Starting Date: 09-18-2003
Starting Time: 4:30pm
Rep. Howard Coble's Greensboro Office At 2102 Nort
Greensboro, North Carolina 27402
United States
336-272-2155Coble Demonstration 9/18, Greensboro, NC: "Apologize or Resign!"
On Sept. 18th, 2003 at 4:30 pm, the Triad Blue Triangle Network will join with the "Apologize or Resign!" Coalition in a protest outside the offices of Rep. Howard Coble in Greensboro. This will be the third demonstration of local residents at Coble's offices for comments he made in February of this year regarding the internment of Japanese Americans durring WWII. Responding to a caller to a talk radio program on WKZL who suggested that US authorities round up Arab-Americans like Americans of Japanese descent were rounded up during WWII, Coble resonded that the mass detentions of Japanese Americans was for their own protection.
"They [Japanese Americans] were an endangered species," Coble stated. While he disagreed that Arab Americans should be detained en mass today, he left the door open to future round-ups by saying, "There were Japanese-Americans who wanted to do us harm then, just as there are Arab-Americans who wish to do us harm now."
Coble's comments have been widely denounced all across the country. The California State legislature passed a resolution stating that Coble should be censured for his comments. Civil rights organizations like the NAACP, the Anti-Defamation League, the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee, the Japanese American Citizens League, and the national labor organization the AFL-CIO have called for either an apology from Coble or for him to step down from his post as the chairperson of House Subcommittee on Homeland Security.
The Triad Blue Triangle Network was formed to respond to the increasing attacks since Sept. 11th 2001 on Arab, Muslim, and South Asian immigrants living in the US. We find Coble's comments to be an insult to the historical pain and loss suffered by Japanese-American internees and their families, and a threat to the security of Arab, Muslim, and South Asian people in the US today. There are currently 13,000 Muslim, Arab, and South Asian immigrants in the US today who are awaiting deportation, none of whom have been connected in any way to terrorism. The Blue Triangle Network feels that only a mass outpouring of protest against the policies attacking immigrants solely on the basis of their ethnicity, religion, or national origin can stop these repressive attacks. It is in this spirit that we will join with the "Apologize or Resign" Coalition on Sept. 18th.
The protests have had an effect so far; in May, Coble stepped aside as commencement speaker at the graduation excercises of Guilford College rather than face large protests by students and others. However, in July, after agreeing to meet with the Japanese American Citizens League, Coble reneged on the agreement, most likely because the heat surrounding the issue has died down. Let's not let this important issue disappear!
The "Apologize or Resign" Coalition includes members of the Greensboro Peace Coalition, the Islamic Center of the Triad, the Blue Triangle Network, the International Socialist Organization, and others with no organizational affiliations. Please join us in opposing Coble's comments and calling on him to "Apologize or Resign!"
Time: 4:30 pm Thursday, September 18th.
Place: Rep. Howard Coble's Greensboro office at 2102 North Elm Street, near the Golden Gate shopping center at the intersection of Cornwallis and Elm.
For more info, please call Scott at 336.272.2155 Geographical Scope: Local Protest |
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