier, Jones argued that the adop- sure not to fight back. and form families—new ties seem to be tion industry was seeking out a “pool of As Shannon Jones told Indian Coun- forming, and the anti-ICWA battle has babies” among Native American tribes to try Today, the lawsuit (which started at been bolstered by people and groups with satisfy the growing demand.77 $500,000 in September and rose to $1.1 little awareness of the broader anti-sover- NICWA’s Terry Cross agrees. “We be- million by November) sends a message: eignty battle.74 lieve that’s the motivation of the adoption “‘Don’t mess with the all-powerful adop- It probably doesn’t hurt that anti-ICWA attorneys involved,” he said, noting that tion industry, and don’t even think about and anti-sovereignty arguments share Raymond Godwin, the attorney who had trying to enforce the Indian Child Welfare common rhetoric. Adoption supporters handled Veronica’s adoption, is now in- Act.’ … They’re saying, ‘This is what’s go- often accuse adoption-reform advocates volved in another embattled adoption of ing to happen to you if you try to protect of being motivated solely by resistance an Indian child, “Baby Deseray.” In Sep- your children.’”82 Jones added that after tember 2013, the first lawsuit was filed in September, Deseray was the Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Oklaho- Given the chilling effect of the lawsuit taken from ma, which has fewer than 4,000 tribal now leveled against Dusten Brown and her adoptive members left, became so concerned home in South about being sued that it has expressed the Cherokee Nation, other tribes may feel Carolina and reluctance to litigate for Deseray’s return. pressured not to fight back. returned, NICWA is pursuing ethical complaints by court or- against attorneys that it believes are ad- der, to the vancing unethical cases to further the at- to interracial families. Russell Moore— custody of the Absentee Shawnee Tribe tack on ICWA, and Cross has also called president of the Southern Baptist Ethics of Oklahoma.78 Godwin has referred to on professional associations of adoption and Religious Liberty Commission and a men like Brown and Deseray’s father as attorneys to police their own members. prominent Christian adoption leader— “sperm donor[s]” whose biological ties to But John Dossett of NCAI suspects that dismissed questions about widespread their children do not constitute parental anti-ICWA advocates could have yet more transracial adoption to White evangelical rights.79 success in D.C., where politicians are churches as the bigotry of “[George] Wal- While Laura Beauvais-Godwin, the loathe to support restrictions on adop- lace’s progressive heirs … standing in the South Carolina director of Nightlight tion. orphanage door.”75 Likewise, anti-ICWA Christian Adoptions and Godwin’s wife, And that’s where the groups may be activists have begun to condemn the law has denied that her agency is involved in headed. In a press release in September, as racist persecution of White adoptive this case, and has downplayed its involve- after Baby Veronica was returned to the parents. ment with “Baby Veronica,” Nightlight’s Capobiancos, CAICW’s Lisa Morris wrote, This agenda is already taking shape on dismissive approach to preserving bio- “This case has opened eyes to the horror the Facebook page of the anti-ICWA Coali- logical families is clear. An agency posi- the Indian Child Welfare Act has been tion for the Protection of Indian Children tion paper argues that “giving voice and inflicting on children across the United (CPIC). In addition to promoting articles power to the indigenous people means States.” It said that CAICW would spend depicting Indian children as victims of expanding intercountry adoption.”80 fall 2013 educating Congress about how abusive Indian families and culture, the With more and more countries recon- ICWA harms multi-racial families—that group has recently begun posting articles sidering their international adoption pro- is, White families with Indian children.83 about the broader troubles with interna- grams, it’s easy to imagine the extension In October, Morris wrote a fundraising tional adoption, drawing parallels neatly of this argument to Indian Country, and pitch for CAICW’s legal fund from a pool back to Indian Country. Commenting on how the adoption industry may be bol- party at the Capobiancos’ home.84 an article about the recent ban on adop- stered by the recent Baby Veronica ver- “NICWA and our organization [worry] tions from Russia to the United States, dict. When I spoke to Cross in November, that this was a well-organized and well- the group noted, “Simply replace ‘Rus- he had just fielded a call from an Alaskan funded campaign to really come after sian’ with ‘Indian’ and that’s exactly what tribe that had been fighting an adoption ICWA,” Dossett said, “and there’s suspi- ICWA is doing to non-Indians providing case for four years, but had now been cion that they’ll try to do it again.” loving homes to children. There’s no dif- told that ICWA did not apply to the claim ference. Our national leaders need to because of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Kathryn Joyce is the author of The Child have the same disappointment for ICWA Baby Girl. In the last four years, NICWA Catchers: Rescue, Trafficking and the that they have for Russia’s decision to has encountered 10 contested ICWA New Gospel of Adoption (Public Affairs, block adoption.”76 (Neither CPIC nor CA- adoption cases, any of which could con- 2013) and Quiverfull: Inside the Chris- ICW responded to interview requests.) ceivably be affected by the new Supreme tian Patriarchy Movement (Beacon Press, To Shannon Jones, Brown’s pro-bono Court ruling.81 2009). Her work has appeared in the New attorney in South Carolina, this sort of Considering the chilling effect of the York Times, the Nation, Slate, Mother advocacy is further evidence that the ul- lawsuit now leveled against Dusten Jones, the Atlantic, and many other publi- timate goal is procuring more adoptable Brown and the Cherokee Nation, NICWA cations. children from Indian Country. In the Post worries that other tribes will feel the pres-

8 • The Public Eye WINTER 2014 BY SPENCER SUNSHINE

The Right Hand of Occupy Wall Street From Libertarians to Nazis, the Fact and Fiction of Right-Wing Involvement

The most successful mobilization on the Left in recent years—the Occupy movement—had ambiguously defined enemies and used an organizing model that was easily replicated. These strategies were key elements of its success, but they also enabled a significant level of participation by the Right. Though it is tempting to gloss over or deny that reality, the Left would benefit from beginning to grapple with it.

ccupy Wall Street (OWS) to gloss over the involvement of right- talists like Tom Perkins have slandered has often been portrayed wing and conspiracist groups in Occupy. Occupy, absurdly comparing its attack as the Tea Party’s ideo- In the perception of many participants, on wealth inequality to the Nazi perse- logical mirror image: a the Right’s presence was largely limited cution of Jews.1 Because of this, many left-wing response to the to a lone homeless man who paraded an- progressives plug their ears when they glob- hear about right-wing Oal economic crises groups and Occupy. that began in August (In this essay, OWS 2007. Initiated with refers to the New York a tent city in Manhat- City occupation, while tan’s Zuccotti Park Occupy refers to the in mid-September movement in gener- 2011, spinoff “Occu- al.) pations” soon spread Certainly, Occupy across the United was always a largely States and then to cit- left-leaning event. ies across the globe. But right-wing par- These protests, which ticipation has been targeted the federal the norm rather than government’s cozy the exception within relationship with the recent left-wing U.S. banking interests that movements—in- caused the economic cluding the antiglo- collapse, channeled balization, antiwar, the mounting anger environmental, and of those most devas- animal rights move- tated by the economic ments—and Occupy Occupy Wall Street on Nov. 15, 2011. Protestors were evicted from Zuccotti Park that meltdown, especially was no exception.2 morning. Photo courtesy of author. debt-ridden students, Right-wing groups the unemployed, and inserted their narra- people who lost homes in the subprime tisemitic signs around Zuccotti, which tive about the Federal Reserve into the mortgage crisis. became the basis of a right-wing “smear” movement’s visible politics; used Oc- But this mainstream-media view tends campaign. More recently, venture capi- cupy’s open-ended structure to dissemi-

WINTER 2014 Political Research Associates • 9 THE RIGHT TO OCCUPY?

nate conspiracy theories (antisemitic assumed to be those whose household But in addition to this general, popu- and otherwise) and White nationalism; incomes were over $500,000—was obvi- list appeal for uniting the people against promoted unfettered capitalism; and ously associated with “Wall Street,” the the elites, there was one specific piece gained experience, skills, and politi- focus of the demonstration.3 But many of common ground. While few right- cal confidence as organizers in a mass people with that kind of income were wing actors see capitalism as a system movement that, on the whole, allowed not associated with Wall Street at all. to be abolished, many are harsh critics their participation. And, in any case, what exactly was Wall of finance capital, especially in its inter- Ideally, none of these things should Street: the New York Stock Exchange? national form. This critique unites anti- have happened. Advocates for social Banks? Bankers? Global corporations? semites, who believe that Jews run Wall justice need to assess the motivations, The Federal Reserve? And who were Street; libertarian “free marketers,” who extent, and substance of right-wing par- the one percent: Crony capitalists spe- see the Federal Reserve as their enemy; ticipation in Occupy—just as has been cifically? Capitalists generally? The rich? and advocates of “producerist” narra- done with past movements. Despite the Political elites? The Bilderberg Group? tives, who want “productive national painful feelings it might evoke, it is time The Rothschild family? Jews? Or—as one capital” (such as manufacturing and for this process to start. popular conspiracy theorist had it—our agriculture) to be cleaved from “interna- reptilian overlords? tional finance capital” (the global bank- THE PROBLEM OF FINANCE CAPITAL Particularly at the beginning, Occupy ing system and free-trade agreements). AND AMBIGUOUS ENEMIES embraced everyone, just as a number of Finance has become a larger part of 4 The original call for OWS from Adbusters organizers intended. If the goal was to the U.S. economy, and increasingly in- magazine said the demonstrators them- unite “the 99%” against a tiny elite, after ternational, in the last few decades. As selves would decide on the “one demand” all, didn’t that require a Left-Right alli- an industry, it produces comparatively of the occupation, but this never materi- ance? Many on the Right openly called few jobs, and it functions globally as alized. Instead, the eminently populist for such an alliance, though the agenda one of the pillars of neoliberalism, ex- slogan “We are the 99%” became their they proposed usually offered little that acerbating economic inequality. While rallying cry. The one percent—often the Left could get behind. economic downturns are an intrinsic feature of capitalism itself, it was the largely unregulated behavior of banks that caused the most recent crisis. Oc- cupy was just one of many global dem- onstrations against austerity economics that have been populist in approach and politically amorphous, and, especially in Europe, these have a particular appeal to the Far Right. In Occupy the most common demand of the various right-wing and conspiracy groups—especially those who openly called for Left-Right unity—was for the abolition of the Federal Reserve. Wheth- er this is an issue actually shared by the Left, or just an attempt to get the Left to support right-wing policies, is another question.

