Issue 77: June 6, 2001
"The accusation that a stand to reduce immigration is racist is music to the ears to those who profit from the cheap labor of immigrants." — Captain Paul Watson, Sea Shepherd Society
+== TIME OUT PROJECT ==+
The ProjectUSA Truthmobile is a large red billboard on wheels that advertises statistics drawn from Census Bureau data. It carries messages such as "In your 20s? Immigration is doubling U.S. population in your lifetime."
Saturday, June 2, saw the entry of our "Truthmobile" in a parade in Mason City, Iowa. The parade is a big event and was seen by approximately 40,000 people.
But when the Truthmobile arrived, horrified officials, noticing the census data, attempted to force the 70-yr-old woman driving the mobile billboard to leave. She refused.
Later, festival coordinator Vance Baird told the Mason City Globe-Gazette that parade promoters were "totally deceived when the float was entered" into the parade and he apologized to those who had been exposed to the statistic. "There is not place in Mason City," Mr. Baird told the paper, "for the type of racism and bigotry that this float emphasized."
ProjectUSA supporter, Paul Westrum, of Albert Lea, Minnesota, who handled the registration of the ProjectUSA entry, rejected the charge that the parade organizers had been "deceived." He said that when a representative had contacted him about the entry, he told the woman the entry was about "population growth" and he gave her the ProjectUSA web address.
"I guess we tricked them without even trying," Mr. Westrum said.
Anti-Immigration Float Spurs Apology (AP)
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_div=3&u_hdg=0&u_sid=154264
+== TAKE POSITIVE ACTION ==+
The Associated Press story about the controversy in Iowa over the public display of Census Bureau statistics referred to the message on ProjectUSA’s billboard as being "anti-immigration." Of course, the message, "Immigration is doubling U.S. population in your child’s lifetime" isn’t "anti"- anything. It is simply a statistic.
The fact that everyone ASSUMES it is "anti-immigration" tells us that Americans know that the population growth Congress is needlessly inflicting on our children through its irresponsible immigration policy is not a good thing. So why are we doing it?
You can go to this site, http://www.capwiz.com/fair/home/ and enter your zip code and contact your local newspaper and ask them to please, if they must refer to those advocating a reduction of immigration to sustainable levels as "anti"- something, at least make it "anti-MASS immigration." (Please, no time/space jokes).
Remind the paper that a person who advocates reducing immigration to sustainable numbers is no more "anti-immigration" than a person who sprinkles salt on her food rather than dump it on by the cupful is "anti-salt."
+== QUOTE OF THE WEEK ==+
The rich will always require an abundant supply of the poor.
–Voltaire
+==EMAIL OF THE WEEK==+
The interview by our local TV station KIMT showed pictures of the Truthmobile and even the Chicago Tribune’s front page photo of the Truthmobile. Vance Baird from the Chamber of Commerce looked pretty foolish.
Mae Greene
Mason City, Iowa
Tags: Iowa · Mason City · TruthmobileNo Comments
