While not totally a defamation matter, we did have to take on San Jose’s city hall in regard to its recognition of employee associations centered around every ethnicity you can think of, unless pale pink skin is involved. San Jose had approved African American, Asian American, American Indian, American Latino, Filipino American, and Pacific Islander employee groups, but no Irish-, German-, Italian, English-, or Slavic-American groups. The idea of a European American employee association under any label was verboten.
A Campaign Begins
Joining with two other non-city hall groups, we launched a campaign to get recognition for a European American employee association among San Jose employees. This was mainly an educational effort designed to persuade the city manager’s office to allow such groups. One of our key members was admitted to the holy high ground of the human rights commission for San Jose, and she put the issue on every meeting’s agenda.
Permission Granted
Finally permission was granted, but only six employees were willing to participate. We had helped a couple of them overcome discrimination in joining the firefighting department, so they owed us and had to participate, but one moaned that he just wanted to be an American, and this was after he had to sue with our support to join the department! We usually find a white American or two buried in the background who is a significant opponent of bringing equity to employment and an end to defamation. Usually and surprisingly to many people, the so-called people of color stand back at junctures like this and let the issue play out. Oh, the angry head of the NAACP may get vociferous, but that doesn’t amount to much.
Finally the European American San Jose City Employee Association was recognized, and set to work to draft bylaws to satisfy the city manager’s office.
The End Cometh
One month after the City of San Jose recognized the European American San Jose City Employee Association by, the city manager’s office ruled that ethnicity-based employee organizations would no longer be recognized.
We have seen this over and over. A victory for non-defamation or non-discrimination brings with it the end of the booklet, magazine, or policy as a whole that had provided the basis and urgency for organization.
It seems that the powers that be would rather have a color-blind system than one in which whites are racially conscious.
Happy Conservatives
This should make sincere conservatives very happy because they are usually very angry about the trend to tribalization in the USA. Conservatives somehow fail to speak up when so-called people of color work energetically for their own tribalization, but conservatives take out their anger on Euro-American groups when we figure out what is going on. Just listen for the conservative voice when they learn that UC-Berkeley has imposed a 30% quota on white student admissions, and that one-half of those admissions go to just two ethnicities. Ooops, conservatives are silent.
To a certain extent, it makes us wonder why conservatives don’t finance all kinds of white activist groups, knowing as they must that the most frequent outcome of controversies is the undoing of the whole policy in question. But who can understand conservatives in an age of re-tribalization?
