Thursday, September 07, 2006
This is an article forwarded to us by F.R. from what was my favorite thing to read during my time spent living in Missoula, "The Missoula Independent." When the author talks about Flathead, that's right next to (or basically is) the Flathead Blackfeet Reservation, home of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribes (and really cheap cigarettes *cough*The Braves*cough*).
White supremacist blues
by Paul Peters
On a quiet Tuesday morning the Gaede family’s south Kalispell neighborhood seems like any other recently built subdivision, with clean new vinyl-sided homes, some yet to be occupied by owners, and workmen placing sod and landscaping unfinished lawns.
It’s a place to start fresh, which is what April Gaede says her family intended to do. The problem is that Gaede and her family aren’t exactly anonymous. They’ve been written up in a GQ feature, featured in a segment on ABC’s “Primetime,” and had their story picked up by newspapers around the country.
April is a member of National Vanguard, a white supremacist group that splintered off from the National Alliance after its leader died in 2002. What made the Gaedes famous, or infamous, are April’s twin 14-year-old daughters, Lamb and Lynx, who perform and record music as Prussian Blue. The band is probably best known for “Sacrifice,” a song that glorifies Nazi Rudolph Hess, and a photo of the kitten-cute, blonde-haired, blue-eyed girls wearing T-shirts decorated with yellow smiley faces wearing Hitler mustaches.
In their ABC interview, April said the family’s hometown of Bakersfield, Calif. wasn’t “white” enough, so she planned to find a new, whiter community to call home. She found Kalispell.
But when April’s new neighbors found out who she was, they decided some sort of response was required, so on Aug. 31 they passed bright flyers reading “NO HATE HERE” around the neighborhood. The posters currently hang in at least 10 neighborhood windows.
April claims that since the Daily Inter Lake ran a story about her neighbor’s actions, she’s received numerous e-mails from Flathead Valley residents interested in and supportive of her views.
But the family’s media exposure also seems to be doing some harm. April says she lost a job at a local coffee shop after a recent airing of the family’s story, and she says the NO HATE HERE crowd tells her daughters, “We don’t want you here.”
With no apparent sense of irony, April worries that her children will be ostracized when classmates at their new Flathead school learn who they are, and what they believe. She calls the neighbors who outed her family “closed minded.”
White supremacist blues
by Paul Peters
On a quiet Tuesday morning the Gaede family’s south Kalispell neighborhood seems like any other recently built subdivision, with clean new vinyl-sided homes, some yet to be occupied by owners, and workmen placing sod and landscaping unfinished lawns.
It’s a place to start fresh, which is what April Gaede says her family intended to do. The problem is that Gaede and her family aren’t exactly anonymous. They’ve been written up in a GQ feature, featured in a segment on ABC’s “Primetime,” and had their story picked up by newspapers around the country.
April is a member of National Vanguard, a white supremacist group that splintered off from the National Alliance after its leader died in 2002. What made the Gaedes famous, or infamous, are April’s twin 14-year-old daughters, Lamb and Lynx, who perform and record music as Prussian Blue. The band is probably best known for “Sacrifice,” a song that glorifies Nazi Rudolph Hess, and a photo of the kitten-cute, blonde-haired, blue-eyed girls wearing T-shirts decorated with yellow smiley faces wearing Hitler mustaches.
In their ABC interview, April said the family’s hometown of Bakersfield, Calif. wasn’t “white” enough, so she planned to find a new, whiter community to call home. She found Kalispell.
But when April’s new neighbors found out who she was, they decided some sort of response was required, so on Aug. 31 they passed bright flyers reading “NO HATE HERE” around the neighborhood. The posters currently hang in at least 10 neighborhood windows.
April claims that since the Daily Inter Lake ran a story about her neighbor’s actions, she’s received numerous e-mails from Flathead Valley residents interested in and supportive of her views.
But the family’s media exposure also seems to be doing some harm. April says she lost a job at a local coffee shop after a recent airing of the family’s story, and she says the NO HATE HERE crowd tells her daughters, “We don’t want you here.”
