Friday, Feb. 23, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
EVEN BEFORE PAT Buchanan eked out his Republican primary victory in New Hampshire, he was beginning to feel the frigid tip of the iceberg of public scrutiny that lurks in presidential waters.
In the space of two days, two of his campaign workers were thrown overboard after they were linked to white supremacist groups.
Two people don't taint an entire national campaign, nor do they prove anything about the nature of Buchanan supporters. Those questions are sure to get plenty of scrutiny in the coming months, but that's not the purpose here.
What caught my attention were the remarks of Susan Lamb, who was a county chairwoman in Buchanan's Florida campaign and is a local leader in the David Duke-founded National Association for the Advancement of White People.
Lamb claimed that the NAAWP is neither supremacist, extremist nor separatist.
"The NAAWP is no different that the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)," Lamb was quoted by the Associated Press as saying. "It is founded on the same principles: defense of one's race's interest, culture and heritage."
OK, that's what she said, but what is the reality?
A look at the organization's newsletter, "NAAWP News," proved instructive.
The 1994 edition I got ahold of led off with a banner headline "Will the black community ever be held accountable?"
In the article, NAAWP President Paul Allen argues that the debate about breakdown of families values should really be targeted at black families.
Much of the newsletter is filled with reprints from other newspapers, but bearing Allen's headlines and long editor's notes.
Among the headlines were: "Why most Negroes are criminals," "Why the Negro crime rate is going straight up thru the roof," "Most racial hatred flows from blacks toward whites" and "The failure of the Negro male."
But blacks aren't the only race attacked in the newsletter.
One reprinted article by syndicated columnist Charley Reese -- a criticism of the Federal Reserve Board -- bears the headline "Federal Reserve is all Jewish rip-off."
That's despite the fact that Jews are never referred to in the article -- except for editor's notes that Allen inserted into the copy.
After a reference to the "Eastern Establishment," for example, the editor inserted the note: "(code word for Jews. Ed.)"
There were many other examples.
A call to Allen in the group's New Orleans headquarters proved equally instructive.
The conversation began with an expletive-filled vilification by Allen of the liberal media, myself included.
In the process, Allen asserted that the NAAWP was simply a "white civil rights group."
When referred to some of the headlines, Allen said he was not a racist, but a "truth-teller."
Using language borrowed from mainstream evangelical Christianity, Allen said he was criticising the behavior, not the people.
"I accept the blacks and Jews as what they are, God-made flesh," Allen said. "It's their behavior that I'm attacking."
His references to God lost a good deal of their piety, however, sandwiched as they were between profanities and obscene insults.
The interview, which can only be described as hate-filled, left little doubt about the group's agenda.
And there are, after all, objective criteria for racism. Allen may say he's not racist and is just attacking behavior, but as Laurie Wood of the nonprofit Klanwatch pointed out, the group doesn't talk about individuals, but attacks the behavior of blacks and Jews as a race.
Wood said her organization classifies the NAAWP as a hate group, as does the Anti-Defamation League.
"You can polish it up all you want," Wood said, "but they're still a hate group."
Linda Howard, executive board member of the Las Vegas NAACP chapter, disputed Lamb's comparison of the two groups.
The NAACP, she said, advocates equality, not racial advancement.
"We're no trying to advance our race above others," she said. "We just want to make sure that all people are treated equally."
KEN MCCALL is a Las Vegas SUN columnist. His column runs Mondays and Fridays. He can be reached at 259-4095 or [email protected]
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