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April 19, 1999
Censorship of signs in NYC Diallo protests by police/Mayor
President of A.R.T.I.S.T. Responds to Call by 100
Blacks in Law Enforcement for a Moratorium on
“Hate” Signs
Contact: Robert Lederman, President of A.R.T.I.S.T.
(Artists’ Response To Illegal State Tactics)
718369-2111ARTISTpres@aol.com
http://www.openair.org/alerts/artist/nyc.html
The most consistent complaint about Mayor Giuliani during the past six years
is that he violates freedom of speech. Learning nothing from his failed attempts
to restrict press conferences on the steps of City Hall, suppress access to
accurate statistics, sue New York Magazine to stop an ad, eliminate street artists
and intimidate the media, now the Mayor is trying to dictate what kind of signs
protesters can display in a lawful demonstration. It would be hard to invent
a more vivid example of violating the First Amendment.
Unwilling to even address the Coalition for Justice’s 10 point plan, and fatuously
blaming the public’s perception that the NYPD is brutal on police officers not
being polite, Giuliani has focused his response to these protests on our signs.
He’s used terms like, “It shouldn’t be allowed” and “it must be stopped” whenever
referring to these signs. He and his influential backers have mounted a pressure
campaign to intimidate and control his critics by suppressing their speech.
While I respect past efforts by 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement and it’s head,
Eric Adams, their Giuliani-inspired call for a moratorium on so-called hate
signs is illustrative of exactly why these signs came into being and will continue
to proliferate.
100 Blacks in Law Enforcement is presumably a civil rights group. The first
civil right guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution is freedom of speech, a right
on which all our other freedoms depend. That such a group feels compelled to
call for a “moratorium” on the freely expressed opinions of thousands of individual
black, Latino, Asian and white New Yorkers is indicative of the climate of fear
and repression that Mayor Giuliani represents. Does any group, let alone a group
of police officers, have the right to tell American citizens what kind of signs
they can carry?
Thousands of New Yorkers of every race and ethnic background turned out for
civil rights protests during the past two months. Many carried homemade signs
expressing their deeply felt personal views on Mayor Giuliani, the NYPD and
the shooting of Amadou Diallo. Out of the thousands of those signs a minute
number, no more than three or four at the most, mentioned the KKK. Even fewer
displayed a swastika. It’s possible that some of those signs were actually provided
by the Mayor or his supporters in order to create this controversy. The vast
majority of the protest signs directly addressed Mayor Giuliani and his evolving
police state. They included hundreds of portraits painted by me of Giuliani
as Hitler and numerous other signs created by members of A.R.T.I.S.T. which
were actively sought out by the protesters at every demo. There was not a single
anti-Semitic sign in any of these events unless all references to Hitler or
Nazis, including those on display at Holocaust museums and in every book and
documentary about the 20th century, are now to be considered anti-Semitic. Virtually
all of the thousands of homemade signs severely criticized the Mayor and directly
blamed him for the killing of Amadou Diallo.
These demonstrations were not organized by and for one narrow group but were
advertised as being open to all New Yorkers. As the theme of this movement has
been increasingly diluted, toned-down and co-opted by elected officials and
those with a stake in maintaining the staus-quo, the real concerns behind these
protests are being ignored.
New Yorkers didn’t come out to protest a lack of politeness. They are not asking
for reconciliation with our racist Mayor. The peace we want is not the peace
of a well-oiled police state. Whether cops of whatever race call us Sir and
Ma’am or say please and thank you while they illegally search us, falsely arrest
us, confiscate our property without due process, silence our speech and otherwise
violate our civil rights is not the issue.
The peaceful expression of even the most extreme view by holding a protest
sign cannot be compared to the racist, violent and illegal policies of the Giuliani
administration. When the head of the P.B.A. can publicly state that the policies
of Mayor Giuliani are, “...a blueprint for a police state”, there must be more
to these signs than just rhetoric. While I don’t personally agree with the KKK
signs and never use the swastika in any of my art, these are legitimate expressions
of some people’s views. The alternative to expressing one’s opinion by peacefully
holding such a sign might be far more problematic.
Amadou Diallo, Anthony Baez and the other unarmed young men killed by police
in New York City didn’t die from a deficit of politeness. The Mayor hasn’t had
me arrested 36 times because my criticism of him is lacking in politeness. Mayor
Giuliani’s attempts to make the issue these signs rather than his constitution-violating
policies will backfire like all of his other attempts to restrict speech. What
the Mayor needs to answer is why so many people, including many Jews, readily
compare him to Hitler and why so many people believe based on first-hand experience,
that the NYPD violates their rights.
The most fundamental requirement that has to be met in order to establish a
police state is the suppression of free speech. It’s unfortunate that an otherwise
distinguished group like 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement would lend its name to
such an endeavor.
Robert Lederman
Robert Lederman, President of A.R.T.I.S.T.
(Artists’ Response To Illegal State Tactics)
255 13th Street
Brooklyn, N.Y. 11215
(718) 369-2111
e mail ARTISTpres@aol.com
http://www.openair.org/alerts/artist/nyc.html
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