THE INITIAL CONTROVERSY OVER ANTISEMITISM The Right’s participation was far from limited to a handful of antisemites, but it is nonetheless true that Occupy’s at- tacks on finance capital attracted many of them, since such attacks were eas- ily integrated into their fantasies of Jews controlling the banking industry. (Rather than explicitly naming Jews as the villain, antisemites often instead de- monize a subgroup that they identify as Jewish, such as Zionists, international

10 • The Public Eye WINTER 2014 bankers, neoconservatives, “the Frank- ten to one.” Despite this, the Zuccotti THE “END THE FED!” FACTOR AND furt School”—or Wall Street.) General Assembly (GA) never passed a THE CONSPIRACY THEORISTS Adbusters, the magazine that initially resolution specifically condemning - an As Occupy Wall Street burgeoned, Ron sparked OWS, has an especially trouble- tisemitism in its own ranks. (The GAs Paul was campaigning for the 2012 GOP some past. Its editor and co-founder, were the directly democratic gatherings presidential nomination. Although Kalle Lasn, published an article in 2004 where every- criticizing neoconservatives by invok- one could ing numerous antisemitic narratives. speak, and The article included a list of prominent where OWS David Duke, an elder statesman of the U.S. neoconservatives with marks next to decisions White nationalist movement, made a video the Jewish names. Responding to wide- were made.) spread criticism, Lasn denied that he In November titled “Occupy Zionist Wall Street.” Writing on was antisemitic but showed no under- 2011, the GA a popular White nationalist web forum, he standing of why the narrative of the did pass a res- article was offensive. More recently, olution con- declared, “Occupy is an opportunity . . . Grab the magazine has published articles by demning an- this opportunity!” antisemitic writer and musician Gilad tisemitism in Atzmon.5 This certainly raises the ques- the abstract, tion of whether Adbusters’s choice of though it in- Wall Street as a target may have been volved an incident unconnected to Oc- there was no obvious mechanism orga- shaped by narratives influenced by anti- cupy.8 nizing their participation, Paulists were semitism. The result was that many Occupy pro- at the OWS planning meetings, and they Some mainstream right-wing media testors on the Left felt that they were be- remained a fixture in the movement attempted to discredit OWS as being pri- ing unfairly “smeared” as antisemites by and appeared at almost all Occupations, marily antisemitic from the outset. The the mainstream Right in an attempt to though they were usually a small but vo- catalyst was an October 2011 article in discredit the movement as a whole, and, cal minority. (Paul himself made only Commentary by Abe Greenwald. Rely- furthermore, that these claims were guarded pro-Occupy comments.) ing on two antisemitic videos from Zuc- without merit.9 This fear of subversion One of Paul’s central goals is to abolish cotti—one of a homeless man who ap- created an atmosphere of denial and a the Federal Reserve (commonly known peared daily with antisemitic signs, and general consensus that there was no in- as “the Fed”), and he has popularized the other of a random participant—Gre- volvement in Occupy by those further to the slogan “End the Fed!” He believes enwald claimed that OWS “protesters the Right than Ron Paul. that it fosters “crony capitalism”—big are literally boasting of their Nazi cre- Right-wing and conspiracist participa- business working hand-in-hand with dentials” and that the “point of Occupy tion in Occupy was nonetheless real, and the federal government—and facilitates Wall Street is to scapegoat fellow Ameri- it involved more than 20 groups, promi- foreign wars. Abolishing the Fed will, cans. And wherever political scapegoat- nent figures, and media outlets. These he believes, both reduce U.S. militarism ing takes place, anti-Semitism is sure included Ron Paul supporters, Alex and make the federal social safety net to follow.” In mid-October, the Emer- Jones, Oath Keepers, David Icke, We Are impossible to sustain. In Paul’s utopian gency Committee for Israel released a Change, the Zeitgeist movement, Tea free market, the old, sick, and disabled broadcast ad implying that the OWS Party members, National-Anarchists, would be left to suffer and die unless demonstrations were overwhelmingly Attack the System, the Pacifica Forum, their families or others volunteered to antisemitic, and demanding that Presi- American Free Press, Larouchites, Coun- help. Paul also opposes abortion and So- dent Obama repudiate the incidents. Its ter-Currents, the American Freedom cial Security, and he has a long history evidence consisted entirely of the two Party, American Front, David Duke, the of accepting support from and dialogu- videos.6 American Nazi Party, White Revolution, ing with White nationalists.11 All of this created such a media uproar and others. (A detailed account of their The ambiguity of Occupy attracted a that more mainstream groups weighed participation is available separately in substantial number of Paul’s support- in. The Anti-Defamation League’s Abe my essay, “Twenty on the Right in Oc- ers, who in turn attracted a fair amount Foxman said that there was “no evi- cupy.”)10 Their involvement included at- of media coverage for themselves. They dence that these anti-Semitic conspiracy tending planning meetings, taking part gained general traction within Occupy theories are representative of the larger in the encampments, making appeals because of their objection to the Fed- movement or that they are gaining trac- directed to the Occupiers, and co-opting eral Reserve’s bailout of the major banks tion with other participants.”7 online resources. They fell into four after the financial collapse, and -some Journalist Jonathan Chait summarized overlapping categories: anti-Federal times focused on its role in the subprime the situation by writing that the “ratio of Reserve activists, conspiracy theorists, mortgage crisis. Counterintuitively for outraged published reports or commen- antisemites, and White nationalists/neo many, the lesson of the crisis for Paulists taries about anti-Semites at OWS to actu- Nazis. was the need for less—not more—fed- al anti-Semites at OWS is probably about

WINTER 2014 Political Research Associates • 11 THE RIGHT TO OCCUPY?

eral involvement in the banking system. OWS, including Danny Panzella, a Tea of investments that banks could make, Many others who wanted to abolish Party activist who ran for state office in which was repealed in the late 1990s. the Federal Reserve also became in- 2010. Even before OWS, Panzella orga- Many believe that it would have prevent- volved in Occupy; most supported Paul’s nized demonstrations against the down- ed the housing crisis had it remained in candidacy. Alex Jones, one of the most town Manhattan Federal Reserve, and effect. During Occupy, two bills were popular U.S. conspiracy theorists (al- he worked hard to refocus Occupy on an in Congressional committee that would though not a consistent supporter of “End the Fed!” agenda. He appeared on have restored its provisions, and it was Occupy), attempted to crash the move- the Fox News show Freedom Watch, in a priority for many Occupy protestors ment by calling for a national event on one of a number of the show’s broadcasts on the Left, as well. LaRouche’s follow- Oct. 6, 2011, to “Occupy the Fed.” Jones that encouraged libertarians to attend ers were active in the OWS planning said that, contrary to media portrayals Occupy events.15 Other members of the meetings, where Glass-Steagall’s resto- of Occupy as left-leaning, “The people group who worked with OWS included ration was one of six initial proposals on the ground … understand the Fed- Craig FitzGerald, a “National-Anarchist” for the never-realized “one demand.”19 eral Reserve is the central organization who promotes Holocaust denial and en- LaRouche’s organization even claimed empowering this world government sys- dorses White separatism. credit for making its reinstatement “a tem. This is a revolt against banker oc- leading demand of the movement.”20 12 cupation.” ANTISEMITES, WHITE NATIONALISTS, Staff at Counter-Currents, a leading At the same time, the Oath Keepers AND NEO-NAZIS U.S. publisher of intellectual fascism organization, in concert with Jones and Attack the System—which promotes an and White nationalism, claimed to have others, concocted a national push to alliance of racial separatists, theocrats, attended the San Francisco and Oakland insert “End the Fed!” rhetoric into Oc- and Leftists against what it sees as an occupations, and they described the cupy under a call to “Occupy the Occupa- increasingly globalized, centralized, lib- events as a valuable experience: tion!” (Oath Keepers, which holds armed eral “system”—also courted Occupy. The Given that the protestors are over- marches, recruits current and former organization produced a video—“Power whelmingly White, Occupy Wall military and law enforcement employees to the Neighborhoods (A Message to ‘Oc- Street does provide opportunities for who swear to “uphold the Constitution,” cupy Wall Street’)”—that called for Left- White Nationalists. There is nothing and is driven by conspiracies about the Right unity, offering a left-wing critique to prevent us from getting our ideas coming One World Government.) It also of contemporary problems while offer- into the mix. However, there is no helped establish an encampment in Oc- ing a classic right-wing solution: com- reason to think that our ideas will cupy Los Angeles and attempted to re- 16 plete local control. make any headway given the basic cruit there.13 Online, antisemites have continued nature of the protests [that is, Oc- Another Fed critic was David Icke, to be connected to Occupy projects. The cupy’s General Assembly format]. A known for his metaconspiracy theory most popular is an imposter Facebook far more promising angle is for us to that the global elite are descendants page that mimics the “real” main one— ponder how to frame an open-source of reptilian aliens who seek to enslave and posts blatantly antisemitic content. protest movement that would serve humanity—a story that weaves in clas- It has attracted nearly 650,000 follow- our purposes rather than the estab- sic antisemitic narratives. His “Essential ers. (By contrast, the page affiliated with lishment’s.21 Knowledge For A Wall Street Protestor” the organization that arose from the The most prominent figure on the video, which promotes anti-Federal Re- Zuccotti encampment has fewer than Far Right to endorse Occupy was David serve and related economic conspira- 500,000 followers.) It is unclear who the Duke, a former Republican state repre- cies, has about 350,000 views. He also secretive administrators of the imposter sentative from Louisiana and an elder made an hour-long “ad-lib documen- site are, or why it became so popular. statesman of the U.S. White national- tary” in Zuccotti Park just after the en- Attempts to remove it have so far been 14 ist movement. In a video from October campment was evicted by authorities. unsuccessful.17 2011, “Occupy Zionist Wall Street,” Icke’s followers were active in both U.S. One of the Far Right’s most enthusi- Duke denounced the “Zionist thieves and U.K. Occupations. astic Occupy champions was the Ameri- at the Federal Reserve” and “the most Other conspiracists who worked in can Free Press, an antisemitic weekly powerful criminal bank in the world, the Occupy include We Are Change (WAC), newspaper that is heir to Willis Carto’s Zionist Goldman Sachs, run by that vul- an international 9/11 “Truther” group. media empire. It promoted Occupy even ture-nosed bottom feeder, Lloyd Blank- Luke Rudkowski, the group’s founder, before the initial action, and for months fein.” The video has received more than is a prolific video blogger and is well- it printed numerous articles supporting 100,000 views to date. Duke later wrote known for his paparazzi-style inter- the movement, including firsthand re- on the White supremacist web forum views. On site at OWS from the first day, porting from various Occupations.18 Stormfront that “OWS is an opportunity. he did extensive video coverage at Zuc- Lyndon LaRouche’s Far Right sect was ... Grab this opportunity!”22 cotti Park and is also featured in David initially involved in OWS. It has long White nationalists also participated in Icke’s videos. pushed for restoring Glass-Steagall, a some of the movement’s less high-profile Members of WAC New York City, New Deal-era act that limited the kinds a splinter faction, were also active in iterations, such as Occupy Indianapolis

