The "Missouri-Kansas Coalition Against Racism, Anti-Semitism and Bigotry" is a new coalition that's fighting against those "vigilantes" who want to enforce our immigration laws, specifically the Minuteman Project. The AP blurb is - to my complete surprise - slightly balanced:

Organizers said 700 people in Kansas and Missouri have signed a coalition statement "rejecting the politics of fear, hatred and armed vigilantism."

Angela Ferguson, an immigration lawyer who organized the coalition, said the group opposes what they called anti-immigration groups such as the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, which patrols the border and reports illegal immigrants to authorities.

Now, I know what you're thinking: how can these groups claim to be against bigotry when they forgot to include "...Against Homophobia, Xenophobia, Hate, and Mean-Spiritedness" in their title? I'm assuming they wanted to, but that would cause their printing costs to skyrocket so they got an exemption to use the short form.

But, seriously. Their homepage is at www.newcomm.org/carab, and no one in their right mind should sign their pledge due to their various untrue or misleading claims. For instance, the claim that the "Minuteman Civil Defense Corps... advocates the denial of basic human rights". The commonly-accepted definition of "human rights" does not include the right to cross the U.S. border at will, despite what some on the far-left think. If they have evidence of that assertion, they should present it (or be sued).

Those listed as signing on (as of October) are:

* Olathe Unit of the NAACP
* Kansas Families United for Public Education
* Westside Community Action Network Center, Inc.
* Jewish Community Relation Bureau/American Jewish Committee Gina Kaiser, Chair Marvin Szneler, Executive Director Judy Hellman, Associate Director
* Father Pat Murphy, c.s., Animator of Hispanic Ministry, Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas
* Shalom Catholic Worker House, Kansas City, KS
* Kansas City Worker Justice Project
* Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights
* Center for New Community

In fact, their site is hosted at the latter's site and, as detailed at the last link, I suspect them of spamming that entry although I don't know whether the spammer is/was a member of the group or just a fan.

More here:

"The way that we solve problems in a democracy is not by creating fear or by creating racism but by sitting down and trying to reach an agreement that will satisfy all parties," said Henry E. Lyons of Olathe's NAACP...

"We ask others to join us in rejecting those extremists and stand with us. This country has the room and the need for people who want to make it a better place," said Judy Hellman of the Jewish Community Relations Bureau...

"The Minutemen, Federation for American Immigration Reform, US Inc. and other types of vigilante groups, they claim to be patriots, but they have an underlying racist agenda that's aimed at all Hispanics and have a negative impact on all people of color," Ferguson said...

The coalition includes civil-rights activists, religious leaders and the Local Service Employees International Union...

This article says:

Seiu City Director Sherwin Carroll said, "If this nation and this economy is going to be what it truly is, let's set aside racism and bigotry and help immigrants get some reform that will provide a reward for their hard work in this country."

The new group's roots seem to go back to around March 2005 (preview.tinyurl.com/mw82k). An AryanNations leader had set up a P.O. Box in Kansas City and various groups organized meetings. But then the leader left the group so their group was no longer needed:

"It was agreed that the urgency of the meeting had passed, but that the planning group would stay together as perhaps the nucleus of a new civil rights coalition. Our ad hoc name is the Coalition Against Racism, Anti-Semitism and Bigotry," said [Judy Hellman].

Why spoil a perfectly good coalition, when it can be repurposed to oppose not a violent, racist group but those who simply want to enforce our laws?

More recently (preview.tinyurl.com/3c4pco):

On Tuesday, January 23, 2007 at 9:00 a.m., two buses of Kansas Citians left from the Guadalupe Centers, Inc., bound for Topeka, Kansas and Jefferson City, Missouri. The group included representatives of several nonprofit organizations, immigrant leaders, faith groups, students, and labor union members. [quotes Melinda Lewis, Director of Policy Advocacy and Research at El Centro, Inc... ...they met with legislators... ...quotes Angela Ferguson... ...quotes Martha Ramirez, grassroots organizer with Sons & Daughters of Immigrants of Kansas City, Missouri... unknowns Nora Reyna Brown and Richard Morado are quoted... quotes Mike Talboy, Missouri state representative from the 37 district. The latter sounds like a supporter, but his remarks are somewhat indistinguishable from stroking them along.]