With no apparent sense of irony, April worries that her children will be ostracized when classmates at their new Flathead school learn who they are, and what they believe. She calls the neighbors who outed her family “closed minded.”
posted by pbblogger # 8:16 PM 
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April Gaede's beliefs are clearly extreme. I am anti nazi, being a jew myself, and a non-hater in general. I believe there should be some sort of law against Nazi rallys, and there be a test administered to homeschooled children to see whether or not they are learning the most objective view of the world.
To take a fresh perspective on racism though, I do not believe that physically we are all equal. Men and women (this is about sex I supposed more than race) were created very different, and have very differently created brains.This is a biological fact. I guess that for those of you out there who are very religious it might be hard to agree with. Regardless, it is undeniable that different races have not only different cultures, but genetically are quite different from one another. When I say this I mean this on average. We can not make generalizations about any person individually based on their race. When one is talking politics though, a generalisation must be used. For example ( and some of you might consider this racist, I guess we'll just have to disagree) members of the black race tend (I stress the word tend) to be better runners than those of other races. Or they tend to have more rhythm. Asian people tend to be better at mathematics.
This is not being racist. None of those comments are degrading to any race. But it is a reality one has to face, that we are all different. And differences are scary to humans. If a UFO landed in your back yard, it would be something different that you've never seen before and you would be scared. People are irrationally scared of people of different races. Now, at the same time we are intelligent animals though, with the ability to think outside of ourselves and we should be able to overcome such animalistic fears. Sadly one can only know that this power is available is if one is properly educated. This is where April and her daughters run askew.
Racism is basically fear, and fear is what drives the consumerist Western economy.
In a way, April Gaede is more of a sheep than non white supremists are. Because as much as the politicians say they are tolerant, they have to be vicious towards minorities to continue to have the brainless control they have over their states and their countries.
In the end I mean to say that one should tolerate people who are different to you if they are not hurting you and your families. Try to enable laws that minimize reckless hatred, and be guiding spirits, not forcing ones.
Thank you.
An appalled Belgian.
To take a fresh perspective on racism though, I do not believe that physically we are all equal. Men and women (this is about sex I supposed more than race) were created very different, and have very differently created brains.This is a biological fact. I guess that for those of you out there who are very religious it might be hard to agree with. Regardless, it is undeniable that different races have not only different cultures, but genetically are quite different from one another. When I say this I mean this on average. We can not make generalizations about any person individually based on their race. When one is talking politics though, a generalisation must be used. For example ( and some of you might consider this racist, I guess we'll just have to disagree) members of the black race tend (I stress the word tend) to be better runners than those of other races. Or they tend to have more rhythm. Asian people tend to be better at mathematics.
This is not being racist. None of those comments are degrading to any race. But it is a reality one has to face, that we are all different. And differences are scary to humans. If a UFO landed in your back yard, it would be something different that you've never seen before and you would be scared. People are irrationally scared of people of different races. Now, at the same time we are intelligent animals though, with the ability to think outside of ourselves and we should be able to overcome such animalistic fears. Sadly one can only know that this power is available is if one is properly educated. This is where April and her daughters run askew.
Racism is basically fear, and fear is what drives the consumerist Western economy.
In a way, April Gaede is more of a sheep than non white supremists are. Because as much as the politicians say they are tolerant, they have to be vicious towards minorities to continue to have the brainless control they have over their states and their countries.
In the end I mean to say that one should tolerate people who are different to you if they are not hurting you and your families. Try to enable laws that minimize reckless hatred, and be guiding spirits, not forcing ones.
Thank you.
An appalled Belgian.
While I fear it is unlikely that my comment will ever reach the original owner of this blog, I would like to speak my piece all the same, and congratulate you on serving as an outspoken voice against bias and hate. I find it appalling to watch what has happened to two entirely innocent individuals because of the environment within which they were raised; in my opinion, it's simple proof that this nation has gone to hell in a handbasket and may well be past salvaging.
If my words are received by sympathetic ears, do not hesitate to send an email to markedcards09@yahoo.com. I eagerly await an update on the war on ignorance... though I fear that in America, it may be a battle too far lost.
With support and respect,
--"Vic"
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If my words are received by sympathetic ears, do not hesitate to send an email to markedcards09@yahoo.com. I eagerly await an update on the war on ignorance... though I fear that in America, it may be a battle too far lost.
With support and respect,
--"Vic"
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