10.10.19
Downey, CA---
On behalf of the
concerned, outraged, and disappointed parents and general citizenry of the city
of Downey and throughout Los Angeles County, MassResistance has issued a stern
condemnation of NBC Universal, particularly their Los Angeles NBC 4 affiliate
for their false, smearing, and libelous slander.
According to their recent
report on MassResistance's efforts to stop the "Teen Talk" sex-ed
program in Downey Unified School District (DUSD), NBC refers to mothers,
fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers, small business owners and concerned
citizens as "a hate group."
Key statements from the
report include the following:
"We have learned
outrage over this program may be coming from outside of the community."
That is a total lie.
Concerned parents like Sandi Padilla of Downey and others contacted our SoCal
MassResistance coordinator, Shanda Lobatos, a mother and licensed professional
who has worked with at-risk populations. They contacted us; we did not inspire
outrage on our own.
"We've learned the
opposition is being organized by a group out of the state. They have been
listed as an anti-gay hate group since 2008 by the Southern Poverty Law
Center."
Local parents and
neighbors worked with MassResistance leaders in California to organize
attendance at the Downey School Board meeting. Many pro-family groups, as well
as interest groups for other causes, do this. It's part of the American fabric,
in which citizens exercise their First Amendment rights to petition their
government for a redress of grievances.
As for the Southern
Poverty Law Center, that any serious news organization would cite their
unsubstantiated smears borders on libel, if not outright criminal conduct.
1. The Southern Poverty
Law Center (SPLC) has a long a history of maligning minority groups,
including Jewish Zionists as well as reformist Muslims. In one case, the SPLC
was forced to pay a $3.8 million settlement to Maajid Nawaz for smearing him as
an anti-Muslim extremist.
2. The SPLC is currently
facing six lawsuits from diverse organizations, including a Washington DC-based
think-tank headed by an Armenian-American, for libel. Not a good track record.
 |
| Bob Moser Exposed the SPLC. Why does NBC Still rely on them? |
3. Former
SPLC employees like Bob Moser (himself liberal and openly gay) have
exposed the fact that the SPLC does not fight hate, as much as fundraise off of
calling conservatives groups whom they disagree with "hate groups." Political
debate and disagreement is essential to the American political fabric. For
anyone to silence or delegitimize dissent is nothing short of hateful in
itself.
4. The SPLC has a long
history of libeling pro-family groups of all stripes as hate groups simply
because the SPLC does not support protecting natural marriage, life,
and family. The fact that the growing number of young voters and groups in the
United States have signaled opposition to the anti-family LGBT agenda (per
Harris polling) clearly indicated that the SPLC's metrics are out of step
with history, as well as morality and biology.
That NBC News would take
the unsubstantiated report from a known hate group to smear mothers and
fathers, many of Hispanic descent and many others who are immigrants who
live the American Dream, is nothing short of despicable.
 |
| NBC Thinks that Downey Parents are a "hate group". Seriously. |
Furthermore, the NBC
reported refused to provide copies or context to demonstrate that the sex-ed
curriculum approved by the Downey School Board was full of inappropriate,
explicit, and even medically inaccurate information. The dossier was provided
to the main reporting team that covered the event in the morning as well as the
afternoon, and yet nothing was provided to the general public. For more
information on the "Teen Talk" sex-ed
curriculum, click here.
"If anyone wants to
understand why the mainstream, legacy, corporate media is losing views and
marketshare, perverse reporting like NBC 4's attack on Downey parents is proof.
The SPLC has long been discredited as unsavory hate group, and now for NBC 4 to
extend that smear to Downey parents is just abominable," said Arthur
Schaper, Organization Director for MassResistance. "Parents have the right
to protect their children from destructive, false propaganda under the guise of
sex education. That is not hate in the slightest.
"MassResistance
boasts a wide community of activists from all ethnic backgrounds throughout the
United States as well as different nations. Our founder, Brian Camenker,
is an Orthodox Jew who actually suffered discrimination during his youth in
Duluth, Minnesota. Our activist members include Orthodox Jews in New York, in
New Jersey, and different faith groups in the United Kingdom, as well. For
anyone to call our growing community of pro-family fighters a "hate
groups" demonstrates a stunning lack of knowledge or a malicious contempt
for the truth."
MassResistance is calling
on NBC 4 and NBC Universal to issue a full retraction of their report and
publish a full apology.
For more information,
please contact:
Arthur Schaper,
Organization Director
Phone: (781) 890-6001
Email:
arthur@massresistance.org
