Normally when a member of the Kansas City Park Board resigns, it is not a big deal. Yet, Frances Semler is arguably the most controversial park board member ever, in any city. If you search Google for "controversial park board member," the first five items, and nine of the top ten are about Semler. She bears the unusual burden and responsibility of Mayor Mark Funkhouser's legacy and reputation.

If you recall, Semler's appointment caused a huge uproar in the Hispanic community because of her affiliation with the Minutemen Civil Defense Corps, a radical right wing group that trolls the U.S. border with Mexico searching for immigrants crossing illegally. Even more uproar was caused when Funkhouser refused to accept her resignation after the initial furor. Because of Semler's appointment to the Parks Board, civil rights groups such as La Raza and the NAACP have pulled their conventions from Bartle Hall, replaced by the first-ever national convention for the Minutemen.

Now that she has resigned and left city government, it is time to take a deep breath and reflect on the lessons learned from this experience. Here are a few things I have a problem with regarding the whole situation:

No one seems to take into account how the demonizing of an ideal will rally people around it. The amount of people who believe the rhetoric of this group is surprisingly small compared to all of the media attention they get. The few people who do belong to this organization are now more vocal as they feel a victim to their cause. No one is going to change any of their minds, so the best course of action is to ignore them. You shouldn’t even acknowledge their cause, much less demonize it.

If you really think about it, agree with them or not, the Minutemen aren't that bad of a group. Radical rednecks with nothing better to do, yes. Dangerous lunatics? No. There isn't a single documented case of this group causing anyone personal injury or harm. They merely call the border guards when they spot people crossing the border. There are a lot more radical groups in the U.S. with a far worse track record: the KKK, the Black Panthers, polygamists, or even the LAPD. I say let these people waste their time watching a line in the sand. It gives them less time to reproduce.

No one took into account the rights of Mrs. Semler. If she wants to be a part of the Minutemen or any other group, it is her First Amendment right to do so. The people on the other side of the issue were just as intolerant as they claimed Semler to be. When you analyze the criticism of her, it sounds similar to fascism. The Southern Christian Leadership Council even threatened to shut down the economy of the city (if that was even possible) if Semler was not removed from the board. I might not agree with everyone on every issue, but I don’t try to get them fired from their job and destroy their city because of it. The Parks Board is about as non-political as it gets in city government; so for Semler to try to have some sort of anti-Hispanic agenda adopted within City Hall would be impossible.

It's amazing how hypocrisy works both ways. La Raza means "the race" in Spanish. If there was a group of white males that called themselves "the race," there would be headlines about how much these people hate everybody until they disappeared into obscurity. La Raza as a serious political group is starting to mirror the radical conservatives they seem to despise, and they need to take a good long look in the mirror before they go criticizing other groups and organizations.

Our community leaders talk about the need for diversity within our political system. I think they are only looking skin deep. Either that or they must mean the kind of diversity where everyone thinks the same way.

Tell us what you think. Write Spectrum at editor@mcckc.edu.

Copyright 2008 Metropolitan Community College