Before this week, I was under the impression that radical fringe groups were not representative of mainstream political views. Last Thursday, a series of The Associated Press (AP) articles proved me wrong.
When discussing comments made by the Reverend Jerry Falwell, a man whom most would describe as an extreme religious fundamentalist, the AP writers described him simply as a "conservative."
Last year this "conservative" ascribed the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001, to America's pagans, abortionists, feminists, homosexuals and civil liberty groups. This year, an equally sensitive Farwell called the founder of Islam, Mohammed, a terrorist.
Following the AP's example, I felt it important to properly ascribe other equally extreme viewpoints. The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), a "liberal" animals rights organization, has some shocking quotes never before properly credited by news associations.
In a Vogue interview, PETA's "liberal" cofounder, Ingrid Newkirk, proclaimed, "We do not separate out the human animal, so there is no rational basis for saying that a human being has special rights. A rat is a pig is a dog is a boy. They are all mammals."
Perhaps reaffirming her belief that rats are on equal footing as humans, the liberal Newkirk had this reflection on the Holocaust: "Six million Jews died in concentration camps, but 6 billion broiler chickens will die this year in slaughter houses alone."
If associating the work of Colonel Sanders with that of Adolf Hitler seems laughable, the views of certain "liberal" environmentalists will appear downright ludicrous. Unfortunately, our news-making bodies have slighted them on appropriate coverage.
When Dave Former, founder of Earth First, stated, "Phasing out the human race will solve every problem on earth, social and environmental," it scarcely made news, much less top billing as Falwell's words did.
Apparently, news bodies aren't giving liberals equal time. Carl Amery should be equally alarmed after receiving no coverage whatsoever when he articulated the liberal environmentalist view: "We, in the green movement, aspire to a cultural model in which killing a forest will be considered more contemptible and more criminal than the sale of 6-year-old children to Asian brothels."
Perhaps these quotations never made headlines because they didn't have the same prejudicial undertones of Falwell's remarks. Undertones like those expressed by Khalid Abdul Muhammad of the Black Panther Party who said, "I am going to be like a pit bull. That is the way I'm going to be against the Jews. I am going to bite the tail of the honkies."
Similarly, liberal Carl Rowan must have been outraged when his comments on Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas went unprinted. "If you give Thomas a little flour on his face," Rowan commented, "you'd think you had [former Klansman] David Duke."
One would think that since a conservative like Falwell made insensitive Sept. 11 comments, similar insensitive comments made by liberals would get equal press. But once again, America's media was remiss.
Malik Zulu Shabazz, for instance, proclaimed at the 2002 Reparations Rally, "The President wants to talk about a terrorist named bin Laden. I want to talk about terrorists called Christopher Columbus, George Washington and Rudy Giuliani. The real terrorists have always been the United Snakes of America."
Recklessly attributing extremist viewpoints to a political ideology is a dangerous undertaking for any free press. To have a truly informed society we must have a fair and balanced media.
Such a media would recognize that Jerry Farwell represents conservatives about as much as Chris Farley represents moderation.
You can quote me on that.
Joshua Billar is a Chemical Engineering Graduate. Responses can be sent to joshua.billar@asu.edu.
