I would like to share with you the testimony of my friend, former Congressional candidate Diane Benson
http://www.bensonforcongress.com/ , at the third night of hearings. This was posted today at The Mudflats:
http://www.themudflats.net/2009/06/26/diane-benson-on-equal-rights-and-ordinance-64/
In 1945, Alaska passed civil rights legislation – first of its kind – 20 years before the rest of the nation. Many of the same arguments that you have heard were made in 1945 over racism. Some business owners and hotel operators felt their business rights were being denied by the bill – that they would somehow lose their liberty to choose who could be in their establishments. Had the bill not passed, it is likely that I would not be allowed in these chambers or in other establishments today. Back then, signs made clear their bias. “No Natives or Dogs Allowed,” or “Whites Only.” Alaska has a legacy as a result of that bill – one that should make all Alaskans proud. We have that opportunity again with this Ordinance.
Alaska’s Anti-discrimination bill did not create the mayhem that those opposed claimed would ensue. Neighborhoods were not over-run by lawless Natives. Lawyers claimed it would clog the courts with frivolous cases. It did not. Fear feeds hate, and in my life, in Alaska - I have been at the blunt end of racial discrimination. Denied service in restaurants; and sexually abused and brutalized at the hands of men who targeted young Native women. I wish the passion displayed here was also displayed to end sexual abuse.
I know the face of hate. Hate is a thing that is learned, and when those in opposition claim that their “Truth is not Hate,” well, they fail to remember that the same justifications were used and are used to first dehumanize a population by labeling them with such things as “dirty” or somehow inferior, and then to segregate or marginalize that population. In this case, as we speak, gays and lesbians are being brutalized and even killed – in Africa, in the Middle East, and yes, the U.S., and often with religious justifications. It starts with thinking that one group is somehow superior to another.
The Anti-discrimination bill in 1945 did not end discrimination – no law can, for as noted Tlingit civil rights leader, Elizabeth Peratrovich, and President of the Christian-based Alaska Native Sisterhood when asked if the bill would eliminate crime responded, “No law will eliminate crime, but you as legislators can assert to the world that you recognize the evil of this present situation, and speak your intent to overcome discrimination.” You as the Anchorage Assembly have the opportunity to speak your intent through this ordinance. If we truly want a better more civilized society, then we must make clear that discrimination of any kind will not be tolerated. In the name of humanity, I firmly urge passage.
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