12 • The Public Eye WINTER 2014 (OI). Matt Parrott of Hoosier Nation— made for Nazis and other White nation- camp at night, prompting antifascists to the local branch of the White national- alists, since the “vast majority” of Wall kick them out and then set up a self-de- ist American Third Position Party, now Street bankers were Jewish. He urged fense patrol. But in both cities, antifas- called the American Freedom Party— his fellow activists to join the protests cists tangled with liberal Occupiers, who attended OI, and made a video inter- with “flyers EXPLAINING the ‘JEW claimed that—as part of “the 99%”—the viewing participants. He wrote: “Our BANKER’ influence”—but warned them neo-Nazis had a right to stay.28 experience was peaceful and positive, not to wear anything hinting that they affirming my suspicion that the- major were Nazis.26 Other neo-Nazis also be- ity of the Occupy Indianapolis attendees came involved, such as Billy Roper, who WHY DID THEY PARTICIPATE? were fed up with It is a mistake to the same corpo- view these right- rate and federal wing groups and people as “infil- abuses the major- Occupy highlights the extraordinary challenge ity of the Tea Party trating” Occupy, protesters are fed facing popular mobilizations: how to create a since in some up with.”23 His col- strong movement that is open to “everyone” cases they sup- league “Tristania” ported and helped posted a comment without becoming a forum for right-wing protest? organize it even on Stormfront say- before it started. ing that “it was a Others were sim- very good opportu- ply participating nity for outreach” in a demonstration and that “it’s about that loudly pro- cherry picking claimed that it was people from those open to everyone audiences and re- and refused to de- cruiting them to fine even its most our side.”24 basic concepts or Parrott posted demands. his video on the Yet some on the OI Facebook page, Right did view which the Hoosier their work as in- Anti-Racist Move- tentional co-op- ment (HARM) tation. This is an took issue with. intrinsic problem Although the vid- with the “franchise eo was removed, activism” model, HARM eventu- or the practice of ally split from OI, setting up a name claiming that it A performance by the LaRouche choral group. Lyndon LaRouche is a longtime and format that had “become a leading figure of the U.S. Far Right. The photo was taken on Sept. 17, 2011—the anyone can adopt safe place for con- first day of Occupy Wall Street. Photo courtesy of Tyko Kihlstedt. and act under. spiracy-theories, While it allows antisemitism, rac- for ease of replica- ism, anti-worker tion and flexibil- sentiment, pro-sweatshop propaganda, wrote that Occupy represented people ity in action—one and religious intolerance.” Other OI who were tired of the rich, the media, of Occupy’s great strengths—it also al- activists contacted HARM to complain the banking industry and the Federal Re- lows a variety of political visions to be of racial harassment at the Occupation serve, and that among Occupiers, “More pursued under its banner. For example, itself.25 (A representative from the OI and more people are willing to name the almost no mechanisms are available to Facebook page denied that the admin- Jew.”27 deem the “imposter” Facebook page as istrators were racists or antisemites, National Socialist Movement mem- illegitimate in relation to the “real” one. and said that because of splits in OI, the ber J.T. Ready came to Occupy Phoenix In addition, for decades, elements of Facebook page had no connection to the with his vigilante U.S. Border Guard, the Far Right have been trying to concoct physical occupation by the time of the armed with AR-15 rifles, claiming that a strategy for a decentralized White na- 29 racial incidents.) they were demonstrating their support tionalist movement. One group tried to American Nazi Party leader Rocky J. for the Second Amendment. In Seattle, think up how it could set up a White na- Suhayda wrote that Occupy was tailor- several neo-Nazis came into the Occupy tionalist version of Occupy, while anoth-

WINTER 2014 Political Research Associates • 13 THE RIGHT TO OCCUPY?

er praised the open organizational struc- avoid becoming a forum for right-wing their warm reception.33 Not taking a ture as a boon for spreading its ideas.30 populist protest. The basic format of the proactive stance against antisemitism at The point it is not so much that the demonstrations—a populist attack on Zuccotti led to significant bad press and Left was significantly damaged by the finance capital with ambiguous -formu much time and energy invested—often Right’s presence in Occupy—though its lations—harmonized quite well with the by Jewish participants—in putting out presence did open the movement up to political vocabulary and framework of fires. attacks in the mainstream media, which the Right and conspiracy theorists. In truth, even if such measures are wasted the time and enacted, right-wing effort of organizers involvement in pop- while turning off po- Successful mass protest movements around the ular demonstrations tential supporters. that have traditional- The deeper problem globe have been leaderless and decentralized in ly been the province is that right-wing recent years. With its critique of finance capital and of the Left is likely to groups benefited continue. The mass- from the Left’s will- financial elites, the Right will continue to try to based left-wing par- ingness to give them profit politically from them. ties and unions in a stage to speak from the West are rap- and an audience to idly losing their re- recruit from. maining influence Are there any practical steps, then, as state communism has collapsed in WHAT IS TO BE DONE? that activists on the Left can take to min- Eastern Europe; Keynesianism and so- Many Leftists argue that mass organiz- imize participation by the Right? cial democracy are in eclipse; and neo- ing should occur in a Popular Front The administrators at the Occupy- liberalism illuminates the world with style, with the critique of capitalism WallSt.org forum, the main online lo- its triumphant calamity. The countries as a system being the core politic and cation of internal discussions, took that remain in opposition are a handful specific, popular grievances merely the one small step after they were deluged of creaking authoritarian regimes and focus of mobilizations—egregious ex- by conspiracy theorists and Far Right religious theocracies in the Middle East amples to rally people around but not propagandists. In October 2011, they and Asia, along with a few left-leaning the actual cause. This organizing style banned anyone who posted about Icke, democracies in Latin America that, at 31 requires either an ideologically cohesive LaRouche, Duke, or Jones. least for activists in the West, have not coalition or a specific group behind the A more proactive first step would be generated the same inspiration that past mobilization, controlling the messag- to endorse an anti-oppression platform revolutionary governments did. ing and serving as a gatekeeper against at the very start, such as the one created On the ground, most successful mass right-wing participation. at Occupy Boston. Unlike the relatively protest movements of the last decade After the August 2007 crisis, how- vague statement from Zuccotti, Boston’s and a half in the West, North Africa, and ever, the traditional U.S. Left was un- statement explicitly named the types of the Middle East have been leaderless and able to lead a popular protest movement oppression that it opposed, including decentralized. They have also had vagu- in this format, and it took OWS nearly White supremacy, patriarchy, ageism, er and vaguer goals. The Right—with its four years to get off the ground using homophobia, transphobia, anti-Arab criticisms of finance capital and -finan digital-age organizing, self-selected or- sentiment, Islamophobia, and anti-Jew- cial elites—will continue to try to profit 32 ganizers, and ambiguous politics. It is ish sentiment. politically from economic crises. In the unlikely that organizing along the for- A member of the Hoosier Anti-Racist last few years, fascists have been able to mer model would have ever succeeded, Movement pointed out that if such a do this in Greece, Bulgaria, and, most or that mainstream liberal pundits, who platform had been in place in Occupy recently, Ukraine—where they have were instrumental in popularizing OWS, Indianapolis, when racist sentiments been the most prominent faction in the would have supported a more tradition- were expressed towards people of color, weeks of street-fighting in Kiev. al, centrally organized leftist mobiliza- there would have been an existing agree- Advocates for social justice would do tion. The ambiguity of OWS politics, ment to point to—and a basis for asking well to have a plan to deal with them. which let people hang their own hats on the larger group to intervene—rather it, made Occupy possible—but also be- than relying on nonexistent cooperation Spencer Sunshine is an associate fellow at came a double-edged sword, since what from the majority of the largely White Political Research Associates. His research helped the Left also enabled the Right. participants. The HARM member also involves various facets of Left/Right cross- As a result, the involvement of right- said that if racists had been confronted over, including right-wing anti-capitalism wing groups in Occupy raises questions and expelled from the physical occupa- and left-wing antisemitism. Follow him on about the dilemma of creating a move- tion, they likely would not have posted twitter @transform6789. ment that is open to “everyone” but a positive video of their experience, felt must exclude certain elements if it is to welcome to continue to participate in the group’s social media, or written about

14 • The Public Eye WINTER 2014 perspectives

BY REV. OSAGYEFO SEKOU

The Gospel of James Baldwin: An Interview with Dr. E.L. Kornegay Jr.

