January 30, 2004

Flyers for the National Alliance, which the Anti-Defamation League calls the largest and most active neo-Nazi group in the United States, have been found in Amador County.

And although the flyers may be offensive, little can be done against those who are distributing them, according to police officials.

"Their views are just as valid as anyone else's," said Sutter Creek Police Department Lt. Bryon Gustafson, who called the issue one of free speech. "If they are caught putting the flyers on the ground we can ticket them for littering, but that's about it."

The flyers were found distributed in various neighborhoods in Sutter Creek and Jackson Sunday and Monday mornings, including three flyers at the Sutter Creek Police Department. One flyer featured a dark, hazy picture of some men burning an American flag with the words "Stop Immigration!" emblazoned across the top of the page. Below the headline and above the picture were the words, "Mexican illegals celebrating the Fourth of July." The flyer also stated, "Stop immigration for a whiter, brighter tomorrow."

Another flyer pictured three young white girls with the headline, "Why can't she have pride in her European heritage?" The flyer also stated, "We hear a lot about Black pride, Latino pride, Jewish Pride and gay pride. What about white pride?"

Both flyers were emblazoned with the symbol of the National Alliance and provided a post office box address and phone number in Sacramento.

The third flyer is an application/donation form for the organization.

"At first look these flyers looked like mild-mannered hate, but if you look at their Web site you can see they are in fact neo-Nazi's," said Sutter Creek United Methodist Church Pastor Andrew Bear, who received the flyers at his home. "This is an attack on our community. These people are trying to appeal to a group of people that don't really know what the group's true views are. Their message is totally deceptive."

The Ledger Dispatch called the phone number on the flyers and listened to a tape-recorded message from National Alliance's founder, William Pierce, who died in 2002. The message gives information on the group's ideology and asks that those interested leave their address and phone number so a local chapter member can contact them.

One of Pierce's books was allegedly used by Timothy McVeigh as a manual on how to conduct the bombing in Oklahoma City, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

The National Alliance's Web site is very clear about what the organization stands for. According to the Web site, the goals of the organization are a white living space, an Aryan society, a responsible government that is "... wholly committed to the service of our [the Aryan] race and subject to no non-Aryan influence ... we need a strong, centralized government spanning several continents to coordinate many important tasks during the first few decades of a White world: the racial cleansing of the land, the rooting out of racially destructive institutions and the reorganization of society on a new basis."

Also, the organization lists such goals as a strong educational system that can be achieved through "... ensuring that each child born to our [the Aryan] race grows into the strongest, most capable, most responsible and most conscious future citizen that his genes make possible..." By doing this, the Web site claims, the United States "will gain an enormous advantage over any race without such an educational system."

The final goal of the organization is to strengthen the economy through racial principles.

"I don't like to see this anywhere, let alone in Amador County," Bear continued. "It disturbs me that this type of ideology has come to our county."

Others are concerned as well.

In a letter to the editor printed on page A6 in today's edition of the Ledger Dispatch, Mary Zboralske recounts how she found the flyers in her driveway in Sutter Creek and writes about how they made her family feel.

Gustafson said the SCPD is trying to be aware of any potential problems before they take root in the city.

"Our concern is that there would be hate groups coming in, actively recruiting members and establishing themselves in the community," he said. "We are concerned about any potential violence against minorities from these types of groups." Gustafson said the department is basically trying to increase its awareness to head off any potential problems in the city.

The Southern Poverty Law Center has created a Web site at www.tolerance.org that provides advice on how to deal with hate speech.

The Web site lists 10 ways to combat hate:

- Act

- Unite

- Support the victims

- Do your homework

- Create an alternative

- Speak up

- Lobby leaders

- Look long range

- Teach tolerance

- Dig deeper

The Web site also provides 101 tools for tolerance and gives information on hate groups across the nation.

"This type of literature is divisive to civil society and promotes fear of people who are different, fear of people of color," Bear said. "The worst thing the community could do is to remain silent because that provides a sense of acceptance to the group."