Our community is made up of a very diverse group of residents whose opinions are just as diverse. It is imperative that those individuals that wish to air their opinions and view points be allowed to do so without censorship, restriction or constraint. If not then we all jeopardize our freedoms! Amendment 1 of the U.S. Constitution states; “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Recently The Signal refused to publish, without reason or explanation, a guest commentary by local community activist Roger Gitlin; thereby attempting to squash his freedom of speech. He then distributed his commentary via email to his network of friends and a copy of that email was forwarded on to The Beacon. We contacted Roger to discuss the situation and ultimately agreed that his guest commentary would be published here on The West Ranch Beacon. 

You may or may not agree with Mr. Gitlin’s commentary but he has written a thought provoking commentary that should not be suppressed nor censored but rather discussed in a civil way. He asks a valid question with supporting evidence and discusses it with concrete examples not name calling, sophomoric ranting or scurrilous anonymous behavior. 

Here is Mr. Gitlin’s unedited commentary: 

Apparently, I’ve recently upset some left-wing bloggers in Santa Clarita. Some of the “under 40” boys have their panties in a bunch over a video I forwarded to Santa Clarita Valley Independent Minutemen. Here are some of the comments of the anonymous bloggers: “Gitlin is a fascist”; “Gitlin is a Nazi”;  “Gitlin is a xenophobic ultra nationalist”; “If The Signal continues to publish the crypto-racist filth by Gitlin, I am considering dropping my subscription to the Paper.” And finally, my favorite, “Roger Gitlin is a terrible excuse for a human being and he is not representative of the good people of the SCV.”  

Wow! These boys really don’t like me very much. 

The video? It is painfully honest delivery about the agenda of president Obama.  And is entitled, Barack the Angry Negro. I urge you to view it: www.conservativesportsmen.com which made some arguably strident (but not racist) statements, directed at President Barack Obama. Speaker Grady Warren states, “Barack Hussein Obama, you are not the magic Negro, you are an angry Negro and you have disappointed the dreams of millions of Black people in the United States.” The video asserts president Obama sides with moochers, leeches, and criminals and against small business and hard-working, tax-paying citizens. I concur with that assertion.  

I simply ask, Is it OK to use the word Negro?  

I ask this question rhetorically because there are apparently many in our community who feel the uttering of the word “Negro” labels the speaker of that word a racist. One SCV blogger states, “It is unacceptable to refer to the president of the United States as a Negro.” Well… He IS a Negro. So what? Is that a bad thing to refer to president Obama as a Negro? I contend his race was most instrumental in winning the 2008 election.  

The phrase, “Magic Negro” owes its genesis to a song, similar to Puff the Magic Dragon, written by Professor Todd Boyd of USC and played by conservative radio talk show host, Rush Limbaugh, in 2007. The song was named Barack the Magic Negro. 

I ask you is the title Negro a bad word.  

Growing up in my home, I was taught by my parents to use the respectful word of Negro when referring to some one of African roots. In school, I was taught the three major racial groups identified by anthropologists as Caucasoid, Mongoloid, and Negroid.  

There are many organizations that use Negro in its title. The Nation Council of Negro Women and the United Negro College Fund are two such examples. You may remember the United Negro College Fund coined the phrase, “A Mind is a terrible thing to Waste.”  In fairness to the United Negro College Fund, the 64 year old organization launched a campaign in January 2008 to promote its new moniker, UNCF. The folks who operate UNCF must not like the word Negro but they are not dropping the word from its title. .  The NAACP went the same route years ago when it shed its still-official name, The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. I guess that’s OK, companies and organizations change image all the time.  

The 2010 census has a racial classification category of Negro on its form.  

I was listening to Vin Scully and the Dodger game two nights ago and heard a wonderful story about Monte Irvin and how he played in the Negro Leagues for eight years. Raconteur Vin Scully talks about the Negro League.  

You do remember Nevada Democratic Senate Leader Harry Reid and his controversial comments in 2008 that “… Obama has a chance to win the presidency due in part to the fact that he is a light-skinned black who doesn’t speak in a Negro accent.” (Senate Leader Harry Reid- “Negro accent” comment http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJVMbnKEvl4)  That’s about the only statement Harry Reid has ever uttered to which I can agree. Democratic colleague and Congressman James Clyburn of South Carolina and former Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus defended Reid. “What’s the big deal about the word Negro? I support the United Negro College Fund. I support the National Council of Negro Women. We still use those terms because they are a part of our history. “Thank you, Chief of the Thought Police, James Clyburn… What would I do were it not for your paternal guidance in giving me permission to use the word Negro?

I think what galls me the most is supremely naïve and easily persuaded pop culture sycophants like the SCV bloggers to which I have heretofore referred. Maybe I have just experienced the scraping of the bottom of the gene pool but it is incredulous some of Santa Clarita so-called brightest under 40 can’t critically think and don’t display a scintilla of common sense. Apparently, the only offense these ideologues have is to name call me. That is quite pathetic! I say, debate me on the issues at hand, and stop your juvenile harangues by calling me insulting names. That will not engender my respect for you.  

To my thinking, the word Negro takes one back to a period of black self-sufficiency and pride. The word Negro reminds of an older generation which faced real discrimination, thus Negroes banded together to help one another. I don’t see that outreach today. Yesterday’s Negro heroes have given way to today’s hip hop gangsters who spew vile language which includes the generous use of the “N” word and espouses violence against women all for popularity and bucks. No thank you… That besmirches the memory of my hero a proud individual of Negro heritage, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Martin Luther King “I have a dream” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbUtL_0vAJk)  

I would so like to hear from the citizens in our community especially those under 40 who say there’s a lot of wisdom which comes from our parents’ generation. 

There is a clear cut victim here and he is not black… but he is a Negro. The woeful Los Angles Clippers has a new head coach. His name: Vinny Del Negro. If Vinny changed his name to Vinny Del African-American, do you think the Clippers would start to win?  Nah! 

Roger Gitlin is a retired teacher and founder of the Santa Clarita Valley Independent Minutemen and California State Director of the Patriots Coalition. His commentaries represent his own opinions and not necessarily the views of any organization he may be affiliated with or those of the West Ranch Beacon. He can be reached at ragitlin@aol.com