Dr. E.L. Kornegay Jr. grew up in a military family, living on the faith in his late teenage years. Kornegay views him none- U.S. Army bases in several U.S. states and in France. The fam- theless as a religious writer. “Everything he writes is a religious ily’s home base was in Kinston, NC. “I conversation,” he said. In his recently was bouncing back and forth between published book, A Queering of Black these different worlds,” Kornegay said, Theology: James Baldwin’s Blues Project “and going back and forth between two and Gospel Prose (Palgrave Macmillan, types of segregation, one racial and one 2013), Kornegay uses Baldwin’s work to based on rank.” probe the question of “how we reconcile Kornegay dropped out of college but sexualities with faith.” returned in his mid-30s, earning a B.A. Kornegay is an adjunct professor at in English from North Carolina A&T. Chicago Theological Seminary and the He later earned graduate degrees from founder, last year, of the Chicago-based McCormick Theological Seminary and Baldwin Delaney Institute for Academ- Chicago Theological Seminary, becom- ic Enrichment and Faith Flourishing, ing the first African-American male to whose mission is “to teach successful earn a Ph.D. from the latter institution. critical-thinking strategies” and “criti- He was drawn to study the work of cal social dialogue to youth, families, the writer James Baldwin (1924-1987) and non-traditional adult learners.” through a comment made by the found- The following interview focuses on A er of Black liberation theology, James Queering of Black Theology and was con- H. Cone, who once said that Baldwin ducted by Rev. Osagyefo Sekou, pas- taught him how to write. Kornegay was intrigued: “That took tor for formation and justice at First Baptist Church in Jamaica me on this theological journey to discern exactly what that Plain in Boston, MA. He is also a fellow at the Institute for Policy meant.” Studies, an organizer, documentary filmmaker, and the author Baldwin was the son of a Christian minister who felt alienated of God, Gays, and Guns: Essays on Religion and the Future of De- from his family and church, in part because he was gay, and left mocracy (Campbell & Cannon, 2012).

The subtitle of the book is James Baldwin’s Blues Project disparaged and abandoned people and gives a way for that ex- and Gospel Prose. The blues is an enduring narrative in the pression to remain sacred, whether it’s in the church or in the twentieth century. It seems that Baldwin’s life is a blues nar- street. So the blues is a way to talk about everything at once rative, given the [tragedy of] his relationship to his father, the without the separation of sacredness and profaneness seeping relationship between him and the Black community, and as a in. writer being ignored. The blues is the soundtrack of exile and [creates] a multiplicity of narratives in your work. You [write about Baldwin’s lived experience of] exile in the Blues, as it is expressed as music, begins and ends with the Promised Land . . . issue of one’s sexuality. It’s a siren call of the spirit, related to Baldwin was in Harlem at a time when the North was seen as a love and the search for love, and the pain of love, that gets lost land of promise. Many folk migrated from the South into the on us as we become spiritual or Christian creatures. I think North to end up in this space, where you could see the promise that Baldwin captures that—the idea of being sanctified as be- but not necessarily engage in it. So this is really an exilic so- ing inclusive of who you are sexually. journ, and the folk that end up in the ghetto spaces of Harlem, The blues, for me, is a way of engaging the sacredness of like Baldwin, are exiled socially, economically, and racially. Black bodies and the Black experience, in relation to Black Add to that the fact that, for Baldwin, his exilic experience religion and the church. It brings in the holy narrative of a also includes his sexuality.

WINTER 2014 Political Research Associates • 15 BALDWIN’S GOSPEL

There is a general consensus that Baldwin leaves the church. Old folk, differently abled folk, intellectuals, and homosex- Inherent in that is the idea that the church left Baldwin. But it ual men and lesbian women made up the inner circle of my reemerges in these interesting ways: Go Tell It on the Moun- mother’s friends. Add to that the fact that, even though I’m a tain, Nobody Knows My Name, No Name in the Street, native of North Carolina and grew up in Kinston, with a dirt The Devil Finds Work. Those are religious phrases—notions road beside the house, I was living in France when I was five that emerge out of songs and scripture. You are resituating and six years old, in Poitiers, and doing things that were dif- Baldwin within the framework of the Black church and Chris- ferent from other little Black boys and girls at that particular tianity writ large. time, flying intercontinentally and sailing from New York to It’s important to understand when you read him—all the way Germany and flying from Paris to New York. And then bound- up to Just Above My Head (1979) and The Evidence of Things Not ing from that kind of world down to a little town that was seg- Seen (1985)—that Baldwin really takes on an apostolic calling. regated. His texts are apostolic: he is doing what the gospel calls us to So my experiences as a youth, up until I was 12, meant that do, which is to go out and preach the gospel in Jerusalem, Ju- I had to be able to navigate both of those spaces. That allowed for an expansive understanding of humanity and the choices that hu- Black manhood and Black masculinity are not monolithic. mans make, whether that’s where they live, how they interact, and who You can be masculine and homosexual, and you can they are sexually. And that is inclu- be masculine and heterosexual. And if we want to end sive of this thing my sister said one time—that she felt like our mother violence, we have to be willing to go beyond the model herself was a lesbian. of masculinity that we have right now, to be able to look When anybody gay came home, at it and critique it ... to be able to come together and to they would come by the house, and they would be full of laughter. I had make Black masculinity over again. this community that loved me, un- conditionally, because they loved my mother. And so I grew up at this ta- ble, and it was a table full of radicals, dea, and Samaria, and to the outermost parts of the earth. And conservatives, straight folk, gay folk, church folk, gamblers, that is exactly what Baldwin does. Which is very different from and that was what I experienced. And so that text, [Baldwin’s what we see in the Black church, where we’re proud to be sit- book] Another Country, was really my entry point into the ting on the same pew, on the same end, for 37 years, and that world of Baldwin, and into another world, very literally and is how we see ourselves as holy. figuratively. That was what I had experienced. I was a baby, five or six years old, in France, when Baldwin was probably Though the text is dense in terms of its theological reading having his first expat experience in Paris. and its deployment of queer theory, I keep [remembering that] you’re a country boy from Kinston, North Carolina. I imagine Given the moment we are in, at one level we see progress— your mama, and Baldwin, and you, and a queer theorist—Ju- over a dozen states allowing gay marriage—while the majority dith Butler or somebody like that—sitting around, and your don’t allow gay marriage. And so your text hits at an interest- mama pouring a cup of coffee and giving them some pie. Situate ing time, because the Black church is slowly being torn asun- your experience of Baldwin and your experience of being from der around sex and sexuality. And then the AIDS epidemic is North Carolina. once again rearing its ugly head. So, what’s at stake for you in the text? What do you want a queering of black theology to say We’ve had many conversations about our upbringing and the to the world? centrality of the kitchen-table narratives that have shaped our thinking and our humanity. My mother was an avid reader. In I wanted to say to the world that Black manhood and Black fact, I think she even planted texts that were charged sexually masculinity are not monolithic. You can be masculine and [in our home]. As a genteel, Southern, Christian, Negro wom- homosexual, and you can be masculine and heterosexual. It’s an, things that she couldn’t tell her son about being a man, or not about sexuality but about masculinity. And the kind of the choices that he was to face as a Black man in the world, masculinity that we perpetuated, post-Civil Rights, is losing or even the challenges that he was to face in that world—she the battle against violence. And if we want to end violence, couldn’t tell me, but she could give me a text, or plant a text, we have to be willing to go beyond the model of masculinity for me to read. Along with reading, say, Falconhurst Fancy, that we have right now, to be able to look at it and critique and Manchild in the Promised Land, and Invisible Man, Another it, and to unburden our women from carrying it, and pick up Country was planted. And so, around the time I was 12 or 13, that mantle ourselves, in a new way, that requires all of the that was one of the first novels that I read through, and it was brothers, heterosexual and homosexual, to be able to come charged with sexuality. together and to make Black masculinity over again. And also, my mother’s kitchen table was queer, in context.

