Task Force votes to send letters to Mayor Parris and Councilwoman Marquez
From the Antelope Valley Press, Tuesday, February 9, 2010:
By Charles F. Bostwick and Dennis Anderson
Valley Press Editors
LANCASTER – The Antelope Valley Human Relations Commission voted unanimously Monday night to send strong letters of condemnation to Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris and Councilwoman Sherry Marquez over their recent comments about the Christian and Muslim religions.
The vote followed a three-hour meeting attended by nearly 100 people of whom about 40 were regular members of the task force, formed in 1996 by the cities of Lancaster and Palmdale following a rash of racially-motivated assaults.
By the meeting’s start, most of the members of the commission had heart that Parris twho hours earlier had issued an apology that some, if not all,accepted as basically sincere. That was not the case for the terse two-word apology uttered by Marquez at a hastily called City Hall press conference.
At the meeting were Christians such as Bishop Henry Hearns, pastor of Living Stone Cathedral of Worship in Littlerock as well as Parris’s predecessor as Lancaster mayor; at least 20 members of the Antelope Valley Muslim community; at least a half-dozen supporters of Marquez from Lancaster Baptist Church, which she attends; Unitarian-Universalists; Wiccans; members of the organized gay community; Buddhists, and Jewish and Orthodox Jewish representatives. Also in attendance were Lancaster mayoral and city council candidates, and Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford.
“I accept the mayor’s apology. I do not accept her apology,” said Kamal Al-Khativ, exectuive director of the American Islamic Institute of the Antelope Valley in Palmdale. “I am disappointed with both individuals.”
Al-Khatib contended that the remarks of Parris and Marquez — which drew national medial attention — deserved more than the apologies made Monday afternoon at City Hall before local news media.
“They should apologize to the whole community,” Al-Khativ said. “For 16 days, our whole community has lived in agony and insecurity.”
“We reached out several times and she rejected us,” he said.
Juan Blanco, vice president of the local NAACP, said the remarks by Parris and Marquez precipitated a crisis of community leadership.
Pointing at Hearns and Ledford, Blanco said, “This mayor and this mayor never came on from the bully pulpit.”
Speaking of Marquez, he added: “This councilwoman was emboldened by the leadership of our council.”
Dr. Abdullah Farrukh, a Muslim and a personal friend of Parris, suggested to the group that they “try to ratchet down the situation.”
Farrukh said he also doubted the sincerity of Marquez’ terse apology but said that they mayor took “a first step.”
“We met with Mayor Parris and told him ‘You need to deal with this issue.’ I think we should give her time and work with her,” Farrukh said.
But the vast majority of the group, whether task force members or citizens in the audience, believed that more was needed.
Stella Murrell, legal adviser for the task force, formed a motion that letters should be sent both to Parris and to Marquez, advising them their comments were divisive to the community.
The controversy started with Marquez posting comments Jan. 24 on her Internet Facebook page concerning a Muslim man charged with beheading his wife in New York” “This is what the Muslim religion is all about — the beheadings, honor killings are just the beginning of what is to come in the U.S.A.”
Then on Jan 27, in a “State of the City” speech, the mayor said, “We are growing a Christian community, and don’t let anybody shy away from that.”
Kamal Abdul-Jabbaar, resident imam of Masjid Imam Warith Deen Mohammed in Lancaster, said Marquez’ comments endangered Muslim women who wear the hijab head scarf.
“Our women are identifiable,” Abdul-Jabbaar said. “Our women are targets for fanatics. It is about religion. What was done was a crime against society. This could be very dangerous.
“They put all of us in danger. They need to know the severity of their act.”
Denise Josephson of Lancaster Baptist Church said she believe the councilwoman and mayor did not want to appear before the task force because the nature of the comments published about them may have indicated they might be facing “a lynch mob.”
“Mrs. Marquez was concerned sincerely about violence against women.
“She loves women. She’s been a blessing to me. Seeing what’s happening breaks my heart.”
The meeting was held on an emergency basis, task force members said, because of threats that have been made to Antelope Valley mosques, many arriving via e-mail.
Task force chairman Darren Parker said that those threats were referred to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for investigation.
Parker noted that it was not the mission of the task force to investigate hate crimes, but rather to analyze whether a hate crime or hate incident had occurred. Hate crimes, he said, are referred to law-enforcement officials.
During the meeting, Murrell said in her opinion there was not a hate crime or a so-called hate incident involving constitutionally protected speech, but, “You can’t yell fire in a crowded theater.”
The meeting was held at the Lancaster office of Mental Health America, the largest mental health provider in the Antelope Valley, and a beneficiary of support from both the city and the mayor.
Judy Cooperberg, executive director of HHA’s Antelope Valley operations, said she considers Parris to be a friend of many years. At the same time, she said she is Jewish and that the continued series of prayers at council meetings invoking Jesus Christ was “upsetting and hurtful.”
“I love Rex, but the only way I would feel accepted and welcome (at a City Council meeting) would be when it would be a generic invocation,” Cooperberg said.
Task force members Farivar Roshanian said his family is originally from Iran, where the Baha’i faith has been persecuted.
“This is dangerous,” he said of the remarks by Parris and Marquez.
The letter that is to be written, task force members decided, was to tell the councilwoman that her comments were divisive and inflammatory and the mayor that his comments were divisive and exclusive rather than inclusive.
The meeting began with Hearns and Ledford citing the origins of the task force as an organization that was needed to air community grievances and assist in the reporting of hate crimes. It also was created to help reduce the incidence of hate crimes.
Also appearing Monday night was Elena Halpert-Schilt, assistant executive director of the Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission, to which the task force sends reports. She established that the cities created the organization, with the active encouragement and support of county Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich.