Interfaith coalition seeks end to 'hate speech'

Last week, the group held a prayer vigil outside WGY in Schenectady, praying for understanding and a halt to hate speech in any form.

Capital District Communities Against Hate (CDCAH), an ecumenical and multi-ethnic group, was formed after WGY (under its parent company, Dame Media) ran an ad in February in the Times Union newspaper for the station's 75th anniversary. Under a photo of a dancing aboriginal warrior, a caption read that to stay young in radio, one must have "an almost primal disregard for dignity or civility."

Stirring objections

"The way he treated the young girl who called was pretty painful to listen to," said CDCAH member Rev. Christopher DeGiovine, campus ministry director and chaplain at the College of St. Rose in Albany.

"The Muslim community asked if we could get together to talk about that kind of hate speech and what we could do about it, and the coalition just kind of grew," he continued. "It came to include the African-American community as well, because of their involvement with the unfortunate advertisement in the paper."

Seeking tolerance

The coalition, the priest said, is calling for increased responsibility by the media to watch its words.

"In a country where we have freedom of speech and we treasure that gift, we are not saying we should not be free to speak," he added. "In fact, the people we least want to hear -- their rights should be most protected. But once one speaks in the public arena, one cannot do that cavalierly. I don't think freedom of speech means saying whatever you want. There's a responsibility to do the homework that it takes and make sure what you're saying is really what you want to say.

"I am not a terribly large fan of what's happening to talk radio. A lot of it is unreflected, ill-conceived and poorly researched. A lot of speech on some talk radio is to get ratings and to become popular -- and sometimes, the more bizarre one can be, the more attention one seems to attract."

Station response

Mr. Parker maintained that "the host's opinion and presentation in this case was very clear and not even slightly racist. I don't believe that any line was crossed or that his behavior or activities would be construed as being racist in nature or improper."

Mr. Williams did not respond to The Evangelist's request for an interview; and WGY does not provide tapes or transcripts of its radio programs, so The Evangelist could not check the content of the program in question.

Meetings sought

"That's not what we asked," Father DeGiovine said of the individual meetings. "We thought it was important to see that there is a coalition."

Mr. Parker stated that WGY "always had an openness to meeting" with the coalition and consented to individual meetings "so that we could hear their concerns more adequately." Several CDCAH members have agreed to meet individually with WGY representatives, he added.

No apology

Father DeGiovine called that refusal "part of the pain of all this. One of the few things Capital District Communities Against Hate has been asking for is some kind of consciousness, to see if for some of this speech, you need to ask for repentance. WGY has never admitted to any kind of misspeaking or caricaturing a whole group of people. An apology would be welcomed."

Mr. Parker referred to the controversial advertisement as "old news" for which WGY apologized long ago. In reference to Mark Williams' comments, he said, "a lot of people who have come to complain about the show have not even heard it. Statements are being taken out of context."

(Capital District Communities Against Hate plans to continue its efforts to stop any kind of hate speech. Two members, Rabbi Harry Levin of Congregation Beth Shalom in Clifton Park and coalition leader Makhtar Maghraoui of Albany's Islamic Center, are currently hosting a weekly talk show on WQBK-AM-1300, titled "The Makhtar and Harry Show." The show airs from 4-5 p.m. on Sundays. To contact Capital District Communities Against Hate, call 370-2664.)

(05-08-97)

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