16 • The Public Eye WINTER 2014 endnotes

ICWA, p.2 17. Becca Cadoff, “Texas Bill Would rights.html.csp. and the Constitutional Issues,” Consti- Require Women To Take Adoption 34. Brooke Adams, “Utah adop- tutional Law Prof Blog, Apr. 15, 2013, 1. Gabe Gutierrez and M. Alex John- Class Before Abortion,” ACLU, Oct. 1, tion law: model for nation or un- http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/ son, “‘Baby Veronica’ returned to 2013, www.aclu.org/blog/reproduc- just burden?” Salt Lake Tribune, Dec. conlaw/2013/04/oral-argument-pre- adoptive parents after Oklahoma high tive-freedom-womens-rights/texas- 26, 2011, www.sltrib.com/sltrib/ view-adoptive-couple-v-baby-girl-and- court lifts order,” NBC News, Sept. bill-would-require-women-take-adop- home2/52433534-183/utah-law- the-constitutional-issues.html. 24, 2013, http://usnews.nbcnews. tion-class-abortion. court-adoption.html.csp. 50. “Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl,” com/_news/2013/09/24/20665873- 18. Catherine Candisky, “Abortion SCOTUSblog, www.scotusblog.com/ baby-veronica-returned-to-adop- 35. “Title 78B Chapter 6 Section 110: foes focus on easing Ohio adoptions.” Notice of adoption proceedings,” Utah case-files/cases/adoptive-couple-v- tive-parents-after-oklahoma-high- baby-girl. court-lifts-order. 19. Napp Nazworth, “Bipartisan Sen- State Legislature, http://le.utah.gov/ ate Group Seeks to Fix Flaws in Interna- code/TITLE78B/htm/78B06_011000. 51. Nina Totenberg, “S.C. Court Or- 2. Allyson Bird, “James Island fam- tional Adoption,” Christian Post, Sept. htm. ders ‘Baby Veronica’ Adoption Final- ily turns over 2-year-old girl following 20, 2013, www.christianpost.com/ ized,” NPR, July 24, 2013, www.npr. court order,” Post and Courier, Dec. 31, 36. Andrew Knapp, “Skeptics of Ve- news/bipartisan-senate-group-seeks- ronica, Desaray cases call for closer org/2013/07/24/205224853/s-c- 2011, www.postandcourier.com/ar- to-fix-flaws-in-international-adop- court-orders-baby-veronica-adoption- ticle/20111231/PC16/312319969. look at private adoptions, laws,” Post tion-104968. and Courier, Sept. 21, 2013, www.post- finalized. 3. Aditi Mukherji, “S.C. Court: Baby 20. Kerry and Niels, “Stop The Children andcourier.com/article/20130921/ 52. Michael Overall, “Baby Veronica Veronica’s Adoptive Parents Should In Families First Act of 2013,” Pound PC16/130929823. case: Adoptive parents seek more than Get Custody,” FindLaw, July 19, 2013, Pup Legacy, Sept. 23, 2013, http:// 37. Laura Beauvais-Godwin, “Night- $1 million in legal fees from biological http://blogs.findlaw.com/decid- poundpuplegacy.org/node/59424. father, Cherokees,” Tulsa World, Nov. ed/2013/07/sc-court-baby-veronicas- light’s Position on Openness in Do- 21. “S. 1458--111th Congress: Fami- mestic Adoption,” Nightlight Chris- 5, 2013, www.tulsaworld.com/news/ adoptive-parents-should-have-custo- local/baby-veronica-case-adoptive- dy.html. lies for Orphans Act of 2009,” Gov- tian Adoptions, Sept. 26, 2013, www. Track, 2009, www.govtrack.us/con- nightlight.org/2013/09/nightlights- parents-seek-more-than-million-in/ 4. Elizabeth Bartholet, “The Interna- gress/bills/111/s1458. position-openness-domestic-adoption. article_ff42ac68-465f-11e3-82d1- tional Adoption Cliff: Do Child Human 0019bb30f31a.html. Rights Matter?” May 29, 2013, www. 22. “Senators push for more effi- 38. Daniel Nehrbass, “Nightlight’s cient Haiti adoptions,” CNN, Jan. 26, Position on Intercountry Adoption,” 53. Interview with Terry Cross, Nov. law.harvard.edu/faculty/bartholet/ 2013 IA%20Adoption%20Cliff%205-30-13. 2010, www.cnn.com/2010/POLI- Nightlight Christian Adoptions, pdf. TICS/01/26/haiti.orphans. www.nightlight.org/wp-content/up- 54. Richard Pratt, “Kill the Indian, loads/2013/07/position-statement- Save the Man,” 1892, http://socrates. 5. Kevin Voigt and Sophie Brown, 23. Mary Landrieu and Jim Inhofe, “Washington Examiner: New ap- subsidiarity.pdf. bmcc.cuny.edu/bfriedheim/pratt. “International adoptions in decline as htm. number of orphans grows,” CNN, Sept. proach needed to help world’s or- 39. Andrew Knapp, “Skeptics of Ve- 17, 2013, www.cnn.com/2013/09/16/ phans,” Landrieu.senate.gov, ronica, Desaray cases call for closer 55. Trace A. DeMeyer, “The Baby Ve- world/international-adoption-main- Mar.3, 2010, www.landrieu.senate. look at private adoptions, laws.” ronica Case: David vs. Goliath,” Indian story-decline. gov/?p=news&id=2785; and see ch. 1 40. “Brief for Respondent Birth Fa- Country Today, Dec. 8, 2013, http:// in Joyce, Child Catchers. indiancountrytodaymedianetwork. 6. Jessica Arons, “The Adoption Op- ther,” American Bar Association, Mar. 24. “PEAR Statement on Families 2013, www.americanbar.org/con- com/2013/08/12/baby-veronica-case- tion: Adoption Won’t Reduce Abor- david-vs-goliath. tion but It Will Expand Women’s for Orphans Act,” Parents for Ethi- tent/dam/aba/publications/supreme_ Choices,” Center for American Prog- cal Adoption Reform, 2010, www. court_preview/briefs-v2/12-399_resp_ 56. Cross interview. ress, Oct. 18, 2010, www.ameri- brandeis.edu/investigate/adoption/ birth_father.authcheckdam.pdf. 57. “Indian Child Welfare Act of canprogress.org/issues/women/ docs/PEAR_FFOA_Statement.pdf. 41. Andrew Knapp, “Skeptics of Ve- 1978,” National Indian Child Welfare report/2010/10/18/8460/the-adop- 25. “Category Archives: Families For ronica, Desaray cases call for closer Association, www.nicwa.org/indian_ tion-option. Orphans Act,” Ethica, http://ethicanet. look at private adoptions, laws.” child_welfare_act. 7. “Adoption: Guatemala,” The sitesteaders.com/adoption/adoption- 42. “Indian Child Welfare Act of 58. “NICWA’s Key Contributions to Schuster Institute for Investigative advocacy-and-support/calls-to-action/ 1978,” National Indian Child Welfare Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl,” Nation- Journalism, Mar. 8, 2012, www. ffoa. Association, www.nicwa.org/indian_ al Indian Child Welfare Association, brandeis.edu/investigate/adoption/ 26. Margie Perscheid, “Ethica posi- child_welfare_act. www.nicwa.org/babyveronica/docu- guatemala.html. tions on pending international adop- 43. Laura Briggs, “Guest Blogger Laura ments/SCOTUSNICWAonepager_Up- 8. Finding Fernanda, http://finding- tion legislation,” Third Mom, July Briggs: Feminists and the Baby Veroni- datedOct2013_000.pdf. fernanda.com. 9, 2009, http://thirdmom.blogspot. ca Case,” National Council for Research 59. Suzette Brewer, “Baby Veroni- com/2009/07/ethica-positions-on- on Women, www.ncrw.org/public- ca’s Birth Mother Files Suit, Claims 9. “Ban on US adoptions ‘won’t be pending.html. canceled or altered,’” RT, June 27, forum/real-deal-blog/guest-blog-femi- ICWA Unconstitutional,” Indian 2013, http://rt.com/politics/canceled- 27. The Families For Orphans Coali- nists-and-baby-veronica-case. Country Today, July 26, 2013, http:// altered-ombudsman-russian-314. tion, “Call To Action: Families For 44. Andrew Cohen, “Indian Affairs, indiancountrytodaymedianetwork. Orphans Act,” Adopt Abroad, http:// com/2013/07/26/veronicas-birth- 10. Britt Aamodt, “Adopting hope: Adoption, and Race: The Baby Veron- adopt-abroad.com/Families-For-Or- ica Case Comes to Washington,” At- mother-sues-doj-says-icwa-unconsti- Three local families’ adoptions stalled phans.htm. tutional-150597. by agency bankruptcy,” Star News, lantic, Apr. 12, 2013, www.theatlan- Mar.15, 2013, http://erstarnews. 28. Christian Alliance for Orphans, tic.com/national/archive/2013/04/ 60. Andrew Knapp, “Veronica’s com/2013/03/15/adopting-hope- www.christianalliancefororphans.org. indian-affairs-adoption-and-race-the- mother, others assert rights, ask that three-local-families-adoptions-stalled- 29. Maureen McCauley Evans, “It’s baby-veronica-case-comes-to-washing- ICWA provisions be deemed uncon- by-agency-bankruptcy. Time to Oppose CHIFF,” Light of Day ton/274758. stitutional,” Post and Courier, July 25, Stories, Jan. 7, 2014, http://lightofday- 45. “Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl: 2013, www.postandcourier.com/ 11. See Kathryn Joyce, The Child Catch- article/20130725/PC16/130729617; ers: Rescue, Trafficking, and the New Gos- stories.com/2014/01/07/its-time-to- Transcript,” Radiolab. oppose-chiff. and “ICWA Maldonado v. Holder Civil pel of Adoption (Public Affairs, 2013). 46. Michael Overall, “‘Baby Veronica’ Complaint,” July 24, 2013, www. 12. Joel Roberts, “Evangelicals Start 30. “Pear Statement On The Proposed adoption case lobbyists move to Con- scribd.com/doc/165089757/ICWA- Adoption Push,” CBS News, May 3, ‘Children In Families First Act,’” Par- gress,” Tulsa World, July 11, 2012, Maldonado-v-Holder-Civil-Complaint- 2007, www.cbsnews.com/news/evan- ents for Ethical Adoption Reform, Oct. www.tulsaworld.com/news/local/ba- July-2013. gelicals-start-adoption-push. 1, 2013, http://pear-now.blogspot. by-veronica-adoption-case-lobbyists- nl/2013/10/pear-statement-on-pro- move-to-congress/article_7aa74c09- 61. Christian Alliance for Indian Child 13. “On Adoption and Orphan Care,” posed-children-in.html. dac9-597c-aab0-31e4417d54cb.html. Welfare, http://caicw.org/#/2. Southern Baptist Convention, June 31. “Children in Families First Act— 47. Jessica Munday, “Save Veronica,” 62. “To Our Family,” Dying in Indian 2009, www.sbc.net/resolutions/am- Country, dyinginindiancountry.com/ Resolution.asp?ID=1194. CHIFF,” http://childreninfamiliesfirst. Change.org, www.change.org/peti- org/legislation-chiff. tions/save-veronica. to-our-family. 14. See Joyce, Child Catchers, 213-239. 32. “Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl: 48. Andrea Poe, “Baby Veronica case 63. “A Child Dies and Dozens More 15. Interview with Craig Juntunen, Transcript,” Radiolab, May 30, 2013, may head to U.S. Supreme Court,” Remain in Abusive Homes, Ignored by January 2011, published in Joyce, Child www.radiolab.org/story/295210- Washington Times Communities, Nov. the BIA,” June 21, 2013, http://caicw. Catchers, 233. adoptive-couple-v-baby-girl/tran- 26, 2012, http://communities.wash- org/2013/06/21/a-child-dies-and-doz- 16. Catherine Candisky, “Abortion script. ingtontimes.com/neighborhood/red- ens-more-remain-in-abusive-homes- ignored-by-the-bia. foes focus on easing Ohio adoptions,” 33. “Editorial: Utah adoption law thread-adoptive-family-forum/2012/ Columbus Dispatch, Oct. 7, 2013, www. wrongly discriminates against fa- nov/26/baby-veronica-case-may-head- 64. “Christian Alliance for Indian dispatch.com/content/stories/lo- thers,” Salt Lake Tribune, Oct. 23, us-supreme-court. Child Welfare,” www.teapartycommu- cal/2013/10/07/abortion-foes-focus- 2013, www.sltrib.com/sltrib/opin- 49. Ruthann Robson, “Oral Argument nity.com/caicw. on-adoption.html. ion/57026142-82/utah-adoption-law- Preview: Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl 65. Lisa Morris, “The Great Chiefs

WINTER 2014 Political Research Associates • 17 Fought for Independence,” Aug. 1997, in Fees,” Indian Country Today, Sept. lease), Oct. 17, 2011, http://archive. dateoccupy-wall-street-big-money-no- www.citizensalliance.org/CERA%20 25, 2013, http://indiancountryto- adl.org/presrele/asus_12/6138_12. ideas/. News/CERA%20News%202002%20 daymedianetwork.com/2013/09/25/ html. 22. “Occupy Zionist Wall Street by 05/Great%20Chiefs%20Fought%20 capobiancos-sue-dusten-brown-near- 8. Jonathan Chait, “Anti-Semites! David Duke,” Oct. 20, 2011, www. for%20Independance.htm. ly-half-million-fees-151444. With Signs!,” New York, Oct. 18, 2011, youtube.com/watch?v=xKy22KsxX9k; 66. Howard B. Hanson, “Roland Mor- 83. “Veronica: One Of Many Multi- http://nymag.com/daily/intelligenc- David Duke, forum post #60, Nov. 2, ris, Sr., one of the nation’s true civil Heritage Children Hurt By ICWA,” er/2011/10/anti-semites_with_signs. 2011, www.stormfront.org/forum/ and human rights warriors is dead at Christian Alliance for Indian Child html; “OWS Official Statement Against t842071-6/. 59,” Proper Economic Resource Man- Welfare, Sept. 23, 2013, http://caicw. Anti-Semitism,” Nov. 13, 2011, http:// 23. Matt Parrott, “Occupy Indianapo- agement, www.perm.org/articles/ org/2013/09/24/veronica-one-of-ma- interoccupy.net/occupyjudaism/ows- lis Roundup,” Oct. 14, 2011, www. a223.html. ny-multi-heritage-children-hurt-by- official-statement-against-anti-semi- counter-currents.com/2011/10/video- 67. “Who We Are,” Christian Alliance icwa. tism. from-the-front-lines-occupy-indianap- for Indian Child Welfare, http://caicw. 84. “Time For Strangers To Leave 9. “A Statement Against Smears” olis-roundup/, . org/who-we-are. Veronica Capobianco Alone,” Chris- (press release), Nov. 1, 2011, http:// 24. Tristania, “Experiences at Oc- 68. “Indians fear legal breakup of tian Alliance for Indian Child Wel- jewishleadersagainstsmears.word- cupy Indianapolis,” Oct. 11, 2011, family,” Washington Times, May 13, fare, Oct. 24, 2013, http://caicw. press.com/. www.stormfront.org/forum/ 2004, www.washingtontimes.com/ org/2013/10/24/time-for-strangers- 10. Spencer Sunshine, “Twenty on the t837879/#post9639571; and “Re: Ex- news/2004/may/13/20040513- to-leave-veronica-capobianco-alone. Right in Occupy,” www.politicalre- periences at Indianapolis,” Oct. 14, 113303-6160r/?page=all; and Morris, search.org/20-on-the-right-in-occupy. 2011, www.stormfront.org/forum/ “The Great Chiefs Fought for Indepen- 11. Rachel Tabachnick and Frank t837879-3/#post9646591. dence.” Occupy Wall Street, p. 7 L. Cocozzelli, “Nullification, Neo- 25. “HARM Withdraws Support 69. Laura Briggs, “Why Feminists Confederates, and the Revenge of the for Occupy Indianapolis,” Jan. 19, Should Care About the Baby Veronica 1. Tom Perkins, “Progressive Kristall- Old Right,” The Public Eye (Fall 2013), 2012, https://web.archive.org/ Case,” Indian Country Today, Aug. 16, nacht Coming?,” Wall Street Journal 2–8, www.politicalresearch.org/nul- web/20120124170722/http://india- 2013, http://indiancountrytodaymedi- (letters), Jan. 24, 2014, http://online. lification-neo-confederates-and-the- naantifa.wordpress.com/2012/01/19/ anetwork.com/2013/08/16/why-fem- wsj.com/news/articles/SB100014240 revenge-of-the-old-right. harm-withdraws-support-for-occupy- inists-should-care-about-baby-veroni- 52702304549504579316913982034 12. “The Revolution Against the indianapolis/; personal communica- ca-case-150894. 286. Federal Reserve Starts Now,” Oct. tion with “Telly,” a founding member 70. “Anti-Indian Sovereignty Move- 2. See, for example, Chip Berlet, 6, 2011, www.youtube.com/ of HARM. ment and its politicians,” Indian “Right Woos Left,” originally Dec. 20, watch?v=R0AJy4pJUE8. 26. “ANP Report for Oct. 16, 2011,” Country Today, Feb. 22, 2002, http:// 1990 (revised with corrections), www. 13. “OATH KEEPERS (and Volunteers http://anp14.com/news/archives. indiancountrytodaymedianetwork. publiceye.org/rightwoo/rwooz9.html. From Other Liberty Orgs) To Occupy php?report_date=2011-10-16. com/2002/02/22/anti-indian-sov- The anti-globalization movement is The Occupation!,” Oct. 5, 2011, http:// 27. Billy Roper, “Occupy Pennsylvania ereignty-movement-and-its-politi- analyzed in Anti-Fascist Forum, ed., oathkeepers.org/oath/2011/10/05/ Avenue!,” Oct. 12, 2011, https://web. cians-87520. My Enemy’s Enemy, 3rd ed. (Kersplebe- oath-keepers-and-the-wayseers-to-oc- archive.org/web/20111231041640/ 71. Interview with John Dossett, No- deb, 2003). cupy-the-occupation. http://Whiterevolution.com/?p=2930. vember 2013. 3. The figure is from Phil Izzo, “What 14. “David Icke - Essential Knowl- 28. “Occupy Phoenix with AR-15’s” 72. Charles Tanner Jr., “‘Take these Percent Are You?,” Oct. 19, 2011, Wall edge For A Wall Street Protestor,” (video), Oct. 20, 2011, www.you- Tribes Down’: The Anti-Indian Move- Street Journal blogs, http://blogs.wsj. Oct. 21, 2011, www.youtube.com/ tube.com/watch?v=xkM7cdMgcEc; ment Comes to Washington State,” In- com/economics/2011/10/19/what- watch?v=gV9A2IGShuk; “David Icke’s “Capital Hell Commune,” Oct. 30, stitute for Research and Education on percent-are-you/. ‘ad lib’ documentary at Occupy Wall 2011, http://pugetsoundanarchists. Human Rights, Apr. 26, 2013, www. 4. On Aug. 12, 2011, Adbusters’s Mi- Street,” Jan. 6, 2012, www.youtube. org/node/1052. Regarding liberal irehr.org/issue-areas/treaty-rights- cah White said they should “reach out com/watch?v=99nvx3m2fbQ. protestors defending the right of neo- and-tribal-sovereignty/item/478-take- to the Tea Party, too. This is a moment 15. “Danny Panzella on Free- Nazis to remain, see “Occupy Seattle these-tribes-down. for all of America.” In OWS planning dom Watch w/ Judge Napolitano,” General Assembly,” Occupy Seattle, 73. Dossett interview. meetings, Alexa O’Brien, the U.S. Day Oct. 4, 2011, www.youtube.com/ Nov. 6, 2011, http://occupyseattle. org/?p=376; and “The National Social- 74. Dossett interview. of Rage organizer, said, “We need to watch?v=20_NRdXTD4k. appeal to the right as well as the left.” ist Movement scum show up armed 75. Russell Moore, Adopted for Life: The 16. “Power to the Neighborhoods (A to counter protest #occupyphoenix,” Quoted in Nathan Schneider, Thank Message to ‘Occupy Wall Street’),” Priority of Adoption for Christian Families You, Anarchy (University of California Fires Never Extinguished, Oct. 15, and Churches, (Crossway, 2009), 155. Oct. 21, 2011, www.youtube.com/ 2011, http://firesneverextinguished. Press, 2013), 15, 4. watch?v=4FwpQiyF94U. 76. Coalition for the Protec- blogspot.com/2011/10/national-so- 5. Kalle Lasn, “Why Won’t Any- 17. The “real” Facebook page is “Oc- tion of Indian Children and Fami- one Say They Are Jewish?,” Ad- cialist-movement-scum-show.html. lies Facebook, www.facebook. cupyWallSt” and the “imposter” page is 29. For example, see Spencer Sun- busters, Mar./Apr. 2004, http:// “OccupyWallSt1.” com/coalitionforindianchildren/ radicalarchives.org/2011/10/20/ shine, “Rebranding Fascism: Na- posts/190341754443107?stream_ lasn-adbusters-helps-you-find-the- 18. Dave Gahary promoted the up- tional-Anarchists,” The Public Eye ref=10. jews/; Jeff Sommer, “The War Against coming demonstration in “‘Nautilus’ (Winter 2008) 1, 12–19, www.politi- 77. Andrew Knapp, “Veronica’s moth- Too Much of Everything,” New York & the Chance for a U.S. Revolution,” calresearch.org/rebranding-fascism- er, others assert rights, ask that ICWA Times, Dec. 22, 2012, www.nytimes. American Free Press, Sep. 19/26, 2011. national-anarchists. One source re- provisions be deemed unconstitution- com/2012/12/23/business/adbusters- Pro-Occupy articles ran in the paper on ported that Louis Beam, the legendary al.” war-against-too-much-of-everything. a weekly basis until after Zuccotti was White nationalist advocate of “leader- html; on Atzmon, see Michael Moyni- evacuated. See, for example, Michael less resistance,” had endorsed Occupy. 78. Suzette Brewer, “South Carolina Collins Piper’s cover story: “Left–Right Adoption Attorney Seeks to Overturn han, “Busted,” Tablet, Dec. 6, 2011, See Alexander Mezentsev’s comment www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news- Unite: Wall Street, Federal Reserve, Big (#10), Nov. 5, 2011, www.counter- Oklahoma Jurisdiction in Baby De- Media Targeted,” American Free Press, seray,” Indian Country Today, Oct. 31, and-politics/85379/busted. One fas- currents.com/2011/10/leader-ful-re- cist publishing house, Arktos, even Oct. 31, 2011, which features a photo sistance-the-predicament-of-the-right- 2013, http://indiancountrytoday- of a staff member burning “Federal Re- medianetwork.com/2013/10/31/ bragged that Adbusters excerpted one today/. of its books (Pentti Linkola’s Can Life serve notes” (i.e., U.S. currency) at a 30. These are Counter-Currents and a south-carolina-adoption-attorney- Washington, D.C., Occupy event. seeks-overturn-oklahoma-jurisdiction- Prevail?) alongside ads promoting the local national-anarchist group. See baby-deseray-case. forthcoming OWS action; see Adbusters 19. “Diane Sare Reports from ‘Oc- Sunshine, “Twenty on the Right in Oc- #95, May/June 2011, www.adbusters. cupy Wall Street’ Rally” (video), Aug. 79. Andrew Knapp, “Skeptics of Ve- cupy.” org/magazine/95. 4, 2011, http://larouchepac.com/ 31. OccupyForum, Oct. 30, ronica, Desaray cases call for closer node/18979; Schneider, Thank You, look at private adoptions, laws.” 6. Abe Greenwald, “Occupy Wall 2011, https://web.archive.org/ Street Has an Anti-Semitism Problem,” Anarchy, 5, 16. 80. Daniel Nehrbass, “Nightlight’s web/20111031181619/http://oc- Commentary, Oct. 11, 2011, www.com- 20. “‘Occupy Wall Street’ Mass-Strike cupywallst.org/forum/moderating- Position on Intercountry Adoption,” mentarymagazine.com/2011/10/11/ Process Embracing Glass-Steagall” Nightlight Christian Adoptions, policies-will-be-reposted-somewhere- occupy-wall-street-has-an-anti-semi- (press release), Executive Intelligence pro/. www.nightlight.org/wp-content/up- tism-problem/; Emergency Committee Review, Oct. 7, 2011, www.larouche- loads/2013/07/position-statement- 32. “Internal Solidarity Statement,” for Israel, “Hate at Occupy Wall Street,” pub.com/pr/2011/111007occupy_ Oct. 4, 2011, www.occupyboston. subsidiarity.pdf. Oct. 13, 2011, www.committeeforis- wall_st.html. 81. Interview and emails with NICWA org/2011/10/04/internal-solidarity- rael.com/hate_at_occupy_wall_street. 21. Greg Johnson, “Occupy Wall Street: statement. staff, November 2013. 7. “ADL Calls On ‘Occupy Wall Street’ Big Money & No Ideas,” Oct. 11, 2011, 82. Suzette Brewer, “Capobiancos Sue 33. Author interview with “Telly,” Organizers To Condemn Anti-Semitic www.counter-currents.com/2011/10/ Nov. 2013. Dusten Brown for Nearly Half a Million Remarks Made At Rallies” (press re- counter-currents-matching-grant-up-

18 • The Public Eye WINTER 2014 reports in review

The Knights of Columbus: Crusaders for Discrimination opposition notes • catholics for choice, december 2013 The Knights of Columbus (KOC) is headquartered in New Haven, CT, a progressive city in a state whose entire Congressional delegation is Democratic. A recent report by Catholics for Choice reveals that the all-male fraternal order, which has 1.8 million members and is the world’s largest organization of Catho- lic laity, pursues a deeply conservative agenda that is out of touch not only with the order’s liberal neigh- bors but also with the American public—and even with most of the Catholics that it claims to represent. Founded in 1882, KOC maintained “a strong social justice component” in its work, especially on eco- nomic issues, throughout much of its history. But since the 1990s, KOC has devoted the bulk of its organizing energies and financial resources to a conservative culture-war agenda. The order maintains that “abortion is never permissible under any circumstances” and has worked closely with antichoice crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs). KOC’s campaigns against reproductive justice are sometimes covert and insidious, as in the case of CPCs. At other times, they are highly public and vociferous. Many KOC members, for example, help organize or participate in sidewalk protests (branded as “counseling” and “prayer vigils”) outside clinics, aiming to dissuade women from obtaining abortions. KOC has been a prominent opponent of same-sex marriage—allocating nearly $7 million between 2008 and 2012 to the issue—and sex education in public schools. It has also joined a growing chorus of conservative organizations trying to redefine “religious liberty” as a constitutional right to discriminate in the public sphere. It gives substantial funding, for example, to the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is part of a coalition challenging the Affordable Care Act’s contraception mandate at the Supreme Court. As the report argues, KOC’s activism suggests its “[abandonment of] the common good for a vision of society espoused by the very few.” While pursuing these culture-war aims, the organization has not used its prominent public profile to speak out against sexual abuse within the Roman Catholic Church. “They have supported priests and bishops in their moral bankruptcy and in their destruction of the bodies and souls of the victims of abuse,” said Rev. Tom Doyle, an advocate for victims of sexual abuse by clergy. “They have said and done nothing to support the victims.” The report concludes by casting doubt on KOC’s commitment to “charity”: “When the order works against rights for women and LGBT individuals, even under the guise of caring for them, they forfeit the use of the word ‘charity.’ … In fact, there is little that is charitable about the Knights’ approach to women, LGBT individuals, those who support access to a full range of reproductive healthcare services and believers in a healthy separation between church and state.” -Rebecca Suldan

Raising the Federal Minimum Wage to $10.10 Would Lift Wages for Millions and Provide a Modest Economic Boost david cooper • economic policy institute, december 2013 The push to increase the minimum wage has gained momentum over the past year. Five states passed minimum-wage hikes, and in his January State of the Union address, President Obama called on Congress to raise the federal minimum to $10.10. That was the number put forward in legislation proposed in 2013 by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Rep. George Miller (D-CA). The bill has attracted substan- tial media attention though it has made little headway in Congress. On February 12, President Obama took a first step by issuing an executive order to raise the minimum wage for federal contractors to $10.10. David Cooper’s recently updated briefing paper lays out the reasons that raising the federal minimum wage would help the working poor, reduce gender-based income inequality, and boost the overall economy. As Cooper shows, the federal minimum wage has failed to keep up with inflation. In 2014, a full-time employee earning minimum wage falls below the poverty line for a family of two (one adult, one child). The Harkin-Miller bill would lift a family of three above the poverty line for the first time since 1968. The paper also analyzes the demographics of the low-wage workforce. Cooper notes, for example, that women comprise a dispropor- tionate percentage of minimum- and low-wage workers and that—contrary to conservative assumptions—people who make the mini- mum wage are typically not teenagers or part-time workers. Their average age is 35, and more than half work full-time. In the South, about two-thirds of people earning the minimum wage work full-time. And their income is not “extra” or supplemental: such workers account for half of their families’ total income. A standard argument against hiking the minimum wage holds that it increases unemployment and slows economic growth. But Coo- per argues that the increased earnings could “provide a catalyst for new hiring,” encourage consumer spending, and spur modest eco- nomic growth. Public opinion seems to be on the side of these arguments, and there are grounds for at least guarded optimism about a federal minimum-wage hike in the near future. A November 2013 poll by Gallup found that 76 percent of respondents favored raising the minimum wage, up from 71 percent in a poll taken six months earlier. -Owen Jennings

WINTER 2014 Political Research Associates • 19 State of the States 2013 Out of Control: The Coast-to-Coast Failures of Outsourcing center for reproductive rights, january 2014 Public Services to For-Profit Corporations david cooper • economic policy institute, december 2013 State of the States, Conservatives often promote outsourcing public services to private companies as a cost- a recent report by cutting measure. But a report by In the Public Interest argues that outsourcing tends to the Center for Re- erode civic strength, lower wages, and diminish the quality of services as corporations productive Rights prioritize profit over the community’s well-being. (CRR), paints a troubling picture The report illustrates these patterns through several case studies. One focuses on Truth of deteriorat- or Consequences, NM, where the company that maintains the video of local city-com- ing reproductive mission meetings denied a woman’s request for recordings. It highlights several addi- rights and access tional examples of private companies denying any obligation to comply with public-re- to reproductive cord laws—but notes that, even in the most flagrant cases, such companies often escape health care in the United States. Docu- accountability. menting state-level strategies and cam- The report also describes how outsourcing provides contractually guaranteed profits paigns, it offers evidence that the ongoing for many private corporations. In Chicago, for example, a 75-year contract restricts “assault on reproductive rights [continues] the city from expanding sidewalks or building bike lanes that would affect parking me- at an unprecedented level.” ters—and thus diminish the profits of the corporation that operates them. In Colorado, In 2013, seven states approved targeted a 99-year contract for operating a parkway in Denver prevents the city from improving regulations of abortion providers—known public roads, since free, high-quality roads will reduce revenue from private tolls. And as “TRAP” laws—that “place unnecessary a long-term contract between Virginia and a corporate consortium “puts Virginia tax- restrictions on the qualifications of pro- payers on the hook if too many carpoolers use the high occupancy lanes because it could viders who perform abortions” and “drive adversely affect contractor revenues.” The contract requires the state to “reimburse the providers of quality health care out of private companies whenever Capital Beltway carpoolers using the tolled high-occupan- practice.” Seven more states have placed cy lanes exceed 24% of the traffic, or until the builders make $100 million in profits.” restrictions on the use of telemedicine, Contrary to conservative ideology, public provision of services is often far more cost the long-distance sharing of information effective than outsourcing. A Florida prison that was “insourced,” for example, saved between medical providers using com- $1 million in its first year of public operation—and its staff was given a pay increase. In munications technology. Though teleme- many cities committed to competitive bidding, public workers have won on price and decine has helped expand access to safe, quality, such as the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s division of public strip- medical abortions—especially among ing, which repeatedly beats its private competitors. low-income, rural populations—anti- choice activists often seek to characterize The report recommends replacing uncontested contract renewals with legitimate cost- it as dangerous and have targeted it for in- benefit analyses and competitive bidding protocols. Other recommendations—such as creased restrictions. enacting a living wage and imposing regulations that improve auditing and account- ability—aim to slow the trend toward outsourcing and ensure that the pursuit of profit Five states passed laws in 2013 that pre- does not come at the expense of transparency, accountability, and “shared prosperity.” vent their state health-care exchange from including plans that cover abortion, rais- -Owen Jennings ing the total number of states with such policies to 24. The report also describes attempts in North Dakota and Arkansas to ban abortions after six and 12 weeks of Stay Ahead of the (Right) Curve! pregnancy, respectively. CRR reports that “both bans have been preliminarily en- PRA’s Eyes Right Blog tracks emerging strategies and trends on the Right. Check out joined by a federal court.” these recent essays at politicalresearch.org/blog to find out where things are headed: State of the States also highlights several T. F. Charlton, “Accidental Activism and Redefining Religious Liberty”:The Accidental Ac- important victories: CRR’s Bill of Repro- tivist, a film distributed at the 2013 Values Voter Summit, casts conservative Christians as ductive Rights garnered nearly 300,000 the “victims of an intolerant cabal of ‘homosexual’ activists and liberal co-conspirators.” signatures; courtroom victories chal- lenged restrictive legislation in several Rachel Tabachnick, “Ted Cruz and ALEC: Seceding from the Union One Law at a Time”: states; and the Women’s Health Protec- U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) has developed a plan to prevent federal laws from being tion Act was introduced in Congress. As it enforced in the states. The immediate target is the Affordable Care Act. But is unraveling looks ahead to 2014, the report concludes the union the ultimate aim? with a call to action: “Because of some states’ restrictions, a woman’s ability to Frederick Clarkson, “The Stuff of Which Religious War is Made”: The Roman Catholic make personal decisions about her repro- Archbishop of New Orleans recently “declared economic war on anyone who partici- ductive health care currently depends on pates in the construction of a new regional Planned Parenthood facility” in the city. Is it her zip code. Every pregnant woman ... a sign of growing radicalism on the Right? must be able to make her own decisions.” -Will Freeman

20 • The Public Eye WINTER 2014 Small Town Cross Roads Public’s Views on Human hermelinda cortés • southerners on new ground, january 2014 Evolution Moving Up, Fighting Back: pew research center, december 2013 Creating a Path to LGBTQ Youth Liberation The American pub- FIERCE, january 2014 lic remains deeply In the January issue of GQ, Phil Robertson, a star on the reality divided over the show Duck Dynasty, answered a question about what he believes theory of evolution Small Town Cross Roads to be sinful. “Start with homosexual behavior and just morph A Report by Southerners On New Ground more than 150 years out from there,” he said. “Bestiality, sleeping around with this after Charles Darwin woman and that woman and that woman and those men.” The published On the network that the show appears on, A&E, took a major hit from Origin of Species. A both LGBTQ activists, who were outraged by the comments, and recent survey by the right-wing activists, who were outraged by Robertson’s subse- Pew Research Center analyzes the polar- quent suspension. ization and suggests that it is becoming more, not less, entrenched. Robertson lives in the town of West Monroe, LA, and though the Duck Dynasty controversy has largely faded, its effects continue The survey and accompanying report to be felt by those who live in, and love, the South—a region examine the percentage of Americans often branded as racist, sexist, homophobic, poor, and back- who believe that “humans and other liv- wards. In Small Town Cross Roads, Southerners On New Ground ing things have evolved over time” (60 (SONG) explores the realities and dreams of queer people who percent) versus those who reject the idea live in small Southern towns like West Monroe. The report rais- of evolution (33 percent). The survey es up their experiences: how they’re waiting tables, fixing cars, also found that many people who be- teaching children, being parents, singing in choirs, cutting lieve in evolution also believe that “God hair, growing tomatoes, gathering around kitchen tables, build- or a supreme being played a role in the ing community, and transforming the places they call home. process.” In fact, only half of the respon- The report identifies some of the challenges of being queer in the South: isolation, dents who believe in evolution attribute criminalization, violence, and diminished resources. Yet it also highlights strategies it to “natural processes such as natural that are producing positive results, and it offers recommendations for strengthening selection.” grassroots efforts that incubate and fortify cultures of resilience and revival. The report finds that 64 percent of SONG’s report was released in January at the annual Creating Change Conference, White, evangelical Protestants and 50 alongside another report produced by FIERCE, an organization of LGBTQ youth of percent of Black Protestants believe hu- color based in New York City. FIERCE’s report, Moving Up, Fighting Back: Creating mans have always existed in their pres- a Path to LGBTQ Youth Liberation, shares results from a national survey and map- ent form. Republicans are less inclined ping project designed to identify key issues of the LGBTQ youth landscape and, like than Democrats to believe that humans SONG’s report, suggests positive strategies for future work. have evolved—43 percent versus 67 per- cent, respectively. Among political in- Key issues mentioned by survey participants include criminalization/policing, dependents, the number is 65 percent. housing, immigration, and safety and violence (bias violence, school-based vio- lence, and intimate/sexual violence). Many respondents called attention to a lack These figures are largely unchanged of adequate social services, including shelter space for gender non-conforming, cis- among Democrats and independents gendered male, and trans survivors of violence. Notably, though, the report calls over the past five years. But the number for prioritizing community organizing and community-based responses over efforts of Republicans who believe in evolution focused only on the provision of social services. Moreover, it offers a critique of hate- has declined since 2009, when it stood crimes legislation and anti-bullying ordinances, which can exacerbate institutional at 54 percent. violence experienced by queer youth of color. The Pew survey also found that younger Echoing SONG’s findings, FIERCE also lifts up challenges faced by LGBTQ youth in adults and people with more years of for- rural areas, whose needs are often unaddressed by mainstream LGBTQ groups. Such mal schooling are more likely than older challenges include lack of access to financial aid for immigrants, sexual violence generations to believe that humans have within the context of cruising/pickups, anti-LGBTQ school staff, and anti-trans vio- evolved over time. lence. Evolution continues to be a potent cul- Finally, the report highlights positive examples of organizing by queer youth in ture-war issue, especially as it relates Denver, New Orleans, Chicago, New York City, and Seattle. These “case studies” to public-school curricula. Last Septem- are powerful examples of what Ana Conner describes as the mission of groups like ber, skeptics of the theory of evolution FIERCE: “As LGBTQ youth of color, we have to create our own spaces where we are on the Texas Board of Education request- doing the talking and the leading, not just being the issue that’s talked about. Our ed changes to a biology textbook, and allies must invest in supporting a youth-led movement that puts us at the center and creationists in Kansas filed a lawsuit to recognizes our power.” block the state from adopting a national set of science standards. -Cole Parke and Rebecca Suldan -James Lavelle

WINTER 2014 Political Research Associates • 21 NON-PROFIT ORG. US POSTAGE PAID POLITICAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATES BOSTON, MA 1310 BROADWAY, SUITE 201 PERMIT NO. 54584 SOMERVILLE, MA 02144

From the Archive Since 1982, Political Research Associates has been collecting material by and about the Right—books and maga- zines, marketing appeals, posters, pamphlets, videos, and more. This series illuminates some of the more intrigu- ing pieces in the collection. The library is available for use by qualified researchers; contact PRA for details. A British television program feel that role modeling the gay that aired from 1997 to 2001, lifestyle is damaging to the moral The Teletubbies featured four lives of children.” creatures. Each had an an- A spokesperson for the show tenna on its head, a television explained that Tinky Winky’s ac- screen on its stomach, and a cessory was in fact a “magic bag,” distinct name, color, and per- and sought to quell the contro- sonality. The show’s intended versy by saying that “to think we audience was children two and would be putting sexual innuen- under. do in a children’s show is kind of Tinky Winky, Laa-Laa, Dip- outlandish.” sy, and Po lived in a whimsi- The incident became part of cal world and spent their days Falwell’s legacy. When he died in teaching children how to play 2007, CNN remembered him not well with others. But their only as the founder of Liberty happy-go-lucky days were Tinky Winky: a friendly television character, or a dangerous University and a leading figure numbered. role model for “the gay lifestyle?” Photo by Cole Parke. of the resurgent Christian Right, In February 1999, funda- but also for his condemnation of mentalist Christian pastor Jerry Falwell called out the show the purple star of toddler television. In 2012, more than a for promoting homosexuality. The main culprit? Tinky decade after the show had ceased production, a former Tele- Winky: “He is purple—the gay-pride color; and his antenna tubbies actor made headlines by denying that the show was is shaped like a triangle—the gay-pride symbol.” Falwell “laced with gay innuendo.” Thanks to Falwell, the culture also noted that, despite Tinky Winky’s male voice, he car- wars had invaded the playpen. ried a red purse. “As a Christian,” Falwell elaborated, “I -Ben Schmidt and Rebecca Suldan

Political Research Associates (PRA) is a think tank devoted to challenging the Right and advancing social justice. Visit our website, www.politicalresearch.org, to access past issues of The Public Eye, connect with us through social media, and donate. You’ll also find in-depth reports, web-only features, and our Eyes Right blog. Need to renew or purchase a subscription? Go to politicalresearch.org/subscribe. Call 617.666.5300 or email us at [email protected] for more information.

Your support makes The Public Eye possible. Subscribe and donate today!